noterminalcalledend | (no subject)

[ welp. can't hide this stuff from Ingo for much longer.

just hands it over. Ingo absolutely knows his passcode. ]

[getting in

Time to check the internet--

Oh that's a lot. That's so much. All about us.]

This many people...?

[why are this many people giving a shit]

. . . Yes.

[fuuckkk]

I.

I will take care of it.

[but he does already sound overwhelmed]

Speaking with reporters isn't so hard. I have done so on our behalf many times in the past.

A. Press conference. I can arrange that.

First, you will recover. It will give you time to see the whole scope of everything.

[ like podcasts spinning wild theories and your getting outed and everything. ]

Do you think the hospital can give me a Xanax.

[trying to sound joking

He is not joking]

[ reaching over to take his phone back. ]

Maybe a digital press conference. So you can be a blurry blob behind me and not have to deal with things...

This has been my life for years.

Not any longer.

I'll take over.

[ He just.

sets the phone aside and reaches over to take Ingo's hand in his. ]

I'll take care of you.

Ingo, you do not even know half of what has been said.

I can imagine already.

People accusing you of murder. People accusing me of abandoning you.

[ god, this is a conversation I never wanted to have, as much as I wanted my brother back.

Emmet lets go of Ingo's hand and stands, walking over to the door and closing it. ]

You had to know I'd never willingly leave you, right?

Although...

That probably felt easier to believe over other options.

I know. I know it was not by choice. There are other things, though.

[ He steps back over, taking both of Ingo's hands now. }

[what am I missing]

Emmet?

A few months after your disappearance, there was a reporter who found out that you had . . .

[ how do I delicately put this. ]

They spoke with a man you had gone out with a few weeks prior to disappearing.

[Blue screen of death please hold

Just staring, not comprehending

He was prepared for the cruelty to Emmet, the idea that he himself had ran off like an asshole

But it never occurred to him this would be an issue]

[ squeezes his hands, keep his voice calm and level as he speaks, smile softening a bit into something almost kind. ]

It has been common knowledge for nearly three years. Whenever I was asked about it, I requested that they respect your privacy. Your personal life is not for public consumption.

[world is hard and scary

Hugging the brother is soft and comfortable and safe]

What a stupid thing for me to be upset over when so much worse is happening.

[ He pulls him in close, rubbing at his back. ]

You have every right to be upset. It is not stupid.

I should have just...

[not gone on a single date ever]

You are allowed to live your life the way you want to. They have no right to say anything.