[ It's hard to believe Clarke isn't a good friend. Maybe she's not gregarious, or effusive, or easy to get to know, but none of those things are what come to mind when Krouse defines what makes a friend a good one.
She's loyal, and she's brave, and she's kind - kind in the hard-fought, battered way only people who are making a choice to stay like that are. She's been better to him than he could have asked anyone to be, and she takes all the fumbled gestures he makes to return that with surprise that gets him a little bit every time. When she smiles at him like that, he can't imagine who wouldn't be thrilled at the privilege of being on the receiving end of it.
He closes his hand around hers more gently than the prelude to a handshake. Holds her fingers in his for the half-second it takes to search her eyes for any sign of hesitation, or maybe just to study the gradation of blues in them, and then gives her a firm, light shake before he lets her go. ]
Allies.
[ It's a concrete term. Something with a hell of a lot less baggage than friend, and a role he likes to believe he wasn't half-bad in when circumstances allowed. Relief comes away with him as he leans back into the couch, huffing out stale air from the bottom of his lungs. So that's settled, says his slight shrug, like that'll cut through the threads of tension strung through this whole conversation. ]
Thank you for hearing me out. [ He strings out a slight pause, still looking at her with clear-eyed thoughtfulness. ] I appreciate it. If I were in your shoes, I'd have made this a much bigger pain in the ass.
no subject
She's loyal, and she's brave, and she's kind - kind in the hard-fought, battered way only people who are making a choice to stay like that are. She's been better to him than he could have asked anyone to be, and she takes all the fumbled gestures he makes to return that with surprise that gets him a little bit every time. When she smiles at him like that, he can't imagine who wouldn't be thrilled at the privilege of being on the receiving end of it.
He closes his hand around hers more gently than the prelude to a handshake. Holds her fingers in his for the half-second it takes to search her eyes for any sign of hesitation, or maybe just to study the gradation of blues in them, and then gives her a firm, light shake before he lets her go. ]
Allies.
[ It's a concrete term. Something with a hell of a lot less baggage than friend, and a role he likes to believe he wasn't half-bad in when circumstances allowed. Relief comes away with him as he leans back into the couch, huffing out stale air from the bottom of his lungs. So that's settled, says his slight shrug, like that'll cut through the threads of tension strung through this whole conversation. ]
Thank you for hearing me out. [ He strings out a slight pause, still looking at her with clear-eyed thoughtfulness. ] I appreciate it. If I were in your shoes, I'd have made this a much bigger pain in the ass.