There's a heaviness to the silence that fills the space between foolish and I'm not sure. Riku is in no position to analyze it, to uncover its hidden significance. He can only breathe around the shape of his own grief, around the vague ember he fanned to life by planting doubt in what vision Riku had been so convinced was real. Except this time, when Bruce folds the cloth, Riku lifts his chin to meet it halfway.
Cooperation is a sign, too.
It's too early for Riku to promise anything, but he doesn't feel like he's in danger of toppling over some kind of edge he can't back away from. He's cracked in places but they still fit together, nothing is beyond repair and hearts - hearts are more powerful than most think. Fragile, vulnerable by their very nature, but resilient. Some worlds have artisans, potters who take a broken cup and fill the crack with gold, like there's something in the mending worth wearing like they're proof, the way they carry scars.
Riku does think it would be a poor way to thank a man for saving his life if he betrayed his trust, after he has given him a gift he thought no one could give him anymore.
Hope.
He exhales, gives his head a small shake with his teeth lightly gritted, a little... overwhelmed. Does he thank him? It feels empty, premature, he's given him so much and Riku is too bereft, too exhausted and stunned to feel anything but undeserving and inarticulate.
no subject
There's a heaviness to the silence that fills the space between foolish and I'm not sure. Riku is in no position to analyze it, to uncover its hidden significance. He can only breathe around the shape of his own grief, around the vague ember he fanned to life by planting doubt in what vision Riku had been so convinced was real. Except this time, when Bruce folds the cloth, Riku lifts his chin to meet it halfway.
Cooperation is a sign, too.
It's too early for Riku to promise anything, but he doesn't feel like he's in danger of toppling over some kind of edge he can't back away from. He's cracked in places but they still fit together, nothing is beyond repair and hearts - hearts are more powerful than most think. Fragile, vulnerable by their very nature, but resilient. Some worlds have artisans, potters who take a broken cup and fill the crack with gold, like there's something in the mending worth wearing like they're proof, the way they carry scars.
Riku does think it would be a poor way to thank a man for saving his life if he betrayed his trust, after he has given him a gift he thought no one could give him anymore.
Hope.
He exhales, gives his head a small shake with his teeth lightly gritted, a little... overwhelmed. Does he thank him? It feels empty, premature, he's given him so much and Riku is too bereft, too exhausted and stunned to feel anything but undeserving and inarticulate.
"Okay."
It's the best he can manage. Okay.