[ The silence is simpler, usually, between him and any one of them - companionable quiet doesn't require of him any grand declarations of intent or guiding, leaderly wisdom. It's easy, but not when the weight of it comes down on him all at once, like this, and the simple act of holding his tongue fails him so spectacularly.
It doesn't mean he wants to speak, but having to makes all the difference. And that's beyond stilted attempts at their ordinarily casual banter, or noncommittal quips to no end in particular.
The empty quiet after her answer is mercifully brief, just so. If nothing else in his life, Cloud has always been one to soldier on, and this is no exception - even if it is, in being particularly complicated. He clears his throat as loudly as he dares, shuffling his feet and turning over his own hand, at last. ]
In that case.
[ A solemn nod, and he sets the finely cut Diamond Knuckles on the wooden arch of rail beneath their hands. He doesn't quite remove his own hand, in the process, a little unwilling to let something as expensive sit unguarded on the edge over the river; she can pitch them to the bottom of the ocean, afterward, if she wants - but not until they're officially hers. ]
no subject
It doesn't mean he wants to speak, but having to makes all the difference. And that's beyond stilted attempts at their ordinarily casual banter, or noncommittal quips to no end in particular.
The empty quiet after her answer is mercifully brief, just so. If nothing else in his life, Cloud has always been one to soldier on, and this is no exception - even if it is, in being particularly complicated. He clears his throat as loudly as he dares, shuffling his feet and turning over his own hand, at last. ]
In that case.
[ A solemn nod, and he sets the finely cut Diamond Knuckles on the wooden arch of rail beneath their hands. He doesn't quite remove his own hand, in the process, a little unwilling to let something as expensive sit unguarded on the edge over the river; she can pitch them to the bottom of the ocean, afterward, if she wants - but not until they're officially hers. ]