❝ i already read the report, ❞ maribel says gently, setting the folder aside without opening it again, a small, deliberate mercy. the room is familiar to them now: late hour, cold coffee, the quiet hum of machines bruce built to keep his hands busy when his thoughts won’t slow. she’s been in this space often enough that it no longer feels borrowed. ❝ i know what they think happened. ❞ her mouth curves, faintly. ❝ i’m not here as oversight tonight. i’m here because you stopped answering my texts, and that usually means you’re trying to carry something alone. ❞ she leans back against the table, close but not crowding, the way she always does, a presence he can choose or refuse without consequence. ❝ we’ve crossed the point where i pretend i’m objective about you, bruce, ❞ maribel continues, voice low, honest. ❝ friends don’t stay up until three rewriting evacuation protocols together, and whatever we are, we stopped being careful a while ago. ❞ a pause, softer now. ❝ so forget the conclusions. forget the guilt they’ll package and ship upstairs. tell me what you haven’t said yet. tell me what’s keeping you awake. ❞ @belowall
