(he's as uplifted as ever as she processes what he had just said. it's fine -- most people don't react too well when he sticks a finger in a wound, but it hardly bothers him. he might have spent no more than a couple of hours in her company, but it was clear as day for someone like him.

perhaps she should have accepted the alcohol, which he sips idly as he waits for a thought back from her.)

Fortunately, or unfortunately so, to a certain degree. Some will close their eyes to it, and some, like me, yearn for it more than anything, and can't reach it no matter how much I try. Is it a blessing that you're here, buying time, or a curse that you're prolonging the inevitable? I'm not so sure.