โ
โโ &&. HE LOOKED AT HER the way starving men looked toward sunlight after endless winters . . .
โ Always expect the unexpected, sweetheart. โ
โ
โโ &&. SURVIVAL HAS sharpened him into something almost ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ; every shift in the air arrives with a name attached to it.
His eyes lift from the paperwork.
Silence gathers in the office, thin &&. expectant.
Then โโ
โ You ๐๐๐ come in, you know. โ
โ
i know i was made to be a weapon๏ผ i know i cannot ask for warmth๏ผ but please๏ผ god๏ผ please๏ผ i am tired of being a knife. i do not want to be this violence anymore.
he doesnโt care whether he gets hurt but he canโt abide others getting hurt for his sake. he tries to isolate himself by pushing everyone away .. โ i see. when he says 'free' .. does he mean 'alone'?
โ
Leon remembers.
He remembers ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.*
Their names &&. their voices &&. their faces.
Remembers the way they reach for him right before death like heโs salvation incarnate โโ
&&. how often heโs just a few seconds too LATE to be anybodyโs god.
โ
โ
Still, he wakes up every morning anyway. Still, he loads the gun either way. Still, he answers the call every day.
โโ Still, he walks straight back to hell with rot &&. decay . . .
Like maybe this time he can save somebody.
โ
@mr_rendeer โ
( Tries for a smile, easy &&. reassuring ; large palm settling atop Renโs head as the tissue crumples in his other hand. )
Sโnothing, sweetheart. Donโt make that face.
โ