projectroxas | (no subject)

[ stills the hand on the ornament, lips twitching into a soft smile. ]

You're sincere about it. It's a first. Thank you.

[ the words make him pause as he deciphers them in his mind carefully. when the mental translation finishes, his grin loosens into a smaller, more private smile. reaching over with a hand, he runs his fingers through nathan's hair, gentle & fond. lets the petting continue for a moment, then leans over & presses a small kiss to the top of the boy's head afterward. ]

I say true word, but gern geschehen, Nathan.

[ closes his eyes at the contact, only opening them again when caleb speaks. opens his mouth, closes it, then stares down at the ground, face growing warm. ]

I know. And um... I-- uh. [ fidgets, feeling self-conscious as he murmurs: ] I-Ich liebe dich. A lot.

[ pauses again, but for a different reason. then his entire face seems to brighten. after hanging the ornament in his hands, he steps forward to wrap his arms around nathan, holding him close against his chest. ]

Ich liebe dich, Nathan. Ich werde dich immer lieben.

[ returns the gesture slowly, hands clutching at caleb's shirt before he relaxes into the hold. presses his face into his chest. ]

Danke. Danke schön.

[ presses a soft kiss on top of nathan's head. murmurs quietly: ]

Bitte.

[ smiles a little stupidly, peering up at caleb as he tries his hand at german further. ]

U-Um. De... Dekorieren Sie mehr?

[ perks up at the german, metaphorical tail wagging at full speed. ]

Ja! Dekorieren Sie mehr! Machen wir den Baum ziemlich!

[ eyes avert elsewhere, attempting to slowly translate it. ]

Uh. Tree. Pretty tree? We'll make the tree pretty?

[ nods & nuzzles at nathan's hair with even more excitement. ]

Ja! It is right! Very good!

[ shakes his head in amusement. ]

I've still got a long way to go.

[ gives another nuzzle. ]

But Nathan do good. A lot good, in small time.

[ grunts a little, face going into his chest again. ]

I blame he who must not be named.

[ peers down at him curiously. ]

Blame? Not bad, but blame?

He was made to be smart. Since I'm technically him, I was made to be smart, too. [ pauses, shifting to relax further into caleb's hold. ] Guess it worked. But I wanna be a genius on my own, damnit.

[ plants another kiss on top of nathan's head, pausing briefly as he considers the words. gives himself a few minutes so that he doesn't start babbling with his kneejerk response, collecting his thoughts. ]

Nathan is not smart because of. . . [ pauses again. ] He no name. Nathan try a lot, so is smart by himself.

[ smiles at that, giving a small shrug. ]

I hope so. I mean, I'm trying hard for you, so I don't want him to get any of the credit.

[ hugs him closer at that, as much as he's able to, grinning happily. ]

Ja! All for me, none for he no name!

[ wiggles an arm away to raise it up high, pointing a finger to the ceiling. ]

Ja, none for him! All for us!

[ mirrors the motion, unlocking his own arm to throw it up into the air. there's a bit of an awkward pause as he tries to remember a word that aaron's taught him before. ]

Sick!

[ is too blind at their excitement to properly compute what caleb said, thus he simply points at the tree. ]

And today is our day! Wir können es something-something!

[ supplies the last bit dutifully, beaming. ]

Schaffen! Wir können es schaffen!

Schaffen, yeah! [ removes his other arm from around caleb, squatting down to grab two more bulbs. stands, handing one over. ] Wir können es schaffen!

[ accepts the ornament & throws it up in the air once before clumsily catching it. yelps, but manages to catch it anyway, holding it up afterward with a victorious expression. ]

Wir werden Sieger sein!

[ even if he can barely understand that he gives him an enthusiastic thumbs up anyway. ] Yeah!

[ & then looks down at the ornament, not even thinking twice on not tossing it up in the air, instead placing it on the tree gingerly with a wide smile on his face. ]