[ as he lifts his eyes from gab to junpei, it is just in time to catch that expression on his face before he tries his best to wipe it away; but it's enough for charles to drop his smile, for his own expression to turn into something more concerned. and with the halting words that fill the space between them, well, it's — not strange, not exactly, but he is unused to this kind of distance, like the words that are spoken are simply there in place of something else.
and so when junpei crosses the physical distance separating them, charles wraps him in his arms and holds him like that alone could make whatever lingering awkwardness there is disappear. ]
Course I will, [ he says softly, and maybe he means it more in the way of not being outright reckless, but he will promise this, he'll promise anything if it makes junpei sound less like he's fraying along the edges.
and yeah, maybe he meant to come here and leave almost immediately... but there's no way in hell he's leaving like this. he's not in a hurry; he can catch up with the others easily enough. and now that he's here, it's all too easy to remember that he doesn't actually want to leave at all — what he wants is to stay right here, with junpei and gab, preferably forever.
slowly, he pulls back; his arms never move completely away, though, instead his hands slide up from where they are holding onto junpei, up his back and then onto his arms, staying there. ]
You'll be okay, [ and the sentence starts as a reassurance but ends as a question, like all he really cares about is that he'll be okay, here, and like it's only just now occurring to him that being safe might not equal okay. and he almost, almost says i'll be fine, don't worry, but that'd be assuming that junpei's level of okay-ness depends on him in any way and that's — well, that's a bit egotistical. ]
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and so when junpei crosses the physical distance separating them, charles wraps him in his arms and holds him like that alone could make whatever lingering awkwardness there is disappear. ]
Course I will, [ he says softly, and maybe he means it more in the way of not being outright reckless, but he will promise this, he'll promise anything if it makes junpei sound less like he's fraying along the edges.
and yeah, maybe he meant to come here and leave almost immediately... but there's no way in hell he's leaving like this. he's not in a hurry; he can catch up with the others easily enough. and now that he's here, it's all too easy to remember that he doesn't actually want to leave at all — what he wants is to stay right here, with junpei and gab, preferably forever.
slowly, he pulls back; his arms never move completely away, though, instead his hands slide up from where they are holding onto junpei, up his back and then onto his arms, staying there. ]
You'll be okay, [ and the sentence starts as a reassurance but ends as a question, like all he really cares about is that he'll be okay, here, and like it's only just now occurring to him that being safe might not equal okay. and he almost, almost says i'll be fine, don't worry, but that'd be assuming that junpei's level of okay-ness depends on him in any way and that's — well, that's a bit egotistical. ]