[Elizabeth's response catches him off guard. Being so focused on combat and rescue, he had not considered how she would react to him helping her. How she acts now is far from what he would have expected. She is calmer than he is, almost thoughtful, and it stuns him for a second. He drops his sword when she approaches him, not wanting it anywhere near her, and when she takes his hands, he instinctively links their fingers, in a way that has become surprisingly common, natural and instinctive more recently.
He wonders at her question: had she genuinely thought he might leave her? Believed he might move on to save strangers, leaving her alone and vulnerable to further attack? The prospect seems absurd to him, but apparently not to her. It makes him worried.
He wants to embrace her but he can't - or rather shouldn't - in his armour, with Richard's blood splashed against his breastplate. Cesare leans back and begins to unbuckle, letting the main pieces of his armour clatter on the floor before he pulls Elizabeth back into him. He presses his face to the side of hers and waits there for a second.
Of course he will stay with her. Why else is he here?]
no subject
He wonders at her question: had she genuinely thought he might leave her? Believed he might move on to save strangers, leaving her alone and vulnerable to further attack? The prospect seems absurd to him, but apparently not to her. It makes him worried.
He wants to embrace her but he can't - or rather shouldn't - in his armour, with Richard's blood splashed against his breastplate. Cesare leans back and begins to unbuckle, letting the main pieces of his armour clatter on the floor before he pulls Elizabeth back into him. He presses his face to the side of hers and waits there for a second.
Of course he will stay with her. Why else is he here?]