KOA
It's surprisingly natural for Koa, wrapping his arms around Jude like this. Maybe there is something selfish to it, a shallowness in the way he seeks to comfort, to protect the boy from his own broken heart. Maybe Koa needs this as much as Jude does: to feel purpose, to feel like he matters, to do something that helps, even if it's more band-aid than balm. He'd held Noe like this, in the nights after their mother's passing, running his hand over her back and promising it would be okay. It'd had been the only thing keeping him from unraveling, really, because as long as he was keeping someone else together, he couldn't afford to fall apart himself.
"I'm not going anywhere," Koa promises gently, holding Jude despite the shoulder now digging painfully into his ribs. The boy in his arm is all angles and edges, even moreso than before. Too thin, too fragile, a bird-like creature; where has he been, all these months? Who had been there to care. "I know if feels like it now, but you're not alone, okay?" Jude's friends with Noe, Koa knows that, and Sohalia must still care about her one-time lover, and there's the brother Koa doesn't trust, and somewhere a motherly demigod, and...
...and, well. Him.
"I'm not going anywhere," Koa repeats, turning his eyes to the sea. There are better words, probably, but he can't find them. He's always been better with actions, anyway. "Take as long as you need."
"I'm not going anywhere," Koa promises gently, holding Jude despite the shoulder now digging painfully into his ribs. The boy in his arm is all angles and edges, even moreso than before. Too thin, too fragile, a bird-like creature; where has he been, all these months? Who had been there to care. "I know if feels like it now, but you're not alone, okay?" Jude's friends with Noe, Koa knows that, and Sohalia must still care about her one-time lover, and there's the brother Koa doesn't trust, and somewhere a motherly demigod, and...
...and, well. Him.
"I'm not going anywhere," Koa repeats, turning his eyes to the sea. There are better words, probably, but he can't find them. He's always been better with actions, anyway. "Take as long as you need."
Let me go, I don't wanna be your hero
I don't wanna be a big man
Just wanna fight with everyone else
I don't wanna be a big man
Just wanna fight with everyone else
Code stolen from Queen Sky
