@sunhalf said: ❛ we’ll get through this together. ❜ from lili!
Raz is tired of this stupid hand messing things up for him, tired of the ‘exposure therapy’ route, wanting to just get it done and over with -- and so he had the brilliant idea of making himself try to learn how to swim. Just jump in, hope for the best, paddle a little bit. How hard could it be!?! He’d ventured out to the lakeside without telling anyone, of course. It was too embarrassing to ask for help with this.
And it had gone well! For about thirty seconds, until the Hand wormed its way out of his subconscious and started batting him around underwater like he was the ball in a game of polo, and for a moment there Raz had thought maybe the curse WAS actually real and then he got it together and wrestled the panic down and then -- well, then he got spat back onto the lake shore right in front of Lili, because of course he would.
Before Lili can say anything, Raz quickly demands: “Can you please not tell anyone else about this?” His gloves scrabble at the pebbles of the lake shore while he scrambles back to his feet, clothes sticking to his skin uncomfortably. “It’s really embarrassing.” Raz wriggles his way out of his coat (still on loan from Sasha) and wrings it out, once, twice, over and over again, watching as the excess water drips onto the pebbles below, looking wryly at it while he does so. His thumb goes to lift the lip of his goggles, watching as water pours out of them.
Back still turned to Lili, he starts explaining himself. “I just thought, y’know -- ‘how hard can it be?’ I mean, if I could learn how to shoot things with my mind in one day, maybe I could do that with the water thing.” Coat sufficiently wrung out, he turns to face Lili, hesitant to look her in the eye. With a toss, he throws the coat over his shoulder like a towel, then pops his helmet off of his head -- only to shake his head like a dog, droplets flying every which way, hair going to stick on end.
Lili encouragingly clasps his hand between hers, and while she looks grave as ever, says, “We’ll get through this together, Raz,” and Raz feels his face heat up as usual -- something else he needs to work on -- but he smiles at the notion anyways, trying not to look as awkward as he feels.
“I appreciate it! But...I mean -- you’re not the one with a deep subconscious fear of water because some old guy convinced your fake grandma your entire family line was going to drown.” Even while he speaks he can tell by the look on her face that he’s messing up and saying the wrong thing and that she’s just trying to help while of course knowing it wasn’t actually her problem. Oops! “I mean! Not that your help is unwanted! Obviously! I just. Well. Uh! Thanks. Is what I’m trying to say. I think. It’s just difficult.” He squeezes her hand back as best he can, then shivers, the air biting at his skin beneath the layer of thermal knit.
“Hey, could you do that air heater thing you do? I’m...brrr... pretty cold.”