J waits, the brief burst of amusement entirely dissipating as S speaks. It hurts to see him like this, so small and upset, and to know that it's as much his own fault as S's, maybe more. He shouldn't have reacted as rashly as he did, he knows that. Sometimes it's hard to fight those impulses, but he should have done better. Still, he thinks, they're getting through it. At least they're talking now, not fighting, and S seems to be settling a little.
He waits, too, to see if S will finish that sentence, just in case his own assumption is wrong. When nothing more comes, he's fairly certain he understands anyway, and that hurts too. This, he thinks, is entirely his fault. He should have said something sooner, or at all, instead of letting things go on as they have. It's just that it's a difficult conversation to approach, not least when talking about what he did is still upsetting, no matter how much better things are. Every time he's wanted to talk about it has been inconvenient — a moment he didn't want ruined or somewhere too public or a time when he was already upset about something else. Bringing it up out of nowhere felt jarring, too. He should have done it anyway.
"You don't know that," he says after a moment. There's no heat or hurt in it, just a simple fact, uncertain though he is about voicing it. Keeping it back wouldn't be fair. "I haven't tried. I... I want to. I think about that a lot. We just... never talked about it. Kept putting it off, and then it always seemed like the wrong time... That's not the same thing as can't." It isn't like he can avoid it, after all, the thought of it. All the times when he should be able to undress S or when he simply ought to be — the way he stays half-clothed for sex or in the shower together, or turns away or leaves to change — they're starkly obvious to J. He's gotten used to it, but he still takes note of it, still finds himself reminded constantly of why that's the case. If anything, he thinks he probably thinks about what he did more for not having had the chance to become accustomed to the sight of it, like he's done with his own scars. He still doesn't like the writing on his arm, and he takes pains to cover them when he goes out, but he sees it often enough at home that it doesn't bother him most of the time. He's never been able to do that with S. Maybe he can't guarantee he'll react well or that it won't take time to adjust, but he's never tried.
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He waits, too, to see if S will finish that sentence, just in case his own assumption is wrong. When nothing more comes, he's fairly certain he understands anyway, and that hurts too. This, he thinks, is entirely his fault. He should have said something sooner, or at all, instead of letting things go on as they have. It's just that it's a difficult conversation to approach, not least when talking about what he did is still upsetting, no matter how much better things are. Every time he's wanted to talk about it has been inconvenient — a moment he didn't want ruined or somewhere too public or a time when he was already upset about something else. Bringing it up out of nowhere felt jarring, too. He should have done it anyway.
"You don't know that," he says after a moment. There's no heat or hurt in it, just a simple fact, uncertain though he is about voicing it. Keeping it back wouldn't be fair. "I haven't tried. I... I want to. I think about that a lot. We just... never talked about it. Kept putting it off, and then it always seemed like the wrong time... That's not the same thing as can't." It isn't like he can avoid it, after all, the thought of it. All the times when he should be able to undress S or when he simply ought to be — the way he stays half-clothed for sex or in the shower together, or turns away or leaves to change — they're starkly obvious to J. He's gotten used to it, but he still takes note of it, still finds himself reminded constantly of why that's the case. If anything, he thinks he probably thinks about what he did more for not having had the chance to become accustomed to the sight of it, like he's done with his own scars. He still doesn't like the writing on his arm, and he takes pains to cover them when he goes out, but he sees it often enough at home that it doesn't bother him most of the time. He's never been able to do that with S. Maybe he can't guarantee he'll react well or that it won't take time to adjust, but he's never tried.