[Ari bites her bottom lip as more hot tears roll down her cheeks. It's true that Noah's gone through a lot... but how is making him deal with Bianca going to help any of that? Bianca hates him, and he's certainly not inclined to be merciful. Ari would rather not inflict that stress on either of them. That's not all of her reasoning, obviously, but there's nothing for him up there-- nothing but pain and heartache.
She reaches for his arm, the red one, not caring about how monstrous it might be; if allowed, she'll hold his hand between her palms.]
I promise. I promise I'll come back. We're family, all right? No matter what happens. No one can take that away from me or you.
[He freezes when she takes his hand, but when he doesn't feel that jolt of energy like he did when Ryoji touches his hand, he lets her take it.
She promises she'll be back. There's a very cynical voice in his mind, that whispers that he can't trust that, but he tries to shake it off. Ari's been nothing but good to him. She's cared for him when she had no reason to, nothing to gain. Over the past several months, he really had come to think of her as family as much as he did his father.
He doesn't notice his own eyes watering, threatening to cry]
[Ari notices, though. She doesn't even ask-- she just reaches out to hug him close. There's a difference of a few inches but that doesn't stop her from tucking his face against her shoulder.]
I'm going to miss you, [she whispers brokenly.] Maybe when I get back, we-- [Ugh, her throat's all choked up with tears.] We'll do anything you want.
[And unlike most people who try to hug him where he stands there or pushes them off, he'll actually return the hug. She's family, after all.]
Me too. [There's a small sniff from him, someone trying to stop himself from crying] O-Okay...I'm gonna hold you to that. We'll go to the biggest buffet I can find.
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She reaches for his arm, the red one, not caring about how monstrous it might be; if allowed, she'll hold his hand between her palms.]
I promise. I promise I'll come back. We're family, all right? No matter what happens. No one can take that away from me or you.
no subject
She promises she'll be back. There's a very cynical voice in his mind, that whispers that he can't trust that, but he tries to shake it off. Ari's been nothing but good to him. She's cared for him when she had no reason to, nothing to gain. Over the past several months, he really had come to think of her as family as much as he did his father.
He doesn't notice his own eyes watering, threatening to cry]
...Okay.
I believe you. I'll wait.
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I'm going to miss you, [she whispers brokenly.] Maybe when I get back, we-- [Ugh, her throat's all choked up with tears.] We'll do anything you want.
no subject
Me too. [There's a small sniff from him, someone trying to stop himself from crying] O-Okay...I'm gonna hold you to that. We'll go to the biggest buffet I can find.