The warm sensation of his presence has kept her steady for long enough now that she doesn’t stiffen anymore when he gets close. Between how often he has helped her weather storms, to the way he has maneuvered her in their training together, she has grown familiar with the touch of his hands and the feel of his side pressing against her. She has even come to know the feel of his arms when they enfold her for additional security when the world gets to be too much, and she has never known a hug more gentle and kind than his.
Her mother had feather light touches that were more performance than embrace, and her father had a way of gathering her up so tight and so close she thought she’d stop breathing and yet, she never failed to feel safe in his arms. With Joji, it was as if the best of both their hugs and something a bit more came into play – all the security of her father, all the gentleness of her mother, and all the great and unwavering kindness that was Joji himself.
Perhaps it was thoughts like these that made her an odd girl, but it was also thoughts like these that made her accomplished in her craft so she couldn’t really decry them. Sighing slightly, she shifted so that she could rest more securely against her friend, wishing these days of melancholia would leave her. She knew it was all about time – about patience – but it bothered her to feel so strong one day, and so weak the next with only the strangest thing to set her off.
“I don’t know what I would have done, if you hadn’t found me when you did,” She confessed softly, “You’ve made life infinitely more bearable – and I really don’t think I thank you enough for it.”
Ocean Archive 