Re: log: adrian and ren
"An investment," he said, swirling the tea in his hand, "In not making anyone angry." He tipped his head. "Who would be most angry if you left them out?"
His heels firmly pressed against the bottom rung of the stool, Adrian grounded himself in the moment, the question. There was always a risk that he would become detached from himself in a conversation like this one, drifting into the past. "We're still in touch." He picked at the cardboard sleeve. "We were seeing each other for a while. I made a lot of mistakes." He tore the sleeve off, pulling at the edge until the cardboard seam separated. He seemed to be thinking the sentences through word by word as he said them, still slow and methodical in his speech. "He lives close by. I hope I haven't lost him as a friend.
These apparently disjointed thoughts were related in his mind - that it would be hard, more than hard, to see Newt around town, even if they were still friends, or became friends again. Whatever Newt said, Adrian didn't really know what he was to him now. Aside from a person who had embarrassed himself, and destroyed something he cared about more than anything by clutching it too hard.
He slid off the stool and approached the counter, the cup held loosely in one hand. "What did you expect?" he asked, as he stood on the other side. His eyes had a gleam in the end-of-the-night light.