I stared at the hand he held out, my eyes swinging up to his face for a moment before I cautiously placed my hand in his. He guided me to stand right between his legs, and I took the opportunity to really study the man I’d known for the past year. Despite being the one I’d known the longest, I somehow felt the most distant from him, especially lately. His long beard had been trimmed recently, some of the shagginess gone, and his neck had been cleaned up, I assumed for the meeting tonight. Unable to help myself, I brought a hand up and ran it through his short hair while he kept those serious
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