[Kit didn't immediately clue into the joke, his mind working much to literally to think that Vincent had taken what little information he'd provided as an opportunity to infer whatever he pleased. And then it hit him.
Not quite laughing, the gravity of their current situation much too heavy too allow for something so weightless to escape from him, Kit still found his shoulders shaking with amusement and a smile spreading across his face. The implication was obvious. And, the more that he thought about it, not wrong in the least. His foster mother was a kind and generous woman, patient beyond his understanding, and while Kit hadn't been able to bring himself to inflict his presence in their home permanently, he appreciated Aria and Rey doing all that they did for him...making him feel like family. Aria especially. She tried so hard, and all her efforts hadn't gone unrewarded. Distant as Kit could often be, he had warmed up to her. She had a disarming way about her...
...a way that would have been good for him to stay close to. Was that why he hadn't? All this time he really thought he wanted to change, but if that were true, wouldn't he have just done it? Instead of making the same tired excuses and falling back into the same patterns of behavior. Masquerading as someone taking steps, when really all that he was doing was walking in circles.
Unaware his smile had gone, Kit continued walking until they stood outside the ward. He could hear his foster father's voice telling his foster mother that he was here. He could hear her fretting, as if she wasn't the one who'd been injured. She sounded so tired. How bad had that fall really been?]
Don't hide from her. She'll see you anyway.
[That was the final warning Kit gave Vincent before he started past the other beds, some empty, some occupied by patients who appeared to be resting or who were speaking lowly with family with the curtains around them closed. His mother was toward the back and nearest the window, a fact for which he was glad despite the late hour and there being nothing outside to see. She liked being as close to nature as he did.
But when he drew open the curtain around her bed, all of Kit's ice cracked and fell away, his composure crumbling with it. He was quick to leave Vincent's side and move to Aria's, to prevent the woman from trying to sit up in her condition. It appeared as though she had either twisted or broken her ankle, and along with both of her arms being bandaged were a few scratches and bruises on her cheeks.
"Kit? I'm so sorry, you didn't need to come all this way. It was just a little tumble." She looked at his gloved hands atop hers, seeing things as clearly as Kit had warned Vincent she would. But she didn't say anything, only peeled one of her hands free from beneath his to gently pat his cheek. "Please don't worry."
Even an untrained ear would have been able to read between those lines. The real request his foster mother was making was for Kit not to blame himself.]
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Not quite laughing, the gravity of their current situation much too heavy too allow for something so weightless to escape from him, Kit still found his shoulders shaking with amusement and a smile spreading across his face. The implication was obvious. And, the more that he thought about it, not wrong in the least. His foster mother was a kind and generous woman, patient beyond his understanding, and while Kit hadn't been able to bring himself to inflict his presence in their home permanently, he appreciated Aria and Rey doing all that they did for him...making him feel like family. Aria especially. She tried so hard, and all her efforts hadn't gone unrewarded. Distant as Kit could often be, he had warmed up to her. She had a disarming way about her...
...a way that would have been good for him to stay close to. Was that why he hadn't? All this time he really thought he wanted to change, but if that were true, wouldn't he have just done it? Instead of making the same tired excuses and falling back into the same patterns of behavior. Masquerading as someone taking steps, when really all that he was doing was walking in circles.
Unaware his smile had gone, Kit continued walking until they stood outside the ward. He could hear his foster father's voice telling his foster mother that he was here. He could hear her fretting, as if she wasn't the one who'd been injured. She sounded so tired. How bad had that fall really been?]
Don't hide from her. She'll see you anyway.
[That was the final warning Kit gave Vincent before he started past the other beds, some empty, some occupied by patients who appeared to be resting or who were speaking lowly with family with the curtains around them closed. His mother was toward the back and nearest the window, a fact for which he was glad despite the late hour and there being nothing outside to see. She liked being as close to nature as he did.
But when he drew open the curtain around her bed, all of Kit's ice cracked and fell away, his composure crumbling with it. He was quick to leave Vincent's side and move to Aria's, to prevent the woman from trying to sit up in her condition. It appeared as though she had either twisted or broken her ankle, and along with both of her arms being bandaged were a few scratches and bruises on her cheeks.
"Kit? I'm so sorry, you didn't need to come all this way. It was just a little tumble." She looked at his gloved hands atop hers, seeing things as clearly as Kit had warned Vincent she would. But she didn't say anything, only peeled one of her hands free from beneath his to gently pat his cheek. "Please don't worry."
Even an untrained ear would have been able to read between those lines. The real request his foster mother was making was for Kit not to blame himself.]