Darling please, just give us some time, and I swear we'll be alright
For all that it may be an allowance of her pernicious needling, the soft rumble of laughter is exactly the response she had desired, and as such she smiles and listens to it for however long she can. Joy is a scarce commodity in their lives. Admittedly she wants it more for him than herself, in one of her rare acts of selflessness. Helping him create it is the best she can do in this situation, but Hotaru has the nerve - the daring, in this world - to hope it will work all the same.
Hiding will not last her long, she is far too impatient a woman to match his steadfast nature, and the inquisitive tilt of his head feels like carbonation in her veins. When she chances a glance up at him in the unwinding silence, she wrinkles her nose a little at him, already sensing his playful nature without having to hear the words themselves and hating how easily he can bend her. All the same her eyes soften, something tired and deeply, deeply hurt flickering alongside the firelight in her gaze at his reassurance. "I know you would," she agrees, voice tempered and scarcely more than a murmur. She loves him for it. "But then I'd have to find a way to strip you of all your weapons, and I certainly can't do that to your magic." A weak smile plays on petal lips.
"He did not deserve you." It plays in thunderous rolls in her mind, the assurance that he'd proclaimed when she'd last come crying to him over Sunjata. All the same she had returned to the Flood, and yet somehow been shocked by the incompatibility of her lightning and his water. He would never do so, not now when the hurt is raw, but she is scared to tell him how right he was and open herself to potential derision over her inability to take his advice. How foolish she had been to try and make something out of nothing. To fool herself into believing she could be loved in the way her heart desires. Something more than table scraps, because Hotaru is tired of begging for that which should be freely given.
Moving to share his chair more than she already was, she wraps her thumbs around his where his hands still convalesce around her own, and though moments ago she couldn't hold his gaze now she cannot look away. Knowing he is reading her pain if nothing else. "Only listen, then. This is my burden, one I can't see on your shoulders. The only fixing I need you to do is to come with me when you're ready. Please." A word so unused in her vocabulary, and all the more imbued with gravity for it as she speaks it now. She knows he would be there at her side to fight for her honor, to dole out any measure of retribution, but Hotaru doesn't have the strength to do it now. Whatever vengeance may come, if he wants it, she asks that he will wait.
Hiding will not last her long, she is far too impatient a woman to match his steadfast nature, and the inquisitive tilt of his head feels like carbonation in her veins. When she chances a glance up at him in the unwinding silence, she wrinkles her nose a little at him, already sensing his playful nature without having to hear the words themselves and hating how easily he can bend her. All the same her eyes soften, something tired and deeply, deeply hurt flickering alongside the firelight in her gaze at his reassurance. "I know you would," she agrees, voice tempered and scarcely more than a murmur. She loves him for it. "But then I'd have to find a way to strip you of all your weapons, and I certainly can't do that to your magic." A weak smile plays on petal lips.
"He did not deserve you." It plays in thunderous rolls in her mind, the assurance that he'd proclaimed when she'd last come crying to him over Sunjata. All the same she had returned to the Flood, and yet somehow been shocked by the incompatibility of her lightning and his water. He would never do so, not now when the hurt is raw, but she is scared to tell him how right he was and open herself to potential derision over her inability to take his advice. How foolish she had been to try and make something out of nothing. To fool herself into believing she could be loved in the way her heart desires. Something more than table scraps, because Hotaru is tired of begging for that which should be freely given.
Moving to share his chair more than she already was, she wraps her thumbs around his where his hands still convalesce around her own, and though moments ago she couldn't hold his gaze now she cannot look away. Knowing he is reading her pain if nothing else. "Only listen, then. This is my burden, one I can't see on your shoulders. The only fixing I need you to do is to come with me when you're ready. Please." A word so unused in her vocabulary, and all the more imbued with gravity for it as she speaks it now. She knows he would be there at her side to fight for her honor, to dole out any measure of retribution, but Hotaru doesn't have the strength to do it now. Whatever vengeance may come, if he wants it, she asks that he will wait.
HOTARU
