Reynion sighed heavily. He knew exactly what she meant, but...well, he didn't want to subject her to any more reminder of that terrible mission. His dreams were terrible; he didn't want her to be around when one of the nightmares came on, she was so sensitized to that sort of thing. Stop fooling yoursel, he told himself, grimly. You know that the real reason you left was you were afraid of rejection. You were afraid she wouldn't want you. There was Orodhin, once... He sternly ordered himself to stop it. She was here, right beside him.
He inhaled the aroma of the coffee deeply. Perhaps it would wake him up for real. Eru knew he needed it. He raised the mug to his lips and sipped, then yelped and nearly dropped it. Certainly he set it down more roughly than was his wont. Wine was much colder and it didn't burn the tongue the way this stuff did. The throat, yes, the first few times one tried it, but not quite the same way.
Taurewen looked at him a little oddly, though he could see no concealed mirth in her lovely green eyes. "It's hot," he tried to explain, only feeling more foolish. He was unlucky enough to glance at the window to cover his embarrassment, and a fresh spasm of the headache stabbed through his temples. He put a hand to his eyes and grimaced.
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