You will never be strong enough.
"Coalsmoke is a pleasant name," said Nathaniel, in spite of Thorne's somewhat poetic description. He accepted the phone back, and tucked it away into his pocket before accepting Thorne's, squinting a little at the screen. It took him a few painstaking moments to figure out how to input everything, and then, when he thought he'd gotten it right, he passed it back.
Eyebrows rose. "I would say I hope you don't get involved in anything too terrible, but I guess that's kinda useless here, seeing as how I wasn't supposed to and yet..." Nathaniel's voice was light, almost amused. "Well, whatever the case, I do hope you don't run into anything too awful. You seem like you could use a break."
The grin was almost reassuring. Nathaniel felt some of his tenseness ease.
"It was nice to meet you too, Alexander Thorne," he said mildly. "Lemme know if you need more ivies."
elkbones
and a wrap o/
