closed

[keenly]

WHO: Anders & Colin
WHAT: Processing feelings
WHEN: Kingsway
WHERE: Darktown clinic
NOTES: Will update with warnings.

One subject has been weighing on Colin's mind more than others, driving him to distraction while helping Anders at the clinic. He's not sure if Anders wants to talk about it. He's not sure if Anders knows. As tongue-tied as he is for most of the evening, he blurts it out when the clinic is empty but for the two of them.

"Did you know about Benedict?"

Comments

[keenly]

"They haven't given him a sentence, but they only locked him up two days ago." He gives a nod and another little smile. "Remember, though, I didn't send you, you sent yourself. But I really think you can help him. I do believe he can get out of there on his own, the right way and with no shortcuts or picked locks."

His gaze drifts off. "It's this...transformative thing. Like how in the Circle, if you got backed into a corner, you found yourself capable of anything if it would get you out. It can take you to a very dark place, or a very good place, and one of those ways is easier than the other. As much as he didn't want to die, I don't...I don't want him going where I went a few months ago. Least of all when I know there's a good heart underneath it all."

[justice_is_blond]

Picking locks can be fun, but he knows what Colin means. Mostly. Sometimes when people have decided a thing they only see evidence of that thing no matter what. Benedict might be given a chance... or he might not be. It doesn't always depend on the person who may want to change.

"Frankly, I think sometimes the good place one can be brought to by the Circles was very rare. They were designed to break us down. However, if they want to use this for rehabilitation rather than something simply punitive, it could give him impetus for change. And I would like to see him far from where you were at too."

Anders reaches over and rests a hand on Colin's shoulder. "I'll go in, and he'll never know it was you who told me."

[keenly]

A gentle nod. Then his face pinches as if he might cry imminently, and he bows his head while he gets control of himself.