[Or everything might settle with Archie and Lara might disappear. Or things might start to feel properly right and then they'll both vanish from his life.]
[Lara is here. Lara is warm and close and relaxed. One of his hands can feel the weight and reality of his cup of coffee, and the other can feel the weight and reality of her leg where his fingers rest thoughtlessly.]
Nothing at all.
[Because breathing has been a little hard, since waking up to the weight and reality of his face pressed to Archie's shoulder and still blissfully unaware of their time together here.
This is less fraught. This eases things rather than tensing them.]
[ it's tossed into the room casually, in a tone that can be laughed off or easily brushed aside as a joke, as teasing conversation rather than some deeper inquiry or observation. ]
[It's a relief to be known like this, in the end. If nothing else, it's a relief to feel the almost painful presence of her, close and snug and incredibly real.]
[It can't be promised, but hearing it eases something in his shoulders. His head bobs in something like a nod before gently coming to rest against her shoulder for a few heartbeats.
They can manage for the next few minutes. They can manage for the next few minutes after that.]
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Or he might leave again.
[Or everything might settle with Archie and Lara might disappear. Or things might start to feel properly right and then they'll both vanish from his life.]
It's difficult to say.
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[ horatio might disappear. she might. they could die.
it's--
after a long pause: ] best not to think about the future too hard [ that way, anxieties lie ]
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But she's not wrong. He can breathe that in and out carefully.]
Have you had coffee today?
[That would be a fine excuse to see her physically here in this space.]
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Hey, you.
[ she nods her thanks at the coffee. and nudges him toward a seat with one shoulder, the casual invasion of his personal space utterly instinctive. ]
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Keeping busy, then?
[The idleness of being here is part of the problem, of course. It lets the mind run all the way down these horrific little holes of self-discovery.
But sitting in her room with coffee is a good distraction. Carefully catching at her so she'll sit close beside him (against him, on him) is as well.]
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[ she struggles with idleness, too, so she's been reading up. soon before long, she'll end up sticking her arm into part of the danaΓ«, probably.
it's just some kind of puzzle, how the pieces fit together and make the ship run. lara's good at puzzles.
his arm catches her around the waist and lara redirects herself to land next to him, legs across his thighs, instead of the other end of the sofa. ]
You?
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Nothing at all.
[Because breathing has been a little hard, since waking up to the weight and reality of his face pressed to Archie's shoulder and still blissfully unaware of their time together here.
This is less fraught. This eases things rather than tensing them.]
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[ it's tossed into the room casually, in a tone that can be laughed off or easily brushed aside as a joke, as teasing conversation rather than some deeper inquiry or observation. ]
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His breath comes slowly, weight shifting just slightly to feel the solidity of her beside him.]
We'll manage.
[He'll manage. That's what he said, right?]
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Damn right.
[ snything else would simply not be acceptable. ]
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Promise?
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but right here, right now? ]
Yeah. I promise.
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They can manage for the next few minutes. They can manage for the next few minutes after that.]
...thank you.
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this isn't about her; that makes it easier to be firm. to make promises that neither one of them can keep. ]
I got you.