[His hand stays steady, the reassurances stay firm. He's been very careful to keep his touch somewhere covered. Somewhere that won't risk accidental transfer of any feeling. Or memories. He's here for comfort, for support, not to force anything over the line, so to speak.]
[He stays quiet for a while, listening, even while the words he hears twists him all up inside. Stabs at him. He forces himself to stay calm. Steady. That's what Lance needs right now. He glances to one side, and grabs... of all things... pot-holders. It looks ridiculous, but hey, this way he can cup both his hands around his teammate's. Try to apply pressure counter to the way he sees the tension in Lance's muscles.]
I... think that it's all right to not feel like that's what you are. And I mean that it's normal. It's not where we want to be, where we want you to be, but - after all of that, I'd be shocked if you did. I still see it in you, and I think I always will. Like... how you all tell me the same thing.
[That he's a good man, that he's more than what happened. That the people who'd known him Before everything could still see it. Could still bring it out.]
I also don't think he would have hesitated to do the same to you, again. I don't blame you for it. [There are very few people in this place he can't stand. Reaper and Maul both are on that short list.] You're allowed to be angry, you're allowed to be hurt.
[Shiro's fairly sure he'd been told the same damn things before. Funny, how easy they are to tell to someone else, to mean them to someone else.]
... Lance, would you blame me, would you think I was wrong, for going after the one who did this? [His right hand slips from the mitt, the metal cold and gleaming in the kitchen light. He knows the answer is going to be "no", but there's a point here he wants to make.]
And honestly... I still want to. Like I wanted to take the fight to Superior in Deerington. What does that say to you about me?
[Again, there's a point. Just go with him on this.]
no subject
[His hand stays steady, the reassurances stay firm. He's been very careful to keep his touch somewhere covered. Somewhere that won't risk accidental transfer of any feeling. Or memories. He's here for comfort, for support, not to force anything over the line, so to speak.]
[He stays quiet for a while, listening, even while the words he hears twists him all up inside. Stabs at him. He forces himself to stay calm. Steady. That's what Lance needs right now. He glances to one side, and grabs... of all things... pot-holders. It looks ridiculous, but hey, this way he can cup both his hands around his teammate's. Try to apply pressure counter to the way he sees the tension in Lance's muscles.]
I... think that it's all right to not feel like that's what you are. And I mean that it's normal. It's not where we want to be, where we want you to be, but - after all of that, I'd be shocked if you did. I still see it in you, and I think I always will. Like... how you all tell me the same thing.
[That he's a good man, that he's more than what happened. That the people who'd known him Before everything could still see it. Could still bring it out.]
I also don't think he would have hesitated to do the same to you, again. I don't blame you for it. [There are very few people in this place he can't stand. Reaper and Maul both are on that short list.] You're allowed to be angry, you're allowed to be hurt.
[Shiro's fairly sure he'd been told the same damn things before. Funny, how easy they are to tell to someone else, to mean them to someone else.]
... Lance, would you blame me, would you think I was wrong, for going after the one who did this? [His right hand slips from the mitt, the metal cold and gleaming in the kitchen light. He knows the answer is going to be "no", but there's a point here he wants to make.]
And honestly... I still want to. Like I wanted to take the fight to Superior in Deerington. What does that say to you about me?
[Again, there's a point. Just go with him on this.]