"I did," Elias replies, without moving, a simple affirmation. "Let me know when you're ready, Marie. I will be here."
As with everything else he had said in the conversation, it was an intentionally ambiguous statement. For now, it was just an acceptance of working together - but Elias built foundations for his friendships, and in the quiet reaches of his mind knew this would be a conversation Marie would revisit and consider in the future. To the Marie then and to the Marie now, he speaks equally.
And he lets her go, now, retreating back into her lair, and silently Elias exhales, tension rising from his shoulders and broad back at what had been the tensest conversation he'd had since the last time he saw Cid. Marie's intensity is - difficult to handle, at the best of times. Now, particularly, it has been sharpened to a barbed point. At least the groundwork for something better has been laid.
He kicks back and lies on the concrete of the dock, staring at the dim stars barely visible through the light pollution of the nearby city of Samson.
Anymore, yes; but as things changed once, so they will change again. Adamant - Elias - is willing to wait for the right time.
He wonders how Jenna is, and Sarah, and the rest of his scattered friends, his family estranged, as he falls asleep without regret.
As with everything else he had said in the conversation, it was an intentionally ambiguous statement. For now, it was just an acceptance of working together - but Elias built foundations for his friendships, and in the quiet reaches of his mind knew this would be a conversation Marie would revisit and consider in the future. To the Marie then and to the Marie now, he speaks equally.
And he lets her go, now, retreating back into her lair, and silently Elias exhales, tension rising from his shoulders and broad back at what had been the tensest conversation he'd had since the last time he saw Cid. Marie's intensity is - difficult to handle, at the best of times. Now, particularly, it has been sharpened to a barbed point. At least the groundwork for something better has been laid.
He kicks back and lies on the concrete of the dock, staring at the dim stars barely visible through the light pollution of the nearby city of Samson.
Anymore, yes; but as things changed once, so they will change again. Adamant - Elias - is willing to wait for the right time.
He wonders how Jenna is, and Sarah, and the rest of his scattered friends, his family estranged, as he falls asleep without regret.