// i am not the only traveler who has not repaid his debt
i've been searching for a trail to follow again, take me back to the night we met //
i've been searching for a trail to follow again, take me back to the night we met //
Confusion is at least better than anger, though it is only very barely kept at bay, the respect and confidence he has in Vai steady for the moment. They would see after they’d had the chance to speak, to get to the bottom of this mystery. Nate shakes the envelope again, and sure enough, there are neatly sealed slips, each exactingly measured out he's sure. ”Do you...” Steel and blue eyes flick up to search Sunjata’s face, softening with what he sees. ”Do you want me to keep track of these for you?” No matter how gently it’s asked, how soft the smile and the crinkles around Nate’s eyes are, it’s not really a question, something the ascended tries to make as obvious as he can.
Nate very nearly lets something loose that he doesn’t think he should, his mouth opening, the words I thought..? leaving him before he can stop himself. No need to say things he isn’t sure are true, to poke holes in a reality that already doesn’t make sense. He just hadn’t thought they actually stocked anything that could produce those symptoms.
Instead of worrying though, he tries to sink into the darkness, Sunjata’s face still clear as day despite the late hour and the shade around them. ”Thats... that explains some things.” And opened a hollow in Nate’s chest, jagged and guilty. He’d noticed how off his husband had been, but apparently he hadn’t been observant enough. How does a doctor and a former burnout miss that? How did he not put it together? If he was honest, fair, he’d know it was because f the stress he himself was under, the way he and Sunjata share the tendency to hide everything, to not inspire worry.
A far less generous voice whispers instead that he’d simply turned a blind eye, kept himself from putting the pieces together so he wouldn’t have to deal with it. It was better to be intentionally cruel than carelessly.
As far as spirals go, this one is an infant, all but bottled up in a moment, Nate’s head pressing in and a smile crossing his face. Happiness pulses from him, almost in time with Sunjata’s heart. ”Thats good. I’m glad I could take care of it.”
Nate very nearly lets something loose that he doesn’t think he should, his mouth opening, the words I thought..? leaving him before he can stop himself. No need to say things he isn’t sure are true, to poke holes in a reality that already doesn’t make sense. He just hadn’t thought they actually stocked anything that could produce those symptoms.
Instead of worrying though, he tries to sink into the darkness, Sunjata’s face still clear as day despite the late hour and the shade around them. ”Thats... that explains some things.” And opened a hollow in Nate’s chest, jagged and guilty. He’d noticed how off his husband had been, but apparently he hadn’t been observant enough. How does a doctor and a former burnout miss that? How did he not put it together? If he was honest, fair, he’d know it was because f the stress he himself was under, the way he and Sunjata share the tendency to hide everything, to not inspire worry.
A far less generous voice whispers instead that he’d simply turned a blind eye, kept himself from putting the pieces together so he wouldn’t have to deal with it. It was better to be intentionally cruel than carelessly.
As far as spirals go, this one is an infant, all but bottled up in a moment, Nate’s head pressing in and a smile crossing his face. Happiness pulses from him, almost in time with Sunjata’s heart. ”Thats good. I’m glad I could take care of it.”
NATE
