[Do not look away. The words, sternly spoken, hit Liem with the familiarity of an echo, make his eyes widen and his gaze snap back to the other man. Set has always found the way, so easily, to set him off balance; the look of him now — red as the dying sun, red as the score of a whip — stuns him to stillness. For the length of a breath only, but he needs no longer than that; even when Liem can again see the whole of him, not simply the blood-red force of his demand, he is caught in the ruthless onslaught of his words and his gaze and the hands that find their way into his hair.
No man has ever demanded Liem's friendship like this. What man would? Set claims to ask for it, and in the same breath admits that he will take what he wants regardless of how willingly Liem gives it to him. He asks for faith as a companion, but with the implacable self-assurance of the divine. Liem feels simultaneously that he has no choice but to submit to his demands, and also that he has no idea how.]
It is not for lack of wanting that I do not understand you.
[Beneath Set's palms, the burned skin of his face is uncommonly warm. Liem reaches up to grasp the god's wrists, grabbing onto them like he can't decide whether to clutch them tight or wrench them free.]
Why do you need my heart for this? [He says it unhappily, even resentfully — for this troublesome organ he cannot control, that has only ever made his life difficult.] If it is for want of a challenge to conquer, you need not bother. It has never heeded me, and is easily won.
[He has always been too sentimental for his own good, collecting attachments like bruises until long after the people involved have gone from his life. And this is all the more reason why he distrusts the promise of another, for a companionship that will crumble like so much sand before long, he's certain.]
I am already your ally and your confidant. Of what possible value could my companionship be to you? What meaning could you find there?
no subject
No man has ever demanded Liem's friendship like this. What man would? Set claims to ask for it, and in the same breath admits that he will take what he wants regardless of how willingly Liem gives it to him. He asks for faith as a companion, but with the implacable self-assurance of the divine. Liem feels simultaneously that he has no choice but to submit to his demands, and also that he has no idea how.]
It is not for lack of wanting that I do not understand you.
[Beneath Set's palms, the burned skin of his face is uncommonly warm. Liem reaches up to grasp the god's wrists, grabbing onto them like he can't decide whether to clutch them tight or wrench them free.]
Why do you need my heart for this? [He says it unhappily, even resentfully — for this troublesome organ he cannot control, that has only ever made his life difficult.] If it is for want of a challenge to conquer, you need not bother. It has never heeded me, and is easily won.
[He has always been too sentimental for his own good, collecting attachments like bruises until long after the people involved have gone from his life. And this is all the more reason why he distrusts the promise of another, for a companionship that will crumble like so much sand before long, he's certain.]
I am already your ally and your confidant. Of what possible value could my companionship be to you? What meaning could you find there?