She puts her head on his chest and he becomes horribly aware that his heart feels like it's going to thunder out of his chest. He hesitates, for a moment, before putting a slightly shaky hand oh her back, his thumb brushing the nape of her neck. This isn't so much as crossing a line as it is changing where the line lies, and he frankly has no idea how to handle it.
Still, he listens to what she has to say, and is surprised by it. That she came so close to throwing in the towel. He's even more surprised that she has so much faith in him. It's laughable, really. Of course he's there to protect her. That's his job. He'd take every single hit the akuma victims lashed out, if it meant that she still kept going.
"You have to be the one standing at the end of the fight," that is true, but it's only a part reason why he continues to risk his life for her. "...And I couldn't just...just let you get hurt if I could do anything to prevent it. As for wanting to give up, you didn't. You kept going because it was the right thing to do. Because you're stronger than you realise."
His conversation with Zatanna keeps playing on his mind. How it can come down to being with either them or their civilian identity. But in this, Chat wants to be greedy. He wants to just lay his soul out for her, and to know hers, too. To just have one thing in this world that his otherwise crappy existence can't ruin.
"I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for a long time."
His tone is hollow, a touch self-depreciating. But it's true. Still, he knows she put that line between them for a reason, and even if it's changed position, he knows he can't force her to remove it completely. If she ever did, he'd need it because she wanted to do it, not because she felt she owed him it.
He lets out a steady exhale, mentally putting away those boxes of thoughts and feelings that threaten to come tumbling out if he doesn't keep them in check. It's not the time. Not now. Not yet.
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Still, he listens to what she has to say, and is surprised by it. That she came so close to throwing in the towel. He's even more surprised that she has so much faith in him. It's laughable, really. Of course he's there to protect her. That's his job. He'd take every single hit the akuma victims lashed out, if it meant that she still kept going.
"You have to be the one standing at the end of the fight," that is true, but it's only a part reason why he continues to risk his life for her. "...And I couldn't just...just let you get hurt if I could do anything to prevent it. As for wanting to give up, you didn't. You kept going because it was the right thing to do. Because you're stronger than you realise."
His conversation with Zatanna keeps playing on his mind. How it can come down to being with either them or their civilian identity. But in this, Chat wants to be greedy. He wants to just lay his soul out for her, and to know hers, too. To just have one thing in this world that his otherwise crappy existence can't ruin.
"I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for a long time."
His tone is hollow, a touch self-depreciating. But it's true. Still, he knows she put that line between them for a reason, and even if it's changed position, he knows he can't force her to remove it completely. If she ever did, he'd need it because she wanted to do it, not because she felt she owed him it.
He lets out a steady exhale, mentally putting away those boxes of thoughts and feelings that threaten to come tumbling out if he doesn't keep them in check. It's not the time. Not now. Not yet.
"...But it's fine. I get it. I do."