Being emotional wasn’t something either of them were the best at. Rivin tried to hide behind her work now, the wound cleaned up now, needing the application of medicine. But Ignis’ words had her soften up. The words she had hoped to hear. She gave a relieved sigh, shoulders relaxing. “I’m… I’m trying to.” Because of Gil, because of Jack. Wolves who believed in her. Wolves that gave her a reason to be better here. But as she began to chew up the herbs she had prepared for the poultice, her father continued to speak. It was the closest thing to an apology, an acknowledgement of how his absence had affected her. Affected her siblings. Rivin gave a small nod, spitting the medicine out, bracing for him to wince in pain. The wound was pretty raw, after all.
“I was angry about that at first.” Rivin confessed. “But… when you chewed all of us out… you did say something that made sense. If it was me, Diablo, or Aresenn, you would have done the same. It wasn’t favoritism… It just… It was what it was.” She carefully began to spread the medicine across his back. “I hate mom for leaving, for taking our brother. For… for hurting all of us.” And that meant him too. It lead to some younger angst, as had his absence. But… none of them were perfect, were they? A huffed chuckle left her lips. “We’re all a bit fucked up.” No fault, no accusations, it was simply the truth.
The poultice was a mess, sticky and wet, but it would be better to cover the injury and hopefully prevent it from cracking and bleeding more. Maybe get the damn thing to scab again so it would heal and scar. “I am too. He’s the reason I gave Gil a chance.” She looked up at her dad then. “He means a lot to me. He’s a dear friend, someone I can count on. A reason to be better.” She shuffled. This was awkward. “We just have to keep trying to be better.” Her gaze flicked back to the medicine she was spreading. “I’m sure this stings, but once the wound properly closes it won’t hurt as bad reapplying it.”
"Speech," 'Thought.'
