Maybe not a world that's less cruel to him, no, Schwanheim and Luceti and Sunnydale all had seemed to have taken some sort of universal pleasure from tormenting him. But, one day, maybe Helios' world will be kinder. and, as for the rest...
"I, I have that in you, a-and Ginia, Link, Grune, Seto, Pao-Lin, and, a-and Faolin, Olinda...I have been so very fortunate, Helios, to have met the people I have. But you, y-you were the first of them. You, y-you talked with me on my walk in, you cheered me up in the hospital, you, y-you gave me what was probably my last good night in Luceti and, and gods, you made me tea, w-when I came back, and..."
He had a life. He had a wonderful, happy life that was better than all the decades he'd endured thus far. Even as a ghost.
"...and that is what family is supposed to do, for one another, Helios." If Helios could ever come out and say those words aloud, one day, it would be one of the most fulfilling moments of Giles' life. But, on the other hand, he doesn't have to. Giles knows what he wants to say, knows what he might always be too frightened to admit. "My own family was, um...was hardly ideal, but I, I know that much. What else could I do, for you? And...and if I can ever get you to accept that, one day..."
...then he will have lived a good and complete life.
Giles moves a little nearer to Helios, enough to bump very slightly against him. It's as light a sensation as a moth's wing, but perhaps just reminiscent enough of a nudge to the ribs.
"We're family. Brothers. That's...that's more than enough."
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Maybe not a world that's less cruel to him, no, Schwanheim and Luceti and Sunnydale all had seemed to have taken some sort of universal pleasure from tormenting him. But, one day, maybe Helios' world will be kinder. and, as for the rest...
"I, I have that in you, a-and Ginia, Link, Grune, Seto, Pao-Lin, and, a-and Faolin, Olinda...I have been so very fortunate, Helios, to have met the people I have. But you, y-you were the first of them. You, y-you talked with me on my walk in, you cheered me up in the hospital, you, y-you gave me what was probably my last good night in Luceti and, and gods, you made me tea, w-when I came back, and..."
He had a life. He had a wonderful, happy life that was better than all the decades he'd endured thus far. Even as a ghost.
"...and that is what family is supposed to do, for one another, Helios." If Helios could ever come out and say those words aloud, one day, it would be one of the most fulfilling moments of Giles' life. But, on the other hand, he doesn't have to. Giles knows what he wants to say, knows what he might always be too frightened to admit. "My own family was, um...was hardly ideal, but I, I know that much. What else could I do, for you? And...and if I can ever get you to accept that, one day..."
...then he will have lived a good and complete life.
Giles moves a little nearer to Helios, enough to bump very slightly against him. It's as light a sensation as a moth's wing, but perhaps just reminiscent enough of a nudge to the ribs.
"We're family. Brothers. That's...that's more than enough."