Gently, Gonou's hand slips from Jedao's cheek down along the line of his neck to curl around his nape, keeping him close.
He feels -- protective, aching with tenderness and terror alike: the thing he's feared about letting himself love again had always been that possibility of a second loss, truly shattering after he had so barely survived the first. He hadn't precisely meant to let himself. And yet--
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Re: [shortly after waking up on the Barge]
He feels -- protective, aching with tenderness and terror alike: the thing he's feared about letting himself love again had always been that possibility of a second loss, truly shattering after he had so barely survived the first. He hadn't precisely meant to let himself. And yet--
They are safe here.
And he is, to his own shock, happy.