Jerome's Bunk

I frowned at his soft spoken words, afraid of how much this was upsetting him. "Then don't, silly J. Don't let anyone force you into using them. And if they dare call you a coward, they'll have to face me, understood? You're going with your centurion, right? He'll understand, I'm sure he will."I tried to reassure him as best as I could, reaching out with my free hand to gently stroke his cheek. "All I care about is that you return safe to me after that quest. Let them all die, I don't give a flying f**k, just do whatever you have to do to stay alive."

I wrapped my arms around his torso, returning the hug with a tighter one of my own. "Okay, yeah"I mumbled as I stumbled away from him, stepping aside to let him pass. "Get back as soon as you can."

I watched frozen as he walked away, barely managing a lifeless wave as he left through the door for Gods know how long. It took me a few seconds to process it all, my first reactiong being to crawl underneath the blanket of his well made bed and hug his pillow to my chest, staring with empty eyes at the wall as, with a snap of my finger, the lyre on the nightstand begun playing on its own, reminding me of the young son of Apollo I already dearly missed.