Bound By Madness

78. Between Us

I sighed happily as I felt his warm breath against my cheek, his soft humming filling the air as we slowly moved amidst the thickly falling snowflakes. In the past few days, my Cicero had recovered quickly from both his injuries and the weakness the fever had left him with. Tomorrow we would set out to return to the Sanctuary in Falkreath, hopefully to a Family that would accept us back without a fight. One without the Fallen Leader whispering her poison into our Siblings ears.

But for now, for these precious few hours that we had together, we danced with our arms around each other. My hands rested on my Jester Assassin's shoulders, his own on my hips as we swayed and spun, stepped back and forth with eyes only for each other. I could faintly hear Ellery and Amicus whispering to each other, but that too faded beneath the gentle words that my Cicero began to sing so quietly into my ear.

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I finished the stitches, my Cicero. I'm sorry it took so long, but I wanted to make sure I didn't mess up. I know how important this is to you.

Walking up to where he sat near the hearth, his journal resting in his lap as he'd lowered it upon my entering the room, I knelt beside him and held out his carefully cleaned and folded motley. It had taken hours to remove the bloodstains and stitch together the rips from where our Brother had sliced into my Cicero's side with his claws.

"Sweet Faith even cleaned Cicero's motley? She didn't have to do so much for Cicero! He would have been happy enough just having her stitch it together again, as her stitches are much finer than his own. Cicero has gotten better over the years, but he's not nearly as practiced as his talented Faith is," he said as he sat his journal aside and reached out for the clothing, unfolding the cloth to inspect the results. "Oh, Cicero can hardly see the stitches at all! And... did Faith?"

He grew still as he ran his finger along the motley's collar, the gold thread vibrant against the faded red and black of the outfit. I began fidgeting as I worried that he was upset with me for doing something like this without asking his permission first.

I'm sorry, Cicero! I just... the gold thread was so frayed and worn, it just didn't stand out the way it should and when I was washing the blood out, some of the threads came undone. I was just going to replace the areas that were broken, but then the new thread looked so pretty and the older threads just looked sad in comparison and I just couldn't stop myself and the next thing I knew, I had replaced all the gold... Oh... And I need to buy more gold thread next time we find some?

I pulled out the wooden spool that had once had a vibrant gold thread wrapped around it, now replaced by carefully collected, worn and faded gold thread, the places where it had broken carefully tied together.

I saved the thread so if you want... I'll put it back again...

"Silly Faith, acting like Cicero is mad at her for wanting to make his motley look pretty again. But perhaps... maybe instead of using up her fine thread on his motley, no matter how much he treasures it and always will... perhaps she should work on making a new motley? One that her Cicero can wear when he wants to look... nice for his Faith?" He looked down as he ran his hand along the faded fabric of his motley, glancing up when I reached out to rest my hand on his.

Cicero, you don't need a new motley to look nice for me. You look handsome no matter what you are wearing! Besides, you love your motley and I wouldn't ask you to replace it. Things like your motley can't be so easily replaced as that... I know that very well indeed. How about... instead of making you a new motley... yes, that might work. It'll take a while, but I think it might be... yes. I like that idea.

Nodding, I leaned forward and pressed my lips gently against his before leaning back again.

And I won't mind if you want me to put your thread back, my Cicero. Just say the word and it is done.

"No, Cicero thinks the new thread looks pretty. But he does ask that Faith keeps the old thread for him. Maybe she can make something else with it? Something for her to wear, to remind her of her Cicero," he whispered softly, brushing his lips against my cheek before pulling away again. "That would make Cicero happy to see."

Blushing, I looked into his eyes and slowly nodded, raising a hand to run through his hair as I leaned forward. If it would make him happy, cause him to smile at me each day he saw it, then I would figure out something to make with his thread. Something that would remind me of the amazing treasure I had found when we met, so I would never forget the warmth he'd brought into my life.

Feeling his fingers trace my cheek, I opened eyes I hadn't even realized I'd closed, gazing once more into honey-brown eyes as the flecks of gold seemed to almost swim within them. My heart was racing in my chest as he leaned closer, pausing as his eyes filled my vision, the firelight reflecting within like they had caused a fire to rage within their depths.

"Sweetness... Dearest Faith... Cicero wanted you since he first saw you. When he realized that he hadn't lost his chance to be with you, even after so long apart, he was... Faith, my Faith... I love you."