[Video]

[whatwas]

Merlin's gone.

[At least he's not breaking things this time. But if possible, he looks even worse than when Johannes left.]

I'm...I need a few days away.

[To sneak around with Yuca, yes, but also to heal broken heart do manly stuff like smash beer cans on his head instead of crying.]


Raven, can you look after Alice? Please?

Comments

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[breakingurface.livejournal.com]

That's a lot better.

[He's still angry, so angry, but somehow, knowing Horst is angry too, won't take this, won't tolerate it, won't give up, that makes it better.]

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[He wishes he was there with him, so Kota could hit him--and then Horst could tackle him, hug him, do something, anything to try to make this better.

This, he'll think later, is what he really loved about being a father: caring so much more about someone else that he could even put aside his own loss.]

I won't give up again, Kotarou. Never.

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[breakingurface.livejournal.com]

[... and now, like this, with the only one here being Horst, his expression crumbles a little. He sets his jaw, refusing to tear up, instead trying to maintain a glare. He has memories -- false ones -- of Horst being there, of taking care of him when he was sick, of letting him ride on his shoulders when he was little, of laughing with him when he did stupid things.

He didn't even yell when he exploded that watermelon in the kitchen. Much.

But Horst fucked up a lot of trust with him, and no one distrusts so much as a young teenager. Especially Kotarou.

In the end though, he makes it simple for himself. Because being mad at him isn't fun.]

... promise?

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[Horst has made some stupid promises here. One for Yuca--that he wouldn't leave until the other was dead. One for Johannes....

And he told himself, after this fight with Yuca, he wasn't going to do that anymore. He couldn't keep promises. But he realizes now that he was wrong. He's incapable of disappointing Kotarou again.]

I swear it.

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[breakingurface.livejournal.com]

[He ducks his head a little. No, he's not crying. Dammit.]

It sucked, being mad at you.

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[Horst has to swallow a few times before he can pick up that smile again.]

I wasn't fond of it either.

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[breakingurface.livejournal.com]

You gonna be okay now, you think?

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[He nods. He has to be, for Kota if nothing else.]

I'll be okay if you are.

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[breakingurface.livejournal.com]

Me? I'm always fine. [He makes a fist. Even though that's pretty much a lie, he'll make it truer.]

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

That makes two of us, then!

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[breakingurface.livejournal.com]

[It'll still take some work to get that trust back, but the deciding factor is that Kotarou wants this.]

So, what're you doin'?

[Video//Private//Unhackable]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

Can you keep a secret?