[ But it was only for that fleeting moment, in a gesture meant to pacify her, that he could see her true heart. And just like that, it was gone. Pulled back in, subdued, restrained.
Her voice was still measured, still eerily calm and quiet. Commanding in ways that it had never been before. You weren't the only one who wouldn't tell the whole story, Allen. ]
I know that. That isn't what I meant.
[ I know you know that, her tone said, clear as a bell.
Someone like me, he said. Don't give her that. She doesn't want to hear it. She won't hear it. Don't talk to her like a child, don't treat her like a child. Don't hide from her, Allen Walker. Don't hide behind that disgusting mask of a smile and expect her to just take it. ]
And I know you know that.
[ She hesitated again, before resting her hand back on his shoulder, gentle this time, practically hovering over it. (Her mana abated, calmed a bit, the warmth was gone. It felt almost like nothing, featherlight.) She couldn't look him in the eye, afraid that he was still smiling that weapon's smile. That inhuman, twisted thing. And she needed to focus. On her words, on what she wanted to say. ]
Our scars... they're a part of who we are, something we'll never be rid of.
[ And her other hand... slowly moved downward, resting just below her chest, hovering over her own torso, over her own, still recovering wound. ]
I don't understand your world. I... wonder if I even want to, sometimes. But while you're here, while you are with me, I will never, never let you suffer something like that again. Let another scar like that become a part of who you are.
[2/2]
Her voice was still measured, still eerily calm and quiet. Commanding in ways that it had never been before. You weren't the only one who wouldn't tell the whole story, Allen. ]
I know that. That isn't what I meant.
[ I know you know that, her tone said, clear as a bell.
Someone like me, he said. Don't give her that. She doesn't want to hear it. She won't hear it. Don't talk to her like a child, don't treat her like a child. Don't hide from her, Allen Walker. Don't hide behind that disgusting mask of a smile and expect her to just take it. ]
And I know you know that.
[ She hesitated again, before resting her hand back on his shoulder, gentle this time, practically hovering over it. (Her mana abated, calmed a bit, the warmth was gone. It felt almost like nothing, featherlight.) She couldn't look him in the eye, afraid that he was still smiling that weapon's smile. That inhuman, twisted thing. And she needed to focus. On her words, on what she wanted to say. ]
Our scars... they're a part of who we are, something we'll never be rid of.
[ And her other hand... slowly moved downward, resting just below her chest, hovering over her own torso, over her own, still recovering wound. ]
I don't understand your world. I... wonder if I even want to, sometimes. But while you're here, while you are with me, I will never, never let you suffer something like that again. Let another scar like that become a part of who you are.