opening this up with a couple notes. First, this is the latest Nevin/Eteri thread. It takes place after all others involving them. Second, it follows up something introduced in a smut thread. To save people needing to read that: Nevin and Eteri have fun in a restaurant, and catch the eye of a 'waiter'. They left, but he obsessed. Without further ado, A Darker Shade.,
Nevin stared, somewhat mute, at Eteri as she stood in the middle of his shop. She had been gone for close to a week now, and he hadn't thought anything of it. Not after reaffirming that she loved him and very much wanted to stay. But now, here she was, not meeting his eyes as she looked down and to one side her face strangely blank. And telling him that…

“I'm… I’m sorry, could you repeat that, honey?” He saw one hand tremble slightly, her body fidget, and her face tightened up. She was agitated, which only confirmed his sinking suspicion that she was serious about this.

“Eteri not honey. Eteri want to take a break.” his heart ached, hard. The last time she had said that, she had meant just from bedroom activities - her body not used to them off of her cycle. But now, combined with her rejecting the endearment… Nevin’s hands tensed up.

“I want to - to make sure. You don't mean from intense stuff, you mean, from me?” This time, Eteri’s eyes shot up to his, and for a moment Nevin thought he saw sorrow in them, like - then it was gone, and there was a disdainful blank mess in the gaze.

“Right. Eteri no want to be with you.” One of the clearer sentences he had ever heard her speak, it seemed like his attempts at helping her get a better grasp of Tradespeak had worked out well. If only she wasn't using that to leave him. But it was odd - even with her slightly better grasp of Tradespeak, she was still speaking oddly, at least for her, and wasn't using the right terms. Before he could think deeper on that though, she backed away, to the door.

“You say can leave if want. Want leave. Bye.” And with that, she was out the door. Nevin stared after her - he hadn't even gotten a chance to say goodbye to her, she was just out and gone. He didn't know - he didn't know why she had decided to just leave. She knew he had no qualms with her being a bit more of a free spirit than a homebody, but this was different. This felt more final - and with the way she had been acting…

Nevin just slumped where he was, his legs giving up on him as he stared at the door. At some point someone walked in and saw him kneeling there, staring blankly in their direction - and slowly backed out, flipping his sign to closed as they left. He processed none of this, his mind trying to come to terms with the realization that Eteri had left him.

He didn't know how long he stayed there, unthinking, unseeing, but he did know that - that when he finally came to his senses, his legs were screaming at him in pain. That was actually why brought him out of his stupor - his legs had spasmed, throwing him to the floor as they forcibly sought relief from the painful position they had been locked in.

Instead of getting up though, Nevin just laid there, his eyes wide and staring, at the ceiling. His vision got blurry at one point, and he realized that he was crying. With a shudder, he pushed himself onto his side, then on to his feet - he couldn't afford to just shut down because she had left him. Even if it did tear a hole in him. Is this what I get for letting someone close to a monster with two souls?

He pressed his hand against his chest, where it felt like he was on fire, and frozen, at the same time. This hurt, far more than he had thought it would. He took deep, shuddering breath, and realized his cheeks were wet. How long had he been crying? Nevin forced himself to stop shaking, and took a deep breath again. It would be safer to stay with friends, and just visit the Golden Lily. This was too painful.