The courier, for his part, tried not to notice Soh's tears and pretended to focus on steering the ship even though it needed little effort going as low and slow as it was. At his friend's apology, however, he cleared his throat and gruffly said: "Nothin' t'apologize for. I miss my folks, too. Never stops hurtin' but... it hurts less, eventually." Years later and he didn't have to fight to hold back tears at their memories when he spoke of them, except on certain anniversaries or particularly vivid reminders of childhood memories.
Or hearing a particular song, or smelling his father's favorite boot polish, or--
He tried to return Soh's smile, but his own was lopsided at best as they both put their best faces forward. Hearing about her first swimming lesson made the smile a little more genuine, though no less crooked. "Yeah, I already tried that way. It didn't work so good. The day we met, my--" He hesitated, realizing he'd almost slipped up. "Uh. Colleague. Fished me out o' the Symphony after a glotter dragged me in an' tried t'drown me. An' I think I about half-drowned Sah while he was pullin' me back t'the surface." He didn't like to phrase what he'd been doing as 'uncoordinated flailing,' but sometimes the truth hurt.
Or hearing a particular song, or smelling his father's favorite boot polish, or--
He tried to return Soh's smile, but his own was lopsided at best as they both put their best faces forward. Hearing about her first swimming lesson made the smile a little more genuine, though no less crooked. "Yeah, I already tried that way. It didn't work so good. The day we met, my--" He hesitated, realizing he'd almost slipped up. "Uh. Colleague. Fished me out o' the Symphony after a glotter dragged me in an' tried t'drown me. An' I think I about half-drowned Sah while he was pullin' me back t'the surface." He didn't like to phrase what he'd been doing as 'uncoordinated flailing,' but sometimes the truth hurt.
