[In the flames, muddled voices rise up from his memory - Ford and Stan, both as young as Stan looks now, bickering about who ruined whose life. A scream of pain and a hurried apology. A whirr of machinery that surely haunts both of them, even now.
Given how Stan took other parts of this conversation, Ford might expect a lot of anger and hurt as he re-remembers it all over again. But...it doesn't come. Stan doesn't change in appearance, but something changes in the way he carries himself. Understanding settles in.
Some of those voices speaking through the flames are from much later, and much clearer than the rest. New, fresher memories overlapping the old. Quieter, confused questions. Sincere apologies. One brother trying to make amends to the other with any piece of visual evidence he can scrounge up, anything he can use to bring him brother back. The sound of ocean waves and laughter.
Stan was glancing toward the floor when this started, but now he's looking right at Ford, weighing it all.]
...But we're alright now.
[The weight is heavy, but it isn't one either of them carry alone anymore so Stan tentatively opens his arms as an invitation for a hug, if Ford's the one who needs it now.]
no subject
Given how Stan took other parts of this conversation, Ford might expect a lot of anger and hurt as he re-remembers it all over again. But...it doesn't come. Stan doesn't change in appearance, but something changes in the way he carries himself. Understanding settles in.
Some of those voices speaking through the flames are from much later, and much clearer than the rest. New, fresher memories overlapping the old. Quieter, confused questions. Sincere apologies. One brother trying to make amends to the other with any piece of visual evidence he can scrounge up, anything he can use to bring him brother back. The sound of ocean waves and laughter.
Stan was glancing toward the floor when this started, but now he's looking right at Ford, weighing it all.]
...But we're alright now.
[The weight is heavy, but it isn't one either of them carry alone anymore so Stan tentatively opens his arms as an invitation for a hug, if Ford's the one who needs it now.]