[She knows. She must know. He must have reacted or cried out. It's not hard to guess why someone raised by Belos would cringe and cry out from returning memories. And he knows what he said in that one.]
["I'm sorry" isn't a thing he'd have said during scout trials.]
[He can't reckon with the feelings of her knowing yet, especially when his first brush with something other than fear is shame. Logically, he even knows it probably shouldn't be shame but it is. He'd cultivated an image of strength as the Golden Guard, and even after rejecting the identity, the idea of someone knowing about that kind of vulnerability by accident rather than by hus choice to tell them is embarrassing.]
[Enough that he looks away and his ears go red.]
[So he tries to shove those feelings down.]
[But then she tells him to breathe and he looks up at her again. He remembers how she'd tried to calm him after he and Luz escaped Belos' mind. Even though he had rejected it, he hadn't forgotten that kindness. He knows if he hadn't run from the Owl House that day, she probably would've have kept being kind.]
[Now that it's been offered again he accepts it. Is willing to take refuge in it.]
[He nods and tries to breathe. He's not quite in a panic attack yet.]
Gus. Taught me Willow's breathing...thing.
[He holds up a hand and silently counts with his fingers. Raising them one by one as he breathes in, putting them down one by one as he breathes out. Then he keeps doing it.]
[That he'd needed to be taught it isn't shocking. That his friends were willing to do it is a testament to the levels of kindness and care they've shown him.]
no subject
["I'm sorry" isn't a thing he'd have said during scout trials.]
[He can't reckon with the feelings of her knowing yet, especially when his first brush with something other than fear is shame. Logically, he even knows it probably shouldn't be shame but it is. He'd cultivated an image of strength as the Golden Guard, and even after rejecting the identity, the idea of someone knowing about that kind of vulnerability by accident rather than by hus choice to tell them is embarrassing.]
[Enough that he looks away and his ears go red.]
[So he tries to shove those feelings down.]
[But then she tells him to breathe and he looks up at her again. He remembers how she'd tried to calm him after he and Luz escaped Belos' mind. Even though he had rejected it, he hadn't forgotten that kindness. He knows if he hadn't run from the Owl House that day, she probably would've have kept being kind.]
[Now that it's been offered again he accepts it. Is willing to take refuge in it.]
[He nods and tries to breathe. He's not quite in a panic attack yet.]
Gus. Taught me Willow's breathing...thing.
[He holds up a hand and silently counts with his fingers. Raising them one by one as he breathes in, putting them down one by one as he breathes out. Then he keeps doing it.]
[That he'd needed to be taught it isn't shocking. That his friends were willing to do it is a testament to the levels of kindness and care they've shown him.]