“Are you all right?”

Tao wasn't sure how to answer Kris' question. He wasn't all right, he knew as much, but he wasn't doing that badly either. Besides judging by the slight headache he was feeling creep up the back of his skull and the sudden goose bumps he was getting, he was doing just fine. This was the moment he'd dreaded most and yet he would've paid good money for it to happen. Maybe just not quite like this, in the middle of the woods, with nothing to stare at but his face. He still preferred conversing with Kris alone, in private, even though they barely talked at all throughout their entire lives. It felt like each sentences ever uttered by either of them remained, like a heavy weight on their heart, never quite forgotten always haunting them, even when they were apart.