Hotaru
angels would damn themselves for me
The genuineness of his smile soothes the raw edges of her hope, long dead and soldered shut inside her. A piece of herself she’d come to accept would never find use in a place like Caido, where traditions of battle for respect, material possessions, and more did not exist. If there was no place for that, there was certainly no place for a Thief. But Deimos would not give her hope that had no basis or potential, and her return smile is wobbly with emotion. Gratitude most of all, that he had never forgotten who she was, what would make her happiest. She can’t even summon words to combat his teasing, too filled with riotous joy that beats back the shadows of her grief. It is tempered swiftly by his revelation, and the Valkyrie goes grim and quiet. There’s no use wasting words and breath on pointing out just how dangerous that land is. Deimos already knows, and Ru knows just as well that he intends to go regardless of the risk. The inclination of his head is not a goodbye - they never say goodbyes, and they never will - but it makes her incline her own in turn. This is who they are. Fear has never worn away foundations made strong by duty and fealty. It would not find a foothold now. “I will keep her as safe as I can in your absence.” A vow, because Ru can’t ask of him a promise he can’t keep: to come home at the end of it all. “Who else will award me that rank after all?” Teasing lilt returning to tone and lips alike, unwilling to linger too long on what-ifs. They have a little more time. Hotaru won’t waste a single grain of sand in the hourglass on fear before it’s due.
