#and tomi is nothing if not sturdy. tomi is solid ground

[wordsgood]

loreleaf sees his parents killed at age 6 and stumbles through the next 15 years finding older guardians who are somewhat emotionally available but very much like "i am absolutely not your father/mother, please, i can't handle the responsibility of taking care of you" and obviously having them is better than not having them but also it kind of just sucks. and i think that tomi, when he's recovered from a century of imprisonment, looks at loreleaf, sees the small frightened little boy inside the young man who's grown up way too fast, and goes "i'm gonna parent that" and does not wait for an answer

#it probably takes a while! tomi isn't well for a long time and loreleaf doesn't just open up because someone else wants him to #but tomi thrives on caretaking #so it might help him heal quicker to have someone to look out for #he needs to be needed and loreleaf needs someone who is stable enough to be needed #and tomi is nothing if not sturdy. tomi is solid ground #and of course loreleaf is comfortable around and trusts jademoon and doli lin and stormy #but all of them have such loaded fraught relationships with him #someone like tomi who is like 'i don't Need you for any reason but i want to know you and care for you' is wholly unfamiliar to loreleaf #like..........someone loreleaf can just go to when he's confused or upset and vent to #he's always had to be at least partly grown even for jademoon! #she was desperately unstable when she took him on! he couldn't be a little kid with her! same with doli lin and stormy! #tomi doesn't need him to have any level of maturity. he's self-possessed and understanding. #loreleaf is like 'so.........i don't have to filter myself so i am the least possible amount of burden/emotional labor on you' #and tomi is like 'boy i am So blissed out on being reunited with my soulmate at all times. TRY to shake me. i DARE you.' #it's just hypothetically very wholesome and i want to write book 3 so bad #story: prophecy trilogy