For a moment it looks like that will be the end of it. His eyes cut away from her and he softly admits: ]
Me too sometimes.
[ He thinks back on his three missing weeks, but his thoughts stray to M.K., how he's still missing and how they parted ways the last time, and Riku quickly puts that aside.
Eleven and Riku have a lot of trouble communicating or advocating for the things closest to their hearts; Eleven sometimes lacks them, the words to describe how she feels, what she wants; Riku has them and feels them lodge in his throat. They choke on them to silence. Because he can relate, he finds it a little bit easier to admit things he might not have said to anyone else.
Riku has kept secrets from his best friend since he was five years old.
Sometimes, they're benign and necessary.
She opens her hand and Riku's breath leaves him in a quick huff, surprise rounding out his eyes. ]
Kairi's-
[ It's small, a soft, yellow charm in the shape of a star, its stuffing a little lumpy from how often it's been handled, for how much time it's spent in Riku's pocket. Kairi had made it for him when they were all still living in the boathouse together, before calamity took them from him, one after another.
It's the last thing he has left of her. ]
I looked, I- ...I thought it was gone.
[ His hand covers the charm in her palm. When his fingers curl, they clasp it and the hand that holds it. His other arm folds around behind her, and when it tightens, it drags Eleven forward a few inches into a one-armed embrace. ]
no subject
For a moment it looks like that will be the end of it. His eyes cut away from her and he softly admits: ]
Me too sometimes.
[ He thinks back on his three missing weeks, but his thoughts stray to M.K., how he's still missing and how they parted ways the last time, and Riku quickly puts that aside.
Eleven and Riku have a lot of trouble communicating or advocating for the things closest to their hearts; Eleven sometimes lacks them, the words to describe how she feels, what she wants; Riku has them and feels them lodge in his throat. They choke on them to silence. Because he can relate, he finds it a little bit easier to admit things he might not have said to anyone else.
Riku has kept secrets from his best friend since he was five years old.
Sometimes, they're benign and necessary.
She opens her hand and Riku's breath leaves him in a quick huff, surprise rounding out his eyes. ]
Kairi's-
[ It's small, a soft, yellow charm in the shape of a star, its stuffing a little lumpy from how often it's been handled, for how much time it's spent in Riku's pocket. Kairi had made it for him when they were all still living in the boathouse together, before calamity took them from him, one after another.
It's the last thing he has left of her. ]
I looked, I- ...I thought it was gone.
[ His hand covers the charm in her palm. When his fingers curl, they clasp it and the hand that holds it. His other arm folds around behind her, and when it tightens, it drags Eleven forward a few inches into a one-armed embrace. ]
Thanks for keeping it safe.