He looks up, watching Mike with an expression of pure sympathy.
"... I'm sorry." It isn't said lightly. He thinks he can take the final meaning - he doubts very much that Lucas is alive. He tries to think of Melas dying from some plague while he was half a system away and it tears through his chest. The only reason he has been able to deal, at all, with being so far and so long out of contact is the knowledge that Melas is safe.
And he's not even sure that's true, anymore.
"Things were- things are pretty ragged between us, too. She, uh. They both - they think I'm dead." He let out a breath, looking at the picture. "Before this, I mean. They already thought I was dead."
no subject
"... I'm sorry." It isn't said lightly. He thinks he can take the final meaning - he doubts very much that Lucas is alive. He tries to think of Melas dying from some plague while he was half a system away and it tears through his chest. The only reason he has been able to deal, at all, with being so far and so long out of contact is the knowledge that Melas is safe.
And he's not even sure that's true, anymore.
"Things were- things are pretty ragged between us, too. She, uh. They both - they think I'm dead." He let out a breath, looking at the picture. "Before this, I mean. They already thought I was dead."