for @ofmagicandpcwer / continued from here !
he nods slowly at her suggestion, sticking hands deep into his pockets to keep himself from noticeably fidgeting. he had to get used to not being able to protect people he considered family. he’d tried and failed with luther, five, ben, vanya, practically the whole goddamn family. nobody wanted to listen to some junkie who was too busy getting into trouble himself, but he couldn’t help his protective tendencies. he’d seen too much damage. thus why he distanced himself from the rest of them at an early age. if they didn’t want to hear his opinion, then he wasn’t going to stick around for much longer--and with the fact that they’ve reunited recently in light of their father’s death, he felt like he was having deja vu. but hey, he had the end of the world to consider this time...not that he’d mention any details of THAT to anybody who wasn’t involved.
he sighed and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. “ you’re right. you’re right, i can be there for you while you’re here, and that’s all that matters. ” it took a lot in him to not attempt to convince her otherwise. it was just hard, knowing he had such little control over his siblings who were bound to get themselves in trouble sooner or later. mara may not be blood related to him, but he felt a desperate need to take after her. something about seeing himself in her had a drastic effect on the way he felt like treating her. “ of course i’ll stay, of course. you actually listen to me, unlike SOME people. ”