Ravin had been getting stronger.

Physically, he’d been subjected to a near-endless supply of fattening meals that, at first, his body rejected as it was too frail. But now, he ate greedily. His cheekbones were starting to fill, though his frame still looked fragile. Give it time, Ravin told Norah, time heals all things.

Well, most things.

Mentally, Ravin found himself in limbo. He wanted to reclaim lost time, to crawl back into his life with Norah as it was. But it quickly became clear there was no going back. The events of the past five years had changed them both, not for the worse, but certainly for the stranger. But the thing that hadn’t changed was Ravin’s devotion. His unending and unyielding love for her.

The nightmares were the main thing. Visions of a dark and lurking creature standing over his bed in the night. But Norah’s ever-patient care had him caught up in her arms when he woke screaming. And, with her nightmares, he would do the same.

Ravin was currently in bed, propped up on some pillows, pouring over the Midnight House’s records. @mina had taken over most of the Midnight House’s operations in his prolonged absence. Her death had thrown more instability into an already unstable time, and so Ravin was struggling to refamiliarize himself with the business side of things. Divine scolded him and said he needed to rest. He said he could do both.

When he heard Norah’s voice, Ravin snapped the ledger shut and looked up with a bright grin. It didn’t yet reach his eyes, but it was a start.

“Darling…” Ravin patted the bed next to him and opened his arms.

Every day that passed he looked more and more like himself. Color coming to life in his cheeks and he was eating more than she thought he could now. It gave her hope during the dark nights that were never-ending at first. The nightmares wrecking them both. Norah many times never fell back to sleep after one, whether his or hers, and would instead stay away just holding him tightly to her and counting the moments between his breaths.

Even sitting in the bed, she wanted to help him pace the room like he had done in the past. 'Give it time', she was sure he'd tell her again. Time would bring them back to what was. Or as close as they could reach now...

Beckoning her, she moved into the room and towards him. Easily slipping out of her shoes, discarding her bodice and outer dress before she crawled into his arms and under the blanket. A sigh leaving her as they melted together and she glanced at the book he had snapped shut. "Finances again?" She asked, glancing up at him as she reached over him to try and take the book. She had failed in helping keep the Midnight House running. Another thing she had failed to protect.

Ravin’s arms wrapped around her like a cocoon on a butterfly. He rocked her a little before settling her in the crook of his neck, his chin settling on top of her head. He breathed in deeply. It was always the little things with Norah, but now he savored them more than ever. The smell of her. The way her skin felt under his fingers. The sound of her heart as it drummed against him.

“Yes, finances…” Ravin sighed, squeezing her, “Divine did her best to keep this place running, but…well, things just aren’t as they used to be.”

The understatement of the year.

She flipped through a few of the pages and offered, "I can help with some of this if needed." she of course meant anything financially that needed it. Now a widow, she gained a lot from Carter's estate and what he had left. She was actually surprised he hadn't drained their accounts just to spite her in case anything happened. Apparently he didn't think she ever would.

"I have to leave for Cambria soon." She said it on an exhale, like she was dreading every part of the sentence and hated that it was even true. Her fingers tracing his chest as her head was tucked under his chin securely. "The King asked me to leave soon, and... its not like Lorendale." She pressed a soft kiss to his collarbone. "I won't return home until I finish my investigation there."

Norah’s words doused Ravin like a smack of cold water. It numbed him, making it difficult to compute just exactly what Norah was saying. Gone. Surely not. Not after they’d been apart for so long. A pit opened up in Ravin’s stomach that threatened to swallow him whole.

“But—” Ravin searched for words, anything that sounded reasonable and not childish. Anything other than ‘but I don’t want you to.’ He found nothing, at first. The word just hung in the air, flailing and frantic between them. Eventually, he just looked at her, wide-eyed and desperate.

“How long?”

His whole body tensed against her. She felt it the moment it happened and sorrow rushed through her in a giant wave. The but almost made her wince. It's not like she wanted to be separated from him. She wanted to be here, home with him. Lorendale was a challenge enough with her residing there most of the month. But she came home at least. She spent time here and could steal her free moments with Ravin and watch him grow into himself once again.

Cambria she could not. So she waited, waited for him to say anything further and her heart was already fracturing at the hurt that was growing between them. The shift of his face had her moving her own to look up at him. What she saw there broke her. "I don't know." It was the truth. "It depends on what I find... on what the king wants." She sat up to look down at him. "I promise you... I will do everything I can to get home as quick as possible." Her hand came out to cup his cheek.

"Everything I can."

Ravin had always been supportive. No matter how much it hurt to have her gone, he’d always sent her off with a smile and a promise that he was just fine. That he’d be counting the days, but stay occupied until her return. But things were different now. The confident, self-assured man she’d known was still weak and needy. As the panic continued to rise in his chest, he was disgusted by himself. This wasn’t the partner he wanted to be; one who made things more difficult rather than easier. He tried to smile, and was able to summon a half-convincing one.

“It’s alright, darling,” Ravin said, pressing a kiss to her forehead, “It’s alright, I know you will.” His words were hollow, propped up only by his desire to not cause Norah any more distress than he already had.

If he thought she wouldn't see it, than he didn't know his wife at all. Because even with his hold on her, on the gentle kiss pressed to her forehead, she heard his hollow words. She heard the hurt down in him that she knew she couldn't ease. Her body moved to lean over him. His face still too thin, but his color had started to come back. Her hands captured his face between her palms as she stared intensely down to him.

"I swear it, Ravin." She whispered. "I will come home to you. To our family here." She swore. Her thumbs running his cheeks. They had been all stolen kisses and laying in the bed with one another since he had returned. He had always seemed still too... delicate in ways. She was afraid even with her small frame, that she'd hurt him. But in that moment she didn't think of it. Pressing her mouth to his in a passionate and searing kiss that would seal her promise to him.

When she broke for air, she nuzzled him a bit. "I can't wait to see how well you are doing by that time." She tried to give them something to both look forward to.

Our family.

At the start, he had such a dream for what their life would be together. It was imperfect yes, unattainable perhaps—he knew those things. But Ravin hadn’t fully realized just how fragile that imagining was. In the confines of his body and cage, he’d buried that dream entirely. Only now was it starting to resurface again. Ravin kissed her back, with such desperation as if it would drag it back from the depths.

“More the man you remember,” Ravin smiled, pushing a piece of hair from her face. His fingers followed the strand to where it ended, cropped at her shoulder. “I like it,” Ravin decided, running his fingers through it. Yes, they were both changed and their life together too, but perhaps it could be just as beautiful as he’d imagined at the start.

”You don’t have to be the man I remember.” She said to him, leaning a bit into his gentle touch. “I need you to be the man you can be, with me. For I know I am not the same woman I had once been in many ways.” It was the sad truth. They were both changed, all because of two people deciding that one was not worthy of the other.

His comment on her hair had her lifting a hand to touch some of it. “I considered taking it all off once,” she admitted it to Ravin because she could. Because she trusted him. “It would be one less thing he could use to control me.” A sad smile came to her face. “I’m glad you like it.”

Ravin felt the squeeze of heartache. He remembered it; watching Norah dragged to hell and back from the confines of his cage. It was its own hell, but nothing like what Norah had experienced. He’d been powerless to protect her, but never again would he relinquish that power. Never again. He pulled her close, kissing her head.

“Things will get better,” Ravin said, as much for his benefit as Norah’s, “I swear to you, Norah, things will get better.” He rocked her, breathing her in, feeling tears behind his eyes.

She wasn't sure how long they laid together, holding onto one another with the fear of what was to come and the ache that would come with the absence of one another. But eventually, Norah refused to wallow in her sadness. She couldn't. She had Ravin back, and as much as the guilt ate at her for the fact that she didn't realize it was him for so long, she couldn't let that be between them.

Below his room, their room, she could hear the music playing downstairs for the doves and their guests. So with a swift move, she pushed up and moved to slip out of the bed. "I know this is not an easy request," she reached out a hand towards him. "But would you dance with me?" She didn't expect a waltz, or him to lift her up or twirl her quickly. But she wanted to sway with him if he would be up for it. A soft smile tried to reassure him as she stood there. "Nothing fancy," she promised.

When Norah suddenly rose, Ravin’s first instinct was to cling to her. The fear of being parted from her was a looming shadow that took very little to consume him fully. But Norah didn’t leave. Instead, she rolled a question his way that had his eyes welling with tears and a smile—a very Ravin smile—pulling across his features.

“Of course.”

Ravin slid from the bed, clothes hanging off of him like he was more scarecrow than man. He took her hand in his and pulled her close. His legs were weak, so he gripped her tightly, but still, he started to sway across the floor. The music was warming, and Norah even more so. “I used to dream about something. When I had too much time to think.” Ravin tried to spin her around. It was a weak attempt, but his arm held enough for Norah to twist herself about.

“A white cottage,” Ravin continued, “With blue shutters. A garden in the back. Somewhere high, where the breeze would come of the ocean so cold that we’d always have a roaring fire.”

His eyes were misty as he spoke, recounting a vision he’d seen so many times he could taste the salt on his tongue.