featherduster | ( sheep ) ic inbox

[well, he had one arm just tucked between them. he can reach up to lay his knuckles against Minuet's cheek instead, warm through the glove]

Don't diminish your role. It's not as though you had it easy either, did you?

[ Absolutely under no circumstances going to complain about his experience given the circumstances and who he's talking to ]

As demon kidnappings go, it wasn't bad.

[ Closes his eyes, but leans into the touch. ]

I'd rather have been here doing this, though.

[smooths his thumb over Minuet's brow. he's grateful anyway]

I was...worried about you. Even if you were with the most benign of demons, you hadn't fully recovered from the fight, had you?

[ Expert tactician over here pairs gentle touches with "I was worried" to make it impossible for him to just fucking lie! ]

. . . Not really.

I'm not sure there's anything for that but time.

[he's leaning up to kiss Minuet on the forehead as the followup, gross]

Then try to take some more, while the pasture stays shielded and quiet.

[ hELP

His grip on him grows jjjjust a little tighter... ]

I will if you will.

That new Judge guy ratted you out.

[thinks about the many crimes he committed in wolf vegas]

What did he rat out exactly?

[ Mimicking the intonation ]

"The creature was destroyed after a mix of magic, gunfire, and a very, very large boat."

Honestly, using the very, very large boat was quite cathartic.

Okay, but did you bleed from your eyes again? You probably weren't 100% from the Pandora fight either.

I nearly always bleed from the eyes.

[faintly long-suffering]

But I drank four of the potions you have seen me use before attempting it. They consist of a mana restoration compound from Lethe's world, and a dose of tears. It doesn't head off every side effect, but it keeps them from becoming...cumulatively unacceptable.

Edited 2024-02-01 05:34 (UTC)

[ Grimaces a little, brushing his fingers gently over Charon's brow, where he knows firsthand the pain gathers. ]

If it kept you and everyone else safe, I'm glad you did it. I just worry too.

[leans into the touch, slow and deliberate and heavy, like a cat]

What a pair we make.

Someone else's wellness becoming part of your own is just part of the deal, y'know?

Mm.

. . . I did try to be careful, as much as could be done in a situation we had to go in shooting. I didn't want to endanger your life unduly.

I wouldn't have been mad. Saving someone you love is a worthwhile cause.

[hesitates perceptibly, but Minuet is definitely not a person to have an 'I don't know about the L-word here' talk with, considering]

. . . I would have been mad at me. But not at all if the situation was reversed, and you had to do that for Melody. Strange.

Well--

Yeah. I would've kicked my own ass if the reverse had happened, so it makes sense.

...

[wow they both suck at being good to themselves actually

tugs him closer with a little grumble about it]

[ THIS WAS KNOWN

Whether he's chuckling about that or the grumbling is not clear. The hand that pats his back is mollifying though. ]

How 'bout I just say, "thanks for getting everyone home safe."

It's what we're all doing, isn't it...? Or trying our best to.

Thanks for the same.

Is it too grim to say we're doing better than I thought we would've?

[a dry little noise--almost a laugh, but it's like he just can't manage a real one yet]

Is it grim...? That sounds optimistic to me.

[ That's still progress in the direction he wants!!! ]

It's not a winning endorsement of my expectations though.

Minuet...

[hesitates again, a moment, and then goes on, quiet and matter-of-fact]

We are all what our worlds make of us. You are from one in which most people have eventually betrayed your expectations for the last century and a half in some way, again and again. I don't need to be able to look into your mind more than once to know you've got as many marks from that upon it as you do upon your body, if not more.

You're an alarmingly eternal optimist, but not a blind one. I'll take 'better' from you gladly.

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