[ However a true, no-holds-barred battle between them would turn out, in this fight Matt's struck a hard blow. Peter's flinch is almost audible.]
Don't. Don't use them like that, don't you dare --
[ Because they're at the center of all this, aren't they. The two people he loves most are far beyond his reach, and for three years he consoled himself that as far as they're concerned he's never left; however much he misses them, they're safe, protected.
Then a universe died, and all it did was reset the clock. He's gotten used to being an explainer, to identifying as an imPort the same way he does being a New Yorker or a man or a superhero. To looking after kids when he'd felt barely more than a child himself. How much longer can he stay here, and how much more can he change before going home and resetting isn't a return to normal, but a kind of death?
With all that percolating in the back of his mind, Matt's news was the last bit of comfort stripped away. A complete betrayal, not by his friend but apparently by himself. He's completely unmoored; he can't trust in anything, any more.]
voice;
Don't. Don't use them like that, don't you dare --
[ Because they're at the center of all this, aren't they. The two people he loves most are far beyond his reach, and for three years he consoled himself that as far as they're concerned he's never left; however much he misses them, they're safe, protected.
Then a universe died, and all it did was reset the clock. He's gotten used to being an explainer, to identifying as an imPort the same way he does being a New Yorker or a man or a superhero. To looking after kids when he'd felt barely more than a child himself. How much longer can he stay here, and how much more can he change before going home and resetting isn't a return to normal, but a kind of death?
With all that percolating in the back of his mind, Matt's news was the last bit of comfort stripped away. A complete betrayal, not by his friend but apparently by himself. He's completely unmoored; he can't trust in anything, any more.]