[ He talks, but it seems like he's just sinking deeper into it. Wrong choice, maybe. For Tris, it leaves only the option of listening and watching, while she bites the inside of her cheek. Hearing it is different, of course, from being there, but she's got some idea of what it was like even so.
She nods as he describes it, the way fear held people in its grip, keeping them from even helping those important to them. Everyone, Tris has found, has a different reaction when they are afraid of something, but being paralyzed by it isn't uncommon. Not everyone can detach from it, master it, figure out how to function anyway. Thomas is, while clearly managing, also clearly not okay, but he's earned her respect by not shying away from it even for a moment.
She reaches out, tentative, places a hand on his forearm. Plain for him to see, her hands are calloused as any glader's, nails bitten down to the beds. She tries to meet his eyes, if he does look up. ]
Hey. [ Just stop for a second. ] We can find something better to talk about, if you want.
[ Not if it's too much, or if it hurts, or any of those choices. She withdraws her hand - it's really that simple. There's no pity in the look she gives him. ]
no subject
She nods as he describes it, the way fear held people in its grip, keeping them from even helping those important to them. Everyone, Tris has found, has a different reaction when they are afraid of something, but being paralyzed by it isn't uncommon. Not everyone can detach from it, master it, figure out how to function anyway. Thomas is, while clearly managing, also clearly not okay, but he's earned her respect by not shying away from it even for a moment.
She reaches out, tentative, places a hand on his forearm. Plain for him to see, her hands are calloused as any glader's, nails bitten down to the beds. She tries to meet his eyes, if he does look up. ]
Hey. [ Just stop for a second. ] We can find something better to talk about, if you want.
[ Not if it's too much, or if it hurts, or any of those choices. She withdraws her hand - it's really that simple. There's no pity in the look she gives him. ]