[Claude watches Lorenz, taking in every little detail with those sharp eyes of his that Lorenz, in their separation, seems to have forgotten that he has. The way Lorenz frowns and shakes his head, negating some thought or emotion Claude can't see. The grabbing his hand, only to immediately let it go again. Still beating himself up, still holding himself back, still completely mired in his own fear or reluctance or grief or...whatever emotion it is he's experiencing. Honestly, there's a lot of options. But even without being able to narrow down which exactly it is, it's obvious enough that they're all negative ones.
Okay, so Lorenz isn't able to relax himself or his sky-high personal standards here. Fair enough; it's a lot to unpack all at once, and it's not like Lorenz is in a great state for doing any kind of emotional labor. But Claude's a strategist. When confronted with a hard limit, he doesn't take that as an impassable roadblock; he looks for a way around. And he can work with this. It's not like Lorenz has ever been easy to unbend, and he's managed him just fine before.]
Well, if you're not going to take my hand, I'll just take yours. [He says this lightly, even as he reaches out and grabs the hand that just let go of his.] Now you're just enduring me and my ridiculous whims like always, right?
[And, without giving Lorenz any real time to answer, much less protest, he starts pulling him out of the pokécenter.] C'mon, we'd better get going! Restaurants and cafes don't necessarily stay open all night in a sleepy town like this. As for presentable, who cares? It's late enough that we might be the last customers of the night.
no subject
Okay, so Lorenz isn't able to relax himself or his sky-high personal standards here. Fair enough; it's a lot to unpack all at once, and it's not like Lorenz is in a great state for doing any kind of emotional labor. But Claude's a strategist. When confronted with a hard limit, he doesn't take that as an impassable roadblock; he looks for a way around. And he can work with this. It's not like Lorenz has ever been easy to unbend, and he's managed him just fine before.]
Well, if you're not going to take my hand, I'll just take yours. [He says this lightly, even as he reaches out and grabs the hand that just let go of his.] Now you're just enduring me and my ridiculous whims like always, right?
[And, without giving Lorenz any real time to answer, much less protest, he starts pulling him out of the pokécenter.] C'mon, we'd better get going! Restaurants and cafes don't necessarily stay open all night in a sleepy town like this. As for presentable, who cares? It's late enough that we might be the last customers of the night.