syd barrett (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} shesarainbow) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} chances_rpg,@ 2025-04-21 12:10:00 |
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Okay, so first of all, David knew that this was stupid.
They'd missed Valentine's Day in the whole... romcom thing that most of them had gotten sucked up into, which shouldn't have been a big deal. It wasn't like David was dating anyone that might have been offended. It wasn't like David was dating anyone at all, actually, because he and Sydney were friends. It was more than he should have asked for and he knew that he was being greedy even holding on to that.
But the thing was, Sydney wasn't dating anyone either (that he knew of) and... she deserved something nice. On Valentine's Day. She deserved to have someone treat her like she was special because she was. She was incredible. So... David had made plans. Not great plans, nothing groundbreaking, he'd just arranged to have flowers and a balloon delivered to his apartment on the 13th so that he could surprise her with them the next day, and gotten a big box of chocolates from the grocery store.
Of course, then he'd been sharing as close as San Fran could get to a French villa with Pepper on the 13th, and the 14th, up until the delusion had broken that morning.
First David had panicked. Then he'd panicked some more. Then he'd gotten back to his apartment and seen the delivery sitting outside his door and panicked again except about something different.
Now though? Now he was going to do his best.
The balloon was mostly deflated and the roses had lost all their petals, but the chocolates were still good. David had grabbed them, thought about it and grabbed the balloon too, and then headed to Sydney's apartment. He knocked, shifting nervously and hoping it was Sydney and not Teo that answered the door.
Luckily, Syd was home. It was a Saturday and considering she’d opted to spend her days during the week finding other things to do considering both of her employers had not been themselves for a couple of weeks now, well – Saturday was for sleeping in. So, she had, with no expectation that she’d wake up to anything being different. Eventually whatever spell everyone else was under would break, but when had yet to remain to be seen.
Apparently, she was going to find out much sooner than later. She hadn’t been expecting anyone at her door on a Saturday morning, but maybe Teo had ordered breakfast and someone was dropping it off. Lazily tying her hair up into a bun, Syd yawned and crossed toward the front door from where she’d been sat with her coffee and laptop. She pulled her cardigan a little more over herself for modesty’s sake and pushed up onto her toes to look out of the peep hole in the door.
Her heart did an involuntary lurch in her chest when she saw David standing there and without really thinking much more about it, she fumbled to unlock the door and pull it open, eyes a bit wide. “David? Are you–”
Syd’s words were cut short as she finally realized he was holding things; chocolates and a somewhat deflated balloon and her expression went from worried to almost sympathetic, if only because the balloon was in a sad state. But she didn’t comment on it, instead looking from each item and then back to him, biting back a smile. “Hi.”
"Hi. So... you are allowed to make fun of me for the whole romance author thing, by the way," David said, as good as any a way of telling her that the whole thing was absolutely over and he was completely back to himself.
"Anyway, I..." David found himself flustered now that the moment was there, nervous as if this was an actual romantic present but also nervous because it wasn't romantic and he didn't want her to get the wrong idea and feel like she had to shoot him down again. "I just... happy belated Valentine's Day? Or..." he shook the balloon, where he'd crossed out the 'V' in Valentine's and replaced it with a 'P'. "Palentine's Day?"
Oh god, that was so corny. That was terrible. But at least it should solve any question of whether he was trying to make another disastrous move. Nobody who was seriously trying to sweep a girl off her feet would call it Palentine's Day.
“Oh, trust me, you don’t get to live that down for a long time.” Syd grinned and stepped aside, a silent offer to let him come in if he wanted to. Though she noted the nervous energy coming off of him – not something that was exactly uncommon where David Haller was concerned, and yet…
She hadn’t even noticed the alteration made to the balloon until he brought her attention to it and oh. Sydney let out a laugh and brought a hand up to cover her mouth, smiling behind it. Okay. That was odd, but sweet, in a way she could’ve only expected from him. “That is so lame of you,” she teased, reaching for the balloon to take the piece of ribbon holding it. But it was clear that even if the balloon was on its last legs, the fact that he made it his mission to come here first thing that morning? Oh, she was very pleased with it. And with him.
“We can say Valentine’s Day, that’s okay,” she added as she turned to head back into the apartment, leaving the door open for him to follow.
David followed her obediently, closing the door behind him on his way in. Okay, so she wasn't upset about the balloon, about the present, about David acknowledging a holiday that was supposed to be all about romance and love.
"I got you roses too, but they were dead by the time I got back from... you know. So I figured, hey, who wants dead roses?"
But the chocolates were still good; David drifted over to set them on her kitchen counter. "Oh. Unless you want to hide these. So that you actually get some of them. I remember being a teenage boy, I would definitely have stolen my guardian figure's candy."
On the other hand, Syd felt appreciated in a way she hadn’t in a while. Not since they’d really first been dating, which felt like both like a long time ago and just yesterday. Funny how that happened.
The balloon was weighted just enough at the bottom to not float off when she set it on the counter, and she scoffed a bit about the roses, before giving him a knowing sort of look. “I think that means you owe me roses at a later date.” Not that she needed flowers, but now that she knew that they’d been part of the plan, well…
She had a sneaky suspicion she wasn’t going to be able to hold out much longer in not giving him the opportunity.
Syd’s eyes fell to the chocolates and she smiled at the box, prying off the top to look at the selection. “Mm, it’s totally fine to have one before breakfast, right?” she asked with a laugh as she grabbed one that clearly had nuts in it before nudging the open box toward him in offering. “Though I’ve had one coffee already, so maybe that counts.”
"I mean, coffee and chocolate, that goes together. That's like a gourmet pairing, the kind of thing they have tastings for. Are you convinced yet?" Joy was bubbling up in David's chest as he picked one of the ones with coconut--because no one liked those, so he might as well get them out of her way, right? Just part of the belated Valentine's Day service.
She wanted him to bring her roses. She was okay with him doing this again, maybe without an excuse of a holiday this time. Just because he was thinking about her.
At least Syd was okay with the fact that David was still in love with her, even if she wasn't ready to be more than friends yet.
He bit into the chocolate, chewed the stringy bits inside without even flinching and swallowed before he added, "We're almost being classy, if you look at it like that."
“You make a good case and I can’t say it was going to take much to twist my arm, anyways,” she teased, sneaking a second chocolate before hastily sticking the lid back on and setting the box aside. If she noticed (which she did) that he took one with coconut – one she remembered neither of them liking – she said nothing.
Knowing that David was still in love with her was something she’d reluctantly come to terms with a long time ago. She’d tried so hard to fight it, to ignore the fact that there were still feelings, no matter how bad things got. The thing was, it felt less and less like reluctance anymore, and something she was kind of okay accepting, at this point.
Because Syd knew that she still loved him, too. She just wasn’t sure she was ready to explore that yet.
“Just a little bougie,” she replied with a grin before it softened. “Thank you. For the gifts. It’s– really sweet of you. I mean, did you come out of whatever that was and just immediately come over here?”
"I mean... yeah?" David shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, you know, before the balloon got even sadder than it already is."
The truth was Syd was the first thing he thought of most of the time. When he woke up in the morning, for example. When something out of the ordinary happened that he wanted to tell someone about. When he made a breakthrough in therapy and he thought that she'd probably be proud of him. If he reached out to Syd every time he thought of her, she would probably already be sick of him. It was kind of amazing that she wasn't.
And he knew, okay, he knew it was his own stupid fault that they weren't together anymore, that maybe she couldn't ever trust him enough to try again. He knew he was lucky that she was willing to be friends with him. That didn't make her any less the first person on his mind.
Syd had the urge to give him a kiss on the cheek, but she knew that she probably couldn’t without it turning into a whole ordeal — the control she had over her own mutant abilities was stronger now, but was it strong enough to use on him? The most powerful mutant of all? Probably not.
“Well. I think it was a good idea. Even if you hadn’t come by with the balloon and chocolates, I’m happy I found out sooner rather than later that you’re yourself again.”
While she talked, she moved around over to where he was and behind him, lightly resting her chin on his shoulder and using his shirt as a barrier. She made sure she was as covered as she could to avoid any accidental skin on skin contact before she leaned against him. “I missed you,” she confessed softly, moving her head again to press her cheek where her chin had been.
"God, what a trip, you know?" David shook his head, careful not to bump into her as he moved. Even that little bit of contact was more than he'd ever have expected, and he had to be careful not to get greedy for more. Not to suggest that maybe they could go to the white room this time, now that he had his powers back. Maybe they could... cuddle?
God, David could use a cuddle. Not being himself for that long felt a little too much like a psychotic break, in its own way. Like he'd gone into some kind of fugue state and just... started living out this whole other life, leaving everyone he cared about behind.
He couldn't even say that he'd missed her. He hadn't known her to miss her, and that was the worst part of all. A world where David didn't at least know Syd, wasn't aware of her presence out there in the universe and how important she was, that wasn't a world that he wanted to live in.
"You're always going to be my first stop after this place does something weird," he promised.
That promise brought a smile to her face, one she was sure he probably felt form against his shoulder, and her hands playfully came to his sides to gently press her nails into them through his shirt.
“You better, or I might have to kick your ass.” It was a joke, and her tone said as much, but they both knew she was more than capable of being scrappy when she had to be. But the amusement of it faded a little, gentling back into sincerity before she spoke again. “You’ll be my first stop, too.”
A promise for a promise. Despite everything.
“Are you okay, though? I mean– I know it was weird, but two weeks is a long time to go without knowing who anyone is, let alone yourself. Do you need anything?”
"Can we just... sit for a while? Together?" David didn't need much, honestly he didn't, but he thought that would probably balance him out better than anything else possibly could. Just... time with Syd. With his person, the person who got him better than anyone else did. Who'd always managed to make him feel okay even when they were locked up in the nuthouse.
It helped, knowing that they were each other's first stop. That he had someone here who cared whether he was himself or not.
"I'm still wrapping my head around it, you know. I still--I took my meds, that wasn't part of it, so thank fuck for that I guess. But I missed therapy, and I know I'm not going to lose my spot with her over this because it wasn't exactly planned or my fault, but..." But he was still nervous about it. He'd been doing so well; he didn't want to fuck it all up now.
That felt like such an easy ask and Syd nodded gently against his shoulder before pulling herself away. She made a brief stop at where she’d left her coffee before quietly crossing to the couch, settling into it as she’d come to habitually do – Syd had her preferred spot on the sofa now, and she left the spot next to her open for him.
“I’m glad you still took your meds, even while you weren’t yourself. I guess… I dunno, I hadn’t considered that could have been an added issue and maybe I should’ve.” To not just check on him, but to make sure he was still managing his well being since his body was still his.
“-but I think missing therapy for a week or two is okay, right? She’ll understand, or she should, and you guys can just pick up where you left off. It’ll be alright, David.”
"Yeah. Yeah, I know you're right," David agreed, settling next to her on the couch with a sigh. "I just want to... stay on an even keel. I'm better than I've ever been before, and--I don't want to lose any ground here, you know? I want to keep making progress."
But she was right, a couple of weeks off of therapy wasn't going to ruin all the progress he had made and he knew it. He hadn't forgotten anything he'd learned. Just stalled out on using it for a couple of weeks when he wasn't himself and didn't have powers making things more difficult anyway. So... it was fine. It was going to be alright. He just needed to calm down.
He turned his head to smile at Syd. "Too bad I didn't end up sharing a fake French villa with you. It would have been a nice vacation."
“For what it’s worth, I’m not worried about you losing ground on the progress you’ve made. Which has been… a lot, as far as I can tell. You’ve come a long way in a short amount of time and I’m– really proud of you, y’know?”
Because she was. Maybe everything with the Time Eaters back in their own universe had really, finally, knocked some sense into him. All it had taken was the literal end of the world, but at least David was making leaps and bounds in making sure he was going to be okay. Syd swallowed down the sigh that wanted to escape with a sip of her coffee, fighting the urge to reach over and touch him, somehow. A bad idea without her gloves.
Her gaze shifted when he spoke again and she smiled around the rim of her mug. “I’d rather we’re ourselves if we’re going to take a vacation to a villa in France, but… yeah, it would be nice.”
"Maybe someday, right?" It seemed like it was maybe okay to think about that kind of thing now. He'd been working so hard to get it under control, to get everything lined out and do everything right the way he never could have managed when his head was still playing AirBNB to the Shadow King. The way he'd never have been able to manage back in their own world, not as himself anyway. Just as the version of him who had never been fucked up in the first place.
It was nice. Knowing that... he could get better. He could make the choices that he needed to make to be as healthy as he possibly could be, even after all of that. Even after so many mistakes, after hurting so many people. And Syd...
Syd would maybe consider going to a villa in France with him for a vacation now. Even if it was at some vague point in the future.
They'd missed Valentine's Day in the whole... romcom thing that most of them had gotten sucked up into, which shouldn't have been a big deal. It wasn't like David was dating anyone that might have been offended. It wasn't like David was dating anyone at all, actually, because he and Sydney were friends. It was more than he should have asked for and he knew that he was being greedy even holding on to that.
But the thing was, Sydney wasn't dating anyone either (that he knew of) and... she deserved something nice. On Valentine's Day. She deserved to have someone treat her like she was special because she was. She was incredible. So... David had made plans. Not great plans, nothing groundbreaking, he'd just arranged to have flowers and a balloon delivered to his apartment on the 13th so that he could surprise her with them the next day, and gotten a big box of chocolates from the grocery store.
Of course, then he'd been sharing as close as San Fran could get to a French villa with Pepper on the 13th, and the 14th, up until the delusion had broken that morning.
First David had panicked. Then he'd panicked some more. Then he'd gotten back to his apartment and seen the delivery sitting outside his door and panicked again except about something different.
Now though? Now he was going to do his best.
The balloon was mostly deflated and the roses had lost all their petals, but the chocolates were still good. David had grabbed them, thought about it and grabbed the balloon too, and then headed to Sydney's apartment. He knocked, shifting nervously and hoping it was Sydney and not Teo that answered the door.
Luckily, Syd was home. It was a Saturday and considering she’d opted to spend her days during the week finding other things to do considering both of her employers had not been themselves for a couple of weeks now, well – Saturday was for sleeping in. So, she had, with no expectation that she’d wake up to anything being different. Eventually whatever spell everyone else was under would break, but when had yet to remain to be seen.
Apparently, she was going to find out much sooner than later. She hadn’t been expecting anyone at her door on a Saturday morning, but maybe Teo had ordered breakfast and someone was dropping it off. Lazily tying her hair up into a bun, Syd yawned and crossed toward the front door from where she’d been sat with her coffee and laptop. She pulled her cardigan a little more over herself for modesty’s sake and pushed up onto her toes to look out of the peep hole in the door.
Her heart did an involuntary lurch in her chest when she saw David standing there and without really thinking much more about it, she fumbled to unlock the door and pull it open, eyes a bit wide. “David? Are you–”
Syd’s words were cut short as she finally realized he was holding things; chocolates and a somewhat deflated balloon and her expression went from worried to almost sympathetic, if only because the balloon was in a sad state. But she didn’t comment on it, instead looking from each item and then back to him, biting back a smile. “Hi.”
"Hi. So... you are allowed to make fun of me for the whole romance author thing, by the way," David said, as good as any a way of telling her that the whole thing was absolutely over and he was completely back to himself.
"Anyway, I..." David found himself flustered now that the moment was there, nervous as if this was an actual romantic present but also nervous because it wasn't romantic and he didn't want her to get the wrong idea and feel like she had to shoot him down again. "I just... happy belated Valentine's Day? Or..." he shook the balloon, where he'd crossed out the 'V' in Valentine's and replaced it with a 'P'. "Palentine's Day?"
Oh god, that was so corny. That was terrible. But at least it should solve any question of whether he was trying to make another disastrous move. Nobody who was seriously trying to sweep a girl off her feet would call it Palentine's Day.
“Oh, trust me, you don’t get to live that down for a long time.” Syd grinned and stepped aside, a silent offer to let him come in if he wanted to. Though she noted the nervous energy coming off of him – not something that was exactly uncommon where David Haller was concerned, and yet…
She hadn’t even noticed the alteration made to the balloon until he brought her attention to it and oh. Sydney let out a laugh and brought a hand up to cover her mouth, smiling behind it. Okay. That was odd, but sweet, in a way she could’ve only expected from him. “That is so lame of you,” she teased, reaching for the balloon to take the piece of ribbon holding it. But it was clear that even if the balloon was on its last legs, the fact that he made it his mission to come here first thing that morning? Oh, she was very pleased with it. And with him.
“We can say Valentine’s Day, that’s okay,” she added as she turned to head back into the apartment, leaving the door open for him to follow.
David followed her obediently, closing the door behind him on his way in. Okay, so she wasn't upset about the balloon, about the present, about David acknowledging a holiday that was supposed to be all about romance and love.
"I got you roses too, but they were dead by the time I got back from... you know. So I figured, hey, who wants dead roses?"
But the chocolates were still good; David drifted over to set them on her kitchen counter. "Oh. Unless you want to hide these. So that you actually get some of them. I remember being a teenage boy, I would definitely have stolen my guardian figure's candy."
On the other hand, Syd felt appreciated in a way she hadn’t in a while. Not since they’d really first been dating, which felt like both like a long time ago and just yesterday. Funny how that happened.
The balloon was weighted just enough at the bottom to not float off when she set it on the counter, and she scoffed a bit about the roses, before giving him a knowing sort of look. “I think that means you owe me roses at a later date.” Not that she needed flowers, but now that she knew that they’d been part of the plan, well…
She had a sneaky suspicion she wasn’t going to be able to hold out much longer in not giving him the opportunity.
Syd’s eyes fell to the chocolates and she smiled at the box, prying off the top to look at the selection. “Mm, it’s totally fine to have one before breakfast, right?” she asked with a laugh as she grabbed one that clearly had nuts in it before nudging the open box toward him in offering. “Though I’ve had one coffee already, so maybe that counts.”
"I mean, coffee and chocolate, that goes together. That's like a gourmet pairing, the kind of thing they have tastings for. Are you convinced yet?" Joy was bubbling up in David's chest as he picked one of the ones with coconut--because no one liked those, so he might as well get them out of her way, right? Just part of the belated Valentine's Day service.
She wanted him to bring her roses. She was okay with him doing this again, maybe without an excuse of a holiday this time. Just because he was thinking about her.
At least Syd was okay with the fact that David was still in love with her, even if she wasn't ready to be more than friends yet.
He bit into the chocolate, chewed the stringy bits inside without even flinching and swallowed before he added, "We're almost being classy, if you look at it like that."
“You make a good case and I can’t say it was going to take much to twist my arm, anyways,” she teased, sneaking a second chocolate before hastily sticking the lid back on and setting the box aside. If she noticed (which she did) that he took one with coconut – one she remembered neither of them liking – she said nothing.
Knowing that David was still in love with her was something she’d reluctantly come to terms with a long time ago. She’d tried so hard to fight it, to ignore the fact that there were still feelings, no matter how bad things got. The thing was, it felt less and less like reluctance anymore, and something she was kind of okay accepting, at this point.
Because Syd knew that she still loved him, too. She just wasn’t sure she was ready to explore that yet.
“Just a little bougie,” she replied with a grin before it softened. “Thank you. For the gifts. It’s– really sweet of you. I mean, did you come out of whatever that was and just immediately come over here?”
"I mean... yeah?" David shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, you know, before the balloon got even sadder than it already is."
The truth was Syd was the first thing he thought of most of the time. When he woke up in the morning, for example. When something out of the ordinary happened that he wanted to tell someone about. When he made a breakthrough in therapy and he thought that she'd probably be proud of him. If he reached out to Syd every time he thought of her, she would probably already be sick of him. It was kind of amazing that she wasn't.
And he knew, okay, he knew it was his own stupid fault that they weren't together anymore, that maybe she couldn't ever trust him enough to try again. He knew he was lucky that she was willing to be friends with him. That didn't make her any less the first person on his mind.
Syd had the urge to give him a kiss on the cheek, but she knew that she probably couldn’t without it turning into a whole ordeal — the control she had over her own mutant abilities was stronger now, but was it strong enough to use on him? The most powerful mutant of all? Probably not.
“Well. I think it was a good idea. Even if you hadn’t come by with the balloon and chocolates, I’m happy I found out sooner rather than later that you’re yourself again.”
While she talked, she moved around over to where he was and behind him, lightly resting her chin on his shoulder and using his shirt as a barrier. She made sure she was as covered as she could to avoid any accidental skin on skin contact before she leaned against him. “I missed you,” she confessed softly, moving her head again to press her cheek where her chin had been.
"God, what a trip, you know?" David shook his head, careful not to bump into her as he moved. Even that little bit of contact was more than he'd ever have expected, and he had to be careful not to get greedy for more. Not to suggest that maybe they could go to the white room this time, now that he had his powers back. Maybe they could... cuddle?
God, David could use a cuddle. Not being himself for that long felt a little too much like a psychotic break, in its own way. Like he'd gone into some kind of fugue state and just... started living out this whole other life, leaving everyone he cared about behind.
He couldn't even say that he'd missed her. He hadn't known her to miss her, and that was the worst part of all. A world where David didn't at least know Syd, wasn't aware of her presence out there in the universe and how important she was, that wasn't a world that he wanted to live in.
"You're always going to be my first stop after this place does something weird," he promised.
That promise brought a smile to her face, one she was sure he probably felt form against his shoulder, and her hands playfully came to his sides to gently press her nails into them through his shirt.
“You better, or I might have to kick your ass.” It was a joke, and her tone said as much, but they both knew she was more than capable of being scrappy when she had to be. But the amusement of it faded a little, gentling back into sincerity before she spoke again. “You’ll be my first stop, too.”
A promise for a promise. Despite everything.
“Are you okay, though? I mean– I know it was weird, but two weeks is a long time to go without knowing who anyone is, let alone yourself. Do you need anything?”
"Can we just... sit for a while? Together?" David didn't need much, honestly he didn't, but he thought that would probably balance him out better than anything else possibly could. Just... time with Syd. With his person, the person who got him better than anyone else did. Who'd always managed to make him feel okay even when they were locked up in the nuthouse.
It helped, knowing that they were each other's first stop. That he had someone here who cared whether he was himself or not.
"I'm still wrapping my head around it, you know. I still--I took my meds, that wasn't part of it, so thank fuck for that I guess. But I missed therapy, and I know I'm not going to lose my spot with her over this because it wasn't exactly planned or my fault, but..." But he was still nervous about it. He'd been doing so well; he didn't want to fuck it all up now.
That felt like such an easy ask and Syd nodded gently against his shoulder before pulling herself away. She made a brief stop at where she’d left her coffee before quietly crossing to the couch, settling into it as she’d come to habitually do – Syd had her preferred spot on the sofa now, and she left the spot next to her open for him.
“I’m glad you still took your meds, even while you weren’t yourself. I guess… I dunno, I hadn’t considered that could have been an added issue and maybe I should’ve.” To not just check on him, but to make sure he was still managing his well being since his body was still his.
“-but I think missing therapy for a week or two is okay, right? She’ll understand, or she should, and you guys can just pick up where you left off. It’ll be alright, David.”
"Yeah. Yeah, I know you're right," David agreed, settling next to her on the couch with a sigh. "I just want to... stay on an even keel. I'm better than I've ever been before, and--I don't want to lose any ground here, you know? I want to keep making progress."
But she was right, a couple of weeks off of therapy wasn't going to ruin all the progress he had made and he knew it. He hadn't forgotten anything he'd learned. Just stalled out on using it for a couple of weeks when he wasn't himself and didn't have powers making things more difficult anyway. So... it was fine. It was going to be alright. He just needed to calm down.
He turned his head to smile at Syd. "Too bad I didn't end up sharing a fake French villa with you. It would have been a nice vacation."
“For what it’s worth, I’m not worried about you losing ground on the progress you’ve made. Which has been… a lot, as far as I can tell. You’ve come a long way in a short amount of time and I’m– really proud of you, y’know?”
Because she was. Maybe everything with the Time Eaters back in their own universe had really, finally, knocked some sense into him. All it had taken was the literal end of the world, but at least David was making leaps and bounds in making sure he was going to be okay. Syd swallowed down the sigh that wanted to escape with a sip of her coffee, fighting the urge to reach over and touch him, somehow. A bad idea without her gloves.
Her gaze shifted when he spoke again and she smiled around the rim of her mug. “I’d rather we’re ourselves if we’re going to take a vacation to a villa in France, but… yeah, it would be nice.”
"Maybe someday, right?" It seemed like it was maybe okay to think about that kind of thing now. He'd been working so hard to get it under control, to get everything lined out and do everything right the way he never could have managed when his head was still playing AirBNB to the Shadow King. The way he'd never have been able to manage back in their own world, not as himself anyway. Just as the version of him who had never been fucked up in the first place.
It was nice. Knowing that... he could get better. He could make the choices that he needed to make to be as healthy as he possibly could be, even after all of that. Even after so many mistakes, after hurting so many people. And Syd...
Syd would maybe consider going to a villa in France with him for a vacation now. Even if it was at some vague point in the future.