( * soft family things | @lifestreamd )
‘ everyone needs somebody. we got each other. ’
the emblem had caught his eye before. it was hard for it not to when cloud was all but covered in it–––– it rested on his shoulders, his ears, his hands, & denzel had opened his phone enough times to know that it was there, too. he hadn’t thought much of it for a while, just knowing it as a sign of CLOUD. but, then barret had come to visit, & as he’d lifted marlene into his arms denzel had noticed the ring on his finger with the same emblem. & then tifa had brushed his hair from his face to look at the sore on his head, & he’d noticed, for the first time, that there was one on her finger, too.
it was only then that he’d known that it was something more than just cloud. he hadn’t been able to put a word to it ( or, maybe, he was too afraid to ), but he’d known the feeling. warm, close ––––knit, protective–––– CONNECTED. he’d see it in their actions, in how familiar they’d been with each other, & he’d felt a kind of pleasantness flow through him at just being close to it.
he had never expected to be a PART of it.
so, when cloud had asked marlene to help tifa for a bit so he could talk to denzel, he’d thought he was in TROUBLE. he’d spilled a drink on one of cloud’s maps a few nights before–––– maybe it was punishment for that. or, maybe marlene had told cloud about how he’d tried to trick her into thinking he was okay so she wouldn’t spend all her time helping him. he’d wracked his brain in nervousness, unaware that cloud seemed just as anxious across from him.
when cloud finally put the ring–––– heavy, big, his?–––– into his hand, denzel’s breath caught in his throat, his heartbeat picking up into a rapid, UNCONTROLLABLE rhythm. he couldn’t tell if it was from apprehension or excitement.
he was listening to cloud, but his eyes were locked onto the ring, his fingers moved across the chain that connected it, then they moved to the ring itself, tracing the dips & GROOVES in the face of the wolf. it was much to big for him, but he supposed that was what the chain was for.
❛ yeah. ❜ he wanted to say something better–––– something MORE. but, he found it hard to do. his tongue felt heavy, his eyes stung like he might cry, even though he wasn’t sad.
❛ i think–––– . ❜ it took denzel a moment to collect his thoughts, to figure out how he wanted to speak them. ❛ i wouldn’t want to have anybody else, you know? ❜ as far as he was concerned, he’d found his place, he’d found his people. he was young, but he wasn’t stupid. he knew, eventually, geostigma would be too much for him. but, however much time he had left, he was glad he could spend it as part of a FAMILY.
he slipped the chain carefully over his head, letting out a soft, comfortable sound at the gentle WEIGHT of the ring on his chest. he already knew it would become familiar. he took the ring in his hand, held it tight so his palm could feel the pattern etched in the metal wolf, & when he looked up at cloud again he was smiling.
denzel wondered if he knew the size of the gift he’d given, & he didn’t mean the RING.