#origami n praise or presence etc mc tries with games and mc's own gifts and holding him and reciting times where he seemed happiest etc

[glubandeepspace]

what goes hard- rafayel (not like that, although yes like that, but not right now, bc im still thinking of oceanic nightfall)-

falling back into various poor coping mechanisms he used when he was more alone because being partners with mc doesnt mean he'll stop being lonely especially whenever mc has to be away and hes still spent centuries longer facing all kinds of isolation despite other company available or welcomed (humans he didnt want to / couldnt befriend, lemurians he loves but could still be aloof to).

his comfortability being real but also as gradual as the love and with a part of him remaining somewhat resigned to the possibility of losing his happiness again one way or another (abt both mc & other things/people), some of this communicated blithely because vulnerability can still be scary, and if someone doesnt see past his half-assed acts / occasional testingly ambiguous phrases (and instead maybe sees him as some fickle failure or burden or w/e) then thats totally their fault,

except mc almost always understands and calls him out, calls him annoying or whatever whenever right to his face unlike most other people bc mc is like that with anyone/anything and he loves that about mc, needs that, as much as he does for mc's assurances in times even hes unsure about himself.

the sea god's first love was a more equally lonely person but got remade into someone who knows what it's like to care and be cared for and in that they still achieve a balance—not mc "fixing" him, but being an anchor and a reason for him to hold onto other anchors too and be mc's in turn instead of going the convenient route of accidentally/semi-accidentally letting others define what he does or feels he has to for the dozenth time.

rafayel (seeming so composed n sure of himself & a lot of things most of the time abt the major things) messing up sometimes in ways that are major without quite being a matter of life or death anymore, and rafayel resting.