[ she stops again. he is the first to say so. and it occurs to her, then, that it matters. that she cares if she is easy to get along with, that it is a valuable trait as much as a strong arm or a quick foot. ]
[ she looks down at the pickaxe in her hands. some feeling she doesn't recognize swells up in her chest, like wet pressure. she clears her throat of the tickle of flower petals.
the silence stretches as she searches for words. ]
I don't have much practice.
[ there. that's the crux of it, right? she goes back to swinging the pickaxe. ]
My family died. [ would she recognize her parents if they were here? she tries to imagine their faces, but all that comes up is their slave brands. it makes her arm itch. ] And I lived apart from the clan.
[ a feeling like a sucking void, one that she is constantly skirting around. rejection. worthlessness. they hadn't just made her a slave for some crime, they'd exiled her, treated her like she was more kossian than kuruko, even though she wanted no part of them, had no blood in common with them. it is a fluttering, fearful sense of guilt and grief. ]
[ Kaito's actually not the worst when it comes to silently listening and processing information without throwing his two cents all over the place. As Mavis explains, even in so few words, Kaito can see vivid pictures—assumptions, all of them, based off his interpretation of the emotions bleeding from her aura.
Either way, he's been seeing auras for his entire life. He has a pretty good feeling that his guesses at her emotions are at least somewhat accurate.
In the end, he doesn't stop swinging. But his eyes are firmly set on her figure. ]
I know you didn't have to share. Thank you.
If there's any silver lining in this hellscape... it's that you have time to practice some more. With me. With the rest of us.
[ she looks up at him. tightens her grip on her pickaxe. chews her lip. ]
Yeah.
[ she nods a little, finally. it had not occurred to her until now — that the things which she was missing, the life that she had not gotten to live for exile and early death, might be lived here, now. that maybe she had already begun doing just that.
she looks back down at the pickaxe, then continues her work, a little more spirited for this reminder. ]
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no subject
[ Clack. Clang! Kaito barks out a laugh, unabated, very amused. The smile he beams her way is brighter still. ]
You're easy to get along with, too.
no subject
[ she stops again. he is the first to say so. and it occurs to her, then, that it matters. that she cares if she is easy to get along with, that it is a valuable trait as much as a strong arm or a quick foot. ]
no subject
[ Not a hint of hesitation. His voice echoes with the thought resonating in his mind.
Clang! ]
I hope that's as meaningful to you as it is to me.
no subject
the silence stretches as she searches for words. ]
I don't have much practice.
[ there. that's the crux of it, right? she goes back to swinging the pickaxe. ]
My family died. [ would she recognize her parents if they were here? she tries to imagine their faces, but all that comes up is their slave brands. it makes her arm itch. ] And I lived apart from the clan.
[ a feeling like a sucking void, one that she is constantly skirting around. rejection. worthlessness. they hadn't just made her a slave for some crime, they'd exiled her, treated her like she was more kossian than kuruko, even though she wanted no part of them, had no blood in common with them. it is a fluttering, fearful sense of guilt and grief. ]
no subject
Either way, he's been seeing auras for his entire life. He has a pretty good feeling that his guesses at her emotions are at least somewhat accurate.
In the end, he doesn't stop swinging. But his eyes are firmly set on her figure. ]
I know you didn't have to share. Thank you.
If there's any silver lining in this hellscape... it's that you have time to practice some more. With me. With the rest of us.
no subject
Yeah.
[ she nods a little, finally. it had not occurred to her until now — that the things which she was missing, the life that she had not gotten to live for exile and early death, might be lived here, now. that maybe she had already begun doing just that.
she looks back down at the pickaxe, then continues her work, a little more spirited for this reminder. ]
no subject
This tightening of his chest. The swell of warmth, the dizziness.
It's a different kind of happiness than what Hibiki evokes. All the more important because of that.
I̸t̶ ̴w̵o̸n̶'̷t̴ ̴l̴a̶s̶t̶.̷
'Ah, but nothing lasts forever.'
Smiling without saying a word, Kaito returns to their task. Right now, only the clang of steel against bone can overpower the beat of his pulse. ]