but the rocks are tumbling all around me

The last time Teach had another man this close was the avenger's assault - haunting, though not the true last time he'd recalled the name of Oleg.

Isurd, for his part, almost never fights hand-to-hand. He's a true tactical commander, apparently broadly unused to others' interest (in Teach's case, compulsion's compunction, and vice versa) in his wellbeing and proper care.

They're both quite insular, aren't they? The hermit, arms braced affront in self-defense, and the turtle, now situated beneath those arms, breathing headily of Teach's own bare breath and skin, distressingly vulnerable.

In cool heat, they drift, silent, and perhaps changed.