[Four says "for now", and Lavi thinks about how funny it is, that even in death, their lives can still be so uncertain. But that uncertainty has led him here, standing in front of her, cheeks simultaneously cold and hot, as he peers into Four's expression and wonders what she's thinking of.]
...Same goes for you, y'know.
[What does Four want? He knows what she wants from him, the steady reassurance of someone who won't simply up and leave, even if it's in his nature. Or maybe a reminder that she can have much worse, do much worse, than have him constantly tag along at her heels.]
It's like you said, we're more than what we were made to be.
[ what she wants is for someone to stay, someone whom she knows won't turn around and stab her in the back. she wants is someone who won't give her nightmares. what she wants is someone to accept her for who and what she is, know her terrors and horrors and won't decide that's too much or not enough.
(in the end, isn't what she wants to be loved? it doesn't matter what kind of love.)
there's yearning in the furrow of her brows, a wordless kind of beseeching in her eyes, anxiety in the downturn curve of her lips. ]
... I know I said that, but I don't know what that means for me.
[ she isn't letting him go yet, not until he takes the first step back, but she won't do anything more either.
how can she know what more she can be when she doesn't fully know what she was made to be? ]
[that's fair, considering Lavi doesn't know either. He'd never thought 'not knowing' could be a good thing. at least, it doesn't prick at him in all the ways it usually does. maybe it's because he can stand here and not know together with Four.]
Hmmm...
[he puts both his hands over Four's, clasps them tighter to his face.]
What's something you never had time for back home, but you always wanted to do?
[ his question makes her expression go blank. it's not so much that she's never had anything she's wanted to do or that she's never thought of anything she wanted to but never could do, but it's a lot of things she doesn't want to tell lavi.
it ranges from things like relax and do nothing to washing her hands of all her responsibilities and some things in between. ]
Go on a da— [ panic swells. ] I mean, go collect dahlias.
[ he really is so brave because she could break his neck here or throw him over her shoulder. when four is taken off guard, she either shuts down or lashes out. it's a flip of a coin.
a little confidence can go a long way, and she doesn't hate all bravery. ]
Would you give me dahlias?
[ the way this question is also bolstered by alpha week. ]
[Lavi has given so many people flowers. He's probably used the same lines too, 'a flower for our friendship', because tokens are a good way to get people's hearts to open, for them to look upon you fondly, and flowers are both precious in that they symbolize more and useful in that they fade ever so quickly. Like they never existed, like they were never there. Flowers don't last. That's why they're perfect.
...He doesn't want to give Four a flower.]
...I want to go and collect them with you.
[He doesn't want to give her a fleeting moment, a meaningless object. He wants to stretch out that memory just a little longer.....]
Let's go to another island, once this is all over. Maybe we'll find one that's just for flowers, and we can pick as many as we want then.
[ flowers don't last. flowers are transient. flowers are meant to die. that's why you should cherish them for the short time they're around.
or forget them until even after they wilt and die.
what he says makes her smile. it's a wonder that he'd still want to stick around her even after everything is over. even after asking him if he wouldn't leave, there's a part of her that doesn't trust he'd stay.
she finally moves her hands from his face, freeing his cheeks of the hot and cold that comes with interacting her. instead, she holds his hands, intertwining their fingers together. ]
... All right. It's a plan.
[ she wants to go to an island of flowers with him, whatever it is, whatever that means. it's possible she'd go anywhere with him right now. ]
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...Same goes for you, y'know.
[What does Four want? He knows what she wants from him, the steady reassurance of someone who won't simply up and leave, even if it's in his nature. Or maybe a reminder that she can have much worse, do much worse, than have him constantly tag along at her heels.]
It's like you said, we're more than what we were made to be.
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(in the end, isn't what she wants to be loved? it doesn't matter what kind of love.)
there's yearning in the furrow of her brows, a wordless kind of beseeching in her eyes, anxiety in the downturn curve of her lips. ]
... I know I said that, but I don't know what that means for me.
[ she isn't letting him go yet, not until he takes the first step back, but she won't do anything more either.
how can she know what more she can be when she doesn't fully know what she was made to be? ]
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Hmmm...
[he puts both his hands over Four's, clasps them tighter to his face.]
What's something you never had time for back home, but you always wanted to do?
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it ranges from things like relax and do nothing to washing her hands of all her responsibilities and some things in between. ]
Go on a da— [ panic swells. ] I mean, go collect dahlias.
[ yes, that is exactly what she meant. ]
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Why dahlias?
[cause it starts with..... da..........?]
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They're pretty.
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[lavi is so brave right now and he knows it, bolstered by alpha week and the way Four hasn't beaten him up yet,]
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a little confidence can go a long way, and she doesn't hate all bravery. ]
Would you give me dahlias?
[ the way this question is also bolstered by alpha week. ]
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...He doesn't want to give Four a flower.]
...I want to go and collect them with you.
[He doesn't want to give her a fleeting moment, a meaningless object. He wants to stretch out that memory just a little longer.....]
Let's go to another island, once this is all over. Maybe we'll find one that's just for flowers, and we can pick as many as we want then.
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or forget them until even after they wilt and die.
what he says makes her smile. it's a wonder that he'd still want to stick around her even after everything is over. even after asking him if he wouldn't leave, there's a part of her that doesn't trust he'd stay.
she finally moves her hands from his face, freeing his cheeks of the hot and cold that comes with interacting her. instead, she holds his hands, intertwining their fingers together. ]
... All right. It's a plan.
[ she wants to go to an island of flowers with him, whatever it is, whatever that means. it's possible she'd go anywhere with him right now. ]
We can go to however many islands you'd like.