softlyfalling | inbox;

Tell me, then. Tell me everything.

[kisses the side of her neck]

And be as greedy as you like.

Nnh—

[ h, elp, ]

That's—distracting, but... I told you I used to be a soldier, didn't I...? Military family, there were expectations...

[nuzzles along the column of her neck, ghosting kisses along her skin]

How long were you a soldier?

Probably... I'm not sure...

...maybe... if I can pin it to my age in my memories... eight years or so in the army, and—

[ she sort of pulls... a little bit away, looking down at her knees. ]

I... was a general, elsewhere, after that. I don't know how long.

I haven't aged since then.

[doesn't pursue, but still staying close]

Do you know why?

...I think...

[ she sets her head on her knees, folding up. ]

I remember... the color, dripping from my hair until it became bone-white. Descending an endless stair. Leaving something there, in the dark, in the pit at the bottom.

...I think that was after I died.

... what was it you left there?

[ she... smiles, in an oddly serene way that doesn't really feel like a smile. ]

...my name.

I don't think I'm getting it back.

Do you want it back?

I... don't know.

[ she sinks down a little bit in the water, and her expression returns to a slightly uneasy one. ]

I'm... satisfied with the name I've given myself. But...

...well, it was mine, you know?

Do you think you lost your... ability to age, when you gave away your name?

Something like that, or... was removed from the cycles of life, I guess.

Probably some people would think that's a decent bargain, but...

Being part of that cycle is one of the things that defines humanity.

......yeah.

[ she... leans back against him, very gingerly. ]

It doesn't... always bother me, just—sometimes. What's done is done, and—if I can love, and be loved, and do good, what does it matter, but...

[winds his arms around her waist and holds her]

... you know you're not how you should be.

[ she turns toward him, face in his hair, draping her arms around his shoulders, and makes a muffled, mournful noise. ]

[gently holds the back of her head, petting her hair]

I know.

[

yeah you know what she’s just going to start sobbing ]

[he was expecting it, and holds her tightly to him, letting his hands run up and down her back while she cries. he doesn't make a sound, doesn't say anything, just keeps holding her and touching her]

[ she shakes against him, shivering like a leaf despite the warm water, hands gripping his shoulders.

it... helps, though. it feels safe and soft, and eventually she stills and curls against him.

how long has it been since she cried properly? ]

[murmurs, quiet]

... I love you, still. No... I love you because of it. Because you and I are... cut from the same cloth. Fragments who struggled to stay whole, even though something in our souls is broken.

I will mourn with you. But I won't stop loving you.

[ her arms tighten around his shoulders, but she pries herself off a little bit to kiss him lightly on the cheek. ]

It really... means a lot, to... hear that.

[kisses her, soft and chaste, and nudges her forehead with his]

"Can I see another's woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another's grief,
And not seek for kind relief?"

[ oh,,, ]

That's... that's lovely.

There's—not that many people that... understand, exactly.

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