_{protective sentence starters : status / accepting.}

            _{he almost can’t express how strange it feels so hear mason say those words to him. not because he doesn’t think they’re genuine, because elwood doesn’t doubt him for a moment, but moreso that it’s been so long since they were last like this – whatever they are. it’s been months since they could even class themselves as friends, but since mason’s come back, he reentered elwood’s life with the same vigor and intensity he did all those years ago. but this time around, things are different, too – in the more general sense, both elwood and mason are completely different people. they’ve experienced different situations which have molded them into the men that now stand before one another, oh so different to how they used to be, and yet so eerily similar. reaching out, elwood’s thumb idly swipes mason’s bottom lip, feeling the slight roughness beneath the digit from where he knows mason picks at the skin, and then his hands move lower to entwine their fingers, tilting his head. again, there’s the soft press of tiny scars beneath his own hands, the ridges something that elwood could once map out with his eyes closed, somewhere he’s kissed so many times and yet now, it’s like he’s attempting to commit them to memory once more.}

                      _{❛ … how many times am i gonna have t’tell you, kiddo? nothing will happen to me …  ❜}

             _{he offers a bright smile, and it only dims slightly when he registers the stretch the scars make across his cheeks ; but his eyes remain just as bright and just as full of wonder as they did before. this time, he offers a smirk, shrugging his shoulders before tugging mason closer by his hands, looking up at him. his concern also has him blushing, the dark flush of crimson crawling up the expanse of his neck and then up to his cheeks, and elwood turns away – looking down at their linked hands, thumb brushing mason’s knuckles as he sighs softly.}

                             _{❛ besides – i’ll take any excuse to prolong the family reunion with father dearest,
                  so m’not exactly looking for trouble. not at the moment, anyway. got you to keep me occupied. ❜}