[ A whole fucking year here. Nathan snorts. Or scoffs. There's a certain derision in it, but it's not directed at Stephen. This place, this shell of a life so far. ]
Would take that over nothing.
[ A tough but survivable amount of pain would at least be something. Thought's dangerous, of course. The what if on the other end of that scale: what if you could push past that, what if if you just tried hard enough, what if there could be something on the other side?
A muscle in Nathan's jaw jumps. He exhales, lightly. ]
Beginning to think we've all been relying on it a little too long. [ Magic, that is. Even locked away, locked out, Nathan's life had been imbued with the stuff. The Menagerie and its borders, the wire netting spread underneath and throughout its grounds to make it a deadzone; the power in being tethered to a place, of guardianship and stewardship, that kept him alive and his heart beating. In that life, chances were he'd never let himself cast again, but he could hold his palm over the proverbial fire. Feel the warmth, from time to time.
Now there's nothing. Not even a single strand of it. ]
no subject
Would take that over nothing.
[ A tough but survivable amount of pain would at least be something. Thought's dangerous, of course. The what if on the other end of that scale: what if you could push past that, what if if you just tried hard enough, what if there could be something on the other side?
A muscle in Nathan's jaw jumps. He exhales, lightly. ]
Beginning to think we've all been relying on it a little too long. [ Magic, that is. Even locked away, locked out, Nathan's life had been imbued with the stuff. The Menagerie and its borders, the wire netting spread underneath and throughout its grounds to make it a deadzone; the power in being tethered to a place, of guardianship and stewardship, that kept him alive and his heart beating. In that life, chances were he'd never let himself cast again, but he could hold his palm over the proverbial fire. Feel the warmth, from time to time.
Now there's nothing. Not even a single strand of it. ]