❝ i know i can’t protect you from everything, but i wish you’d let me protect you from the things i can control. ❞
@osaintly. / lost meme. / not accepting.
wanting to protect someone is not a foreign feeling for shez. there are many people he wants to protect , & she is included in that now. for his friends , there’s little shez wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice for them , his own life included , & being in danger was nothing new to him.
someone wanting to protect him , though , was something altogether different than he was used to.
as a mercenary , he had to be able to fend for himself , be entirely self serving in nearly every aspect of his life. it was difficult & it could be lonely , & more than anything he was worried about surviving long enough to get through his next job. no one really wanted to protect him , he had to protect himself , & for many years he lived that way , alone but plenty busy .
‘ mercedes... ’
truly , shez finds himself at a loss for words , unsure how to respond. she can hold her own , that much he knows , but some part of him revolts at the idea of anyone wanting to protect him. it was strange , but it felt warm , so he chose to cling to that feeling instead.
briefly , he wondered if this is what it was like to belong somewhere.
after a moment , shez nods , smile returning full-force as he looks her in the eye to speak , feeling less alone than he had in years .
‘ alright. but only if you let me do the same for you. ’
