So tired trying to see from behind the red in my eyes
No better version of me I could pretend to be tonight
No better version of me I could pretend to be tonight
Like a father is a surprise, Koa struggling to hide his doubt in Harper's fatherhood abilities. From what little Jude has told him it seems that the Stalwart deserves an award for Absentee Father of the Year - but then again, who is he to judge the families of others? And it doesn't matter what he thinks, or knows, or thinks he knows: Like Jude, Soh has experienced a terrible loss, and in the hour of her grief, Koa's the one who's here.
He half expects her to decline, but she doesn't and it's too late for him to back out, as awkward as this may be. Not that he would - how could he, when she's standing there with tears in her eyes, and there's nothing else he can offer to dull that familiar pain? "Alright. C'mere," Koa murmurs, extending his arms to envelop Sohalia against his chest.
She's thin and brittle within his embrace, delicate as a porcelain flower; he fears her edges will shear his heart, but still he holds her close.
And yes, it's selfish, as Jude accused, but Koa is just a man. No hero, no saint: only a boy, doing his best to find some purpose in a ruthless, lonely world. Maybe in pain he can find redemption. Maybe if he keeps letting others shave away slices of him in their own search for happiness, the parts that remain will finally take a shape someone can love.
He half expects her to decline, but she doesn't and it's too late for him to back out, as awkward as this may be. Not that he would - how could he, when she's standing there with tears in her eyes, and there's nothing else he can offer to dull that familiar pain? "Alright. C'mere," Koa murmurs, extending his arms to envelop Sohalia against his chest.
She's thin and brittle within his embrace, delicate as a porcelain flower; he fears her edges will shear his heart, but still he holds her close.
And yes, it's selfish, as Jude accused, but Koa is just a man. No hero, no saint: only a boy, doing his best to find some purpose in a ruthless, lonely world. Maybe in pain he can find redemption. Maybe if he keeps letting others shave away slices of him in their own search for happiness, the parts that remain will finally take a shape someone can love.
Koa
No other version of me I would rather be tonight
And, Lord, she found me just in time
And, Lord, she found me just in time
