[The man he is today would dance with Thomas while the whole of the Admiralty watched on. There would be no shame, no scandal that could touch them. He loved Miranda. Loves her still. She is the second of two ghosts with a hold on his heart, her skeletal hands make a cage of it. But he hates every day that he listened to her. That they left. He should have stayed, and fought, and died. At least it would have been a rest, a peace he could be proud of, and not whatever the fuck he's become a decade removed from a life made perfect by love alone.
Thomas entreated him to know no shame. But Thomas isn't here. That someone else would dare stand where he stood and ask this of him is an affront. And James glances down at that hand and then back up with a very slight cant to his head, expression inscrutable. He is angry, beneath the cold steel of his exterior. He is fucking furious. It's not even meant for this poor boy, but James never has been very good at containment, the anger is self-directed but in a quantity too great to have but a single target. An animal lives in him and its teeth are bared, its bite sharp.
He smooths his beard down with the pads of his fingers. God rest his fucking soul, but he'd fight everyone in this room until the whole of it was slick with viscera if he had even an ounce less restraint right now.]
Is this a common thing for you, where you're from? Men asking men to dance.
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Thomas entreated him to know no shame. But Thomas isn't here. That someone else would dare stand where he stood and ask this of him is an affront. And James glances down at that hand and then back up with a very slight cant to his head, expression inscrutable. He is angry, beneath the cold steel of his exterior. He is fucking furious. It's not even meant for this poor boy, but James never has been very good at containment, the anger is self-directed but in a quantity too great to have but a single target. An animal lives in him and its teeth are bared, its bite sharp.
He smooths his beard down with the pads of his fingers. God rest his fucking soul, but he'd fight everyone in this room until the whole of it was slick with viscera if he had even an ounce less restraint right now.]
Is this a common thing for you, where you're from? Men asking men to dance.