"You don't have to keep it." John fights to keep his tone casual, watching @refugetm out of the corner of his eye as he exhales a cloud of smoke, blowing it out of the far corner of his mouth as a matter of courtesy. When he'd kept the lease current, he wasn't thinking about the memories. At least, not after the first year. When he sometimes dropped by as if she might open the door. He didn't tell her about that when he handed over the keys. He didn't think of memory in the way of a double edged sword that what he clung to as the world upended was the same thing she left to escape. The general doesn't say a word about it beyond.
"I thought you might need somewhere to get your feet under you if you came back, and the last thing you'd need is to be stuck in my guest room." A meaner dog sits inside him, one whose slipping leash was once well in hand. A protective instinct that sits with bristled fur and teeth exposed, his animosity isn't entirely aimed towards Gina but it doesn't preserve her entirely from the risk. You need your space after all.
