All of the internal commentary that Arrietty had been sharing with herself had, of course, gone twice over for him as well. Sho was surprised that she was here, and more than anything...he was relieved by the fact because it meant that she had thrived in spite of the adversity that was set out for her people. That just went to prove how strong she really was at the end of the day.<br/><br/>Nevertheless, he showed no excitement and was as deliberate and soft-spoken as ever. He didn't show much excitement in spite of the fact that this was the treat of his lifetime.<br/><br/>Sho knew that Arrietty would have known that more than anything in the world. Sometimes things didn't really need to be said, and he was glad for that.<br/><br/>"Of course, of course I had to keep it. It was my only reminder...of the girl who saved my life."<br/><br/>None of what he was saying was meant to be taken in an over dramatic fashion. Rather, he was being completely honest. Sho knew very well that the reason he had found the will to live was because of the fact that Arrietty had shown him the way to believe in himself, and for that he was eternally grateful.<br/><br/>"If you want it...if you need it...then please feel free to take it back."<br/><br/>Slowly he turned his head, though he wasn't doing it with any less of a deliberate nature than anything else he'd done so far.<br/><br/>Eventually, though, he had come to face her and finally look at her fully. Sho didn't mean to gawk, but she was a very important friend that he hadn't seen in a great while so he had allowed himself the luxury of such a glance.<br/><br/>"I missed you more than anything else in the world..." He didn't want to sound sappy, and probably realized that he was starting to, but Sho also realized that he was speaking from a very different point of view this time. This time, now, he was speaking from the point of view of strength rather than the point of view exhibited by the weak individual that he was before.<br/><br/>Then again, he owed quite a bit of that strength to the individual who had taught him to look adversity in the eye and be master over it.<br/><br/>Pausing again for a moment, he exhaled and smiled. "Did you want me to get you a bit of sugar later?"<br/><br/>Admittedly he'd taken to drinking his tea dark with nothing in it, but then again no one would have thought that it would have been unusual had he taken a sugar cube or two.<br/><br/>"Are the others with you?" Sho stopped after saying that and gently shook his head. "If you cannot say...then please do not." He didn't ever want to make them move again, and so he certainly didn't want to ask her to tell him anything that would have forced a condition where they might have needed to.<br/><br/>For now he was perfectly happy with her just speaking to him considering how long it had been since he had last seen her. It was...entirely too long that was for sure. No, that didn't even begin to describe it.<br/><br/>It felt like it was some sort of an eternity that he had spent apart from the small Borrower girl.<br/><br/>In fact, he might very well have just liked to sit here in silence and enjoy the fact that they were together again.<br/><br/>"I'm...not being overbearing, am I?"<br/><br/>He certainly hadn't meant to be, but then again he wasn't at all sure what might have happened considering that they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in that aforementioned small eternity. He didn't think of her in terms of novelty any more - he thought of her, ironically, as a fellow human being who deserved the same level of respect that he needed.