and love in some ways is just a rogue wave

I'm not giving up, kicking off the rust

There's some relief to be found in the words she so barely forms he can hardly hear them over their breathing. He tilts further back on his hand to better look at her, frowning. "You don't have to make it easier." Of course she would. Taking on more than needed over and over again. How could he convince her she needn't grasp everything that drifts past like it's her responsibility? He'd never realized the extent to which she did it, because she'd always managed to seem so light, despite all the weight she smuggled into every portion of herself she could. Could a balloon even lift one of her fingers, or would she have to become the house from Up just to manage? "You can just let it be," he suggests, gentle as a bandaid sticking to wet skin.

Slowly, he slides one foot out towards her. Whenever they got all tangled up in words like this, it always seemed like holding each other helped, but if that's half the problem now... he could extend a toe in these trying times. He wiggles it in a stretch towards her leg.

He offers a weak, lopsided smirk as she compares Caly to Dahlia. "I think you're right there, but I'd much prefer a scenario where you don't have to meet any claws. They'll hurt no matter who is wielding them, and I'm not rubbing ointment on you every night." He would, of course, he always would. He just didn't want to have to, wanted her to use something other than her body as a shield.

A breathy laugh slips free, and though the shake of it threatens to collapse all the careful steadiness he's rebuilt, he can't contain it. "I would never forget, your majesty." He holds her stare, fondness slipping in, not that it ever truly left. "Figures, you're nosy as hell." There's no winning here, he'll just have to be armed with all the gauze and creams he can find.

Kaisel

I keep acting tough but maybe I'm not good enough