Darling please, just give us some time, and I swear we'll be alright
Pain is not something she is unfamiliar with seeing in the subtle crevices of the sheer stone that creates his facade. Physical more often perhaps, but she has grown adept at reading him in their many years together, and such anguish has not reached these levels in some time. It remains all too soon. Hotaru hates to see him crumble so, not because he is undeserving of the motion itself, but because she wishes he would never have need of it in the first place. His pain is her own, and yet it is a burden she has never been more willing to ease from his aching bones and onto her own.
She holds him all the tighter for his murmured words, defeat and despair so rare to hear and so much more impactful for it. "I know it hurts. I'm so sorry," she whispers in return, wishing the healing she has been gifted with through Frey and Atlas alike could remove this particular wound. "You deserve so much more. If I could take it all away I would, but it's okay to hurt. We have to feel it in order to heal." Something neither of them is proficient at. They are the types to ignore, divert, pretend that they are invulnerable and indomitable instead of acknowledging what has brought them low.
He cracks a little at last, head falling to her shoulder, and he will find it strong and unyielding - capable of cradling even him; the mountain, the sword. Her body may yet be small, but the strength in her arms will carry him through the tide that threatens to swallow him, and her steps will never falter. He is safe here, cocooned in golden hair and warm arms that press him close, hands that comb through his dark hair and a heart that loves him beating steady against his cheek as a reminder that she is alive and has not abandoned him. Her shelter is large enough even for the likes of him, he the magnificent shield that has arched over every soul seeking respite from the onslaughts of this world. But even he is not infinite in his reach, impregnable in his iron-clad depths. They build themselves into weapons, but even the most tempered steel can break.
Shuffling to prop her hip on the side of his chair to better hold him, she continues to comb her fingers through his hair, gentle against his scalp in soothing motions. He does not need to reach for her in order to find her - she will be there, hand already outstretched, whenever he needs her. "The world may not care for you, but the world is not what would mourn your loss. The world is not what holds you dear. We are." At her angle, she presses a kiss to his crown, emotion choking her for a moment into silence. But these are words she has never felt so sure of, so confident in, and she must say them for his benefit alone. "You matter to me. Your happiness, your successes, your losses. The world can burn, it will continue to move on with or without us. But there will never be another you. We must cut out our own sanctuaries where we can, and you have suffered too long without one my love." If she had been here, if she had returned earlier, maybe..."You have given everything, and I will never stop you from continuing to give. But soon there will be nothing left, and you will hurt all the more for not being able to do so." Hotaru knows he would, knows he would despair over being unable to help, protect, defend, even at his most broken. She is willing to use that against him, to encourage him to take care of himself for once. "Trust me, my heart. Let it go, just for now. I have your back, always." In war and solitude alike.
She holds him all the tighter for his murmured words, defeat and despair so rare to hear and so much more impactful for it. "I know it hurts. I'm so sorry," she whispers in return, wishing the healing she has been gifted with through Frey and Atlas alike could remove this particular wound. "You deserve so much more. If I could take it all away I would, but it's okay to hurt. We have to feel it in order to heal." Something neither of them is proficient at. They are the types to ignore, divert, pretend that they are invulnerable and indomitable instead of acknowledging what has brought them low.
He cracks a little at last, head falling to her shoulder, and he will find it strong and unyielding - capable of cradling even him; the mountain, the sword. Her body may yet be small, but the strength in her arms will carry him through the tide that threatens to swallow him, and her steps will never falter. He is safe here, cocooned in golden hair and warm arms that press him close, hands that comb through his dark hair and a heart that loves him beating steady against his cheek as a reminder that she is alive and has not abandoned him. Her shelter is large enough even for the likes of him, he the magnificent shield that has arched over every soul seeking respite from the onslaughts of this world. But even he is not infinite in his reach, impregnable in his iron-clad depths. They build themselves into weapons, but even the most tempered steel can break.
Shuffling to prop her hip on the side of his chair to better hold him, she continues to comb her fingers through his hair, gentle against his scalp in soothing motions. He does not need to reach for her in order to find her - she will be there, hand already outstretched, whenever he needs her. "The world may not care for you, but the world is not what would mourn your loss. The world is not what holds you dear. We are." At her angle, she presses a kiss to his crown, emotion choking her for a moment into silence. But these are words she has never felt so sure of, so confident in, and she must say them for his benefit alone. "You matter to me. Your happiness, your successes, your losses. The world can burn, it will continue to move on with or without us. But there will never be another you. We must cut out our own sanctuaries where we can, and you have suffered too long without one my love." If she had been here, if she had returned earlier, maybe..."You have given everything, and I will never stop you from continuing to give. But soon there will be nothing left, and you will hurt all the more for not being able to do so." Hotaru knows he would, knows he would despair over being unable to help, protect, defend, even at his most broken. She is willing to use that against him, to encourage him to take care of himself for once. "Trust me, my heart. Let it go, just for now. I have your back, always." In war and solitude alike.
HOTARU
