ic inbox [hadriel]

[unknowable]

"Please leave a message and I'll return it as soon as I'm able."

[if necessary, you can also leave a message for Ronan Lynch here]

Comments

[Text]

[unknowable]

I should too. I'm sure you've got a lot of stuff to do.

[It doesn't really matter if that's true or not - Adam thinks that right now they both want an easy exit. It's not that this conversation was bad, it's not that he doesn't like Lance or even that he doesn't trust him. It's just - a lot. A lot of personal stuff, and Adam thinks it's probably the same for both of them.

It isn't easy to talk about these things. It isn't easy to admit what has happened, and it isn't easy to sympathize. Maybe it should be, but Adam doesn't think that kind of thing is ever effortless.

Despite that, simply being acknowledged helps in a strange way. Adam went through most of his life dealing with things on his own, focusing all his energy on survival, and even when he found people who did care for him, they didn't come from the same place. In some ways, it was impossible for them to understand, no matter how much they were there for him. This is different.

Different, but a lot to deal with, especially for Adam, who's only recently removed from the situation. He probably ought to see a therapist, someday, but that isn't an option here and likely won't be anytime soon at home. So he copes however he can. It usually works out.]

Thank you.

[Text]

[lifetothefullest]

[He wishes he could offer to help professionally, because therapy is definitely important in this situation, but he can't; not only has he told Adam too much about his own experiences for it to be ethical to provide counseling, but Lance is also aware of his own limitations. He knows he wouldn't be capable of being objective, and even more than that he doesn't think he'd be able to handle the subject in general, let alone do so with the required level of professional distance.

But even though that isn't an option, there are other ways to help, and hopefully that'll be possible at some point in the future. Right now, though, he's glad Adam seems to understand the need to bow out of the conversation.]

I'll talk to you later then, and let me know if you need anything, alright?

[Related to this, or otherwise; maybe it's just holdover from the event, or because of this conversation, or both, but he feels like he should look out for Adam as much as he can.]

[Text]

[unknowable]

I will, so long as you do the same.

[In another context it might feel odd to say that - and truthfully, it does a bit here, too. Lance is an adult, he seems to have his life together, he seems competent and intelligent. Adam may be technically an adult - he certainly passed his twentieth birthday a few months back, if his reckoning of time here is right - but he rarely feels like one.

In reality, of course, he is quite a bit more mature than many his age. He's had to deal with more than his share of difficulties, and most of it all on his own. Until recently, anyway. So he supposes it isn't so odd to offer what help he can give in return, whether it ends up being something about the city or something else entirely. He can do that much, at least. Make himself useful.]

Take care.