[He wonders how long it's been for Polnareff. Since he-- And he should ask. Yes, he should, and will, but right now--]
[It's not that he can't. It's that he doesn't want to. It's cowardly, but he doesn't want it to stop, the closeness, because there's no one more real than Polnareff, so this--it's enough to keep him together until the next step. If there is a next step.]
[He might just disappear between one moment and the next. There's no way of knowing. Or rather, there usually is, but not here, not now, not after dying. Is Magician's Red still with him? He's almost afraid to find out.]
[Polnareff nods to the exit but doesn't go. Abdul's brows draw together in a flash of irritation. You don't have to worry about me so much is on the tip of his tongue, but then--no. No, he can't, no matter how wrong he feels he can't act like Polnareff isn't in the right to be concerned. He's talking to a dead man, after all. For the second time.]
Mm. Let's go.
[He claps Polnareff on the shoulder (his fingers are all his fingers) and heads out of the exit, sure in his turn to make sure Polnareff doesn't get too far behind. Once he's outside, he pauses, looking up at the cave's ceiling.]
It's nearly as dry as Cairo, but nowhere near as hot. Spacious, but not outside.
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[It's not that he can't. It's that he doesn't want to. It's cowardly, but he doesn't want it to stop, the closeness, because there's no one more real than Polnareff, so this--it's enough to keep him together until the next step. If there is a next step.]
[He might just disappear between one moment and the next. There's no way of knowing. Or rather, there usually is, but not here, not now, not after dying. Is Magician's Red still with him? He's almost afraid to find out.]
[Polnareff nods to the exit but doesn't go. Abdul's brows draw together in a flash of irritation. You don't have to worry about me so much is on the tip of his tongue, but then--no. No, he can't, no matter how wrong he feels he can't act like Polnareff isn't in the right to be concerned. He's talking to a dead man, after all. For the second time.]
Mm. Let's go.
[He claps Polnareff on the shoulder (his fingers are all his fingers) and heads out of the exit, sure in his turn to make sure Polnareff doesn't get too far behind. Once he's outside, he pauses, looking up at the cave's ceiling.]
It's nearly as dry as Cairo, but nowhere near as hot. Spacious, but not outside.