[He lets out a breath he hadn't really known he'd been holding at the affection, and some of the tension - just a fraction of it, really - bleeds away for the moment.]
That's easier said than done, too, [He grates out, trying to sound funny and falling short. His fingernails are biting into his palms, and he tries to just keep breathing, his mind instinctively flitting to the mantra of name, rank and serial number as he tries to calm himself down.
A memory of the table still bubbles up and boils over, and he just tries to breathe through it, force it back down and think about something else. Anything else. Not how he'd thought he'd been hearing voices then, too, how he'd hallucinated everything from his mother to Steve to watching them peel his skin off, and it had hurt, but he knows this isn't the same, he's just scared and trying desperately not to be. It feels similar, with the disembodied voice and everything else, and he squeezes his eyes shut. Maybe that will make it easier.]
spam
That's easier said than done, too, [He grates out, trying to sound funny and falling short. His fingernails are biting into his palms, and he tries to just keep breathing, his mind instinctively flitting to the mantra of name, rank and serial number as he tries to calm himself down.
A memory of the table still bubbles up and boils over, and he just tries to breathe through it, force it back down and think about something else. Anything else. Not how he'd thought he'd been hearing voices then, too, how he'd hallucinated everything from his mother to Steve to watching them peel his skin off, and it had hurt, but he knows this isn't the same, he's just scared and trying desperately not to be. It feels similar, with the disembodied voice and everything else, and he squeezes his eyes shut. Maybe that will make it easier.]