He finally sits up again, having regained enough composure to. It's like a little switch has flipped, his voice is calmer, colder, deader.
They all need to compartmentalize. That's part of being a soldier, but it's possible to get too cold, too emotionally dead. If he's not there yet, Wash is heading down that path. The switch flips too cleanly, too suddenly.
He doesn't push North's arm away, though. He has not had a friend touch him in a friendly way for years. Not that they'd ever been touchy feely people in the project, but there had still been comraderie. Hands around each other's shoulders, playful shoves, jostling each other's arms. Wash remembers waking up one of the times he'd been in and out after Epsilon, North at his side, arm around his shoulders, helping him sit up with an "slowly, slowly..."
Was that the last time? The last time he'd ever been in the presence of a friend who was still alive?
(South and Maine hadn't counted.)
(He can't remember holding Carolina's hand on the beach, can't remember Tucker sometimes throwing an arm around his shoulders, can't remember...)
"The funny thing about the people who certify you Article 12 is that they're also the same people who can un- certify you Article 12. When it all hit the fan, everyone scattered."
He looks at the transport wall opposite the two of them, where North had originally been sitting.
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They all need to compartmentalize. That's part of being a soldier, but it's possible to get too cold, too emotionally dead. If he's not there yet, Wash is heading down that path. The switch flips too cleanly, too suddenly.
He doesn't push North's arm away, though. He has not had a friend touch him in a friendly way for years. Not that they'd ever been touchy feely people in the project, but there had still been comraderie. Hands around each other's shoulders, playful shoves, jostling each other's arms. Wash remembers waking up one of the times he'd been in and out after Epsilon, North at his side, arm around his shoulders, helping him sit up with an "slowly, slowly..."
Was that the last time? The last time he'd ever been in the presence of a friend who was still alive?
(South and Maine hadn't counted.)
(
He can't remember holding Carolina's hand on the beach, can't remember Tucker sometimes throwing an arm around his shoulders, can't remember...)"The funny thing about the people who certify you Article 12 is that they're also the same people who can un- certify you Article 12. When it all hit the fan, everyone scattered."
He looks at the transport wall opposite the two of them, where North had originally been sitting.
"I was the last one left."