[Lance knows and could ramble off all the psychological reasons why the casual tone indicates that Nate is feeling anything but casual about the topic, but he doesn't. Instead he files them away, making note to bring the topic of what happened up at some appropriate time in the future; although he intends to respect Nate's desire not to talk about it right now, he doesn't want it to be something that Nate's left to deal with on his own, buried under time and other traumatic events.
So he nods and drops the topic for now, allowing silence to fall again as they turn a corner, shooting brief glances at Nate to gauge how he's feeling. It seems like he's getting ready to say something, so Lance stays quiet until Nate speaks again, but what he says is... Not what Lance is expecting--even though he's not sure what he was expecting--and he can't hide the mix of surprise and concern that flashes across his expression.
Despite having gone through this on the other side, he isn't entirely sure what to say. Maybe it's because there really is nothing to say that makes it better, and he knows that, and it's less about what to say and more about how to say it. So he doesn't overthink it.]
I'm really sorry, Nate.
[He doesn't ask how Nate knows or why he thinks what he does, because he's pretty sure Nate will offer more context if he wants to. Lance also knows how difficult it was for him to explain when he'd be asked that question, so he doesn't want to put that on Nate too.]
That isn't... Easy to deal with.
[An obvious statement on the surface, but it's an invitation to talk more if Nate wants to, especially to someone who gets it. There's no need to try to hide how difficult this is to go through.]
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So he nods and drops the topic for now, allowing silence to fall again as they turn a corner, shooting brief glances at Nate to gauge how he's feeling. It seems like he's getting ready to say something, so Lance stays quiet until Nate speaks again, but what he says is... Not what Lance is expecting--even though he's not sure what he was expecting--and he can't hide the mix of surprise and concern that flashes across his expression.
Despite having gone through this on the other side, he isn't entirely sure what to say. Maybe it's because there really is nothing to say that makes it better, and he knows that, and it's less about what to say and more about how to say it. So he doesn't overthink it.]
I'm really sorry, Nate.
[He doesn't ask how Nate knows or why he thinks what he does, because he's pretty sure Nate will offer more context if he wants to. Lance also knows how difficult it was for him to explain when he'd be asked that question, so he doesn't want to put that on Nate too.]
That isn't... Easy to deal with.
[An obvious statement on the surface, but it's an invitation to talk more if Nate wants to, especially to someone who gets it. There's no need to try to hide how difficult this is to go through.]