[Abel may have made a few adjustments to make sure nobody crashed their bike, went over the divider, injured themselves on the play equipment, or broke a tree branch. It's his idyllic space, away from responsibility and worry.]

[He watches Cain climb, aware that this is probably his first tree, ready to reach out and grab him if he slips. But he makes it up just fine, of course, his strong arms coming to wrap around Abel's waist in a hold that absolutely feels so real. He rests his head on Cain's and watches the sun with his hands folded over Cain's arms.]

I was here almost every day the week before I deployed. Just reminding myself what it was all for. But before then... I guess it varied. Sometimes I was too busy to come for weeks or months, sometimes I was up here in the middle of the night hiding from my dad's handlers because I couldn't spend another minute in the house. [A far cry from Cain's mother calling him inside from the wreckage of the Frontier...] I had my own room, but it was filled with what I could afford to have them find. Textbooks, computers, motorcycle schematics... This tree listened to everything I felt.