It takes a few seconds to shift conversational gears that quickly, but once she does she looks faintly embarrassed, as though she hadn't wanted him to notice it just yet. Or possibly ever.
"It's a note to myself. In case I forget."
With some small reluctance, she holds the wrist in question out so he can get a better look at the words.
"I just thought it'd be kind of a waste if I forgot and ended up stabbing you."
He doesn't think she'll stab him, either way. Given how they'd left things back home, she might try, but he has faith in his own ability to defend himself. And really, he hadn't needed the explanation, but it's nice to hear the reasoning out loud, to be certain that it's the same as what he'd thought.
He doesn't know quite what to say, so after a moment he just holds out his own arm and pulls up his sleeve to reveal the word "Pasaana." Done the same way, for the same reason.
It takes her a few attempts to say anything at all. She stares at the lettering on his arm, reaches out to trace two fingertips lightly over it with a sort of wonder. For all their similarities, she hadn't expected him to take the exact same step she had to ensure that they didn't lose this... whatever it was.
When she looks up at him again, her expression is hopeful, if still guarded.
"I can't go back to how it was before. If I'm going to keep kissing you in the future, I mean."
That's part of why she'd had it done. At the very least, she had faith in their ability to make it back to being allies and figure the rest out from there, even if neither of them could remember what the tattoos meant. But this also meant that she was giving him the power to hurt her more deeply than before, and she needed him to know that it wasn't easy to hand over.
"I can't, either." He can't make any specific promises. Even here and now, they wouldn't be able to agree on exactly how anything should go, back in their usual lives. But even before he'd been here, he hadn't wanted to keep her as an enemy; he'd just lacked any hope that she could be swayed. Ultimately, the gesture represents as much vulnerability on his side as it does on hers.
Her expression brightens, some of the weight of uncertainty lifting with his admission.
"Me, too. But maybe without the magic and the eggnog next time?"
Would she have gone about it the exact way she had on her own? Probably eventually, actually. But she still wishes she hadn't fallen asleep in the middle of it and woken up with a slightly hazy uncertainty over the entire thing.
She decides she'd better clarify, though, just in case there's any way he could possibly take her words the wrong way.
"I don't regret it, but I want us to be who we are, not who we've been artificially influenced into being."
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chiming
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Date: 2023-02-23 05:12 am (UTC)From:"It's a note to myself. In case I forget."
With some small reluctance, she holds the wrist in question out so he can get a better look at the words.
"I just thought it'd be kind of a waste if I forgot and ended up stabbing you."
no subject
Date: 2023-02-23 05:48 am (UTC)From:He doesn't know quite what to say, so after a moment he just holds out his own arm and pulls up his sleeve to reveal the word "Pasaana." Done the same way, for the same reason.
no subject
Date: 2023-02-23 06:24 pm (UTC)From:When she looks up at him again, her expression is hopeful, if still guarded.
"I can't go back to how it was before. If I'm going to keep kissing you in the future, I mean."
That's part of why she'd had it done. At the very least, she had faith in their ability to make it back to being allies and figure the rest out from there, even if neither of them could remember what the tattoos meant. But this also meant that she was giving him the power to hurt her more deeply than before, and she needed him to know that it wasn't easy to hand over.
no subject
Date: 2023-02-24 02:36 am (UTC)From:"And I would like to keep kissing you."
no subject
Date: 2023-02-24 03:18 am (UTC)From:"Me, too. But maybe without the magic and the eggnog next time?"
Would she have gone about it the exact way she had on her own? Probably eventually, actually. But she still wishes she hadn't fallen asleep in the middle of it and woken up with a slightly hazy uncertainty over the entire thing.
She decides she'd better clarify, though, just in case there's any way he could possibly take her words the wrong way.
"I don't regret it, but I want us to be who we are, not who we've been artificially influenced into being."