Cycle I: Coming on Strong
The Hidden Voice
The Nerve · 12 (v2.00)
THE HOUSE OF ZAN — Zan

“You can drink all you want. Just stay. That’s what I want. I want you to talk or listen. Just stay.”
— Leaving Las Vegas

Some people hide the part most likely to change how they are wanted.
A desire.
An anger.
A history that made love difficult to explain.
They fear what discovery could change.
Disgust.
Distance.
Someone deciding that one detail explains everything.
Then somebody recognizes the language.
No rescue is offered.
Nothing gets renamed.
What once required an apology becomes attractive.
Acceptance may stop at tolerance.
Recognition can feel like being desired without an exception attached.
The person recognizing it may have hidden something similar.
That does not make either one harmless.
Shared darkness can make honesty possible.
Sometimes being known begins when the part expected to cost someone love becomes what makes another person stay.