Hannah & Jeremiah; Jester's Court
He slid in beside her, his arm wrapping around her both as a form or protection from the cool night air, and an offer of security that he would never let anything happen to her. It might not be strictly true - he had no magic, no super powers, nothing that others in Repose had, and he was no government, or large corporation that understood her programming, but he understood her, and the desire to keep her safe was strong none-the-less. The carriage rocked slightly with his movement, and he pulled her closer. "It is our kingdom," he repeated her words, and there was something about speaking it out loud that gave it a modicum of truth - power - it might not be strictly speaking true, but for tonight it was and that was enough.
As the wheel moved up, he turned to look at her at her question. For a moment he hesitated, because he didn't know if it was necessary to speak of it. That had been so long ago and he felt as if he'd been another person then. Hannah knew at least as well as anyone that. And now he was this - and he didn't know if he even liked who he was now, but it was who he was. On the other hand, who he was maybe now was more honest than what he'd been before.
He turned to her, looking into cornflower blue eyes with his own hazel ones, and for a moment he hesitated even as raw honesty bubbled to the surface. "I was thinking about the last time I rode a Ferris Wheel," he told her softly. "And how at that moment it felt like something amazing was happening. And how that didn't turn out to be true, exactly. And I was thinking about all of that," he turned out, looking at the shadows disappearing beneath them as the wind whispered around them. "And how this wasn't that. This time I just feel like..." The carriage rocked and the wind whispered and he looked back to the woman next to him and he smiled. "Like this is precisely where I'm meant to be right now. It's not amazing, or anything other than just right. It's a different feeling, and I like it."
He slid his free hand into hers and glanced back out, quiet and thoughtful for a moment. "It's a good kingdom," the words were caught by the wind, and gone almost before he could speak them.