[Paul adjusts himself to curve close around Kaworu, gathering him up in an embrace (not thinking of a blood-slick sea and empty eyes) that settles the shorter boy's head against Paul's shoulder in a ever-more familiar pattern. He draws both of them up from the floor as he does so, sitting back on his heels and resting Kaworu's slight weight against himself.
He looks over Kaworu's head at the alien bird, forlorn and lost as the angel-turned-human whose back he begins to stroke in long, soothing passes. He gives her a slight nod, as solemn as the one he gave Merlinus when he first swore to care for Kaworu. The vow stands.]
Yes.
[Paul says, gently, his own eyes still only shining with light, not moisture. He can smell Kaworu's tears, this close, their faint mimicry of sun-warmed tide pools.]
So that we can see each other's hurts. And they're good for you, too. Like draining infection from a wound.
[Stress-secreted hormones leeched out through the lacrimal glands, the physiological release of heaving lungs and wrung out sorrow. Crying is a vulnerability, but it's also a gift, a blessing to be shared only with those you most trust.
no subject
He looks over Kaworu's head at the alien bird, forlorn and lost as the angel-turned-human whose back he begins to stroke in long, soothing passes. He gives her a slight nod, as solemn as the one he gave Merlinus when he first swore to care for Kaworu. The vow stands.]
Yes.
[Paul says, gently, his own eyes still only shining with light, not moisture. He can smell Kaworu's tears, this close, their faint mimicry of sun-warmed tide pools.]
So that we can see each other's hurts. And they're good for you, too. Like draining infection from a wound.
[Stress-secreted hormones leeched out through the lacrimal glands, the physiological release of heaving lungs and wrung out sorrow. Crying is a vulnerability, but it's also a gift, a blessing to be shared only with those you most trust.
(The rain still doesn't come.)]