[ Prettily put. It makes his smile a little wistful—which is to say, he allows it to make his smile a little wistful—even if put in plainer words it wouldn’t sound nearly so appealing. ]
I am sure some bruising is inevitable.
[ Again: that’s what they're talking about here, right? ]
What do you suppose love should look like? [ A genuine question, not a prelude to an answer of his own. ] Not the feeling. The act. On its own, when it is disentangled from lust and fear. What do you think it should inspire someone to do?
[ Ilias's brows knit, focus bleeding into memory — stars glimpsed through skylights; sunlight through a veil of pine and the season's last flowers; words sparking to life beneath both. Love. ]
To challenge one another, [ he decides, finally. ] To know and accept and protect the other, yes, but more than that, to help each other grow.
[ You know that if you had to, you would break it. (To give it a stronger shape.)
A bare touch sharper, ] In the ways one chooses, I mean to say; not in the ways anyone else might want.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I am sure some bruising is inevitable.
[ Again: that’s what they're talking about here, right? ]
What do you suppose love should look like? [ A genuine question, not a prelude to an answer of his own. ] Not the feeling. The act. On its own, when it is disentangled from lust and fear. What do you think it should inspire someone to do?
no subject
To challenge one another, [ he decides, finally. ] To know and accept and protect the other, yes, but more than that, to help each other grow.
[ You know that if you had to, you would break it. (To give it a stronger shape.)
A bare touch sharper, ] In the ways one chooses, I mean to say; not in the ways anyone else might want.