That expression, for as long as it lasted, told Ari that she had been right about at least one thing - there was certainly an internal battle of a sort going on here. "Regret is heavy, they say," she mused. "Far heavier than other emotions. Because of this, I choose not to carry it, but there is no reason you should apologize for yours." Everyone carried secrets. When Aspel's face settled back into a mask of good cheer, flawed as it was, she let it go; it was not her benefit - nor was it her place - to pry. If there was a sad story to be told, perhaps she would learn it one day, or perhaps she would not.
"You should take your gentleness where you find it, then," she responded with an easy smile, topping off Aspel's cup in turn. "The offer is open, and comes without return obligation. As for a poem..." She thought for a moment, the proclaimed a few words, her trained voice musical even without song.
"here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart"
Her smile was soft as she finished. "A favorite," she admitted, "despite the subject matter, and being not quite suited to the spirit of the evening."