angrypiratehusbands:

Flint hadn’t realized just how long he had been gazing off into the distance until the familiar lilt of Thomas’ voice broke him from his reverie.

“Something on your mind?”

Despite the gentle tone Flint hadn’t heard Thomas’ approach, and so the abrupt question was enough to make him flinch. When he looked upward those blue eyes were full of kindness and understanding, and just as soft as the rest of his features.

“Many things,” Flint answered easily enough.

At this the corner of Thomas’ mouth rose a fraction. “Care to share with me?” he asked then, his eyes moving over his face, searching.

Flint released a steady breath as his chin dipped in something akin to embarrassment. “I was thinking of your name,” he admitted after a few moment.

Thomas’ brow quirked in confusion. “My name..?”

Flint swallowed down the lump in his throat before nodding once more. “Thomas..” he finally murmured, his gaze flitting back towards the ground. “Over the past ten years, I had taken great care to keep from saying your name… Not only to prevent myself from reopening old wounds, but.. Partly from shame. So that I would not sully your good name with the tongue of the bloodthirsty monster I was becoming.”

“James..”

“And those few times in which I did speak it, it was done so with an unimaginable weight. The guilt and rage I felt for your death.. the fear… It weighed on me heavier and heavier with each utterance, until finally I was certain that I’d be crushed beneath it entirely.”

Flint released another breath before continuing. “And now here we both are… Now, when I speak your name it is simple. Effortless… Because no longer am I sharing the tragic tale of a lost love, a ghost, but because I am speaking directly to you. Thomas.”