Tandy Bowen doesn't have to pick between (cloakndagger) wrote in repose,
Re: [Tandy & Holly: the good diner]
Tandy got self-preservation instinct. Right? He got that it was a me-first kind of deal and that was just what survival looked like when the human condition couldn't or wouldn't override the basic primal instinct to just live. So he was oblivious, way oblivious to Holly essentially casting off old ropes if they were ballast he didn't need. And he was oblivious to the desire to discern what Tandy wanted which was probably the opposite: ballast, a little anchor, a little John Donne, no man is an island kind of deal.
But right. Contradictory assumption. "No, we don't," Tandy agreed and the fry slid down his gullet and sat weightily in his belly, more heavy as a collective than they were on the plate. Feeling full was an awesome substantial feeling, but he was uncertain and anxiety was bubbling like acid around fries. "I mean, the not belonging, okay. There is one additional substantiating factor. From a purely surface level? We knew each other. Like, if it was a totally contrary reality, would we? I'm not saying that's a hugely comparative baseline but it's still one. And I don't like hospitals because I got taken to one when my dad died."
There was an up-down shrug, the kind of shoulder gesture that was both nonchalant and extremely young at the same time. Tandy didn't want to dwell. "Yeah, I didn't say it wasn't relevant. I said I didn't know how, and the data collection kind of relies on me doing it again."