[They all have bad luck, honestly. Awful, even, but she's not gonna dwell on what she can't change. She's not entirely helpless, so she'll just keep on pushing to make do with what's still available, for as long as there's still some way to continue.
"Living", hm?
She's got a vague idea of what he's set himself to do, she just might've... underestimated his level of commitment, or understanding. Not in the sense of his resolve, but more like he doesn't realize realistically how heavy and impossible it would be to keep such a lofty and idealistic promise within the harsh world that doesn't wait for anyone. What he holds is the dreams of a child. To be a superhero capable of saving everyone...
Hah. She was well-acquainted with one thanks to Mayfield, from a time before the brothers came along. She saw the story of a selfless boy who did countless heroic deeds to save as many people as he could possibly set his sights on. He held onto the ideal that his adopted father couldn't, because he didn't want to see people cry anymore. He just wanted to see them smile. Yet at the end of that arduous road with no reward, he discovered the same merciless truth: saving one means leaving the ones who couldn't be saved to die. To save a young woman from a ruffian means condemning that thug. To save a helpless nation getting warred on means killing solders from the invading country. To save a city from a cruise carrying a passenger infected with a virulent and highly transmissible disease means sinking the entire ship before it hits port. As the scale of the population he tried saving grew, so did this vicious cycle of 'kill to save'. Protecting people became the same as watching those that he couldn't help die. But no matter how much strife, anger, and despair there still was despite his efforts, he relentlessly marched on, living up to the picture of the superhero of justice that he never turned his back on.
Eventually, the hero died. He didn't perish valiantly on a battlefield to safeguard another's future, but executed publicly by false accusations of treason. ...It didn't stop there, either. More happened even after his death, but to cut it short, the ending of that tale was that he was betrayed by the very promise he's made, by attempting to personify an ideal that no man should take upon. Saving others isn't bad by principle, but speaking in absolutes, trying to do everything, and hoping for happy endings...
A vow like that, as pure-hearted as it is, will only continue to collect hopeless and despair until the weight crushes the very one that took it up. That hero in question she met, as an adult, was realistic, practical, and cynical. She can't blame him. Humans have the power to create wonderful things, but they also have the power to lay the planet to waste. Put on a scale however, it's so much easier to take a life, to choke it out of the fragile envelope of flesh, than to protect it, from the newborn to the child to the adult until when the natural time of death comes.
...Can he realize that? Does he already? Will he be able to take it, if it's spelled out in front of him? She can't say. She doesn't know. He really is... just a child. Wielding his hopeful heart on his sleeve, holding out for happy endings no matter how bad things got - until they actually start to fall apart. He can't deal with death and loss. A gentle heart like that shouldn't have to suffer so terribly when it genuinely means well, but as much as it would pain her, that's his battle. All she can do is try to support him here, for however long this nightmarish miracle of a town will continue to keep them all.
The fluttering of his heart only reflects the miserable expression already so plain on his face. It hurts to just watch. As limited as her means are, she has to try calming him down before they set off. This place is still dangerous and it's the main reason why she hasn't dropped her guard, though she might just start to seriously believe in god's good grace if this keeps up; that they've managed to progress until now without any interruptions at all must be some miracle of its own, no doubt.
Reaching her free hand up to gingerly cusp his cheek, it's as much as an attempted gesture of comfort as alining his gaze into hers. She's tried something like this once before, to quieten whatever buzzing noise that plagued him which he never so much as dropped a single hint about. Is it 'cheating'? Maybe. But without access to words, Suggestion is her best shot to try soothing that erratic beat and stop the slow bleed behind these lost eyes.
Shhh. Stay steady. It's not over yet, we'll press on carefully. Don't lose hope. You're not alone. So... stay with me...
Really, what can she even command? She can't make any promises she risks breaking, though truthfully, if he's to depend on her, staying alive just gained that much more importance and meaning. She can't afford a single mistake now, regardless of how poor her luck may be. So all she can try is to inspire faith, having nothing but his trust in her to gamble with. A double-edged sword; it does occur to her that it'll just unsettle him further if the prospect of losing more overwhelms. Still, she has to give it a shot. It's not too different from that time. Even if it's superficial and temporary, he needs a reason to keep walking. Becoming scared of the unknown is natural, but that can't be allowed to paralyze thought process and cripple judgment. They can't, not now.
They will need time. She'll need a stronger rationale to give him a true and steady cause to not stop. But until they can afford these...
Please, stop hurting yourself and allow me to... guide.]
no subject
"Living", hm?
She's got a vague idea of what he's set himself to do, she just might've... underestimated his level of commitment, or understanding. Not in the sense of his resolve, but more like he doesn't realize realistically how heavy and impossible it would be to keep such a lofty and idealistic promise within the harsh world that doesn't wait for anyone. What he holds is the dreams of a child. To be a superhero capable of saving everyone...
Hah. She was well-acquainted with one thanks to Mayfield, from a time before the brothers came along. She saw the story of a selfless boy who did countless heroic deeds to save as many people as he could possibly set his sights on. He held onto the ideal that his adopted father couldn't, because he didn't want to see people cry anymore. He just wanted to see them smile. Yet at the end of that arduous road with no reward, he discovered the same merciless truth: saving one means leaving the ones who couldn't be saved to die. To save a young woman from a ruffian means condemning that thug. To save a helpless nation getting warred on means killing solders from the invading country. To save a city from a cruise carrying a passenger infected with a virulent and highly transmissible disease means sinking the entire ship before it hits port. As the scale of the population he tried saving grew, so did this vicious cycle of 'kill to save'. Protecting people became the same as watching those that he couldn't help die. But no matter how much strife, anger, and despair there still was despite his efforts, he relentlessly marched on, living up to the picture of the superhero of justice that he never turned his back on.
Eventually, the hero died. He didn't perish valiantly on a battlefield to safeguard another's future, but executed publicly by false accusations of treason. ...It didn't stop there, either. More happened even after his death, but to cut it short, the ending of that tale was that he was betrayed by the very promise he's made, by attempting to personify an ideal that no man should take upon. Saving others isn't bad by principle, but speaking in absolutes, trying to do everything, and hoping for happy endings...
A vow like that, as pure-hearted as it is, will only continue to collect hopeless and despair until the weight crushes the very one that took it up. That hero in question she met, as an adult, was realistic, practical, and cynical. She can't blame him. Humans have the power to create wonderful things, but they also have the power to lay the planet to waste. Put on a scale however, it's so much easier to take a life, to choke it out of the fragile envelope of flesh, than to protect it, from the newborn to the child to the adult until when the natural time of death comes.
...Can he realize that? Does he already? Will he be able to take it, if it's spelled out in front of him? She can't say. She doesn't know. He really is... just a child. Wielding his hopeful heart on his sleeve, holding out for happy endings no matter how bad things got - until they actually start to fall apart. He can't deal with death and loss. A gentle heart like that shouldn't have to suffer so terribly when it genuinely means well, but as much as it would pain her, that's his battle. All she can do is try to support him here, for however long this nightmarish miracle of a town will continue to keep them all.
The fluttering of his heart only reflects the miserable expression already so plain on his face. It hurts to just watch. As limited as her means are, she has to try calming him down before they set off. This place is still dangerous and it's the main reason why she hasn't dropped her guard, though she might just start to seriously believe in god's good grace if this keeps up; that they've managed to progress until now without any interruptions at all must be some miracle of its own, no doubt.
Reaching her free hand up to gingerly cusp his cheek, it's as much as an attempted gesture of comfort as alining his gaze into hers. She's tried something like this once before, to quieten whatever buzzing noise that plagued him which he never so much as dropped a single hint about. Is it 'cheating'? Maybe. But without access to words, Suggestion is her best shot to try soothing that erratic beat and stop the slow bleed behind these lost eyes.
Shhh. Stay steady. It's not over yet, we'll press on carefully. Don't lose hope. You're not alone. So... stay with me...
Really, what can she even command? She can't make any promises she risks breaking, though truthfully, if he's to depend on her, staying alive just gained that much more importance and meaning. She can't afford a single mistake now, regardless of how poor her luck may be. So all she can try is to inspire faith, having nothing but his trust in her to gamble with. A double-edged sword; it does occur to her that it'll just unsettle him further if the prospect of losing more overwhelms. Still, she has to give it a shot. It's not too different from that time. Even if it's superficial and temporary, he needs a reason to keep walking. Becoming scared of the unknown is natural, but that can't be allowed to paralyze thought process and cripple judgment. They can't, not now.
They will need time. She'll need a stronger rationale to give him a true and steady cause to not stop. But until they can afford these...
Please, stop hurting yourself and allow me to... guide.]