Original - Bijou (Liam/Topaz) [week 3, prompt 2]
Title: Offer Comfort Author: Laylah Rating: worksafe Word Count: 200 Summary: He can see the tension drop out of Topaz's shoulders as soon as the door closes behind them.
Now that he's watching for it, he can see the tension drop out of Topaz's shoulders as soon as the door closes behind them. Is it so bad here? he almost asks, save that he fears the answer is yes, and there is little he can do to help.
"What would you like?" he asks instead; at least for this hour, he can do something.
"You're too kind, Liam," Topaz says, and smiles. No southerner has skin so fair, or eyes so bright. "I should ask that of you."
I want to free you, Liam thinks. "I want to see you happy," he says. "To offer you comfort."
Topaz slips into his arms, leans against his chest, fingers curled in his shirt. "You do that every time I see you," he says. "My handsome warrior." His skin is warm under Liam's hands. "You bring the free north with you, when you come to me."
The free north would not smile on this, Liam doesn't say. If the pretense will lighten Topaz's heart, then he will not speak the ugly truth. "I come to find it in you," he says instead: as true, and more kind. "Your courage gives me strength."