show me all of your affection
let it rain on me
Oliver's stubborn loyalty and optimism both frustrates and endears Harper. It's innocent, and naive, but part of him is glad Oliver still has such an outlook. He has seen far too many people be stripped of it too soon. There's not much he can do to change the young man's mind. Speaking about such dark things doesn't come easily to Harper, relegated to dark nights and night terrors that he'd rather nobody see or know about. There's no objecting that they weren't mistakes, that taking someone's very life - even if he'd been forced, tortured, controlled - can't be called something so light as a mistake. Instead he keeps his gaze firmly away from Oliver's guileless one, managing a weak smile. "Trying our best is all we can do. I'm glad you look upon me in such a good light." What more can possibly be said? It's not a weight he can stand to place on Oliver's shoulders.
The offer finally brings his blue eyes back to the younger man's face, but he gives a weak shrug and a see-through smile as an answer. "It's...not something I like to share. Maybe someday." Harper doesn't want to be the one to shatter the Attuned's crystal vision of him. Doesn't want to be the bringer of reality and darkness to Oliver's optimistic light. "Someday" is a vague enough future he can use as an excuse. "But you do deserve it. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise, everybody deserves good things - good people - in their lives. Especially you." Lest Caido tear the boy apart. Warmth and friendship will hopefully sustain the other man, help shield and protect him, much like Harper would if faced with such a choice.
They both sink into silence for a while, the air occupied only by the scratch of Oliver's utensil against parchment. When he's instructed to release his pose, Harper does so with a loose-limbed ease. "Trust me, I can hold it much longer," he laughs accomodatingly. But he's not going to argue with the artist.
The offer finally brings his blue eyes back to the younger man's face, but he gives a weak shrug and a see-through smile as an answer. "It's...not something I like to share. Maybe someday." Harper doesn't want to be the one to shatter the Attuned's crystal vision of him. Doesn't want to be the bringer of reality and darkness to Oliver's optimistic light. "Someday" is a vague enough future he can use as an excuse. "But you do deserve it. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise, everybody deserves good things - good people - in their lives. Especially you." Lest Caido tear the boy apart. Warmth and friendship will hopefully sustain the other man, help shield and protect him, much like Harper would if faced with such a choice.
They both sink into silence for a while, the air occupied only by the scratch of Oliver's utensil against parchment. When he's instructed to release his pose, Harper does so with a loose-limbed ease. "Trust me, I can hold it much longer," he laughs accomodatingly. But he's not going to argue with the artist.
and pull down all your mountains
drag your cities to the sea
HARPER
