"........." Ryker was silent, before sighing.

"Yeah..." he mumbled.

"Look... I'll get you another coat." he told him.

"I know it won't be the same, but you need one." he reasoned.

"...maybe we'll be able to find it, though?" he the suggested, with a shrug.

Ryker just sighed again, but smiled.

"Yeah, decided space was important." he told him.

"We have plenty with it." he went on.

He then made his way to Eke, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry." he said.

"We just need to keep pushing on." he told him.

"We'll get through this."

"...." Ryker was silent for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah." he said.

"Yeah, of course." he told her.

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked rhetorically, buckling himself in and starting the vehicle.

"I'm your bro." he went on as they drove off.

"We're family." he added with a small smile.

"Hey, the future is important." Ryker responded.

"It's good that you're thinking about it." he told him.

He was then quiet for a moment, and sighed.

"And the future can be very scary." he then admitted. "Trust me, sometimes I can't sleep at night because I'm too busy worrying myself with it." he muttered.

"But if there's any way we can help you in making those plans, let us know." he then added.

"Hm." Ryker muttered.

"So you're becoming me." he said.

"The me that I used to be, anyway." he clarified.

"Used to be not a day went by when I didn't think that it'd be easier to just be done with it so my suffering would end." he told Eke.

"But meeting you and being with you taught me something." he went on.

"No matter how bleak and dark the future seems, you push through it. You wade through the sludge and slush, and you continue to push through it until you collapse."

Ryker thought for a moment.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"Well.... hm." he repeated.

"Depends." he said.

"Depends on what you'd like to do. Be more active, be a little more relaxed, that sort of thing." he went on.

"I'd normally suggest fishing, but... well, that requires one being out on the water..." he then muttered quietly.

"Hm." Ryker muttered.

"Travelling, eh?" he asked.

"Well, when this is all over, I MAY be able to help with that." he said.

"Depends what you mean by that, though." he went on.

"You mean across the country, or around the world?"

"To be fair, she IS a live-in nurse, essentially." Ryker laughed.

"But she's gotten better with the hovering and stuff." he added.

"I like to think so, anyway." he then said further.

"And yeah, the nomadic lifestyle WAS pretty cool at time." he then admitted.

"There was something... I dunno... it was something one might read in a book, I suppose."

"Hm." Ryker muttered.

"I suppose it did." he agreed.

"However, at least you don't have to worry about where you're going to sleep every night." he went on.

"The camping and sleeping outdoors was fun and all, but it sucked in cold weather." he continued.

"And you know it."

"......" Ryker was silent, concerned about the darkness surrounding Eke, before his last comment caught him off guard.

He couldn't help it. He laughed out loud at it.

"HAH!" he finally said.

"Ok, yeah." he went on.

"That WAS good exercise." he admitted.

"Yeah, it wasn't all bad back then, was it?" he asked nostalgically.