@tidefated continued from [x]

Horatio did not press as Bush turned from him, remaining on the other side of the table, his hands still holding to the back of a chair as he contained the true depths of his anger as the state of matters was more wholly revealed. Years as Tia Dalma’s apprentice had taught him a great deal – not the least of which being that there was a certain order to things that was by no means being maintained by the witch who presently held this man’s life bound in contractual service. 

He was offended on behalf of Bush – but also as one bound by the arcane. This was by no means excusable, and Horatio was more than ready to take action against it – however, he also knew that doing so without the man’s consent would play its own risks with obligation that he had no wish to entangle in what was already a very strange circumstantial relationship. 

They had been through a great deal as officers together – both torn away from the life by magic – and through some grace, found one another again. Horatio wanted nothing more than to free William Bush of the shackles set upon him – and to perhaps gain in so doing a companion he could trust on a journey that held more questions than it did answers. However, it would not do for the man to think even for a moment that he was trading one set of chains for another. 

“The requirements of your freedom are not what I am concerned with, Mister Bush,” Horatio stated carefully, stepping at last from around the table to approach his one-time superior. “They are inconsequential to me. What I want to know – what I need to know – is that you desire that freedom enough to allow me to tend to those requirements – and that you trust me enough to know that my assistance here does not forge a debt between us.” 

Reaching out, he clasped the damaged hand by the wrist and drew it to eye level, meeting the man’s gaze across from it. “This is abhorrent, not because of what it looks like but because of what it represents. Her power over you – and your willingness to be grateful to her for it because of who it all spared. I would have a better life for you than this – whether I witness it or otherwise.”