Hotaru
Her son's name on this man's lips is both benediction and burden. That he had committed her story to memory is something that helps ease the pain, reminds her that for all their misgivings and mistakes, they are still friends. In another way it is only a bitter reminder of all she had revealed in her weakest moment, only for him to hold her tight and leave to wed another woman within hours of catching her tears upon his calloused fingers. Hotaru's next breath shakes a little as her son's heterochromic eyes - so like her own - flash behind her eyes which blink too fast to chase away a sudden swell of fresh tears. She has cried far too much as of late, and she won't let herself do it now. "Yes," she whispers instead, letting the wind carry it to his ears as she stares out across the sand.
In many ways the touch is just as grounding for herself. Only partially aware of how often she does this, how much of a habit it has become to wrap her small hand around his wrist, to feel his pulse drum against her fingertips as proof that he is here and whole beside her. As so many now are not. Many whose losses they are not even aware of. His gratitude is met with only a dip of her head, golden hair swaying with the motion as she withdraws her hand.
"It would be a better front than what we have now," she agrees as conversation turns to the Guild. Still as invested as ever in its purpose. "That would be nice. Gods know I can't leave you to design much of anything alone," she tries to tease, bringing mere sparks to eyes that have held firestorms. His hand is suddenly there before her, open and offered in a gesture that shouldn't mean as much as it does. She places her own in his without any real hesitation, still trusting despite the times he has let her down. Letting him lead her wherever he'd like. Hotaru glances down at the griffin at her feet and uses the cute little critter as a distraction. "Care to introduce us properly?"
In many ways the touch is just as grounding for herself. Only partially aware of how often she does this, how much of a habit it has become to wrap her small hand around his wrist, to feel his pulse drum against her fingertips as proof that he is here and whole beside her. As so many now are not. Many whose losses they are not even aware of. His gratitude is met with only a dip of her head, golden hair swaying with the motion as she withdraws her hand.
"It would be a better front than what we have now," she agrees as conversation turns to the Guild. Still as invested as ever in its purpose. "That would be nice. Gods know I can't leave you to design much of anything alone," she tries to tease, bringing mere sparks to eyes that have held firestorms. His hand is suddenly there before her, open and offered in a gesture that shouldn't mean as much as it does. She places her own in his without any real hesitation, still trusting despite the times he has let her down. Letting him lead her wherever he'd like. Hotaru glances down at the griffin at her feet and uses the cute little critter as a distraction. "Care to introduce us properly?"
I'm ready to hope, swing me out of the low
Wide awake in the glow, I can't do this alone
Wide awake in the glow, I can't do this alone
