I think I can manage being collateral damage
Everest listened closely, his eyes flicking not to Mateo’s face but to the gestures he made, carefully tracking each point of the route. His hands stayed clasped behind his back, shoulders rigid, as if standing still took as much effort as sprinting might have. He nodded once, shallow and quick. "A closed circuit is good," he said, his voice even but quiet. Known start. Known end. Known exits. It mattered.
At the mention of shifting, he hesitated, his thumb tapping once against the inside of his wrist before he caught himself. "Maybe partway," he murmured. "If it gets—" His fingers twitched in a way that Mateo would probably recognize by now; overwhelming. "I’ll let you know."
He adjusted the sleeves of his shirt precisely at the wrists, realigning the cuffs even though they hadn’t shifted. Then, a small furrow appeared between his brows, his mind snagging on a different concern. "You’re not a runner," he said, not accusing, just factual. His gaze hovered somewhere around Mateo’s shoulder. "What have you had today? Food? Water?" There was a faint edge of fretfulness in his voice, like the idea of Mateo collapsing from dehydration mid-run was a real and immediate threat.
Almost as an afterthought, softer but no less sincere he added: "Thank you for mapping it."
At the mention of shifting, he hesitated, his thumb tapping once against the inside of his wrist before he caught himself. "Maybe partway," he murmured. "If it gets—" His fingers twitched in a way that Mateo would probably recognize by now; overwhelming. "I’ll let you know."
He adjusted the sleeves of his shirt precisely at the wrists, realigning the cuffs even though they hadn’t shifted. Then, a small furrow appeared between his brows, his mind snagging on a different concern. "You’re not a runner," he said, not accusing, just factual. His gaze hovered somewhere around Mateo’s shoulder. "What have you had today? Food? Water?" There was a faint edge of fretfulness in his voice, like the idea of Mateo collapsing from dehydration mid-run was a real and immediate threat.
Almost as an afterthought, softer but no less sincere he added: "Thank you for mapping it."
Even if I had to lose you to know you I'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
