The Passage of Time [ David ]

He would finally blink, turning his eyes downward.

"Would you like to know a secret?"

He held out his hand above the island, the lump in his chest shifting and crawling up and over his left pectoral and down his arm, out his sleeve. To rest in his palm. Scarlet shook herself out, the plates making light clinking noises as she did so. He would bring his eyes back up into the kitchen.

"I forgave you for it, years ago."

He would reach out and stroke Scarlet's chin, giving her a little scratch under her jaw. He smiled at it- the only knowledge that his father, Zeus, cared for him as much as he did. He had Scarlet for so long....he had been a kid, shouting at the sky for a sign that his father knew he existed. Didn't just shrug him off and move on. That there was some part of a God that humanity could relate to- love. He had woke up the next morning to find this little dragon curled next to him on his pillow...and the rest was history. Now, she knew everything about him. Intimately. She was his confidant, his advisor. He loved her more than anything. He would turn back to Kiyr.

"I forgave you, because I know fear. I thought that, perhaps, seeing so much death had terrified you, and so you ran. And that all the anger i spent must have...must have paled in comparrison with the pain and guilt you felt. But you never came to me and displayed that sorrow. You apologized but...not in the way I hoped. And I know part of that is my fault. I didn't let you speak, I didn't want you around."

He would look down at Scarlet, and pet her.

"You can go now."

He would turn around to walk back into the kitchen. Assuming she did as he asked, he would turn to her and call out her name, intent for her to look back at him.

"...thank you. For telling me. I need time but...maybe our friendship isn't so lost a cause."

Her brows furrowed. He forgave her...years ago?

Kyrie had to sit there, and absorb that. It...it was kind of a double-edged sword. For these years, she thought he despised her, blamed her, and he just set it out there that he'd actually forgiven her. She'd taken that weight and accepted it, and the burden wasn't quite necessary?

She stared, just a little struck, a little surprised, and a bit more than a little conflicted. The words that she could leave took a moment to set in, but she gently set the glass to the side and stood, her limbs feeling peculiar. Not quite heavy, just slow. She took a slow breath in, and nodded.

"Okay."

She moved to leave, but slowed to a stop as he called her name, and slowly turned back with her heart giving a slight clench.

The blonde listened to his words, taking them in. What was she to say to that, exactly? Any of it? They both needed time, as she wasn't even sure what to think or feel about what he'd said. It certainly hadn't been what she'd been expecting. The blue-eyed woman had fully expected to start at ground zero, but, this had thrown her off, and she wasn't sure how to deal with it.

"You are welcome. I hope so. Good night, David."

Unless he had more to say, or otherwise stopped her, the bewildered Barrial woman would move to let herself out, and make the journey home.

David watched her as she left, then turned to Scarlet.

"You lied, David. You didn't forgive her because you think she is afraid."

David stared at her, his lips moving into a gentle smile.

"Fear is something she would relate to and understand. I couldn't tell her I forgave her because I loved her. That's not an answer. That's not a reason to forgive someone for the death of family. I knew she couldn't have...just left him there to die. Some part of me knew that, and I loved her. So i forgave her. But I stayed angry because I never gave her the chance to say she was sorry. To tell me what she just told me. And so, by not giving her that chance, I could unfairly pin the blame on a woman who didn't deserve it, instead of on Damien or....myself."

David would sit in front of the fridge, leaning back against it and staring as the ladder was pulled back up.

"Damien is alive, Scarlet. He has to be."

Scarlet didn't say anything for a moment.

"You lied again, David. It's not that you loved her. You still-"

David cut her off.

"I'm tired, Scarlet. And I don't....want to talk about this anymore."

Scarlet nodded before crawling back up and into his sleeve to rest on his chest once more. David intertwined his hands together and rested his elbows on his knees, bringing his hands to his lips and slipping his focus once more. Damien...was alive. He was. And David would find a way to make the people here see that. To see that and help him find his brother. Whether it took another five years, ten...or fifty.