[He’s beginning to get used to Atem’s responses to things. There is a level of maturity in him that is nonetheless sometimes surprising, and at times it makes Giorno feel well and truly like a child. It’s hard to understand how Atem stays serene about these things. Giorno is very good at acting unaffected, but what he sees before him is different. It’s not that Atem is unaffected, it’s that he absorbs the information, sees it for what it is, and acknowledges the pain without his own strong emotional reaction coloring the moment of confession.]
[Rarely if ever is he jealous of others, because he has clawed his way out of the dead earth all on his own, and he deserves everything he’s gotten. But he is jealous of Atem right now.]
[And then he’s looking down at his hands, spread flat and wide palms-up on his lap. It might seem as though he’s hesitating until one notices that he’s not so much looking as watching. Waiting for a tremor. But there isn’t one. His emotions haven’t reached his hands, and they won’t. They very rarely do.]
[He lifts his head, and he nods.]
I can do it. I’d rather this not be both of our first times.
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[Rarely if ever is he jealous of others, because he has clawed his way out of the dead earth all on his own, and he deserves everything he’s gotten. But he is jealous of Atem right now.]
[And then he’s looking down at his hands, spread flat and wide palms-up on his lap. It might seem as though he’s hesitating until one notices that he’s not so much looking as watching. Waiting for a tremor. But there isn’t one. His emotions haven’t reached his hands, and they won’t. They very rarely do.]
[He lifts his head, and he nods.]
I can do it. I’d rather this not be both of our first times.
[This is a joke? Probably?]