( neuvillette is not oblivious to the effect that the months of being in here has done to him. removed from the fortress and his responsibilities, wriothesley has found his footing remarkably quickly, adapting to the situation and making the best of it. but this memory, the unfolding event before them is a jarring, unwelcome anecdote, even if has illuminated the shadows of wriothesley's past that neuvillette had once contemplated.
he keeps holding him, reluctant to release his lover. it is relief that settles in his chest when he feels him lean in close, and he listens quietly when he speaks of sin bearing, ruminating on the weight that sits on those sturdy, strong shoulders. he doesn't argue, because even if he had an understandable reason, crime had nonetheless been committed. he presses in close with a soft sigh, indulging that quiet show of need with approval and warmth, and he noses along that scarred neck, teasing the leather strips that he still wears around them. a thought bubbles to the fore, his gaze lingering on the tiny rhinophores on wriothesley's head, the wiggle of his ears, and the warmth in his eyes. he has been thinking about this from time to time, and now feels like one of the best times to put it forward. )
Perhaps you could come and live with me.
( he says at last, seeking out wriothesley's hand so that he can thread his fingers through his. ) ... when we return. Should you wish to one day retire, perhaps you can find comfort in my home, with me. Unless you wish to purchase a lodging for yourself, of course.
[ the recognition of a certain emotion through their bond isn't immediate at first. in fact, it almost comes at wriothesley sideways as he accepts that the closeness they both lean into immediately is simply their way of comforting one another. however, when relief trickles through from neuvillette's side, it's carried by a touch of warmth. enough for wriothesley to wonder why neuvillette can still look and hold him with such assurance after everything the katalyth had forcibly shown and laid bare between them both.
neuvillette isn't correcting him either, not softening the truth into something more palatable, not trying to solve for sins committed in the past—save for a promise for the future. he simply remains by wriothesley's side, unshaken, holding him close as though what has been exposed leaves him nothing lesser.
and then it dawns on wriothesley: he's being tended to. even when neuvillette reaches for him in a language of comfort that's foreign to them both for different reasons, the iudex still tries with his whole presence until that care takes shape in a way they can both make sense of. so it stings, for a moment, because it's almost as though neuvillette is inventing gentleness that isn't born of pity. wriothesley can feel it in the fleeting touches he's peppered with, and by the time he smiles at the offer, he's already drawing their joined hands and himself close enough that neuvillette can no doubt feel the way wriothesley's pulse beats beneath his skin. and when he meets neuvillette's gaze, the look he gives him is soft as he answers in a way that truly feels like himself, uncertainty and all. ]
You know, I'd like to find my own place up on the surface. [ although he can't entirely hold back a laugh when he does have to consider neuvillette's formal place of residence back in fontaine. ] Whether at the Palais, or under a roof that belongs to just us—playing house together has been fine and well in Karteria, but after all of this... I think I'm ready to build a home that lasts with you.
[ it's a rough confession, but neuvillette is at least privy to some of the truer vulnerabilities wriothesley still carries with him. trust is already an obstacle they've surmounted with relative ease. but even in the house at water's edge, which wriothesley works to keep comfortable and safe from much of karteria's nonsense, it is still just a space they just share together. and after witnessing, in full, the loss of his innocence and the shattering of worldly love, wriothesley finds himself open, at last, to sincerely building a home that isn't an illusion, or tending to a refuge he has to safeguard and maintain for others.
though he still feels a little lost in navigating a moment like this with neuvillette, it isn't the same sort of confusion that leaves him uncertain of how to react or how best to care for them both. rather, it is one of those exceedingly rare and fleeting moments in which wriothesley is almost bashful about voicing a sincere want so plainly. even so, he lets it rest between them as it is, despite how neuvillette can likely feel the way he almost desperately wants to smooth it over with their usual brand of propriety, if only to keep it from feeling so heavy and exposed. ]
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he keeps holding him, reluctant to release his lover. it is relief that settles in his chest when he feels him lean in close, and he listens quietly when he speaks of sin bearing, ruminating on the weight that sits on those sturdy, strong shoulders. he doesn't argue, because even if he had an understandable reason, crime had nonetheless been committed. he presses in close with a soft sigh, indulging that quiet show of need with approval and warmth, and he noses along that scarred neck, teasing the leather strips that he still wears around them. a thought bubbles to the fore, his gaze lingering on the tiny rhinophores on wriothesley's head, the wiggle of his ears, and the warmth in his eyes. he has been thinking about this from time to time, and now feels like one of the best times to put it forward. )
Perhaps you could come and live with me.
( he says at last, seeking out wriothesley's hand so that he can thread his fingers through his. ) ... when we return. Should you wish to one day retire, perhaps you can find comfort in my home, with me. Unless you wish to purchase a lodging for yourself, of course.
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neuvillette isn't correcting him either, not softening the truth into something more palatable, not trying to solve for sins committed in the past—save for a promise for the future. he simply remains by wriothesley's side, unshaken, holding him close as though what has been exposed leaves him nothing lesser.
and then it dawns on wriothesley: he's being tended to. even when neuvillette reaches for him in a language of comfort that's foreign to them both for different reasons, the iudex still tries with his whole presence until that care takes shape in a way they can both make sense of. so it stings, for a moment, because it's almost as though neuvillette is inventing gentleness that isn't born of pity. wriothesley can feel it in the fleeting touches he's peppered with, and by the time he smiles at the offer, he's already drawing their joined hands and himself close enough that neuvillette can no doubt feel the way wriothesley's pulse beats beneath his skin. and when he meets neuvillette's gaze, the look he gives him is soft as he answers in a way that truly feels like himself, uncertainty and all. ]
You know, I'd like to find my own place up on the surface. [ although he can't entirely hold back a laugh when he does have to consider neuvillette's formal place of residence back in fontaine. ] Whether at the Palais, or under a roof that belongs to just us—playing house together has been fine and well in Karteria, but after all of this... I think I'm ready to build a home that lasts with you.
[ it's a rough confession, but neuvillette is at least privy to some of the truer vulnerabilities wriothesley still carries with him. trust is already an obstacle they've surmounted with relative ease. but even in the house at water's edge, which wriothesley works to keep comfortable and safe from much of karteria's nonsense, it is still just a space they just share together. and after witnessing, in full, the loss of his innocence and the shattering of worldly love, wriothesley finds himself open, at last, to sincerely building a home that isn't an illusion, or tending to a refuge he has to safeguard and maintain for others.
though he still feels a little lost in navigating a moment like this with neuvillette, it isn't the same sort of confusion that leaves him uncertain of how to react or how best to care for them both. rather, it is one of those exceedingly rare and fleeting moments in which wriothesley is almost bashful about voicing a sincere want so plainly. even so, he lets it rest between them as it is, despite how neuvillette can likely feel the way he almost desperately wants to smooth it over with their usual brand of propriety, if only to keep it from feeling so heavy and exposed. ]