It would have been disingenuous to suggest Ford didn't know prior to this moment how deeply he longed for Tycho's forgiveness, but this declaration, offered easily and almost thoughtlessly, made him feel it. For weeks he had relegated it to a corner of his mind reserved for things he wasn't allowed to want. Because he hadn't earned forgiveness; because Jemima deserved more of him than he had ever been able to offer her; because there was a baby on the way; because there was no version of the future in which he ever made Tycho happy again and it was selfish to want anything from him at all.
It wasn't true absolution. Tycho couldn't offer him that while he didn't remember the sins Ford had committed against him. But hearing those words from his lips and holding the evidence of them in his hands was still entirely overwhelming. His insides buzzed in the same way a limb did before it went numb. He closed the space between them deliberately but not urgently; less a movement than a gravitational collapse. He put one hand up against the side of Tycho's face, like one would do during a kiss, then closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against Ty's. Their breath mingled in the space between them. On Ford's mind were no comprehensible thoughts at all, just a rising tide of longing.
It wasn't true absolution. Tycho couldn't offer him that while he didn't remember the sins Ford had committed against him. But hearing those words from his lips and holding the evidence of them in his hands was still entirely overwhelming. His insides buzzed in the same way a limb did before it went numb. He closed the space between them deliberately but not urgently; less a movement than a gravitational collapse. He put one hand up against the side of Tycho's face, like one would do during a kiss, then closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against Ty's. Their breath mingled in the space between them. On Ford's mind were no comprehensible thoughts at all, just a rising tide of longing.
Set by Lady!