[ He smiles, or at least makes an effort, thoughts still further away than close in this room they're sharing. That kiss to his lips brings him back with a blink, then another; the idea that Xie Lian will be there for him when Shi Qingxuan can't being the same thought Shino has, for a world divorced from the here and now.
Shino won't be lonely with his family still alive, but gods? Gods and demons, both are lonely. That much he knows.
It is not simply in the realm of humanity to feel such things as loneliness, however different it may be from person to person, entity to entity. ]
I won't. And I can't hear you the same ways, but don't stop calling out for me either, okay? I'll come running as long as I can.
[ When it comes down that separation is what they face, then he can't bridge that time or distance, but until then, he'll fight to stay by Qingxuan's side, and to protect him in whatever ways he can.
Though having said this, he simply buries his face against Shi Qingxuan's neck, eyes closed. Better thoughts and actions can resume tomorrow, or later. Right now, in the circle of his embrace, is enough. Because talking about wanting to add more is not to say any of this is less: it's not. This is a warmth and connection he hadn't imagined months and months ago, and he can understand in yet another nuanced way the stupid things people do for concepts of romantic love, much as he already understood what it meant to familial love.
Seeing the person or persons you love happy, seeing them in places where they can feel safe more often than threatened, knowing they're fed and warm... it's all important. And Shi Qingxuan, who never speaks like any of this will end, is going to need the ones who can be there when Shino cannot.
And he thinks, when considering Shi Qingxuan, Xie Lian, the more mysterious Hua Cheng, that perhaps in all of each other, they'll find the balances for themselves, too. Just like he does. ]
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Shino won't be lonely with his family still alive, but gods? Gods and demons, both are lonely. That much he knows.
It is not simply in the realm of humanity to feel such things as loneliness, however different it may be from person to person, entity to entity. ]
I won't. And I can't hear you the same ways, but don't stop calling out for me either, okay? I'll come running as long as I can.
[ When it comes down that separation is what they face, then he can't bridge that time or distance, but until then, he'll fight to stay by Qingxuan's side, and to protect him in whatever ways he can.
Though having said this, he simply buries his face against Shi Qingxuan's neck, eyes closed. Better thoughts and actions can resume tomorrow, or later. Right now, in the circle of his embrace, is enough. Because talking about wanting to add more is not to say any of this is less: it's not. This is a warmth and connection he hadn't imagined months and months ago, and he can understand in yet another nuanced way the stupid things people do for concepts of romantic love, much as he already understood what it meant to familial love.
Seeing the person or persons you love happy, seeing them in places where they can feel safe more often than threatened, knowing they're fed and warm... it's all important. And Shi Qingxuan, who never speaks like any of this will end, is going to need the ones who can be there when Shino cannot.
And he thinks, when considering Shi Qingxuan, Xie Lian, the more mysterious Hua Cheng, that perhaps in all of each other, they'll find the balances for themselves, too. Just like he does. ]