[ It's almost dizzying, the rush of emotions that crash over him as Nehan holds him and says the very words that he had longed to hear. Every single one of his insecurities had built themselves up, climbed their way into his head to sink into his unstable mind in an attempt to sweep his feet out from under him. He'd feared the worst because he's only known the worst, and it would have been just one more thing to swallow into the chasm of his rotten being.
He's questioned this final decision of his ever since returning. He can still feel his sister tugging at the sleeve of his shirt, crying that it wasn't fair that it was him and not her. But Aventurine had held fast to what had made him come to his choice in the first place, and he hears it now, out loud, from the source himself. ]
... Me too, [ he says, barely audible with how softly he whispers it. ] I want to live.
[ For this. For a thousand more moments like this. Aventurine understands, for the first time, why it is people are born. It's not just to die at the end of their journeys. It's to have a journey in the first place. It's to be able to experience what he's experiencing right now, a press of lips against his forehead and someone he deeply cares for telling him what he'd been too afraid to admit before. Too afraid to consider if he could deserve such a thing.
But with this, he'll live.
He reaches up with hands that no longer shake to cup Nehan's face carefully, like there's nothing else as precious as this. As highly sought-after, as valuable, or as cherished as this. He presses a single kiss against those lips, tender and affectionate, before pulling back with a request. ]
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He's questioned this final decision of his ever since returning. He can still feel his sister tugging at the sleeve of his shirt, crying that it wasn't fair that it was him and not her. But Aventurine had held fast to what had made him come to his choice in the first place, and he hears it now, out loud, from the source himself. ]
... Me too, [ he says, barely audible with how softly he whispers it. ] I want to live.
[ For this. For a thousand more moments like this. Aventurine understands, for the first time, why it is people are born. It's not just to die at the end of their journeys. It's to have a journey in the first place. It's to be able to experience what he's experiencing right now, a press of lips against his forehead and someone he deeply cares for telling him what he'd been too afraid to admit before. Too afraid to consider if he could deserve such a thing.
But with this, he'll live.
He reaches up with hands that no longer shake to cup Nehan's face carefully, like there's nothing else as precious as this. As highly sought-after, as valuable, or as cherished as this. He presses a single kiss against those lips, tender and affectionate, before pulling back with a request. ]
So please stay with me.