[He listens, quiet and taking in every word, almost hanging off each one. The challenge is a valid one - would he have done what Emet-Selch had done had their positions been reversed? Could he have weathered the eons in the same way that the other man had; would he even have made it to the other side with his full sanity intact? It's hard to say what Hythlodaeus would have turned into had he remained alive and unsundered, but one thing is certain...]
I know well enough how it is to lose everything. [He says softly. His gaze wavers as though he might like to drop his eyes down, but he doesn't.] Not as you do, and I wouldn't claim it so, but...
[Hythlodaeus shakes his head. His smile fades a little.]
I will not pretend that I understand what all that time was like for you. I spent twelve eons drifting in a dream before my mind sharpened once again; I didn't have to go through what you did. I did not have to carry that weight. I cannot say that I could have without buckling under it.
[Gently, he tugs the other man's hand up and towards him. Gently, he presses a kiss to the backs of Hades' fingers.]
The you of back then didn't understand how he could have lost. Even I found it to be entirely dubious. [But he understands now, doesn't he. Hythlodaeus had heard it from the man's own mouth. In the end everything that had happened was what was supposed to and there was little arguing against it now.
The corner of his mouth quirks up.]
And while I cannot say I would have done it all... going out on my own terms? I think I could have managed that, at least. I'm not entirely useless.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-05-03 07:07 pm (UTC)I know well enough how it is to lose everything. [He says softly. His gaze wavers as though he might like to drop his eyes down, but he doesn't.] Not as you do, and I wouldn't claim it so, but...
[Hythlodaeus shakes his head. His smile fades a little.]
I will not pretend that I understand what all that time was like for you. I spent twelve eons drifting in a dream before my mind sharpened once again; I didn't have to go through what you did. I did not have to carry that weight. I cannot say that I could have without buckling under it.
[Gently, he tugs the other man's hand up and towards him. Gently, he presses a kiss to the backs of Hades' fingers.]
The you of back then didn't understand how he could have lost. Even I found it to be entirely dubious. [But he understands now, doesn't he. Hythlodaeus had heard it from the man's own mouth. In the end everything that had happened was what was supposed to and there was little arguing against it now.
The corner of his mouth quirks up.]
And while I cannot say I would have done it all... going out on my own terms? I think I could have managed that, at least. I'm not entirely useless.