Little Moments of Love

[+Bliev she/her]

So I'm on an OB re-read (I ran out of other books to read, so here we are), and I'm at the moment when Azure, Kal, Shallan and Adolin are in Shadesmar on the boat. Shallan is contemplating her drawings and how her multiple selves--whom she created to help her be *less* broken--are, themselves, broken. Adolin approaches her and the following occurs:

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Adolin glanced at the fluttering pages with the different versions of her. He reached out and hugged her, saying nothing. Which turned out to be the right thing to say.

Which is then followed by:

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"Shallan's broken, so I think I'm trying to hide her. Like a cracked vase, where you turn the nice side toward the room, hiding the flaw. I'm not doing it on purpose, but it's happening, and I don't know how to stop it."

He held her.

"No advice?" she asked, numb. "Everyone always seems to have loads."

"You're the smart one. What can I say?"

After he shares his secret to her re: Sadeas:

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"In any case, I think I know what it's like to feel like you're lying to the world. So maybe if you figure out what to do, you could tell me?"

She leaned into him, listening to his heartbeat, his breathing. She felt his warmth.

"You never did say," she whispered, "which [version of Shallan] you prefer."

"It's obvious. I prefer the real you."

"Which one is that, though?"

"She's the one I'm talking to right now. You don't have to hide, Shallan. You don't have to push it down. Maybe the vase is cracked, but that only means it can show what's inside. And I like what's inside."

So warm. Comfortable. And strikingly unfamiliar. What was this peace? This place without fear?

So, I read that again, and in depth this time, and I really felt the "little moment of love" in that section. I think Brandon is really good at writing those little seemingly mundane moments of relationships that actually make a relationship work. Like in a marriage, the importance of someone just listening when you complain, and not trying to fix everything. Or of a small hug when you're feeling alone. Many novels do the "sweeping romance" really well, but don't do the mundane well at all. It just made me realize how well the "little things" work in OB. During an exceptionally cold winter, it just gave me a little warmth. :-)

So I thought--what little moments of love have stood out to you in OB (or in SA in general)? So many relationships to choose from...

[Karger he/him]

I liked the moment with Navani and Dalinar together on top of the tower with Navani only partially dressed as an indication that she was comfortable around him as opposed to a seduction attempt.  The other one was Syl hugging Kaladin when he can't swear the third ideal acknowledging and comforting Kaladin for his human failures.

[+Bliev she/her]

3 minutes ago, Karger said:

I liked the moment with Navani and Dalinar together on top of the tower with Navani only partially dressed as an indication that she was comfortable around him as opposed to a seduction attempt.  The other one was Syl hugging Kaladin when he can't swear the third ideal acknowledging and comforting Kaladin for his human failures.

That Syl/Kal moment was really sweet. 

[CrazyRioter she/her]

The Syl and Kal moment was so sweet, though I don't know about people in general, but I don't read it as romantic. It's a sweet non-romantic kind of love.

[Karger he/him]

1 minute ago, CrazyRioter said:

The Syl and Kal moment was so sweet, though I don't know about people in general, but I don't read it as romantic. It's a sweet non-romantic kind of love.

He did not specify the love had to be romantic.

[+Bliev she/her]

Nope! Doesn't have to be romantic at all! I just went to re-read that Syl scene, and it is definitely one of those small moments of true love.

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Syl's arms enfolded him from behind, and he felt softness as her cheek pressed against the back of his neck. She pulled him tight as he wept, sobbing, at his failure.

This one too:

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Jasnah fell to her knees, then pulled Renarin into an embrace. He broke down crying, like he had as a boy, burying his head in her shoulder. 

"What's wrong with me?" Renarin asked. "Why do I see these things? I thought I was doing something right, with Glys, but somehow it's all wrong..."

"Hush," Jasnah whispered. "We'll find a way through it, Renarin. Whatever it is, we'll fix it. We'll survive this, somehow."

I mean, chills. At first this felt like a more sweeping moment to me, but nope--the sweetness and love are in that embrace, don't you know? The soft "hush" that sounds like it could have been me whispering it to my daughter when she sobbed after a nightmare. Such a *real* moment.