Quote:
Originally Posted by
LadyEsperanza 
"Dia dos Namorados for you English people." At home, that day was some time in June. "What do you call it?" he asked, curiously. He translated it the Portuguese title for it in his head. Day of lovers seemed a little scandalous for the English. "How appropriate that it is the day after your birthday. Everyone falls in love with you as it is." He wondered if a note of bitterness had colored his voice, then decided he'd imagined it. Whatever bitterness he held was not allowed to be evident to Eiri. He twisted his fork into the food, and raised it to his mouth. It was decent. Very good, even. She would never be Iron Chef, but she had mastered the recipe well.
He felt his chewing stop as she told him the bad news. He forced himself to start back up about it. She'd mentioned it flippantly, which meant to leave it alone. "I'm sorry." he said simply, but with conviction that those words rarely get.
And then his eyebrows shot up. "You're getting married? Hm. I'll be honest, I pity the poor sap. He'll probably follow you where ever you go." His joke was totally marred, however, by the joy on his face. He couldn't contain it. She was ready to marry him. He beamed at her.
Eirian colored as Thiago's tongue traveled gracefully over the Portuguese language. These days, it seemed the language was just between them; she knew of two other people in Hogwarts that spoke Portuguese, and even then only Savannah took the Brazilian style. "Valentine's Day," she murmured. "Dad always said I was a day too early." Wrinkling her nose up, Eiri decided that confusion was the best response. Honestly, she thought Thi was overreacting. "What are you talking about?" she asked simply. "Who have I been with but you?" No one. She was almost bitter about that... Eiri knew that Thi was the one for her, but if only she had other, past relationships to compare it to... And to get the nosy people away from her as they expressed the idiotic belief that the first relationship in a person's life couldn't be their only one. She was perfectly happy marrying Thiago, thank you very much, and it wasn't because she hadn't know other love.
It was because they were
meant to be.
An apology. Lovely. "Please do not," Eirian begged. "I know you mean it, but do not apologize. I do not want pity! It is something you ought to know." Sigh. "And you should know that it was Jayce's mother that I convinced to adopt me. It does not mean anything. I helped him find her two summers ago, and she wanted to help... So she signed a few things and became my legal guardian. I stayed with her for the summer... unlike I had planned. But they kicked me out of the manor until I inherit it... And I had no money to put myself up in a hotel or to travel..." Merlin, she hoped he wouldn't be angry. "And I did a lot of things I regret, but not once was I disloyal to you or our relationship." Her regrets came in the masochistic form... "There. That is everything." With a sigh, she dragged her hands over her face; they weren't smooth like they used to be. Her hands were scarred and calloused. If they were any harder, she'd fear that she'd rub the freckles right off of her cheeks.
"You ought to pity him," Eirian murmured, resting her head against Thiago's chest. His joke kept the tears from her eyes and the worry from her heart, but it didn't make her body feel any lighter. It was like her late nights were catching up to her, pulling her into a world of slow motion. A fog was sinking down into her soul, and she had to shake it off somehow. "He is stuck with me forever... Poor git is as whipped as a house elf. I have him wrapped around my little finger."