He looks down immediately at her voice saying his name, single pale eye watching those intense reds with both curiosity and concern. In all the time he’s known her she always looks rather serious, but something in her stare this time is troubling, and he’ll do anything to fix it.
The sketchpad he’d been adding to with a loose approximation of a dress they’d passed in a shop window is returned to an interior pocket in the familiar coat as he offers Ib a reassuring smile. Upon her question it rather quickly falls. Ah. A troublesome thought he doesn’t quite know how to address. He wants to assure her that it won’t happen again, that she doesn’t need to worry, as she deserves nothing but happiness. But he cannot promise that and he won’t lie to her. Ib is the one person he will never lie to.
❝Ib…❞ So how to proceed?
A short sigh before he settles on wrapping the truth in comfort. He kneels before her, eye to eye, and does his best in a soft yet resolute tone, just as back then. ❝I can’t say for certain as I don’t entirely know how or why it happened.❞ He has a theory regarding his relation to Weiss but that doesn’t account for her, and this isn’t the time or place for it.
❝I don’t believe it will, so please don’t dwell on it, Ib. But if it does I will be there for you.❞ And she for him, as if he’s truly honest with himself he needed her just as much. She was his lifeline to sanity. And yet these days he knows that too is a promise he cannot keep, for as much as he would rather be by her side forever her parents won’t allow it.
And thus, ❝And if by chance I’m not, you’re an incredibly brave, smart, and resourceful girl who I’ll always believe in. And you’ll have these.❞ He reaches into another coat pocket, retrieves a blue-wrapped piece of candy, gently presses it into Ib’s hands, then does the same with a pants pocket and a familiar lighter. He doesn’t mind giving it up as he’d gone and bought a spare to be sure that it running out of oil would never be such a disaster again. If he must be back down to one for the sake of Ib’s safety then so be it. Even if he does acknowledge that under normal circumstances giving a child a lighter is perhaps not a good idea, and certainly won’t endear him to her parents.
Soft smile pulls up on one side, a somewhat mischievous tone entering his voice when he suggests, ❝Although let’s let the lighter be our secret.❞ (yet another secret to keep) before standing back up, looking around, then back down at Ib with a grin. ❝Ah, how about another? There’s a lovely bakery not far from here. Before your parents can scold me for it, would you like to get some macarons, Ib?❞ Perhaps that would take her mind off the Gallery.
Ib tenderly holds the lighter and the candy in her hands, looking down at them as if they’re the most precious treasures in the world. ...Of course, she may be a kid, but she’s not stupid. She knows that Garry can’t be with her all the time - so that means there’s always a chance that one day, she’ll become trapped on her own. But... Garry’s trying to make her feel better... and he’s even given her his precious lighter, the same lighter that had saved their lives once before.
They got out before. That means that if there’s a next time... Ib can be sure that there is a way out.
So Ib looks at Garry, and smiles. It’s a small smile, but for Ib, it’s a large one. And she nods, excited at the thought of macarons, before exclaiming-
And then, after a moment, she adds, in the serious tone of a little girl-
“You don’t need to be scared either. ...I’ll protect Garry.”
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