[ Nate thought he might feel lighter in saying it out loud, but he doesn't. Speaking it - verbalizing it - seems to make it more concrete, cast in place and validating the worst of his fears. He doesn't know if he died, but how would he know otherwise?
Even Nathan Drake, human cockroach, has to go sometime.
Stephen looks like he's been socked in the gut and Nate's thin, tired expression tightens into a mirthless smile. Asked and answered; was it worth it? He never prefaced his situation upon arrival and didn't intend to, ever, until all of this blindsided him so expeditiously that he's still reeling.
Strange is not a man accustomed to giving comfort but somehow that makes it easier: no empty words, no intent consolation. He doesn't want pity and he knows Stephen doesn't intend to offer as much, even when he cants into Nate's space and rests a hand on the back of his arm.
What does he need? To know he's not a decomposing body on a rock off the coast of Madagascar, for one. To know how to parse his own feelings, conflicted and impossible to reconcile. ]
I need to not have a meltdown. [ He laughs hoarsely, the sound hollow. ] I can't afford it, Stephen. I really can't.
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Even Nathan Drake, human cockroach, has to go sometime.
Stephen looks like he's been socked in the gut and Nate's thin, tired expression tightens into a mirthless smile. Asked and answered; was it worth it? He never prefaced his situation upon arrival and didn't intend to, ever, until all of this blindsided him so expeditiously that he's still reeling.
Strange is not a man accustomed to giving comfort but somehow that makes it easier: no empty words, no intent consolation. He doesn't want pity and he knows Stephen doesn't intend to offer as much, even when he cants into Nate's space and rests a hand on the back of his arm.
What does he need? To know he's not a decomposing body on a rock off the coast of Madagascar, for one. To know how to parse his own feelings, conflicted and impossible to reconcile. ]
I need to not have a meltdown. [ He laughs hoarsely, the sound hollow. ] I can't afford it, Stephen. I really can't.