"Years," Nathan repeated vaguely, almost to himself. "But nine months is still... It's a long fucking time, Charles," he said in a low voice next to Ofdensen's ear, and slipped an arm around his chest possessively. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu, and thought he'd probably already said those same words several times now. His memory wasn't unscathed from all the years of heavy drug and alcohol abuse.

Still, Nathan had been pretty good about this. He hadn't really pushed for explanations from Ofdensen, even though the uncertainty could sometimes wear him down.