I heard that you fell in love or near enough

Koa

Don't take this the wrong way
You knew who I was with every step that I ran to you

He's floored, honestly. And he's frightened, because his first thought when she drops her bombshell is fuck, I'm being put on leave. Had his mother ever been ordered to take two weeks off? Had anyone? Koa blanches, brows furrowing tight. "Cap-- Anju, you don't have to-- I'm fine---"

But the protest fails and falters, the lie as exhausted as he is. Anju doesn't seem particularly angry; if anything she's sympathetic, her kind intentions clear beneath the blunt delivery. And it's true: between his myriad of projects and his late nights boxing, the young Dragoon has been running himself more ragged than he realizes. This recent heartbreak has simply been the straw that broke his back, sending fractures down the careful façade of I'm doing great he wears.

So he doesn't protest further, especially when she preempts his remaining worries and promises to look in on Noe and their dad. In part because he knows it'll be a losing battle; in part because he's just so grateful, relieved in a way he didn't know he could feel. Broad shoulders slump, a weight sliding off them. "Thanks, Auntie," the Dragoon murmurs, eyes crinkling in a grateful smile despite the bags that weigh them down.

A sharp whistle from the kitchen breaks the moment, Koa turning to fetch the teapot and begin to fill up cups. He returns with two mugs, both made by his father, though one shows signs of a childish hand (especially in the large black dragon emblazoned haphazardly on its side, a signature of 'KOA' clearly demarcating the artist) "Maybe after, I could stay a while?" he asks, extending the painted mug to Anju, as well as a box of tea. His own mug sports a concoction of Mateo's making that smells pungently of herbs and licorice, but is excellent for hangovers.

And then, because like Anju the boy is rather incapable of taking a break, he settles into the chair across from her and begins to expound on some of his ideas for the Dragoons, growing more and more animated as time goes on. By the time she leaves he will be almost human, invigorated and enthused, the fractures in his heart beginning to slowly mend.

{fin <3}

Only blue or black days
Electing strange perfections in any stranger I choose