[Throughout his interactions on the topic--and there have been more than usual in the past few months--Joshua has noticed one specific thing about people in love speaking about love: assuredness. Not mere confidence that only requires the self, but that undeterred belief in one's other half.]
[Now, given the man who Jill has chosen to spend the rest of her life with, Joshua could share in that assuredness wholly and with his own resolution. Clive has, since the earliest days of his life that he can recall, proven himself a man truly capable of anything he set his mind to with a heart of gold that, when dusted off, reflects the strength of character he harbors. However, despite what Clive innately represents, Jill clearly has uncovered something more. Something abstract. Something that, as Clive's brother, he sees through his love, but could never see as someone in love with him. It's an amorphous quail so beautiful, special, and precious, and there is no one better than Jill to have made such a remarkable discovery.]
[So when she says she knows how it sounds, he can agree, but only as an outsider. An outsider who cannot help the tender smile that lifts the faint creases just barely beginning to form under his eyes as they alight with warmth.]
You needn't say more.
[He places his hands on Jill's shoulders.]
You deserve today, but you've earned the rest of your lives together.
no subject
[Now, given the man who Jill has chosen to spend the rest of her life with, Joshua could share in that assuredness wholly and with his own resolution. Clive has, since the earliest days of his life that he can recall, proven himself a man truly capable of anything he set his mind to with a heart of gold that, when dusted off, reflects the strength of character he harbors. However, despite what Clive innately represents, Jill clearly has uncovered something more. Something abstract. Something that, as Clive's brother, he sees through his love, but could never see as someone in love with him. It's an amorphous quail so beautiful, special, and precious, and there is no one better than Jill to have made such a remarkable discovery.]
[So when she says she knows how it sounds, he can agree, but only as an outsider. An outsider who cannot help the tender smile that lifts the faint creases just barely beginning to form under his eyes as they alight with warmth.]
You needn't say more.
[He places his hands on Jill's shoulders.]
You deserve today, but you've earned the rest of your lives together.