brothers [henriko]

Lately, Nils had been thinking of the future. Specifically a future with Paisley. Up until now he had been mostly content with living in the suite in her estate, but he was starting to realize that if they wanted a real future together he couldn't just stay dependent on her. He needed to start, well, a real life. With a real life job and stuff. Considering he had no legal real work experience, and no education, he wasn't sure where to start.

As he thought about this issue, he went out to Paisley's garden to wander around and think. It always cleared his head to be out here among the flowers and trees, even when he was having some of his darker thoughts. Maybe he'd come up with something...

Henrik hopped out of his small boat and onto the dock on the shore of Nadar, tying his rope into a knot to secure it. He stood up as straight as he could, stretching each and every limb before settling with his hands on his hips. He took a long look around at the beautiful shore, seeing the residents and their daemons enjoying themselves.

It's gorgeous here, he thought to Rian. I almost forgot what it was like. Washing up on the shore of this island had changed his life forever -- and not his alone. Henri was on a mission to find his brother, and he had a feeling he knew exactly where to find him.

He and Rian headed inland toward Paisley's estate. Brushing his hair from his face, he started to wander through the one place he thought he would find his brother: the gardens. If only they weren't so big.

Walking around a bend, he saw Nils nearby, gazing at some flowers, seemingly in deep thought. He cleared his throat and slowly and quietly approached with a small smile on his face. "You look good," he said.

Nils jumped as he was snapped out of his inner thoughts by a familiar voice. He turned around in surprise, his face breaking out into a smile. "Henri..." he said happily when he saw his brother approaching. He hadn't seen Henri in weeks, and as happy as he'd been with Paisley, he'd missed his brother terribly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, walking over and hugging Henri tightly. Henri had left all those weeks ago to figure out what he wanted to do with himself, now that they didn't have to look over their shoulders everywhere they went waiting for the next attack. "What've you even been doing all this time?"

Henri hugged his brother tightly, closing his eyes. He and Nils had never willingly separated for this long before, and while he knew it was good for them, he also recognized how hard it was.

He took a step back after their hug, taking a quick look over his brother. Henri didn't say that lightly -- he did look great! There was less of a general sadness about him, something that had started to change him from the inside out. What was it?

"I've been traveling a lot," he started, not wanting to get too far into the details as there were many stories to tell from the past few weeks. "Helping some clio out when I can, doing odd jobs. It's been good, I've been happy. How about you? Still keeping Paisley company?"

Traveling. Of course. Henri and Nils had been "travelling" for the past couple years in the sense that they could never stay safely in one place for long, but they'd never been able to really enjoy anywhere they'd been. They'd been on the streets, just struggling to survive. While Nils had always wished for a permanent home, he knew that Henri had always wanted to see the rest of Amelia, to experience it the way clio were supposed to.

He flushed very slightly when Henri asked about Paisley. "Um, yeah," he said, looking down. "Yeah, me and Paisley, we um...got real close." Henri had been there while Nils and Paisley had started to bond after the beach, but he hadn't been around much as they'd gotten together and fallen in love.

Henri's smiled widened. "How exciting!" he exclaimed, patting his brother on the shoulder. "I'm really happy for you." Nils had found someone, someone who was genuinely caring and transparent, someone who was...pretty much the opposite of them.

Henrik wasn't surprised that Nils had fallen for her. She was beautiful inside and out, and radiated positivity and warmth. No one they had ever met had treated them as well as Paisley had. He couldn't help but wonder what sort of relationship they'd built since Henri had gone -- but it wasn't his business. As long as Nils was happy, which he obviously was.

"I don't really know what she sees in me," Nils admitted with a slight shrug. He offered Henri a half-smile. "I'm happy for you too. I never thought...you know, that we'd ever have any of this..." Back when, Nils had always liked to imagine a better life, but he never thought any of it would actually happen. It was all just fantasy back then, to help him cope.

Henri looked at the ground as he recalled the waves of loss and hope and fear that they had gone through. "I know, Nils," he said softly. "Me neither."

He looked up at him, at the man his brother had become. "I'm proud of you, for always sticking by my side and never giving up. None of what we accomplished could have been done without you. You deserve to be happy, and you deserve to be loved by someone like Paisley. She sees in you what I do: a brave, resilient survivor." He had missed Nils so much, and spent a lot of time alone lately. He wanted to make sure Nils knew what he'd been thinking.

Nils stared at Henri, temporarily at a loss for words. He never knew how to react when someone complimented him, whether it was Paisley or his own brother. He could just never quite believe that they were sincere. "I'm not brave," he said finally. "You're the one who's brave and resilient." Henri was the one who had stayed strong throughout everything they'd been through, who had pulled off their escape and kept them both alive. "Even now, you're out there helping clio while I'm just..."

Being happy for once? Tanith suggested.

"You're here right now," Henri started, "and that speaks volumes. You aren't just here because of me, and neither am I -- neither of us would be here without the other. I know you can't see that now, but I hope that one day you will. One day when you let yourself be happy."

His smile was soft, somewhat sad. He wished his brother could see that surviving everything they'd been through has set him up to be a stronger clio, but he knew it would take time. Nils had taken some really hard hits, and it would take a long time to recover from them. But Henri had faith in him.