[ It would be a good arrangement, stooped over in front of the mirror trying to get his bearings, seeing the man in his peripheral vision. The stranglehold on his insides already loosens, a little, either because of the distraction or because the stranger’s presence is, somehow, steadying on its own, or maybe both— ]
Yeah. Just time travel jetlag. [ it still sounds winded, with a small, breathless laugh, an attempt at a... joke... or something, to mitigate the sensation of embarrassment.
But in this position, in his ill-fitting clothing, Simon can see the top of the foreign body embedded intractably in his sternum. It doesn’t help. His head swims anew. Instead he turns his bowed head from his reflection enough to give the stranger a sidelong look, lips a white bloodless line whenever he’s not speaking. ] Are you the— uh, medic?
[ It’s not a rejection of his offer, or a skeptical attempt to sniff out his credentials, so much as a curiosity as to... why he cares and feels confident about dealing with it. In Simon’s experience, most people feel uncomfortable and incompetent around panic attacks and don’t exactly like to hang around basking in that feeling. The guy is here, he’s seeing this, he can’t un-see it, and it doesn’t seem to bother him. Simon’s not gonna kick him out. ]
no subject
Yeah. Just time travel jetlag. [ it still sounds winded, with a small, breathless laugh, an attempt at a... joke... or something, to mitigate the sensation of embarrassment.
But in this position, in his ill-fitting clothing, Simon can see the top of the foreign body embedded intractably in his sternum. It doesn’t help. His head swims anew. Instead he turns his bowed head from his reflection enough to give the stranger a sidelong look, lips a white bloodless line whenever he’s not speaking. ] Are you the— uh, medic?
[ It’s not a rejection of his offer, or a skeptical attempt to sniff out his credentials, so much as a curiosity as to... why he cares and feels confident about dealing with it. In Simon’s experience, most people feel uncomfortable and incompetent around panic attacks and don’t exactly like to hang around basking in that feeling. The guy is here, he’s seeing this, he can’t un-see it, and it doesn’t seem to bother him. Simon’s not gonna kick him out. ]