[ He doesn't flinch, but there are other signs he's been struck, like the reflexive shrinking of his pupils, the jump of the muscle in his jaw as he grits his teeth, how his shoulders all the way down to his knuckles go taut as his free hand clenches and the other tightens around the edge of the tablet.
Vanitas and Bruce both know invoking that name has a particular effect. Vanitas, more than Bruce, knows why. Both for the time he spent in his heart and for his own first-hand experiences being a person that Sora treasures. In their shared loss. Riku doesn't, therefore, bother with disguising his response.
He lets it pause him. It's what it's meant to do. He remembers the dark entryway to the Invincible, the way the air smelled of rain. The promise he made to Sora. That was the last time he saw him - the real him and not some illusion. ]
...
[ His throat tightens around the pressure in his chest; Riku grimaces, turning his face away, and covers the gauze covering his neck with his hand. But he makes no effort to leave, makes no attempt to push Vanitas away, even if for a moment he looked about to.
No - instead he looks away, while angling himself to knock his shoulder into the other boy's when he briefly leans in his direction. ]
no subject
Vanitas and Bruce both know invoking that name has a particular effect. Vanitas, more than Bruce, knows why. Both for the time he spent in his heart and for his own first-hand experiences being a person that Sora treasures. In their shared loss. Riku doesn't, therefore, bother with disguising his response.
He lets it pause him. It's what it's meant to do. He remembers the dark entryway to the Invincible, the way the air smelled of rain. The promise he made to Sora. That was the last time he saw him - the real him and not some illusion. ]
...
[ His throat tightens around the pressure in his chest; Riku grimaces, turning his face away, and covers the gauze covering his neck with his hand. But he makes no effort to leave, makes no attempt to push Vanitas away, even if for a moment he looked about to.
No - instead he looks away, while angling himself to knock his shoulder into the other boy's when he briefly leans in his direction. ]