"I mean, it's just directly unpleasant, the loneliness, but then on top of that it's - compulsive, and it makes me feel like I'm being annoying and clingy and selfish and inane and sometimes it - directly or indirectly, I'm not sure - convinces me that whoever I'm inflicting myself on hates me - less of that at this level but at the highest level I kept, like, begging my mom not to hate me and it sucked. - also she certainly now has no idea where I am and her first guess is not going to be that I was transported to an alternate universe, she's going to think I manifested an alternate backlash presentation and it caused me to flee into the night, which will have left her totally frantic and there's nothing I can do about it from here at all."

"I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault. You're helping."

"If you say so."

"I do say so, you're very helpful." Lean.

Oh that is a very good lean!

It iiiiiiis.

It has been a long day and she is no longer hungry and she might be about ready to be Great Expectations'd to sleep.

"...This book isn't actually about me, is it?" Lucien asked once he has returned to reading for a bit.

"Charles Dickens died before you were born, yep."

"Well, he has that book about seeing the futu-wow my brain is really doing things."

"Backlash." Jazz hands but just for a second before she puts her hands back where they were and curls up against him more snugly.

Oh wow he really likes her.

Read read read.

And eventually the questions slow down and turn into random nouns.

Lucien calls his parents, quietly. It turns out that explaining what is going on is going to cause him to cry but hopefully he can do that quietly enough that May won't wake up.

She's a very cuddly sleeper, at least backlashed, but doesn't wake up when he cries, just presses closer when jostled by the sound of sobbing.

Well, probably it helps that there are only a few sobs involved.

After he hangs up he is going to cuddle May more actively for a while.

The tone of voice of the random nouns changes depending on what he does. Mostly bounces around in the pleading/grateful/horny emotional triangle.

Apparently it has been a while since the earlier activities. He isn't exactly going to do anything about this while she's sleeping and it'll go down on it's own after a bit.

May is in no position to notice his restraint.

Lucien plays tetris on his phone a bit, feels like he is going crazier, and eventually calls his parents a second time so he has something to do that isn't being caught up in his own mind - apologizing to them several times about ruing their sleep and their days and their lives forever. Eventually he calms down and they convince him it's okay if he reads ahead in Great Expectations to keep occupied and make him promise to wake them again if he feels acutely terrible again, even if he thinks it's reasonable for him to feel acutely terrible.

May sleeps for a peaceful nine hours wrapped around him like an octopus.

Lucien is done with Great Expectations by the time she wakes up, even if turning pages was sometimes complicated.

"Mmmmgmorning."

"Morning."

"Um. I'm sorry but I read all of Great Expectations. And should probably figure out how to get more to read for myself for future nights."

"Does that mean you won't want to read me the rest of it? I'm pretty worried about running out of conversation topics."