[This feels so familiar it aches, but for the moment at least, the comfort of it overwhelms the distant pain. He fishes out his lighter and takes a drag, letting that serve as his mental excuse for the slow dissolution of the years-old tension stored in his shoulders, for the softening of the harsh lines around his eyes in instinctive response to the younger men's smiling antics.]
He isn't someone to count out too easily. I expect you'll be more careful next time.
[It's not an admonishment, in spite of how critical it could sound. On the contrary, there's a faint current of amusement in his voice.]
crying forever
He isn't someone to count out too easily. I expect you'll be more careful next time.
[It's not an admonishment, in spite of how critical it could sound. On the contrary, there's a faint current of amusement in his voice.]