( Jack follows after him a little more carefully this time, telegraphing his movements as he rounds the mattress to lower himself down beside Kyle, nearer to the headboard. Angled slightly, so that his right knee's folded on the blankets while his left foot plants on the floor for balance.

Kyle's confession is met with a slow nod, and a gentle, understanding furrow in his brow. )

I get it. I don't either.

( The concept of becoming some out of control nightmare thing half the time, that can only be handled by his friends? By Kyle? His memories of it are a little blurry, but he remembers too many close calls. He doesn't want that for either of them. )

But maybe there's- I don't know, maybe there's some benefit to knowing ahead of time, right? We've seen it, and we know what we don't want to be, so maybe we can make better decisions this time. Or- find ways to avoid it, to give away power.