Shining Trinkets of Grief

'Cause sometimes we don't really notice just how good it can get
so maybe we should start all over

She thinks that maybe it shouldn't be this easy - regression to the mean, the return of connection and closeness. Had wounded feelings and held grudges been the only barriers to this all this time? She hopes it isn't something more sinister; intentional ignorance of glaring flaws so that they might pretend they don't exist. Except it doesn't feel like that. It just feels...well. It feels like coming home. And Ru doesn't know how to cope with that.

All she can truly do is tell herself she'll examine it later, unwilling to taint the warmth of emotion flowing quietly through the bond with the weight of her introspection. "It's not as cold anymore. After the war forests and fields were discovered and Eirachi's hold is slowly diminishing." The region would always be cold, but now it was not a death sentence the moment you stepped out of the Citadel's walls. "I'd love to go to Frey's Breath though. The Halo springs are so busy sometimes since they're still so new." She'd like another moment to be alone with him just as they are now.

Having just finished her plate, the fork clatters a little loudly from where she had been putting it down as it slips from her grip, floored by the offer. Hotaru knows how important that nickname is, how beloved each person he'd allowed to use it had been. They may be gone, but surely she cannot measure up to their level of trust? "Are you sure?" Voice gone tentative and raw, needing his utter sincerity even when she is more than aware that he wouldn't offer it lightly.

start all over again

Hotaru

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

It’s warm and inviting and Sunjata wishes he could stay in this comfort all day. He knows it’s unrealistic, just as any other small fragile hope that settles in his chest. So he clings to it while it’s here, as if it’ll do anything to ward away the nightmares that come to him in the dark.

She agrees to come with him to Frey’s Breath, at least, and that’s another reconnection they plan on, and he keeps letting that soft smile remain on his face as he settles and gives her hand a gentle squeeze again. “Maybe one day Halo won’t be as frigid to most. He is not most, however, having only ever learned what snow was from arriving here. “Frey’s Breath is a bit more my speed.” With the heat and warmth he so desperately craves.

His smile only widens to hear the fork clatter, knowing what offering he’s given her, and he pulls himself forward again over their empty plates to stroke his thumb along the back of her hand as he nods. “I’m sure.” He reiterates quietly, knowing she needs it before she could ever start calling him that.

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

'Cause sometimes we don't really notice just how good it can get
so maybe we should start all over

By the end of today they will have three plans and a multitude of letters in their futures, and Hotaru can't help but find that to be a relief. This comfort will not be something experienced briefly only to be lost the next morning. Though it had been difficult to get to this moment, Hotaru finds she wants to hold onto it with both hands.

"Maybe someday. Until then, compromise." Something she thinks they will turn into an artform if their future continues to shape up in this way. Winking, she squeezes his hand back and tries not to focus on the softness of his smile. It's good to see him happy. It's good to make him happy. Hotaru had never thought she'd be able to do that again.

It seems he's intent on returning the favor though, giving her something so precious. Hotaru leans closer in tandem without thinking about it, vainly searching his placid face for any sign of hesitation that she inevitably does not find. Something in her chest trembles, but as their legs touch and their fingers intertwine, any fear or doubt she feels falls away and she smiles shyly. "Okay Sunny," she murmurs, and thinks it sounds like a new beginning.

- Fin <3333

start all over again

Hotaru