[ It would've been nice, Matt thinks distantly, to be told you won't be alone forever or even what, a nice guy like you? SOMEBODY from your world would want to be with you. Or maybe that would've made things worse.

He doesn't know what he feels now. It feels a little bit like nothing. ]

I don't think you're being selfish, [ he murmurs. Unwilling to meet Tezcatlipoca's gaze, he looks down, turning his focus to kicking off his shoes. ] Maybe it's stupid not to pick someone, even someone random. My second grade teacher. Our old housekeeper.

[ It'd be a soul retained who wouldn't be otherwise. N+1 in the universal equation. Matt manages to wriggle his feet free from his boots; they hit the floor, clunk, clunk. He turns back to Tezcatlipoca, reaching for his hair. ]

Here. Let me braid this.