[She keeps -- saying these things. How he has a pretty heart or he's a good boy, and it hurts to hear because of how nice it feels, like cool water running over scorched skin. It's hard, because he has to keep reminding himself that it's not true. He knows exactly every way he is lacking in what good people like Ren think of him.]
[If she were Jyushimatsu, he'd be correcting her right now. That's the only real difference he can discern between them; in the quality of their kindness. That there's something in Ren's... even the self-proclaimed unburnable garbage Ichimatsu won't defy. Because Jyushimatsu's kindness is a wall, an impenetrable wall with a door that only swings outwards. Ren's is -- something different.]
[A window, maybe; facing the sun. His harsh words won't bounce back. He wouldn't dare throw them.]
[So she reaches out for him, and his eyes fall to the ground shyly, his shoulders and head drawing down. It might look like he's shrinking from her touch at first, but he leans towards her, so she doesn't have to reach so far -- and the moment her palm brushes against his head, two ash-gray ears spring up from his hair, flicking playfully in her direction. It's embarrassing... but... she likes it, doesn't she? So he doesn't mind.]
[He doesn't know what to say, so he doesn't say anything. Maybe she can hear the soft rumble moving through his chest, almost like a purr.]
[Ichimatsu doesn't have much merit as a person -- but cats have their own ways of admitting their love.]
no subject
[She keeps -- saying these things. How he has a pretty heart or he's a good boy, and it hurts to hear because of how nice it feels, like cool water running over scorched skin. It's hard, because he has to keep reminding himself that it's not true. He knows exactly every way he is lacking in what good people like Ren think of him.]
[If she were Jyushimatsu, he'd be correcting her right now. That's the only real difference he can discern between them; in the quality of their kindness. That there's something in Ren's... even the self-proclaimed unburnable garbage Ichimatsu won't defy. Because Jyushimatsu's kindness is a wall, an impenetrable wall with a door that only swings outwards. Ren's is -- something different.]
[A window, maybe; facing the sun. His harsh words won't bounce back. He wouldn't dare throw them.]
[So she reaches out for him, and his eyes fall to the ground shyly, his shoulders and head drawing down. It might look like he's shrinking from her touch at first, but he leans towards her, so she doesn't have to reach so far -- and the moment her palm brushes against his head, two ash-gray ears spring up from his hair, flicking playfully in her direction. It's embarrassing... but... she likes it, doesn't she? So he doesn't mind.]
[He doesn't know what to say, so he doesn't say anything. Maybe she can hear the soft rumble moving through his chest, almost like a purr.]
[Ichimatsu doesn't have much merit as a person -- but cats have their own ways of admitting their love.]