Welcome to Gaia! ::

"You do it," Carson replied after a moment. Compared to telling Jenn, telling Nell had been a cakewalk. They had context, shared references. With Jenn, he had nothing, no language to hide behind and ease the blow, just the cold, hard facts of what had happened.

He'd rather let Nell bear that burden. He was already carrying too much. "I'll talk to her afterwards," he sighed. "I just can't imagine how to even have that conversation."

Grown man spends five years risking life and limb in a war zone, can't have serious conversation with own mother who loves him unconditionally: News at Eleven.

"Yeah," answered Carson, "But that still seems easier than telling her myself." At least then, he wouldn't have to start the conversation. He was outsourcing that to Nell.

"Yeah, sure," said Carson, not moving. "I'll try to stay up."

He had a feeling that his mother would be calling sooner rather than later.