[Truly, other non-ancient people who are not so wise as Miss Ange should not be exposed to such deep truths as all this.]
Then, the secret is...I'm someone who is lonely, too.
[It is safe to tell Ange this because out of all the kids he knows, she is the least likely to be weird about it when she is grown up again. Break hasn't necessarily caught on to the subtle ways that his own have been working to support him, but he does know that if his own pains were more obvious they'd be much more aggressive in turn, and it would be inconvenient at best and gross at worst. Ange strikes him as much more the type who would find out such a thing, nod at him in solemn understanding, and manage to find a way to keep him company that would still let him have space and peace and quiet. This is vastly preferable to noise and chaos and being smothered in love, some days.]
Because I've lived with it so long, I know that -- it's like getting a nasty cut. Of course when it first happens, it stings and bleeds and it's awful, and perhaps you might cry about it. And, if you're not careful, you can hurt yourself all over again. No matter how you look at it, it's really not fun, you know?
...however, given time and patience and some love...it will heal. It may become a scar that you always carry, and if it was a big cut, it might still ache sometimes. Especially when it rains, or is really cold out. But it won't always hurt and sting and bleed. Not if you take care of it properly.
That's what loneliness is really like. You could say that -- it's a feeling that can grow up, right along with us.
no subject
Then, the secret is...I'm someone who is lonely, too.
[It is safe to tell Ange this because out of all the kids he knows, she is the least likely to be weird about it when she is grown up again. Break hasn't necessarily caught on to the subtle ways that his own have been working to support him, but he does know that if his own pains were more obvious they'd be much more aggressive in turn, and it would be inconvenient at best and gross at worst. Ange strikes him as much more the type who would find out such a thing, nod at him in solemn understanding, and manage to find a way to keep him company that would still let him have space and peace and quiet. This is vastly preferable to noise and chaos and being smothered in love, some days.]
Because I've lived with it so long, I know that -- it's like getting a nasty cut. Of course when it first happens, it stings and bleeds and it's awful, and perhaps you might cry about it. And, if you're not careful, you can hurt yourself all over again. No matter how you look at it, it's really not fun, you know?
...however, given time and patience and some love...it will heal. It may become a scar that you always carry, and if it was a big cut, it might still ache sometimes. Especially when it rains, or is really cold out. But it won't always hurt and sting and bleed. Not if you take care of it properly.
That's what loneliness is really like. You could say that -- it's a feeling that can grow up, right along with us.