Bastian had come to the conclusion all too quickly that there was no real right choice anymore. Not speaking held risks...speaking held risks. Stay. Go. Run. Stay. No matter what he did or what they did...there were risks. There were pros and there were cons. Anymore it was all about the lesser evil. For Bastian that was keeping things to himself. He'd told them enough to be aware, to know what was out there and what it meant. That alone had been damned hard for him to do. But more? To really get into the dark details of that world...no it wasn't something he wanted to do. He wanted to keep that far far away from them.
Could he do so? He didn't know. Protection wasn't easy to find and he knew this lull...this time..it wouldn't last forever. No matter how he wished it would.
But for as much as Bastian kept hidden, he didn't bury away everything. Though he knew his words were hard to hear he spoke the truth. He didn't deny just how much he doubted now. How he wondered on what was really left. People were ever changing, evolving to the world that they were in. But that didn't always mean those changes were for the good...and that was what Bastian feared. “Everything has changed.” There were days when that fact was just too damned much for him to take. “I don't know. It's just not something I want to tempt yet.” if that joy, that...part...was gone. Right now he had enough to try to handle. He had more to tell her even. Bringing that up was a topic he wasn’t sure how to breach. But he did try to offer a smile, that reassuring sort of gesture that he knew she was better at then him. 'Someday though.' he could at least offer that much to keep things from looking so bleak.
Bastian smoothed his hand over Maggie's own, drawing it upwards to press a kiss against it with a light smile “Yeah, that’s exactly what I'm saying.” Bastian had never seen Maggie smother the girl and though he knew she worried...she was well aware of how with a kid like Sophie it was better to give some space rather then to not. He knew Sophie appreciated it. “I'll know enough to help her good a good start” and knew the snakes when he saw them.
But he knew that Sophie had plans for college. The girl was too smart to not. It wasn't an easy thing to accept but it was the reality in front of them. He just had to hope that she didn't have plans to go...far. That he wasn't sure he could allow. For reasons beyond that want to just keep her close to make up for lost time. He needed her...close enough to keep an eye on her. 'No, I don't think so. But even a little time away seems like a hell of a lot sometimes.' especially to him...
Bastian sighed, taking another long drag from the cigarette before ashing it in the near by ashtray. “She talk about it at all yet? Ideas? Or do we need to start leaving hints for near by colleges?”