The lights had been off for so long now, and he'd been locked away in a pitch black room for enough time to lose track of it. But he couldn't leave, because outside that door, people were talking. Lives were moving on. Work was being done. People were being erased.
So Robert relished the darkness. Here, in his dorm, where he couldn't see a thing, it was easy to languish.
And remember.
"There's lunch for you on my desk," she answered, uncoiling some tubing. The lunch was nothing fancy, just a couple PBJs, an orange, and several juiceboxes, but it was a small switch from the MREs they'd been living off of.
He hadn't eaten anything since the two cakes he'd demolished in Mimsy's room. He wasn't hungry, anyway; and there would be nothing but MREs waiting for him if he'd even attempted it. So it was better to just not be hungry.
The rubbing had turned into lemme-go patting, "I'm glad you're happy, sweetie, but you need to let go."
...
"Now."
He wasn't doing a very good job. He'd dealt with death before. He'd suffered, mourned, and moved on. But things were different now. The world he lived in was filled with magic and monsters and things that came back to life. Clarice had a lot of magic inside of her; he truly believed that. Couldn't she have a second chance, too?
The blonde tipped her up to look him in the eye, "I know...sometimes I push you, and not very nicely. But it's not because I don't want you to be happy. And if I push too hard, and I'm making you miserable...just...tell me, kay? Time is...short, and...I just..."
He turned on the bed, and buried his face into his pillow. The well of emotion sprung again, filling his eyes with tears that he didn't think he'd had the strength left to shed. So he cried them into the pillow, in hopes that the pain would end quick.
Did she know? Is this why she'd always pushed him? Was this her plan all along?
Looking up she gave him a crooked attempt at a smile and said tightly, "Yeah, let's go home."
His tears turned to sobs of anger, as he finally screamed, muffled, from the unfairness of it all. The scream lasted until his lungs ran out of breath, and his throat felt ragged with pain. And as the air filled his lungs once more, so did a sad, but regrettable peace.
He took out his phone, flipped it open, and winced at the light. His eyes blinked to adjust, squinting as he filtered through twitter. Nothing anyone said mattered to him. He felt sick at the mere fact anyone had anything to say. Life moved on, and he hated it for doing so.
He hated it.
He searched straight for Clarice's name, clicked a little arrow, and then direct message.
As he hit send, he scrolled down to read her messages, and his heart clenched with pain all over again. But he couldn't help it. He smiled.
You've grown so much, Robert. So proud of you smile
