(no subject)

[captaincocksure]

[Jim moves up to the podium like a man who wears authority well: confident strides, straight back, a clear mission. For a moment it might seem the piazza is in for some rousing speech or recruiting presentation.

But when he turns to face the assembled, there's a seriousness to his expression. A slight drooping of those squared shoulders, as if burdened.]

How do you move on from loss?

Comments

[moralabsolutism]

You don't. Must move on. Or break down.

[Rorschach's slightly muffled voice sounds completely detached. He'd lost everything at one point or another. His partner, his identity, even the streets he had once roamed to fight crime were now just rubble on the ground. What he'd learned from it all amounted to nothing. Life merely took and took until there was nothing left.]

[captaincocksure]

[He nods. It's hard. It feels like he's lost everything, this loss dredging up his first one, the emptiness he feels at never knowing his father.]

I want to move on but I'm afraid I'll only just break down.

[moralabsolutism]

Then you are weak.

[There's no attempt to sugarcoat the words, less out of a sense of meanness and more from a general lack of tact. He's never been good at talking to people at the best of times.]

Must find strength from within. Everyone has it.

[captaincocksure]

[ You'd think, between Bones, and Spock, and yes, even Pike, that Jim would be used to blunt words by now. Usually he is. In the moment, though, he's poking at his own vulnerability with a stick, and it takes a few blinks and a straightening of his spine for him to take that in. To nod, understanding. ]

All right.

[ Maybe he just needs to focus less on the hurt. Maybe this guy's right. ]

I'll remember that.