Somehow, for some reason, Lance feels like maybe he should've expected this; maybe because of the differences he'd noticed about himself in the event, or maybe because of some sort of subconscious intuition about similarities in his and Adam's personalities. But despite that, it's still a shock in a way, whether because he feels for Adam or because it's always hard for him personally to deal with this sort of thing.
Suddenly it seems like there's a reason they ended up as siblings in the fake world the gods had created, instead of just being random chance.
It's been over twenty years and it's still difficult to talk about, even in text where he can choose exactly what to say and doesn't have to worry about keeping his expression or voice as steady as he might want to. So there's a delay before he replies; not long enough that it would indicate he hadn't seen the message or was purposefully not responding, but long enough it's clear he had to really think about how to reply.
But finally he does, managing to put down words even if he's still not sure they're right; is there really a 'right' in this situation anyway?]
I'm sorry.
[It's simple and just words, but he still means it; while not a specific experience he's had, he can imagine what Adam described well enough. There isn't really anything to say, especially not through text, that is truly enough, but it's worse to say nothing.
But he also knows not to lingers on it too much--there's a delicate line where empathy begins to transition to pity--and the rest of what he has to say will probably be more meaningful anyway.]
There are scars that were gone, for me.
[Maybe because there's no way to have explained them as coming from an accident or other 'normal' incident. But the statement is vague, and so he adds--]
Not just things like the time a coworker accidentally shot me, which just wouldn't make any sense in that setting, but from when I was much younger.
[Still vague, but it's difficult to mention specifics and just saying that much is difficult enough. In context, though, it's probably clear what he means; Adam's not alone in this, and he understands the point he's trying to make as well.]
[Text] (cw: abuse mention also)
Somehow, for some reason, Lance feels like maybe he should've expected this; maybe because of the differences he'd noticed about himself in the event, or maybe because of some sort of subconscious intuition about similarities in his and Adam's personalities. But despite that, it's still a shock in a way, whether because he feels for Adam or because it's always hard for him personally to deal with this sort of thing.
Suddenly it seems like there's a reason they ended up as siblings in the fake world the gods had created, instead of just being random chance.
It's been over twenty years and it's still difficult to talk about, even in text where he can choose exactly what to say and doesn't have to worry about keeping his expression or voice as steady as he might want to. So there's a delay before he replies; not long enough that it would indicate he hadn't seen the message or was purposefully not responding, but long enough it's clear he had to really think about how to reply.
But finally he does, managing to put down words even if he's still not sure they're right; is there really a 'right' in this situation anyway?]
I'm sorry.
[It's simple and just words, but he still means it; while not a specific experience he's had, he can imagine what Adam described well enough. There isn't really anything to say, especially not through text, that is truly enough, but it's worse to say nothing.
But he also knows not to lingers on it too much--there's a delicate line where empathy begins to transition to pity--and the rest of what he has to say will probably be more meaningful anyway.]
There are scars that were gone, for me.
[Maybe because there's no way to have explained them as coming from an accident or other 'normal' incident. But the statement is vague, and so he adds--]
Not just things like the time a coworker accidentally shot me, which just wouldn't make any sense in that setting, but from when I was much younger.
[Still vague, but it's difficult to mention specifics and just saying that much is difficult enough. In context, though, it's probably clear what he means; Adam's not alone in this, and he understands the point he's trying to make as well.]