[ Again, he doesn't say anything, the ready rejoinders usually on his tongue stilled as he listens to her breath. One hand laid on her shoulder, he can feel the taut-wire tension as it drifts a little further away, and it in turns eases some of the tightness in his chest.
"People are better than all this, you know."
His smile twists, and he's grateful that she has her head down because he knows if she were to look on him now she would see the visceral denial in his face.
No, he wants to answer, they're not. They're just finally being true to themselves.
It's a thought that's well-worn with time, polished by its countless revolutions through his head. War after war has shown him the shape of human hearts. Twisted, black, and diseased things. He can't put his faith in that. Not anymore.
So Lavi doesn't believe her. But he doesn't need to, because what he can do, and what he does with all of himself, is believe in her.
Stroking the back of her hair, he shifts so he can meet her eye, and his smile is warm again. Reserved, but at least for now, sincere in its reservation. ]
Okay. Then take me back to the beginning. Tell me how all of this started.
[ He knows the story, he's seen the news--but all of that he's seen through his own jaded vision. If he's going to help her, he'll need to see things the same way she does--with hope. ]
no subject
"People are better than all this, you know."
His smile twists, and he's grateful that she has her head down because he knows if she were to look on him now she would see the visceral denial in his face.
No, he wants to answer, they're not. They're just finally being true to themselves.
It's a thought that's well-worn with time, polished by its countless revolutions through his head. War after war has shown him the shape of human hearts. Twisted, black, and diseased things. He can't put his faith in that. Not anymore.
So Lavi doesn't believe her. But he doesn't need to, because what he can do, and what he does with all of himself, is believe in her.
Stroking the back of her hair, he shifts so he can meet her eye, and his smile is warm again. Reserved, but at least for now, sincere in its reservation. ]
Okay. Then take me back to the beginning. Tell me how all of this started.
[ He knows the story, he's seen the news--but all of that he's seen through his own jaded vision. If he's going to help her, he'll need to see things the same way she does--with hope. ]