[She bites her lip, defaulting to just... rubbing his shoulder.]
[Not at all unlike the way she had when he'd first come home after losing France, actually.]
[The comparison isn't lost on her, and it does absolutely zilch to ease the new tightness in her chest.]
[It's not that she even remotely expected Envy to be... available, in any sense of the word. This very subject being a pretty obvious reason why. Envy and France's unconventional partnership had been a big deal. Even to the HUMANS in the house, it was damn obvious that Homunculi and committed, genuine relationships were a very NEW phenomenon. And losing a significant other of several years will effectively put ANYBODY in the zone of no romance for awhile.]
[But hearing... well, this...]
[It's a sock in the gut, a little.]
[But she doesn't say a fucking word. Not about that, not even with today nagging at her thoughts. Because dammit, she knew it was never gonna go anywhere in the first place! This new information didn't change anything.]
[So she takes a steadying breath and squeezes his shoulder.]
No. No, it's not.
That's not what it is at all.
You guys were inseparable for years. The whole time he was here! And that was-- that was great.
But things... things don't always last, and it didn't, and it wasn't anybody's fault. Like... it's been almost a year. If you'd... I dunno, latched onto somebody nine days after he left, then... well, I think we'd all be a little worried about you cuz... that's not healthy, but it's been nine months.
Loss isn't a crime you need to punish yourself for by never loving anybody else ever again.
And... and I know France wouldn't think so, either.
no subject
[She bites her lip, defaulting to just... rubbing his shoulder.]
[Not at all unlike the way she had when he'd first come home after losing France, actually.]
[The comparison isn't lost on her, and it does absolutely zilch to ease the new tightness in her chest.]
[It's not that she even remotely expected Envy to be... available, in any sense of the word. This very subject being a pretty obvious reason why. Envy and France's unconventional partnership had been a big deal. Even to the HUMANS in the house, it was damn obvious that Homunculi and committed, genuine relationships were a very NEW phenomenon. And losing a significant other of several years will effectively put ANYBODY in the zone of no romance for awhile.]
[But hearing... well, this...]
[It's a sock in the gut, a little.]
[But she doesn't say a fucking word. Not about that, not even with today nagging at her thoughts. Because dammit, she knew it was never gonna go anywhere in the first place! This new information didn't change anything.]
[So she takes a steadying breath and squeezes his shoulder.]
No. No, it's not.
That's not what it is at all.
You guys were inseparable for years. The whole time he was here! And that was-- that was great.
But things... things don't always last, and it didn't, and it wasn't anybody's fault. Like... it's been almost a year. If you'd... I dunno, latched onto somebody nine days after he left, then... well, I think we'd all be a little worried about you cuz... that's not healthy, but it's been nine months.
Loss isn't a crime you need to punish yourself for by never loving anybody else ever again.
And... and I know France wouldn't think so, either.