[Jaime's grip relaxes for a moment as Ken ineffectually shoves at him, but it hardly registers as anything but resistance to him. He's not about to hug the kid when he doesn't want the human contact, but once Ken's head drops onto his shoulder, he eases himself back into it, one hand resting soothingly on his back.]
You're never in the way, Ken. None of us have ever thought of you that way, I promise. We'd miss you an awful lot. [He laughs, a tiny, sad sound.] Who's gonna keep me company doing the shopping if you bail out now, huh?
[It's a stupid thing to say, he's sure, but it's the only thing that popped into his mind. The thing about survival isn't that you have to be around to do the big things, to defeat the Shadows, to save people... those are all short-term goals. They have to stick around for tiny things too. For late nights playing video games with their friends, and for dragging themselves to work, for stupid text messages at 3 AM, and for planning stupid outings with too many people. That's got to be what they live for.
Right?]
The only person who thinks you're in the way is you, Ken.
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You're never in the way, Ken. None of us have ever thought of you that way, I promise. We'd miss you an awful lot. [He laughs, a tiny, sad sound.] Who's gonna keep me company doing the shopping if you bail out now, huh?
[It's a stupid thing to say, he's sure, but it's the only thing that popped into his mind. The thing about survival isn't that you have to be around to do the big things, to defeat the Shadows, to save people... those are all short-term goals. They have to stick around for tiny things too. For late nights playing video games with their friends, and for dragging themselves to work, for stupid text messages at 3 AM, and for planning stupid outings with too many people. That's got to be what they live for.
Right?]
The only person who thinks you're in the way is you, Ken.