║ ninety-second stanza ║ voice / action

[mumbled_truth]

[ open action ]

[Todd has gone out to the Hall of the Missing this evening, after Justin didn't come home and didn't respond. The City has pulled Justin in and tossed him back out so many times already that he couldn't help how quickly he became concerned.

Certainly he was hoping not to find Justin's portrait in the Hall, but that was not the case. For a long moment, he lingers in silence and looks at the likeness of his friend.]

[ voice ]

[When Todd returns home, he makes the following audio post:]

Um... I'm sure there are a lot of people who know Justin Pendleton, he's- he's been here a long time, coming and going. I just figured I should let everyone know, he um... he's left the City.

[Give him a moment there.]

He's left before, for months, and... and he's come back, so... maybe he will again. But for now, well. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew, that's all.

[End.]

Comments

incomplete.

[mumbled_truth]

I hope he will, I just... I can't let myself think that he will.

unfulfilled?

[had_not_lived]

Mmm.

[That's not a real answer because he doesn't have one. He'd say he hopes Justin is happy, but-- well. Neil has always projected, just a little, when it comes to the thought of Justin leaving; having nowhere to return to himself, it's doubly uncomfortable to wonder where the young man is. Whether he's anywhere at all.

So he steadfastly doesn't wonder about it.

Much.]

is that even your blood?

[mumbled_truth]

[That's what hurts the most - Todd has projected, too, always worried about Justin's coming and going with the City and the implications it had that hit so close to home. It's hard not to think about where he is, about where... others in the situation might go if they leave.

He presses himself close against Neil, pressing his face into the other boy's shoulder.

He looks for words, but... what is there to say? There's this - this moment, and they have it. So he hods onto it, grounds himself in it, and in the feeling of Neil, here and solid, as he anchors himself to him.]

how can you be sure?

[had_not_lived]

[Burrowing into each other is possibly not the most mature way to handle the situation, but it's the best bet Neil has.

He almost says I love you, but he hates saying it when he's sad, so he doesn't. He thinks it goes without saying, anyway.]