“ well, when you live for what feels like eons, the idea of lovers, family, and friends... is a luxury... and no matter what happens, i carry them with me. what they would have though, said, and done. so that even though they’re gone from the world they’re never gone from me or my memories and they will live on in my heart. but, that’s the way i must live as a naga’s blood and voice. ”
unprompted | ALWAYS ACCEPTING.
The other’s words carry an understandably somber tone, a sort of melancholy that weighs heavily on Robin despite the fact that she’s only listening. There’s a lump forming in the back of her throat that makes it hard to respond, but she doesn’t even know what she’d say to begin with. What does one say when talking to someone who’s seen through so much—has lived for so long? Suddenly, she feels all too small sitting next to Tiki, despite the fact that they aren’t all that different in size ( at least, in the manakete’s human form ), and Robin can only fiddle with her hands and stare at her fingers as her thoughts race through her head. Sure, she’d been the one to ask, but …
“… I see. I’m … —Thank you. For telling me.” A sigh as she rubs the back of her right hand, where it feels as though her oh-so-conspicuous mark ( brand ) is burning through her skin as they speak. “I can’t imagine what that’d be like; to see the world move for so long …” And before she can get second thoughts on what she’s saying ( thinking, dreading, rubbing her hand so hard it might bruise ), Robin forces down the weight in her chest, swallows despite how dry her mouth is, is practically rambling in an attempt to say the question that was really on her mind. “Is it worth it, then? For you, and for them, even when you know you must say goodbye, that perhaps you can’t truly stay, o-or that you might hurt them— … No, never mind. Please don’t … mind me, I don’t even know what I’m saying …”
