When Kara moved closer to him Hallbjorn anticipated her embrace. He shifted his arm to accommodate her need to hug him and managed to drive just as well with her hugging him and one arm occupied with hugging her back. The vehicle stayed in its proper lane and they were in no danger of crossing the meridian and plowing into an oncoming vehicle. It was a nice gesture, but Hallbjorn would never let Kara take any pain from him. Especially not when it was because of one of his actions or choices.<br/><br/>He felt a spike of fear when she mentioned that he deserved happiness. He was not sure if he knew how to be that way.<br/><br/>"I have not." Hallbjorn replied to Kara's question. "I did not explain the curse or what I had to do to end it." The blond man related this to her in a neutral tone. "It did not seem like it would matter. I would have forgiven Helgi if he asked me to, the very moment I learned he gave away that sword. But he did not. His God and his Christ, perhaps, but not me."<br/><br/>Hallbjorn looked over at Kara. His expression was thoughtful as he looked at her, and there was an obvious working of his mind going on behind his blue eyes. Whatever those thoughts were, he did not share them when his attention turned back to the road. Whatever he had tried to suss out he had not managed to successfully, and so put it aside. "My brother and his Bride live in New Orleans. My brother considers himself unaligned - neither Forebearer nor Horde, not Vertas or Pravus. His Bride is a dryad - a type of nature Fey. The dryads are aligned with the Vertas League, but that alliance of 'good,'" one could hear the air quotes, "is more fragile and tenuous than a house of cards."<br/><br/>He was silent again for a time. "Do you want to meet Helgi and his Bride?" Hallbjorn asked, though he believed he knew before asking that she did.