Lightning From Heaven

❛  i can carry that for you.  ❜ ❛  i can come over, if you don't want to be alone.  ❜ ❛  i can go with you, so you don't have to do this by yourself.  ❜ ❛  i can keep you warm.  ❜ ❛  i can listen for as long as you need me to.  ❜ ❛  i can make breakfast while you stay in bed.  ❜ ❛  i can make you laugh. just give me a minute.  ❜ ❛  i can remember enough for both of us.  ❜ ❛  i can share mine with you.  ❜ ❛  i can stay with you a little longer.  ❜ ❛  i can take care of you for once.  ❜ ❛  i can wait for you here.  ❜ ❛  can i keep this? it reminds me of you.  ❜ ❛  can i keep you company?  ❜ ❛  can i kiss you?  ❜ ❛  can i lay my head in your lap?  ❜ ❛  can i see you smile again?  ❜ ❛  can i take care of you tonight?  ❜ ❛  can i tell you how pretty you look?  ❜ ❛  can i tell you something silly?  ❜ ❛  can we just do nothing today?  ❜ ❛  can we stay like this a little longer?  ❜ ❛  can you come a little closer?  ❜ ❛  can you hold me for just a second?  ❜ ❛  can you promise you'll text when you get home?  ❜ ❛  you can always come home to me.  ❜ ❛  you can be as clingy as you want. i don't mind.  ❜ ❛  you can be soft here.  ❜ ❛  you can come over whenever you miss me.  ❜ ❛  you can have the last bite.  ❜ ❛  you can have this; it was supposed to be yours anyway.  ❜ ❛  you can hide here for a while.  ❜ ❛  you can keep looking at me like that.  ❜ ❛  you can keep my heart. i wasn't using it anyway.  ❜ ❛  you can kiss me again, if you want.  ❜ ❛  you can lean on me.  ❜ ❛  you can pick the music.  ❜ ❛  you can stay as long as you want.  ❜ ❛  you can stay close to me, i like that.  ❜ ❛  you can take my hand.  ❜

"You abandoned me."

"I didn't come back for you."

"You're too late. It's already over."

"I didn't mean to leave you behind."

"Where did you go? Somewhere better than here?"

"I'm glad you're okay. But, don't come back, again."

"Just because I'm back doesn't mean I forgive you."

"Did you think about me at all while you were gone?"

"You should have taken me with you. Why didn't you?"

"I wanted to come back sooner. I did. I just… I couldn't."

"Nothing here is the same. It hasn't been since you left."

"You broke (her/him/them) when you disappeared, you know?"

"I brought you something back. I know it doesn't fix anything, but…"

"Did you meet anyone…? It's been a long time. I wouldn't blame you."

"You thought about me? But, not enough to come back for me sooner."

"I'm not back for long. I have to go, again, but… I just wanted to see you."

"Did you think you could come back and everything would be the same?"

"Look at you. Triumphant hero's return! You must feel so proud of yourself…"

"You couldn't even call? Send a postcard? All this time I thought... I thought you were dead!"

"Canned goods at a coffee shop. That's a rare sentence."

For a bit, York was content with walking in silence, though it didn't take too long for hm to glance Carolina's way and realize she was lost in thought, to say the least. Considering everything he had missed, he wasn't too surprised.

"It's why I couldn't be mad about everything in the past. Or... Part of why. After everything we've lost, and everything we've been through, what's the point of holding on to the bad?" As long as people weren't hurting one another. She had a feeling she could work with just about anybody anymore, as long as they were trying to be better than before.

"I've tried holding on to anger that isn't mine. It's... Difficult. And untrue." There was a kernel of truth, sure, but lying to herself about how she felt about things had put her in a very dark headspace; she wasn't being herself- she was being who she thought she needed to be.

"But... I still have a lot to reflect on, you know?" There was a lot of emotional depth she'd explored over the past few years, and a quiet kind of resignation to it that she'd never worn before they'd separated. Her spirit had been broken, in a sense of the phrase; she's just tired half the time anymore.

"So, lots of canned goods, maybe MREs... I can live with that." Not what York would call fine dining, of course, but he hadn't been expecting that in the first place. As they walked, he took the time to really look around and appreciate the city; he hadn't had much of a chance to do so when he first arrived.

"So... Canned goods at coffee shops." And actual coffee, somehow- that must have been one of the first things they'd requested when the UNSC had gotten involved. Which... Was another thing she hadn't really wanted to think about; it was because of Church that they had arrived, for better or for worse (they were still working on that part), but Church's existence with UNSC law was... Tenuous. By law, they likely would have had him destroyed- meaning that if Chorus was going to have a chance at not going to war with the UNSC, because Carolina and the others would never hand him over if they knew what was going to happen, he needed to die there. It wasn't just getting out of that room that he'd planned; it was what happened after.

She had a sneaking suspicion he'd known that risk even when they'd made the plan, and just hadn't said anything; she figured it'd be a problem for later.

Fucker.