[Warm scented water, and the voices in his head were muted as well - Such a luxery, this.]
[He'd always been able to See things, from before he even learned to talk, but then, James...]
[David sighed again. It bothered him a bit - He couldn't really remember what had happened when James had almost died, except that David himself had been there, and sometimes he dreamed of trying to decide what to keep and what to put away because Liquid was much too topheavy and -]
[Liquid.]
[...When had he stopped calling his brother Liquid, even in private, even in just his own mind?]
[When his brother had stopped being Liquid, or even Liquid and James, and had just become James, that's when. James Ver.2, even. Or was it Ver.3? Ver.4?]
[James, James, James. Liquid had been the main trunk of the tree, damanged and sickly though it was, and James had been a small flowerying branch sticking out the sides, nutured by a nurses love, but in the end, he'd cut Liquid away, because the tree had been dying, anyway, and he didn't want to lose his brother entirely, and he'd cut the tree down almost to the roots and grafted the little James branch on top, because...]
[Miracles didn't come cheap. They didn't come cheap at all.]
[And he'd known, in that slow dark night were his brother barely breathed under his own power, in and out, in and out, that he'd have to pay a price if he did that, but he'd done it anyway.]
[Despite and still.]
[David sighed.]
[And the price had been...]
[David looks up at John.]
...I think...I did something to James. When he almost died.
I'm not entirely sure what I did, though it was clear as day at the time.
And then he stopped dying, and started to recover, and everybody said it was a miracle, but ... He wasn't the same afterward. It was OK, he was still my brother, well, once he learned to talk again, anyway, but it was like half my brother was gone and I was talking to the other half, but that was all right because James loved me.
...It's simpler with James, you know. If you're important to him, he lets you know it all the time.
- Liquid wasn't like that, which was why he always used to leave most of the small talk and getting to know you bits to James. I think.
[But then, Liquid was gone, and there was only James left, even though he was a slightly different James with bits of Liquid incoporated into him, and...]
[He hadn't even really recongnized what was happening till - Just right now.]
[Because he hadn't really let himself precieve it. Not really, not truly.]
- So I lost a brother anyway, and I didn't even grieve for him properly, because...James was still there, you know? And I...I...
no subject
...I see, Sir. I think. ...Thank you.
[Warm scented water, and the voices in his head were muted as well - Such a luxery, this.]
[He'd always been able to See things, from before he even learned to talk, but then, James...]
[David sighed again. It bothered him a bit - He couldn't really remember what had happened when James had almost died, except that David himself had been there, and sometimes he dreamed of trying to decide what to keep and what to put away because Liquid was much too topheavy and -]
[Liquid.]
[...When had he stopped calling his brother Liquid, even in private, even in just his own mind?]
[When his brother had stopped being Liquid, or even Liquid and James, and had just become James, that's when. James Ver.2, even. Or was it Ver.3? Ver.4?]
[James, James, James. Liquid had been the main trunk of the tree, damanged and sickly though it was, and James had been a small flowerying branch sticking out the sides, nutured by a nurses love, but in the end, he'd cut Liquid away, because the tree had been dying, anyway, and he didn't want to lose his brother entirely, and he'd cut the tree down almost to the roots and grafted the little James branch on top, because...]
[Miracles didn't come cheap. They didn't come cheap at all.]
[And he'd known, in that slow dark night were his brother barely breathed under his own power, in and out, in and out, that he'd have to pay a price if he did that, but he'd done it anyway.]
[Despite and still.]
[David sighed.]
[And the price had been...]
[David looks up at John.]
...I think...I did something to James. When he almost died.
I'm not entirely sure what I did, though it was clear as day at the time.
And then he stopped dying, and started to recover, and everybody said it was a miracle, but ... He wasn't the same afterward. It was OK, he was still my brother, well, once he learned to talk again, anyway, but it was like half my brother was gone and I was talking to the other half, but that was all right because James loved me.
...It's simpler with James, you know. If you're important to him, he lets you know it all the time.
- Liquid wasn't like that, which was why he always used to leave most of the small talk and getting to know you bits to James. I think.
[But then, Liquid was gone, and there was only James left, even though he was a slightly different James with bits of Liquid incoporated into him, and...]
[He hadn't even really recongnized what was happening till - Just right now.]
[Because he hadn't really let himself precieve it. Not really, not truly.]
- So I lost a brother anyway, and I didn't even grieve for him properly, because...James was still there, you know? And I...I...