[ For this first moment, Gregor barely notices Miles except as an abstract awareness of his existence by his side. But it seems to fit reality, slot neatly into his understanding of the world (Miles is with him) and his-- mother-- his mother doesn't at all. She may as well be a dream.
He has no idea what it is she drops to the floor; his eyes are as riveted on her face as hers are on his. Gregor has seen pictures of her, but in pictures Kareen Vorbarra is always serene, the epitome of a future Empress. He knows they no more tell the story of who she is or how she is in life than his own official portraits do. Seeing her now is an opportunity he'd never thought he'd have. Even knowing that Miles's parents are from just past her death... Somehow, Gregor had never imagined his mother showing up. His father-- in a nightmare, maybe.
But his mother has always been a dream to him, of warmth and safety, an so less real. The dream is standing in front of him.
His earlier inner question about whether he can just hug her immediately absolves into action without him quite processing it: Gregor folds forward and tucks her against him, for once less so they can hide their emotional reactions and more just to cling to her. It's disorienting at first since he's taller than her, but some far-flung part of his brain recalls how it feels to be hugged by his mother and it flares to life, as breakable and precious as spun glass. ]
I survived everything, [ he finds himself saying, knowing what she's really getting at about his age. His voice is hoarse. ] The Vorkosigans saw me safe through everything, I swear. I'm Emperor now.
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He has no idea what it is she drops to the floor; his eyes are as riveted on her face as hers are on his. Gregor has seen pictures of her, but in pictures Kareen Vorbarra is always serene, the epitome of a future Empress. He knows they no more tell the story of who she is or how she is in life than his own official portraits do. Seeing her now is an opportunity he'd never thought he'd have. Even knowing that Miles's parents are from just past her death... Somehow, Gregor had never imagined his mother showing up. His father-- in a nightmare, maybe.
But his mother has always been a dream to him, of warmth and safety, an so less real. The dream is standing in front of him.
His earlier inner question about whether he can just hug her immediately absolves into action without him quite processing it: Gregor folds forward and tucks her against him, for once less so they can hide their emotional reactions and more just to cling to her. It's disorienting at first since he's taller than her, but some far-flung part of his brain recalls how it feels to be hugged by his mother and it flares to life, as breakable and precious as spun glass. ]
I survived everything, [ he finds himself saying, knowing what she's really getting at about his age. His voice is hoarse. ] The Vorkosigans saw me safe through everything, I swear. I'm Emperor now.