Huh. It was weird, how so much felt different. A couple of weeks ago, he wouldn’t have thought anything of a hug, or her lips on his neck, his shoulder. Or, well, years ago, for her. Not as many as it had been for Kylin, mind, but still years. There was this strange, uncomfortable sort of jarring sensation attached to the press of her lips against his skin that made him tilt his head and frown even as he hugged her back. Couldn’t quite figure out what it was, though, and with all of the complicated emotional shit going on lately he was hitting the point where it was all a little too overwhelmingly much for him to sort through.
“You should definitely come see her. I bet she’d like that. Or next time she’s snuggling me I can bring her to you, if you want. Being around people who are familiar, seeing faces she knows from before everything went to hell, I bet that’s helpful. Especially since we don’t know what happened to Ruan or anything, and she’s got friends I don’t know how to track down six years later, you know?”
He sighed and pulled back a little to look at her. “Yeah, maybe. I don’t know if it’s that simple, you know? If it’s that objective. Kylin must’ve gone through a hell of a lot all on her own, and it’d be asking a lot to expect her to be that receptive to what sure as hell must feel like a shitty excuse for all the hurt she suffered. We’ve talked a little, and I’m not done trying to make things right.”
Another heavy sigh, and he shook his head and pulled back farther, his body too restless to stay still and linger in her offered embrace. He nodded his head forward and beckoned her along, giving into the need to move, to try and let the motion distract him while he sorted through the complicated mess that felt so impossible to untangle. “I just don’t know how much it helped, or how much I can really fix. And that sucks. What about you though, Rom? Tell me about the last...three years.” So fucking weird. And time was really starting to piss him off.Bite my shiny metal ass.
“You should definitely come see her. I bet she’d like that. Or next time she’s snuggling me I can bring her to you, if you want. Being around people who are familiar, seeing faces she knows from before everything went to hell, I bet that’s helpful. Especially since we don’t know what happened to Ruan or anything, and she’s got friends I don’t know how to track down six years later, you know?”
He sighed and pulled back a little to look at her. “Yeah, maybe. I don’t know if it’s that simple, you know? If it’s that objective. Kylin must’ve gone through a hell of a lot all on her own, and it’d be asking a lot to expect her to be that receptive to what sure as hell must feel like a shitty excuse for all the hurt she suffered. We’ve talked a little, and I’m not done trying to make things right.”
Another heavy sigh, and he shook his head and pulled back farther, his body too restless to stay still and linger in her offered embrace. He nodded his head forward and beckoned her along, giving into the need to move, to try and let the motion distract him while he sorted through the complicated mess that felt so impossible to untangle. “I just don’t know how much it helped, or how much I can really fix. And that sucks. What about you though, Rom? Tell me about the last...three years.” So fucking weird. And time was really starting to piss him off.