[ Matt shrugs in a jerk as Liem says he's sorry. ]
Don't be sorry. It was my choice.
[ That feels important to disclaim from the outset, before Liem can waste any more of his sympathy--or at least so he can know what he's actually sorry for. Matt wasn't a child when he took on this loss, and it wasn't the result of accident or violence. He made a calculation, and now he's living with the echoes. ]
It's been ... [ In a strange way, it feels like years. In another, equally strange way, Matt feels like he's still meeting Xishen's haunted gaze. Still watching the skin and tendons of his hand unmake themselves. ] Couple weeks? Happened early Soviseri. So I definitely don't have the hang of it yet.
no subject
Don't be sorry. It was my choice.
[ That feels important to disclaim from the outset, before Liem can waste any more of his sympathy--or at least so he can know what he's actually sorry for. Matt wasn't a child when he took on this loss, and it wasn't the result of accident or violence. He made a calculation, and now he's living with the echoes. ]
It's been ... [ In a strange way, it feels like years. In another, equally strange way, Matt feels like he's still meeting Xishen's haunted gaze. Still watching the skin and tendons of his hand unmake themselves. ] Couple weeks? Happened early Soviseri. So I definitely don't have the hang of it yet.