From every there to here

"Lugh."

"Lugh."

The youth jumped, fumbling for words as his eyes snapped to Ser Theodor's weary face. "Sorry, I was -" The graying knight merely pushed a bowl of steaming soup in his hands, paying no mind to his apologies. Lugh bit down, embarrassed as he accepted the offered food with a barely audible thank you, careful not to spill any on the book he'd been reading.

"Did the maiden bespell you?" Theodor joked with his gruff voice as he sat down by the crackling campfire, having noticed his squire's unusually quiet demeanor. When his words were met with a confused stare, he nodded towards the book that still rested on Lugh's knees, an amused yet friendly smile set on his face that hardly fit his otherwise so rough features. It was an old storybook, its opened page depicting an illustrated scene of a lord and lady holding each other under a flowering tree. "Does she remind you of someone?"

"Ah- .... No, I was just..." Lugh hastily murmured, visibly ashamed as he put the bowl aside to wrap the book back in its protective cloth. He could feel his face burn.

Theodor lifted his hand at the sight of this, a calming gesture: "I shouldn't have teased -"

"It's not that, sir." Lugh cut him off and shook his head, lowering his gaze to the picture as his fair curls fell over his brow. It's the lord he'd been looking at, the man's finely painted features stilling his hand even now, his flustered words and burning cheeks forgotten if only for a few crawling seconds.

The knight fell silent. He pondered the youth's frail silence; the way Lugh's hand lingered on the page, the speed he closed the book with and hid out of their sight after remembering himself. Theodor said nothing still, merely gestured to Lugh to eat while the soup was still hot and had some semblance of taste left.

Long stretches of silence weren't anything unusual for them, but there was a contemplative note to it for Theodor this time. He handed off the waterskin to his squire and after a moment, the old knight finally spoke up. "I'm no authority on these matters, but-" He began evenly while dipping a piece of bread in the soup, "Nobody is. Such a person doesn't exist on these lands or beyond who can dictate what is and isn't right for you."

Lugh looked at him warily.

"I don't know what your folks taught you, but it's alright, Lugh. To want what you want." The green-eyed man continued, nodding once in that stoic way of his to accentuate his words. "It really is."

Lugh... returned the nod, quietly, although the look on his face wasn't quite convinced. Still, a faint smile found its way to his lips and he huffed back, timid relief hidden behind false confidence. "I know that."

Theodor wasn’t exactly a wordsmith, but... the boy could appreciate the effort.

The old knight watched Lugh reach for what remained of the bread and he couldn't help but shake his head with a deep chuckle. "Good lad."