[ dextera has been through a lot since that moment. he’s grown in unexpected ways; he’s found his footing in this world in a way he never managed in horos. his loyalty to pleroma had been a necessary plunge, but here, despite the archangel attempting to sway his heart, he’s firmly planted his feet in the lush soil of springstar and grown because of it.
that doesn’t mean he doesn’t remember his weakness or the way he’d held onto makoto. everything around them had been so dark and miserable, but his relationship with makoto was divorced from all that.
—but now, makoto has returned in the midst of escalating tensions. dextera doesn’t know where he will ultimately fall, and he knows makoto is achingly contrary. if dextera tries to sway him, it will fail, and so he’s more than happy to avoid thinking about their loyalties at all just as he did before. all he needs to worry about is cradling this precious, unwillingly fragile thing, something much easier than taking a stand when it might have consequences. for now, makoto is his responsibility as a person, not as a member of any faction. ]
…
[ he still hesitates to speak. part of it is the same concern from a moment ago, of overloading makoto’s shard, but part of it is simply hoping to hold onto this little moment.
he does soon, though, lift a hand to makoto’s back, one finger held like a pen against his shoulder blades. he writes, first the simple letter M that had been his initial introduction, then a moment longer and he chooses to reveal his knowledge in full. he remembers makoto giving him his name as if it was a shift in their relationship, and he hopes now it signifies that dextera is someone makoto once trusted enough to share it. ]
no subject
that doesn’t mean he doesn’t remember his weakness or the way he’d held onto makoto. everything around them had been so dark and miserable, but his relationship with makoto was divorced from all that.
—but now, makoto has returned in the midst of escalating tensions. dextera doesn’t know where he will ultimately fall, and he knows makoto is achingly contrary. if dextera tries to sway him, it will fail, and so he’s more than happy to avoid thinking about their loyalties at all just as he did before. all he needs to worry about is cradling this precious, unwillingly fragile thing, something much easier than taking a stand when it might have consequences. for now, makoto is his responsibility as a person, not as a member of any faction. ]
…
[ he still hesitates to speak. part of it is the same concern from a moment ago, of overloading makoto’s shard, but part of it is simply hoping to hold onto this little moment.
he does soon, though, lift a hand to makoto’s back, one finger held like a pen against his shoulder blades. he writes, first the simple letter M that had been his initial introduction, then a moment longer and he chooses to reveal his knowledge in full. he remembers makoto giving him his name as if it was a shift in their relationship, and he hopes now it signifies that dextera is someone makoto once trusted enough to share it. ]