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There were a lot of things which Lawrence considered a sign of poor character. Latecoming was one of the foremost of them, he felt that arriving late to arranged meetings showed a level of indifference, callousness and poor character which was difficult to justify. He had been waiting quite some time, half inclined to leave but lingering simply because it would reflect poorly on his own character to let one act of ill breeding preclude another.

He seemed initially to be staring at the opposite wall but when the rhythm of footfalls along the corridor changed, he looked up like a predatory animal hearing the limp of lame prey. Expression returned as he took in who it was, the smile warm and almost playful.

"A little while." he said, leaving the too long unsaid. "Busy day?"

There was a hint of a smirk which sidled into his smile. "Well you could have." he said. "Unless you had some sort of ulterior motive coming here. You don't do you Horace?" And he casually glanced each way along the empty corridor.

"And waiting is not entirely an issue." he fished out a set of keys from his pocket which had a surprising number of keys strung on it for someone who was supposed to have a single room. Unlocking the door he opened it up. "You'll have to take them down." he said, stepping inside. "I have not done much in here since before."

The room was still spotlessly tidy but it looked like someone had been using the desk for some sort of craft work, with clay and bonding glues neatly lined up in their place. There was also, in a corner a long black wig and several bags which had not been there at any point while Horace was in Lawrence's room in the past. All in all it still looked rather lived in, if not slept in, and the print of Lucifer being turned away by Gabriel was no longer on the wall.

He pocketed the keys and flipped the light on. "Do come in, close the door if you would, you know how I feel about the nosey individuals on this island in any situation."

"Never?" Lawrence said. "I would not say never. There was the time in the infirmary, I am sure you remember, I certainly do." He shrugged his shoulders. "I think you'd find that Melvin is very loyal and would not think ill of me even if you told him where you were going. Though he might have tagged along."

Moving out of Horace's way he moved to sit on the bed.

"Yes, a little, less than I was, I use it when I need a little privacy for some project or another." he gestured at the wig and clothing. "And then there's the old skin belonging to Chantelle. Before she got upgraded to not being a figment of my imagination." Something about Lawr's tone seemed to hint at this being as close to a joking slant as he ever got.

"You spent a lot of time in this room." he added, thoughtfully.

"It is rather blind at times." Lawr said coolly. "But I find that brand of blindness rather endearing as it is just a heartbeat away from faith. And faith requires trust."

"Melvin has a larger room." he said.

Lawrence did not comment, finding both to result ultimately in someone who would do what they were conditioned to do. He preferred faith, but when that was thin on the ground, blind loyalty made a satisfying substitute.

He watched Horace work on the curtain without thinking to ask to help, unwilling to go to the trouble of dismantling the thing with only one hand to help with.

"I think everyone has their fears on this island." Everyone he had seen. "Perhaps windows are less crippling than some. Not so much in the day to day, but at least one is not going to climb out of a well so to speak on a mission." he sighed, realizing it could be taken as an insult ostensibly. "I am not trying to belittle your issues. It was an attempt at humour, which I am not particularly talented at. There was a horror movie about a well. "

"As far as Melvin goes, he is loyal and does not challenge me when I do not have the energy to be challenged. Which is a relief. I do not end up exhausted, you were exhausting Horace and you did not ever relent."

"I am not a fan of pop culture certainly, I hardly wade into the festering mire of reality television and the like, but I have still watched movies, attended the cinema and so on. My family members enjoyed day trips." he smiled faintly. "So I am not oblivious, even if they are not my "thing"."

He rolled his eyes at Horace's outburst about his inconvenient emotions. "I am not here to pat your ego Horace. It is up to you to understand why I keep in contact with you. Fishing for compliments is rather futile with me, I find it grating. Whatever compliments you take should be self evident, I do not need to butter you up."

Shrugging his shoulders he added "I also refuse to repeat or elaborate about missing you. You can interpret it however you will and let your own self conciousness chew and gnaw at it until it is completely contorted out of its original innocent shape." The look he gave him was blank.

"You corrode your own happiness so consistently it is almost startling, refusing to accept anything for the simple intention it was given, always trying to make it more and more about you, about an ill opinion of you. Compare yourself to Melvin, try to force me to soothe your ego by saying you are more than he is, impossibly above him. When no. You are both different and no comparison can be made."

He smirked. "That was never ok with you though was it? You always wanted to be compared to America, and when I insisted you were different and nothing alike you made the comparisons for me. You can't stand the idea of a world where you have your own merit related to no one else, where you are a singular entity bound to no one."

Lawrence did not flinch at the contact but its sent the usual nigh unbearable slash of sensation through his body. He was particularly sensitive around the scar, preferring to pretend it didn't actually exist at all.

"How do you think it might feel to me." He said thoughtfully. "To know nothing you ever said meant anything, that it was simply throwing thoughts into a hollow void. Anything I have ever said regarding your worth you have chewed up and spat out. You instead devise your own ways of feeling important and your own scales. Melvin wants to feel loved I imagine but what he wants is simple daily efforts. You wanted something wild and untenable. I think even if I could love I would never have been enough for you. You are a needy hole in the world, constantly wanting more and to have people meet your impossibly high standards of love without giving much back." Horace got a critical look

"What did you give me besides compliance? Did you ever give pause to consider what might make me feel human or loved? Did you ever think about what mattered to me? No, you tried to control me and to make me into someone who'd make you feel like number one." He shook his head. "You are selfish, possibly as selfish as me and you still even now tell me I will never be enough while trying to what? Torment me in my sanctuary and no doubt leave once again with a smug sense that I was always at fault and you are entirely the victim."