Definitely strong enough to leave Aoba wheezing in surprise! But there was a laugh buried in it too, and the pressure of it eased when Aoba turned in to it somewhat, hugging Declan from the side in return. (Ren, in the meanwhile, had ceased taking pictures. He was outright filming, now.)
“You can’t be ‘fixed’ if you were never broken,” he countered, but still smiling up at the larger man. “I think it’s better to say I just…helped you come out of your shell. So, maybe that can be the favor you do for me, while I’m gone.”
Aoba lifted a hand up to that broad breastplate, patting Declan’s chest just off from center. His heart and his home.
“I don’t expect you to go out and suddenly be a social butterfly or anything like that, and I don’t want you to replace me either-” slipped out selfish little words, “-but it’s a big City out there, with people and other Guardians from all walks of life. I bet you can find a few others to be quiet-type friends for you. Counteract Mac and Cayde a bit, huh?”
no subject
“You can’t be ‘fixed’ if you were never broken,” he countered, but still smiling up at the larger man. “I think it’s better to say I just…helped you come out of your shell. So, maybe that can be the favor you do for me, while I’m gone.”
Aoba lifted a hand up to that broad breastplate, patting Declan’s chest just off from center. His heart and his home.
“I don’t expect you to go out and suddenly be a social butterfly or anything like that, and I don’t want you to replace me either-” slipped out selfish little words, “-but it’s a big City out there, with people and other Guardians from all walks of life. I bet you can find a few others to be quiet-type friends for you. Counteract Mac and Cayde a bit, huh?”