[And Ges. The name's come up before. This time it pricks goosebumps up on Prior's skin as he hears it, if Byerly's in the present enough to notice.]
And Ges.
[He nods a few times, stalling over the words a last few seconds. It is better to think of cruelty as meaningless or rooted in some distant cause? It's still cruelty, and this man is still no father to his children. He could have taken his experiences as cause to keep them safe, not retreated into this, where no one's safe, and the love that should be between them's turned as cold and rotten as the family home. He's protecting no one with this, not even himself.
But he's not here either, is he. Not in this room, not even when this was more than just memory.
Prior curls both his arms around Byerly's one, pushing up to rest his chin on his shoulder, keeping his voice soft as a whisper.]
He's seeing echoes, not you. That's why he believes it.
no subject
And Ges.
[He nods a few times, stalling over the words a last few seconds. It is better to think of cruelty as meaningless or rooted in some distant cause? It's still cruelty, and this man is still no father to his children. He could have taken his experiences as cause to keep them safe, not retreated into this, where no one's safe, and the love that should be between them's turned as cold and rotten as the family home. He's protecting no one with this, not even himself.
But he's not here either, is he. Not in this room, not even when this was more than just memory.
Prior curls both his arms around Byerly's one, pushing up to rest his chin on his shoulder, keeping his voice soft as a whisper.]
He's seeing echoes, not you. That's why he believes it.