[In spite of thinking he was prepared for just about anything his companion might offer up in retaliation, Kit was not expecting a comment like that.
Fortunately, he hadn't been hurrying up the stairs too quickly, so his nearly missing a step was easily disguised by choosing right then to dart up ahead to the next landing.]
You won't be leaving anyone behind at that snail's pace.
[Least of all him.
He was loath to think of it, but the mention of abandonment was a sore spot whether he cared to admit it or not. How many foster families had come and gone again? How many people he'd thought to call family? Including his real one, wherever they were now...
No. Kit had decided long ago that he wouldn't be the one left behind anymore. Even if he had given up some of the activities that had earned him his old reputation, that habit remained. It was better not to get too attached to people. However nice they were, they would inevitably disappoint him, or he would disappoint them.
The only people who deserved to stand at his side were those who could put themselves there using their own two feet and keep up, and even then, it was best if they didn't linger too long.
...or so he told himself. But if they were really being hunted by some invisible monster, would he let this stranger fall in place of him? He wondered as he came to a stop above and stared at the double doors to the lobby ahead...and then made a decision. He wouldn't let this person die. Not until he'd learned from him what he'd come this far to learn, anyway.
Without glancing back over his shoulder, he asked...]
How are you feeling? It wasn't much of a climb, but you seemed to be unwell earlier.
[Th-there it was again...that prickling over his skin and down his spine and a faint drumming at his temples.]
no subject
Fortunately, he hadn't been hurrying up the stairs too quickly, so his nearly missing a step was easily disguised by choosing right then to dart up ahead to the next landing.]
You won't be leaving anyone behind at that snail's pace.
[Least of all him.
He was loath to think of it, but the mention of abandonment was a sore spot whether he cared to admit it or not. How many foster families had come and gone again? How many people he'd thought to call family? Including his real one, wherever they were now...
No. Kit had decided long ago that he wouldn't be the one left behind anymore. Even if he had given up some of the activities that had earned him his old reputation, that habit remained. It was better not to get too attached to people. However nice they were, they would inevitably disappoint him, or he would disappoint them.
The only people who deserved to stand at his side were those who could put themselves there using their own two feet and keep up, and even then, it was best if they didn't linger too long.
...or so he told himself. But if they were really being hunted by some invisible monster, would he let this stranger fall in place of him? He wondered as he came to a stop above and stared at the double doors to the lobby ahead...and then made a decision. He wouldn't let this person die. Not until he'd learned from him what he'd come this far to learn, anyway.
Without glancing back over his shoulder, he asked...]
How are you feeling? It wasn't much of a climb, but you seemed to be unwell earlier.
[Th-there it was again...that prickling over his skin and down his spine and a faint drumming at his temples.]