[Training] something to aim at

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

"So do I, half the time," Ronin confesses with a sheepish smile, gazing up at the softly pulsing dome above their heads and the way his aches and pains quietly fade under its light. "I guess it's difficult to remember to take advantage of what we have when most of it is no use in the type of fight we've got on our hands..." The void energy, he means, and while the thought of it has his jaw tightening, the Knight does his best to let it go. It's why he's doing this quest, after all.

Humming a note of quiet surprise as Noah reaches to brush ash off his shoulder, Ronin glances down at it and grins. "It's alright," he says of his jacket, "I've got others. I'll just imagine you were trying to keep me warm in Halo," 

Falling quiet as the other man speaks about his region and the improvements made to it, the Knight can't help the way his breath catches to hear Seren's name dropped into the conversation, as if the weight of hearing it is like a punch to the gut. "Yeah," he says softly. "Maybe I will. Thanks." He doesn't say it's alright because it isn't, and he raises his eyebrows as Noah continues. As it turns out that tragedy has sunk its fingers far across Caido over the past year.

"Gods, I'm sorry to hear that," he says, frowning and reaching out to squeeze Noah's upper arm. "It... From experience, you don't really get over loss. You just make room to work around it, and that takes as much time as it takes."

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Noah

if there's a reason I'm still alive
when so many have died

Noah nodded once, slow and quiet, the weight of it all settling between them. Ronin’s words weren’t offered lightly, and Noah didn’t take them that way. The hand on his arm was steady, and for a moment, Noah let himself feel it—anchor and ache, shared grief.

”Yeah,”he said, voice low. ”There’s space in me now where she used to be. Cold space. And I keep trying to build around it, but some days it still feels like I’m walking with a hole in my chest.” He looked away for a moment, eyes drawn to the soft glow still lingering from the seal. “But you’re right. It takes time.”

He paused, then looked back. “I’m glad you’re still here, Ronin. And I’m sorry you know what this feels like. Seren deserved more time. Cordelia too.” His jaw flexed. ”But if we’re still breathing, there’s still work worth doing.”

then I'm willing to
wait for it

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

"It's the worst truth I've ever been told, if I'm honest. That it all takes time, and there are no shortcuts. You've gotta go through it." Smiling apologetically, Ronin steps back just as the seal's light fades, and he reaches up to catch it and tuck it back away into his pocket. "I'm glad you are too," he offers with a small smile. "And I suppose there are always ways to remember those we've lost. Even having a chance to see them again is more than most get. I... let Remi know, if you ever want to talk to her, maybe? He can get messages."

And more still, but Ronin won't offer the full suite of his husband's precious gifts on the Bastion's behalf. "You're right. Speaking of which, I better get back to my work. Lovely as it has been up in Halo - especially with those hotsprings - I reckon I've left quite the to-do list back south." Nodding to Noah in gratitude for his assistance with sparring, Ronin raises a hand in a wave and crunches back across the barracks, slipping out through the doors and back into the streets.

~FIN

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!