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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Do I get to ask why?

With the understanding that I'm not stalling. I'm trying not to assume.

Because the amount of concern for me doesn't match my own perception.

Edited 2022-12-15 18:26 (UTC)

[ ...most of the time, Clark hates being wrong. Right now, he's really really wishing he wasn't right. ]

Because Tim is desperate for a purpose, afraid he doesn't have a place in your life if he isn't 'managing' you, and projecting his fears about his own stability on you.

I was going to mention we'd talked at dinner. I thought we were going to have a dinner, all three of us, to discuss it.

Apparently not.

I tracked Tim down after a couple of conversations abruptly ending.

We talked. Some of the talk was around those themes.

But I also think he's sincerely afraid I'm about to go off the rails. He may very well be right.

but we should probably still try to do that dinner.

[ Because now he's worried about Clark - but not his sanity, just whether or not he needs a hug and a nap but is stuck with Batman. ]

Edited 2022-12-15 18:49 (UTC)

[ There is a

for longer than usual. Then- ]

Then here's my assessment:

You're adjusting to a wildly different world, a completely different set of social circumstances on both a personal and community level, and some of your closest and most grounding relationships are shifting to some degree because of those environmental differences.

You're communicating with me effectively, you're working with me as a team, you're handling your mental health with what resources and advantages that you have here vs the ones you have at home effectively. While you're grapling with the challenges and differences that this place represents, you're doing so with the same practicality, poise, and dry humor that I've come to see as a sign that you're operating on all cylinders despite some differences in the means of expression, and I know you're ready for whatever might be thrown at you, including anything involving me.

I also happen to think the worst thing you can do right now is doubt yourself, for my sake and for Tim's sake.

Edited 2022-12-15 19:05 (UTC)

[He loves Clark. In a non-specific but very broad and deep way. That's an assessment, reassurance, pep-talk, a warning and reminder all in one. ]

I've been thinking since our arrival that Tim is struggling with being here far more than I am. I've been attributing it mostly to the sexual components and that they're so pervasive.

I do think that's part of his general discomfort.

I think the rest just came into focus.

Glad I could be of assistance. Anything else you need before I head back to the apartment, B?

[ He can type out the full name. He just typed out two full paragraphs. Sometimes, things are best said succinctly. ]