[She’s worried about him. That’s . . . it’s not the first time someone’s said that to him, but before it was just Mista, and that’s different. Mista’s one of only two people in existence and the only one here who knows exactly what he went through, every good and bad and complicated thing he did. And Mista’s different anyway, some complex subspecies of normal that does hard things but stays soft anyway. Whereas Riley . . . Riley’s just—]
[It means a lot, that she’d worry. Despite everything. Despite calling him an idiot at the same time. His smile is soft, now, albeit a little fragile.]
Well, I succeeded, and I didn’t die. So you don’t have to worry about that much, at least.
[He didn’t die. Gained a lot, lost a lot, when before he really didn’t have a thing to lose but his life. Some days he’d give it to undo everything else. Most days he recognizes that even if he could, he’d probably elect not to. This whole thing was for a reason. That’s what he has to remember. Face forward and step into the future.]
[He only contains so much nobility, no matter what she thinks.]
. . . Some of the people we went up against, I couldn’t tell much about them for a while, if at all. But sometimes I could learn something right away just because of this power. Some are more telling than others. So even before I saw this man in person, I knew there was something wrong with him. As soon as we got close to him, people started dropping, covered in mold and being eaten — decomposed — in moments. I thought: what kind of person holds that much joy in destruction in their hearts?
cw suicidal ideation, mold?? gore???
[It means a lot, that she’d worry. Despite everything. Despite calling him an idiot at the same time. His smile is soft, now, albeit a little fragile.]
Well, I succeeded, and I didn’t die. So you don’t have to worry about that much, at least.
[He didn’t die. Gained a lot, lost a lot, when before he really didn’t have a thing to lose but his life. Some days he’d give it to undo everything else. Most days he recognizes that even if he could, he’d probably elect not to. This whole thing was for a reason. That’s what he has to remember. Face forward and step into the future.]
[He only contains so much nobility, no matter what she thinks.]
. . . Some of the people we went up against, I couldn’t tell much about them for a while, if at all. But sometimes I could learn something right away just because of this power. Some are more telling than others. So even before I saw this man in person, I knew there was something wrong with him. As soon as we got close to him, people started dropping, covered in mold and being eaten — decomposed — in moments. I thought: what kind of person holds that much joy in destruction in their hearts?