Harper
I see what lies heavy on your heart
Hadama is a man of subtlety, like the shadows that persist in the depths of the ocean no matter how bright or long the efforts of the sun. To see him so dismayed - even peripherally, for Harper can't bear anything more direct - is both an honor and a painful burden to bear. To think he'd considered never meeting Hadama this way if only to spare his own heart. Harper needs no further proof to know that, for that alone, he is a selfish man. Or perhaps a man who cannot see what could have possibly drawn the Tidebreaker to him that could have masqueraded as any kind of worth without collapsing under the King's scrutiny.
The mer's hand is large and encompassing over his own, drawing eyes like blue shadows at twilight back to where their skin tones stand in contrast over plain packaging too pitiful to be worthy of its recipient. Harper slowly turns his hand over, and - as has always been his way - does not think a moment of the strangeness of this physicality to some as he silently holds onto Hadama's fingers.
It takes strength he didn't think he had anymore to lift his eyes to meet Hadama's head on. The smile comes easier given it appears almost peaceful. "No, I'm not alone. I have you." But only now. Only for this moment, where hues of red sunset turn Hadama's hair to fire. It will be enough for Harper, but it's an ephemeral thing that can't be lengthened even by the might of Hadama's faith. "But there's no home to go back to. And Jude - well, there are some bridges that can't be rebuilt." Wounds far deeper than the ones he'd caused in his friend, whose ceaseless understanding is the reason Harper has anyone here at the close.
Fingers squeezing around Hadama's, Harper lifts his other hand to envelop the man's hand entirely as his bared heart shines through his eyes. "I've guaranteed myself an unobtrusive exit this time, to make up for the last. No matter what sort of exit it comes to be." To give more information is to arm Hadama with opportunity to stop him, and Harper - for all he loves the Tidebreaker - cannot allow that to happen. "But I couldn't leave you in the dark a second time." Smiling like a pickpocket flashing a watch to distract their target from the creep of fingers into their pocket, Harper squeezes Hadama's hand and jokes, "Poor timing with the sunset, but we've already watched plenty of sunrises together. I thought we should mix it up."
The mer's hand is large and encompassing over his own, drawing eyes like blue shadows at twilight back to where their skin tones stand in contrast over plain packaging too pitiful to be worthy of its recipient. Harper slowly turns his hand over, and - as has always been his way - does not think a moment of the strangeness of this physicality to some as he silently holds onto Hadama's fingers.
It takes strength he didn't think he had anymore to lift his eyes to meet Hadama's head on. The smile comes easier given it appears almost peaceful. "No, I'm not alone. I have you." But only now. Only for this moment, where hues of red sunset turn Hadama's hair to fire. It will be enough for Harper, but it's an ephemeral thing that can't be lengthened even by the might of Hadama's faith. "But there's no home to go back to. And Jude - well, there are some bridges that can't be rebuilt." Wounds far deeper than the ones he'd caused in his friend, whose ceaseless understanding is the reason Harper has anyone here at the close.
Fingers squeezing around Hadama's, Harper lifts his other hand to envelop the man's hand entirely as his bared heart shines through his eyes. "I've guaranteed myself an unobtrusive exit this time, to make up for the last. No matter what sort of exit it comes to be." To give more information is to arm Hadama with opportunity to stop him, and Harper - for all he loves the Tidebreaker - cannot allow that to happen. "But I couldn't leave you in the dark a second time." Smiling like a pickpocket flashing a watch to distract their target from the creep of fingers into their pocket, Harper squeezes Hadama's hand and jokes, "Poor timing with the sunset, but we've already watched plenty of sunrises together. I thought we should mix it up."
and the strength you still keep inside
