Hollow Knight

Hollow didn't know what they felt.

At first, they were confused. Why did you treat them with such kindness and not as the failures they were supposed to be? They had failed Hallownest; it was because of their mistake, their connection to the Pale King, that everything went wrong. They considered themselves a mistake, a failure, something to be discarded. Meaningless... worthless. And yet... you never saw them that way.

You treated them only with kindness. With care. With affection, with... true and genuine kindness. It was something they weren't used to at all. They were only used to being told not to feel, not to speak, not to think; used to feeling the cold chains that bound them in the Temple of the Black Egg and the overwhelming pain of the Radiance, poisoning their minds. But with you? They felt no pain, no harm, no sorrow... Their sister, Hornet, was another being with whom they only felt safe, but because she left home often to maintain the resurgence of Hallownest, they were more used to you than to her.

They didn't know exactly what that feeling was, but... it felt... good. It was warm. This... feeling intensified a hundredfold when you decided to hug them, to the point that they often gestured for you to hug them, because it felt like heaven. It was the best thing they had ever felt, and they didn't want to lose that feeling. They didn't want to lose you...

Hollow snapped out of his thoughts as he refocused on you. You were re-bandaging the stump that had once been his left arm. Before, they saw that stump as just another reminder of their mistakes, but now they only had eyes for you. They watched your face as you bandaged his stump, seeing how calm and focused you were. They felt safe.

You finished wrapping Hollow's left shoulder when you felt them place their right claw on your left shoulder.