ohhhhh god i love this so much. the tone is so immaculately consistent and warm. i love how patiently terence sifts through dion's mood and coaxes him out of it. there were so many parts where i had to pause at just how pretty or interesting your language is, like when the letters leaped into terrible silence or dion's grief sloughing between them. ughughugh my favorite was def "Shame collared him, Terence thought, but anger made him bright."

also your exact detail!! the cold brushing terence's ankles under the curtain and the bath salts all coarse in the tub!! even the snippets of setting through the storm references and the flooding camp felt so grounding and endearing. i really liked terence putting dion's shirt over his shoulder. it was just such a good image and strongly indicative of how long practiced their interactions are. terence also being like 'if he wants to be distant i could literally wrestle him into confronting this. but i wont.' was sooooo good. it helped show terence's agency within his commitment, but also theyre still stupid silly boys made to play genteel war

i love the familiar banter of their dialogue too. their short exchanges have such a feeling of having been here before, and with an unnecessary politeness that sharpens their real intimacy. just immediately from dion saying "ill be there momentarily" i felt like yes!!! yes!!!!!!! tbh i felt like !!!!!yes!!!!!! the entire way through. this was so much fun to read. the amount of care and expertise you put into it really shone off the page. thanks sm for sharing it!!