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“We need to have a chat, Alto.”
Clef leaned into the counter, feeling the cold metal of the sink press against the back of his arm. He held the phone to his ear, dreading this conversation. It had been forever, the problems and troubles that juggled his head turned into a distant memory.
Kondraki laid sluggish, clearly drunk on his end of the line as he slurred into the microphone.
“I know. I know that-” Benjamin paused to hiccup. “I know what happened.”
The hair on Clef’s neck stood, the way Kondraki spoke so seriously, the way he worded it. Clef was terrified of this moment.
“Konnie-” Clef mumbled to speak, but was quickly silenced.
“No-nonono. Alto.” Kondraki let out a breathy sigh. “No… It’s my fault.”
“...what?”
Alto listened quietly to the other end of the microphone, the slow breathing as Kondraki drunkenly gathered his bearings. “I know I fucked up.”
The gears turned in Clef’s head, the slow but sure realization hitting him as his anxiety was quickly twisted into a churning sensation in his stomach.
“I promised you we would both stay sober Clef. I-” another hiccup, “I told you we could do this together. But… I didn’t”
The phone remained silent as Clef gathered his coat, poking his head from his room down the Foundation’s halls. The sterile walking area produced repeating doors, the only change being the numbers as he finally reached the one that had been so familiar.
Kondraki’s door.
Alto’s hand hesitated to knock, which was met with a quick open before his knuckle reached the smooth surface. Kondraki slouched against the doorway.
“Whatdoyuwant”
“Kon-” Clef stammered silently, his smile remaining on his face, though the structure faltered. He was trying to remain happy.
Goddamn he tried.
“Kon. It-” He thought of what to say. “I… Thought I would be the one to start.”
“Pssh, guess you’re disappointed.”
Alto paused, “No… I’m glad.”
Ben’s face shifted from happy to a slight confusion, twisted into a mild anger “Why- Why are YOU happy about this?”
“Because…. You’re still here. You can slip, you can fall back into old habits, and it hurts. Sure. But… You’re still here. And I’m glad you are.”
A scoff escaped Kondraki, a drunken utterance of “Bullshit. Youlielikaliarrr Clef. You’re just saying whatever because… You can.”
“No.” Clef spoke in a soft mumble. “This is… not a lie.”
“So what? What is it to YOU”
“It.” hurts. “It's the truth.”
“.... The truth.”
Clef held an arm up, rubbing the carelessly hairy surface of the skin on Kondraki’s arm.
“The one truth you get from me Kon. The truth is that I care about you being here.”
Benjamin’s face softened, a moderately smoother look as he stepped from the doorway, back into his house. Clef entered, following him.
“Let’s get you to bed Konnie.”