Darling please, just give us some time, and I swear we'll be alright
Oh if only she were privy to his ruminations. How she longs for those titles of old, the power they'd wielded side by side in those icy reaches. The fight never ceases. The faces of their foes may change, but the blood on their hands only darkens, never fades. Despite these trials, through every adversity, he has been at her back. This is merely one more battle to be won. Does it matter if it is her heart that is the battleground? He will not steal her victory from her grasping fingertips, will only support her as her vanguard, her equal in all ways. It makes the definitive answer all the easier to find and hold, to cradle in her throat before she gives it life.
A soft hum of agreement follows his advice. She knows this will be what, as he says, is best for her. Easy? Far from it. But Hotaru has not survived as long as she has by being entirely selfless. She may not have much, but she does have her pride, and that has kept her alive at times when her self-worth was nothing more than ashes. The trail ahead is finally clear. Now all that is left is to walk it.
His laughter pulls her from her musings, and he can likely feel the smile against his knuckles before she lowers their paired hands obligingly. It is an uplifting - if temporary - respite. They both need more laughter these days, but the sound alone is enough to brighten her spirits. Only long enough to illuminate the path before they are drawn back into the mire. This time her lips pull downward into a frown, and she turns as best she can against his chest while his captive hand is squeezed. "You are worth every bit of effort. There is nothing I would not do for you. She is just as large a fool as Sunjata if she could not see you for who you are and appreciate you all the more for it." Had she built him up in her head the same way people often did to Hotaru? Purposefully blinding themselves to the darkness, the cloaked daggers and stained hands? The baker is a naive, gentle thing. If Amalia did not hold appreciation for the might and power that built up Deimos into the Sword that delivered justice when she had him, then she was delusional. It disgusts Hotaru, but she is more concerned with gently guiding his mind back onto a path of self-worth than she is with tearing down the Shield.
At first Hotaru doesn't understand what he means when he says she made her choice. When it sinks in, her stomach twists, and she feels slightly ill. "Then all we can do is try to prepare her. Help her figure out her new abilities. Pray she is not making the same mistake as last time." There is a defeated, dark underbelly to her tone. All too aware of how similar this situation is to when Kiada had sworn herself to Kisamoa. Her heart quails away at the notion of losing the Harpy once more, but it is an ending she must force herself to consider, if only to prepare for the inevitable loss.
A soft hum of agreement follows his advice. She knows this will be what, as he says, is best for her. Easy? Far from it. But Hotaru has not survived as long as she has by being entirely selfless. She may not have much, but she does have her pride, and that has kept her alive at times when her self-worth was nothing more than ashes. The trail ahead is finally clear. Now all that is left is to walk it.
His laughter pulls her from her musings, and he can likely feel the smile against his knuckles before she lowers their paired hands obligingly. It is an uplifting - if temporary - respite. They both need more laughter these days, but the sound alone is enough to brighten her spirits. Only long enough to illuminate the path before they are drawn back into the mire. This time her lips pull downward into a frown, and she turns as best she can against his chest while his captive hand is squeezed. "You are worth every bit of effort. There is nothing I would not do for you. She is just as large a fool as Sunjata if she could not see you for who you are and appreciate you all the more for it." Had she built him up in her head the same way people often did to Hotaru? Purposefully blinding themselves to the darkness, the cloaked daggers and stained hands? The baker is a naive, gentle thing. If Amalia did not hold appreciation for the might and power that built up Deimos into the Sword that delivered justice when she had him, then she was delusional. It disgusts Hotaru, but she is more concerned with gently guiding his mind back onto a path of self-worth than she is with tearing down the Shield.
At first Hotaru doesn't understand what he means when he says she made her choice. When it sinks in, her stomach twists, and she feels slightly ill. "Then all we can do is try to prepare her. Help her figure out her new abilities. Pray she is not making the same mistake as last time." There is a defeated, dark underbelly to her tone. All too aware of how similar this situation is to when Kiada had sworn herself to Kisamoa. Her heart quails away at the notion of losing the Harpy once more, but it is an ending she must force herself to consider, if only to prepare for the inevitable loss.
HOTARU
