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“How do you do it, Arthur?”
“How do I do what?”
Arthur asked the reverberating voice in his head as they walked down the dirt path, small stones skitting their way out of Arthur’s footsteps. The clothes that they had bought from a local merchant were… uncomfortable, to say the least. But he fit into this society’s standards now, so did it matter? John had been terribly quiet for a long while, only occasionally speaking up when there was a turn or an obstacle in their path. It was somewhat comforting to hear his voice again.
“I’m not sure, ” John mumbled in response. “Just… All of it?”
“I don’t think I understand,” Arthur trailed off.
“Being human, I suppose. How do you do it?”
“Uh…” He thought for a moment. How does one “be human”? It isn’t something people, or at least Arthur, think of often. He stopped on the path and chewed on the inside of his mouth. What was the best way to respond to this? What could he even respond with? He fidgeted with the long, and for some reason, incredibly baggy sleeves of his outfit.
“Well… Uhm… You, uh…” He waved his hand in a circle before beginning to walk again. “You try to ignore the negatives? Uhm… Being human… it’s, uh… it’s difficult, and, uh, I’m sure you know that, right?”
“Yes.”
“G-Good that’s- uh… that’s important, but it isn’t… uhm… it isn’t always difficult. Sometimes it’s… pleasant, good, nice even. You just… have to look forward to those parts.”
“How?”
“What- What do you mean ‘how’?”
“How do I focus on the good parts?”
Arthur stopped walking again. How could he tell John to focus on the good parts if he didn’t know how himself? He started chewing on the inside of his mouth again.
“You know, I’m not entirely sure,” That was an answer. Not a perfect one, but an answer. “It’s… tricky. Sometimes, existing wants you to look at the negatives. You… have to fight that, I guess? There’s always something good, even if it’s hard to see.”
“What’s good now, though? ” John asked, his voice gaining strength. “We’re in a different timeline, we don’t know where we are, we don’t know if we have a deadline for Kayne, and I tried to-”
He cut himself off. He didn’t have to finish the thought. Arthur let them rest in silence for a moment. He didn’t know why. Maybe it was to comfort himself, maybe it was to comfort John. He didn’t know.
“We have each other,” Arthur said. “That’s good, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I’ve made your life a living hell ever since you met me.”
“And you’ve also saved my life.”
Now it was John’s turn to go quiet.
“Does that make up for all the horrible things I’ve done?” His voice was quiet and fragile. Arthur felt his heart melt.
“Of course it does, John.”