“I keep hoping it’s a dream,” Flint says, quietly. His mouth twists up into a wry-looking smile. “Keep wanting to be awakened somehow.” [ @ survived!gates in That Verse ]

{ Heart Of Everything Starters } 

Hal opened his mouth to say something, and in the end found he had nothing in his repertoire for this. He could hardly imagine what it must be like – to spend so much of one’s life twisted up in a revenge story against an entire country and way of life in the name of one person was wild enough. To suffer the loss of someone so deeply and discover them alive and well was an emotional upheaval in and of itself. 

To have the person one had forged themselves into the sword of turn around and retire you – Hal honestly couldn’t even begin to sympathize with such a dramatic set of circumstances, let alone offer empathy for it. The whole thing was beyond his sphere of understanding – but in the end he knew he had to try. At this point, he was one of the very few who seemed interested in doing so – and the other two were just as confusing as he was!

What must it be like, Hal wondered, to have three men whom you tried to kill with full intent – and in some cases on multiple occasions – being the ones to hold you up and check in on you when the one you fought for, killed for, and lost everything for decided you weren’t what was wanted? 

Reaching out, he gripped the man’s shoulder. There were no words for any of this, he knew, so in the end he just pulled Flint to him and hoped that a hug might suffice where words fell short.