Threads of the Loom

Today was a day of lows and highs. It began with Harun. I told him some of what was going on with me and the Syndicate, and somewhere in all that he decided that he would try to make himself indebted with them as well, to what end, I am unsure. He thinks he can charm or wheedle his way into Elizaveta's graces, but he underestimates her in spades, if so. I warned him several times, but he seemed adamant.
 
Somewhere in all that, Skarni overheard things and seemed -- incensed to find the perpetrators. He seemed almost... protective of me. Little did I know that I would learn just how protective. Harun's cider was apparently poisoned with an 'Atrophic Poison' according to Skarni. It was, like the feverfew that was put in my tea in Thunder Bluff, meant to aggravate my wound and cause me additional suffering. Had it not been for Skarni's quick intervention with an antidote and Harun's shamanic healing, I would not be writing this now. I only regret that Harun got caught in my Unseen Assailant's attempt, having ingested some of the befouled cider himself. He ended up retiring to the lodge in the Valley of Wisdom for the night.
 
Before he left we questioned Harun on the origin of the cider. He said he makes it at home, but that he sometimes keeps some of it in a warehouse in Orgrimmar. Again, Skarni was determined to set off and search the warehouse himself, but he would not leave me alone and unguarded. He did not want me to meet some inglorious end, he said, that I deserved a better death than face-down in the dirt. That he would care so much for my honor speaks much of him. I know well how much orcs care for their vaunted honor. I could not leave to Thunder Bluff just then, though, as I was waiting for Rory before Harun found me and I could not leave the city without seeing Rory first.
 
As we waited, Skarni told me how stupid I was being, putting myself at risk for others. I pointed out that he helped me without any thought to the consequences or the rewards. I feel my words often confound, confuse, or irritate him in turns. I do not know if it is because he finds some truth in them that pains him or if he is just playing some game of cat and mouse with me. Eventually, though, Rory arrived and Skarni took himself off to see to the warehouses.
 
Rory and I returned to Thunder Bluff where I was delivered back into the healers' care. I was reprimanded and reminded of my duty as a Sunwalker to preserve life, which included my own. The healers must have droned on for an hour or more. The whole time I just kept focused on Rory as he told me of all of his findings in Un'goro. He said my Unseen Assailant rides a dragonhawk, so he suspects them of being some manner of elf. He said it also had to be someone that knew me from Taurajo. Combined with the tie-in that Skarni found to Westfall, it is clearly a member of the Alliance doing this or someone who wants it to look like the Alliance. Are they trying to provoke me into attackng?
 
He and I continued to talk about various things, but at the end of the night Rory told me he loved me. That he loved me and wanted to put me first in all things. That I was amazing and that he was not ashamed for people to know that he cared for me. He went on to say that he had no intention of tying me down, of committing or making me commit to him in anyway. The future is too uncertain. He just wanted me to know that he would be there for me in any capacity, for as long as I wished it.
 
Given everything I have undertaken to help Rory, given the miles I have now walked in his shoes, it was an easy thing for me to admit that I loved him too. Like him, though, this is a love of both comfort and respect, not commitment. I leave him as free to seek out companionship with other people as I am free to do the same. But none of it can or will change how we feel about each other. It is a comforting feeling.