[ A theory. Claude nods slowly as the implications of that aren't lost on him. It's what they'd been working with as well until it was all too clear that the differences in what they remembered, what they lived meant something else. Something Linhardt had more or less confirmed in his too brief time after being summoned, and he thinks again of the timelines and notes the researcher had developed while the four of them talked in the Horizon, and ones Claude had stashed away after Linhardt had vanished.
But that's dwelling on his own issues of a fragmented home far too much - he hadn't been aware of it before arriving and if what Viktor's said in their talks of being in Abraxas are true then he'll someday return home without knowing any different. That's leagues away from what Steve must have lived for that to be a preface, and Claude sits and silently turns his drink in place while he waits for Steve to find what he wants to say.
It doesn't take long for him to stop even that as even idle fidgeting being too much of a distraction from listening to make sure he catches each word. No wonder Steve hadn't so much as flinched at war in or any of their discussions of it; his own reality was far harsher since when Claude pictures suddenly finding that half - or even just a few - of the people he treasures could just be gone in an instant, it's enough to make his throat tighten. ]
Gods.
[ It's the most muffled of exclamations, subdued beneath the weight of what's been said and what must yet still be to come when Steve looks to him. Though Claude's been careful to keep his expression a careful neutral listening expression to not interrupt what his friend is telling him, it's slowly been overrun more and more with a mixture of emotions. Sympathy, empathy, and more than a sliver of pain when it comes to losing those you love.
So much so that it takes a second for something else in there to click and he narrowly avoids startling when it does. ]
Wait, you- you traveled back in time?
[ Maybe it's more telling that this is what surprises him than the idea of an enemy from another planet, but they can get to that in time. ]
no subject
But that's dwelling on his own issues of a fragmented home far too much - he hadn't been aware of it before arriving and if what Viktor's said in their talks of being in Abraxas are true then he'll someday return home without knowing any different. That's leagues away from what Steve must have lived for that to be a preface, and Claude sits and silently turns his drink in place while he waits for Steve to find what he wants to say.
It doesn't take long for him to stop even that as even idle fidgeting being too much of a distraction from listening to make sure he catches each word. No wonder Steve hadn't so much as flinched at war in or any of their discussions of it; his own reality was far harsher since when Claude pictures suddenly finding that half - or even just a few - of the people he treasures could just be gone in an instant, it's enough to make his throat tighten. ]
Gods.
[ It's the most muffled of exclamations, subdued beneath the weight of what's been said and what must yet still be to come when Steve looks to him. Though Claude's been careful to keep his expression a careful neutral listening expression to not interrupt what his friend is telling him, it's slowly been overrun more and more with a mixture of emotions. Sympathy, empathy, and more than a sliver of pain when it comes to losing those you love.
So much so that it takes a second for something else in there to click and he narrowly avoids startling when it does. ]
Wait, you- you traveled back in time?
[ Maybe it's more telling that this is what surprises him than the idea of an enemy from another planet, but they can get to that in time. ]