█▐ ❆ ࿐ᐤ  LYON’S WORDS FALL out of his mouth like vapour but lands in Gray’s guts as shrapnel. He feels it in his stomach like lead, like stones coalescing into boulders &&. drowning him in all that they are ; the guilt almost stifling, almost UNBEARABLE. Yet, Gray keeps his gaze steady — resting on Lyon’s face like they were home.

       ❝ It’s fine if you can’t stay all the way. Thanks for making it though. ❞

      When he couldn’t locate Lyon in the audience, Gray felt his heart wretched at the absence of his ANCHOR. It was as if the growing physical distance between them had now become an emotional chasm. As if the conglomeration of tension &&. unsaid feelings are now being forced to whittle away during their fleeting encounters. 

          ❝ —– I wish you’d come to my next one as well, Lyon. ❞

       ( Yet a piece of him, a shard of his heart PROTESTS at his words – Gray wants to encompass his friend in his arms and offer him comfort, solutions … anything that would bring him BACK from the festering distance between them. if only. if only. )