Lucas shook his head slowly. "Reputation, huh? Hard to forget the guy with two missing limbs. Hopefully it's a good reputation, so I have something to smear in the next few nights."
The blond sighed, lifting his hand from Autumn's shoulder and smacking the back of Lucas' head. It was not a quiet sound; the man in question yelped in surprise, cringing. "You're giving up. Do not give up. I don't care what threads separate these worlds, Luca, but if you're not going to hold yourself up and try, I ******** will. This is not the man I served with."
"The man you served with was a ******** man," Lucas replied, injured.
"And this one still is. You're not defined by the moment of a moon passage - even the tides return to normal. You will too. Stop looking at this as the end and try to treat it like a beginning. Make options. Don't settle. Don't give up." Deacon's usually soft spoken demeanor took on a harder edge, his soft cornflower eyes a bit darker. "You have a family who loves you and wouldn't understand. You have a man or two or three, I can't keep count, that don't want you to just let go. So if you can't do it for yourself, do it for the ones that believe in you."
Lucas exhaled slowly, quiet, and wrapped his arms around Autumn more fully, resting his head on her shoulder. "Your boyfriend is an a**," he murmured, but there was the faintest hint of humor that suggested Deacon's monologue wasn't entirely in vain. "I know we can't protect you, just...be safe. Do what you have to do, Princess. You know no matter what happens...I'm still your friend. And I always will be."
Moonstone Dazzle
