[ Oh, no. Whatever it is that's gotten under Tighnari's skin, Kaveh realizes, it's bad. He's never seen her quite like this, holding herself together but only just, crumbling under the pressure of something he can't see. It's a look he's seen on his own face in the mirror so many times beforeโ but never Tighnari. She's always been the strong one, at least in his mind, the one who faces the world on her own terms and doesn't let anyone cut her downโ
Perhaps, he realizes with a dull pang, it's as much of a mask as the one he himself wears. And he hates more than anything that he's never seen it before. ]
Of course. [ His hands lift, fingers smoothing along the lower lashes of those forest-colored eyes to brush away the tears before they can fall, hating too with all his heart the fear shining behind the irises as the other looks up at him. And what he wants to tell her is that there's nothing she could ever say to make him turn from herโ but he knows that for him, that wouldn't be enough, that what she needs is the proof.
So he makes no such promises; instead, he nods, one hand lowering to take one of her fisted ones into its hold, his eyes soft as they meet hers. ]
I'm listening. [ It's a whisper, something said with the softest of smiles to try and encourage the words forth. He'll be here no matter what, no matter how awful or terrible a thing needs to be told. ]
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Perhaps, he realizes with a dull pang, it's as much of a mask as the one he himself wears. And he hates more than anything that he's never seen it before. ]
Of course. [ His hands lift, fingers smoothing along the lower lashes of those forest-colored eyes to brush away the tears before they can fall, hating too with all his heart the fear shining behind the irises as the other looks up at him. And what he wants to tell her is that there's nothing she could ever say to make him turn from herโ but he knows that for him, that wouldn't be enough, that what she needs is the proof.
So he makes no such promises; instead, he nods, one hand lowering to take one of her fisted ones into its hold, his eyes soft as they meet hers. ]
I'm listening. [ It's a whisper, something said with the softest of smiles to try and encourage the words forth. He'll be here no matter what, no matter how awful or terrible a thing needs to be told. ]