[The fact that Pepper goes so far as to dredge up something so clearly painful to her is -- humbling. Humbling in a way Kratos has rarely seen, and yet for all that more frequently now than ever before.
[Lloyd has barely known him for six months, aside from when he was very young. Could it be possible that Lloyd would want him to stay that much, just as Pepper wished for her mother? Could it be possible that Lloyd might feel for him the things Pepper felt for her father, in the memory they'd accidentally shared? It's the kind of hope he hasn't dared entertain.
[Kratos lost the capacity to weep a long time ago -- but that doesn't mean he's incapable of being moved, no matter how he presents. Wordlessly he takes the step between them to pull her gently into an embrace. She's hugged him often enough that he doesn't think she'd mind.]
I'll try.
[He still doesn't completely understand the difference -- and the situation at home is far too complicated for him to rely on having complete freedom to just live. But here, he'll try.]
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[Lloyd has barely known him for six months, aside from when he was very young. Could it be possible that Lloyd would want him to stay that much, just as Pepper wished for her mother? Could it be possible that Lloyd might feel for him the things Pepper felt for her father, in the memory they'd accidentally shared? It's the kind of hope he hasn't dared entertain.
[Kratos lost the capacity to weep a long time ago -- but that doesn't mean he's incapable of being moved, no matter how he presents. Wordlessly he takes the step between them to pull her gently into an embrace. She's hugged him often enough that he doesn't think she'd mind.]
I'll try.
[He still doesn't completely understand the difference -- and the situation at home is far too complicated for him to rely on having complete freedom to just live. But here, he'll try.]