fionnuisce | kaisou inbox

Y... yes... [He could do that. Possibly because the sharpness of Waver's tone was familiar. In all the best and worst ways it could be.

He took another deep breath, the same amount of time. A third, counting the seconds mentally.

Another memory popped into his mind. Of times he needed to calm both his sister and Zhian and gave them the same instruction. The latter's words reminding him, We gotta take things one step at a time. One foot in fron' of the other n' all that, yeah? For all her nerves she was emotionally wise.

Not like him. He wouldn't dare to call them weak for their moments like this. But he would say it about himself.

He opened his mouth again, about to apologize for said weakness. But he just closed his mouth and nodded.]

Good. [He managed a small, uneasy smile--an attempt at 'reassuring' from someone who very rarely needed to be.]

Focus only on what I'm saying, because I'm going to tell you something important. We can't...fix everything. There's no such thing as a person who can save everyone or one who can bring about a world without conflict. To demand perfection--to strive for the unattainable is to drive oneself mad and come up empty-handed for the efforts.

But that doesn't mean it's a lost cause. Fairytale endings may be just a dream, a knight may not wear shining armor, but heroes exist. They always have, and always will. So long as someone has the strength of heart, will to fight, and ability to act, then the world is worth fighting for even if there's a thousand snakes and demons like Krusnik and no way to be rid of every last one.

[Purity of heart, strength of will, action to match one's speech--the ironclad code of the Fianna.]

We don't have to save the whole world, and we don't have to bear the idea we can't as some kind of failure--we just have to make things better for who we can, where we can. That's all anyone can do.

[Takame gave Waver all of his focus. It helped to steady him as well. As he spoke his truth, Takame couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself in his moments of clarity.

He knew this well. Painfully well. He was one man, not an army. He could be in only one place, follow his orders or his heart in one space at a time. Keep others safe a little at a time, that was the reality of the situation. He wasn't so foolishly idealistic as to think anything else.

He wouldn't ever confess to thinking Waver's words were just that to him right now.

A true knight, indeed. Takame's tone was weak as he spoke.]

To think I would need to be reminded of this.

Sometimes even the obvious needs restating. There isn't anything wrong with that.

[He let out a slow breath, hand still steady on Takame's arm. Completely wrung out emotionally and refusing to show it, because that wasn't how Lord El-Melloi II conducted himself. He was something that couldn't afford to show human weakness, couldn't let himself collapse so long as others were in need of his support. The dream of an ideal knight held up by the icy mask of a pragmatic mage, and the human called Waver Velvet crushed to dust by the need to shine and burn out like any other star.]

Mm. Fo--, ah. [He shook his head. "Forgive me", he almost said. Always needing to show regret for any emotion. He wasn't allowed to feel until well into his adulthood. It would take more than the few years it's been for the habit to break in full.

But in his mind he should keep to it for a bit longer.

It was for that reason he didn't even consider that Waver was hiding behind a mask, just as exhausted. There was just guilt.]

Thank you.

There's nothing you need to thank me for. You're my friend, and you were kind enough to come over so I didn't go insane. Talking out all this shit is fine with me.

My company is the only thing I can offer. But if it has helped you in some form, I am glad.

[Said with a heavy sigh. Useless in anything but a fight...]

Don't be ridiculous. Of course it has, and that's worth something.

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