[Ah... Even Beelzebub can find some topics appetite-ruining. Looking back on it, Temenos can think of a few moments that may have been similar and he simply hadn't known Beelzebub well enough to realize it at the time.
He sets the unopened snack on his lap and reaches out to touch Beelzebub's hand.]
I'm looking forward to it.
[He wants this to be another hope to hold onto, given the situation.]
And I'll do my part to make sure you have a fighting chance. One hurdle at a time, hm?
[The demon falls quiet, letting his palm turn to gently take that touch.]
Temenos, I...
...
[He bites his statement down with an exhale, breath shuddering as his free hand brushes through his own hair. Stuck in his head in a moment of vulnerability.]
[A deeply selfish part of him wants to say "yes." But what he ends up saying is entirely different as he takes Beelzebub's hand.]
It was very brave of you to come forward, and it was also the right thing to do. That bravery is the reason why an innocent person isn't being executed instead.
...I just wish we could have found Nona's killer as well.
[That guilt hasn't left him yet either, and it likely never will leave him.]
returns to this five hundred years later to rewrite half the tag
Maybe if I'd said something sooner... maybe we would have had more time.
[Imagining Nona curled up in that cold room all on her own, covered in blood... he's not going to be able to forget it. Just like he couldn't forget Lilith.
...
He lets out a tense sigh as he grips Temenos's fingers, his own palms shaking slightly.]
...
I know there's nothing that we can do now. And if she's going to end up wherever I'm going... I can find out from her. If she wants to talk about it, that is.
...
[Still, bravery doesn't cut away the pain or the fear, and it doesn't provide any more answers to questions that can't be answered for now. He doesn't know if he can believe it.]
...I don't know how brave I am, Temenos. I want to be. But...
I wonder if it's okay that I don't feel very brave right now.
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[He doesn't realize he's stopped the flow of his own share of chips to his mouth until he looks down at what's been left half-eaten.]
I want to introduce you to all of them someday. When we're all together again.
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He sets the unopened snack on his lap and reaches out to touch Beelzebub's hand.]
I'm looking forward to it.
[He wants this to be another hope to hold onto, given the situation.]
And I'll do my part to make sure you have a fighting chance. One hurdle at a time, hm?
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Temenos, I...
...
[He bites his statement down with an exhale, breath shuddering as his free hand brushes through his own hair. Stuck in his head in a moment of vulnerability.]
Do you think I should have stayed quiet?
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It was very brave of you to come forward, and it was also the right thing to do. That bravery is the reason why an innocent person isn't being executed instead.
...I just wish we could have found Nona's killer as well.
[That guilt hasn't left him yet either, and it likely never will leave him.]
returns to this five hundred years later to rewrite half the tag
[Imagining Nona curled up in that cold room all on her own, covered in blood... he's not going to be able to forget it. Just like he couldn't forget Lilith.
...
He lets out a tense sigh as he grips Temenos's fingers, his own palms shaking slightly.]
...
I know there's nothing that we can do now. And if she's going to end up wherever I'm going... I can find out from her. If she wants to talk about it, that is.
...
[Still, bravery doesn't cut away the pain or the fear, and it doesn't provide any more answers to questions that can't be answered for now. He doesn't know if he can believe it.]
...I don't know how brave I am, Temenos. I want to be. But...
I wonder if it's okay that I don't feel very brave right now.