At that moment, there wasn't anyone alive in the world to Byrne but Tyrell Badd. And at that moment, it was suddenly getting harder and harder to keep a week's worth of stress inside. He'd felt perfectly fine just a few minutes ago. Why was he suddenly shaking like the morning after his torture session all over again...?
But he would keep a smile on his face, for his friend's sake if nothing else. If he broke down now, Badd would never believe that their being together was a good thing for the both of them. He'd make up some lame excuse, like look you're sad so obviously I have to keep avoiding you so you won't be sad. No, Byrne wasn't sad, he was happy, and he needed to prove absolutely positively that he was perfectly okay and that they were perfectly okay and nothing was wrong and goddamnit stop stinging, eyes, we're not doing this crying thing now, not now, not in front of fucking stop it, please please please...
......breathe......breathe.
It would be okay. They would be okay.
They would make it out of here. They would see Kay again, make it home again, and no one would stop them, not Calisto, not Landel, no one. Not when they had each other. What made this place any different from the crooked corporations they tackled night after night as the Yatagarasu? Nothing... It would be okay... They...
"...The two of us," Byrne muttered, voice noticeably weaker than before despite his best efforts to sound calm, "we can do anything, yeah?"
Badd could hear the shaking in Byrne's voice, how close the powerful prosecutor was to breaking down. He held him as strongly as he had the night he'd realized Byrne had returned to him, desperate not to let him fall.
"No," he murmured into Byrne's ear. "We're not superheroes. We get beat, a lot. But we can get through it. They can't break us."
They very nearly had. Badd had been on the brink as it was, willing to sacrifice himself for Byrne not out of loyalty but so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. A few more days of this torture and who knows what he would have done to itself.
"They can't break us," Byrne repeated slowly, softly. He liked those words better; they spoke truer. As long as they stuck together and had each other's back, they stood a fighting chance against all of the blows Landel and Aguilar hurled at them. Their evil could never hold this raven down forever...one of these days, they'd break out and take flight, and they would spread the awful truth about this place, and...
... Oh, to hell with raven metaphors right now. Badd was here, that was what mattered. And Byrne was going to make damn sure that he wouldn't decide to abandon him ever again.
He took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, he sounded much calmer. "Promise me you won't run off like an idiot again, okay?"
But he would keep a smile on his face, for his friend's sake if nothing else. If he broke down now, Badd would never believe that their being together was a good thing for the both of them. He'd make up some lame excuse, like look you're sad so obviously I have to keep avoiding you so you won't be sad. No, Byrne wasn't sad, he was happy, and he needed to prove absolutely positively that he was perfectly okay and that they were perfectly okay and nothing was wrong and goddamnit stop stinging, eyes, we're not doing this crying thing now, not now, not in front of fucking stop it, please please please...
......breathe......breathe.
It would be okay. They would be okay.
They would make it out of here. They would see Kay again, make it home again, and no one would stop them, not Calisto, not Landel, no one. Not when they had each other. What made this place any different from the crooked corporations they tackled night after night as the Yatagarasu? Nothing... It would be okay... They...
"...The two of us," Byrne muttered, voice noticeably weaker than before despite his best efforts to sound calm, "we can do anything, yeah?"
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"No," he murmured into Byrne's ear. "We're not superheroes. We get beat, a lot. But we can get through it. They can't break us."
They very nearly had. Badd had been on the brink as it was, willing to sacrifice himself for Byrne not out of loyalty but so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. A few more days of this torture and who knows what he would have done to itself.
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... Oh, to hell with raven metaphors right now. Badd was here, that was what mattered. And Byrne was going to make damn sure that he wouldn't decide to abandon him ever again.
He took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, he sounded much calmer. "Promise me you won't run off like an idiot again, okay?"
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