HARPER
"I'm not so prudish as to not talk about sex of any sort. Again, it just...it comes down to age for me." Yes maybe he's a bit old fashioned, though not quite in the same way as he views Phoebes upbringing to have been. "Saying you shouldn't have said anything is a manipulative cop-out," he sighs, no real sharpness to his voice, just exhaustion. "You did say it. Though I accept your apology." She appears to mean it earnestly enough, and sincerity means the world to Harper.
He gives her the respect of listening to her, of trying and struggling to find a middle ground for the both of them somewhere in this tangled mess. Part of him doesn't think it's possible, but he's at least willing to try. "It doesn't have to be specific, or eloquent. I'd thought you would have asked me long ago, if only to strengthen your midwifery. But you didn't, and it felt as if you didn't care for the knowledge I had, not if it didn't fit your current worldview." Harper has been to therapy and counseling over years of trauma and loss. A magic-wielding one, but credentialed all the same. So he tries to revert back to saying "I statements", especially if she claims him to be so hard to read. Maybe this will help.
Her hands on his have him reluctantly loosening his grip. What is passable or slightly painful to him will be much worse for her, and despite her inner devotion if things go south Harper doesn't ever want to be the type of person to scream and break things. That's as much abuse as shoving her away would be. "Yes, I am. But we are both fully matured, our hormones have settled, our brains have grown to their greatest potential. That doesn't happen until your mid-twenties. Age gaps are far more acceptable when past that age. But most honorable people would never even want to be with someone still in their developmental stages." Harper tries to use a more universal language, word choices that she can understand and compare to plants or some such idea.
"My happiness isn't fake, Phoebe. But it's true I don't open up. There is much to me that I feel - that I know - you would shy away from." Exactly why he'd only trusted Kiada so far with that information.
He gives her the respect of listening to her, of trying and struggling to find a middle ground for the both of them somewhere in this tangled mess. Part of him doesn't think it's possible, but he's at least willing to try. "It doesn't have to be specific, or eloquent. I'd thought you would have asked me long ago, if only to strengthen your midwifery. But you didn't, and it felt as if you didn't care for the knowledge I had, not if it didn't fit your current worldview." Harper has been to therapy and counseling over years of trauma and loss. A magic-wielding one, but credentialed all the same. So he tries to revert back to saying "I statements", especially if she claims him to be so hard to read. Maybe this will help.
Her hands on his have him reluctantly loosening his grip. What is passable or slightly painful to him will be much worse for her, and despite her inner devotion if things go south Harper doesn't ever want to be the type of person to scream and break things. That's as much abuse as shoving her away would be. "Yes, I am. But we are both fully matured, our hormones have settled, our brains have grown to their greatest potential. That doesn't happen until your mid-twenties. Age gaps are far more acceptable when past that age. But most honorable people would never even want to be with someone still in their developmental stages." Harper tries to use a more universal language, word choices that she can understand and compare to plants or some such idea.
"My happiness isn't fake, Phoebe. But it's true I don't open up. There is much to me that I feel - that I know - you would shy away from." Exactly why he'd only trusted Kiada so far with that information.
let your faith be bigger than your fear
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
