Disclaimer: Not mine
Notes: Spoilers for up to 'Trip Takes a Stand'
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Trip knows what being lonely feels like. He's felt it ever since he first left Xybria. After living on a planet where everyone is connected (whether you liked it or not), it's hard to not feel a pang sometimes… even if that that was one of the reasons why he left.
He feels brushes of it from his friends. As much as Wes hates what his father is doing with the Silver Guardians, he still misses him. There isn't a day that goes by that Alex doesn't cross Jen's mind (more than once). For Lucas, it's something he's kept down for so long that sometimes even Trip forgets about it. But then he'll be laughing with Wes and Katie while Lucas looks on, and he'll feel it. Just a twinge, but it's there. And Katie… she's his best friend, but there are times now he can't be near her, or otherwise he'll lose himself in her loneliness.
The solitude is terrible, for all of them. But they've learned to deal with it, to adapt to it.
But it wasn't until his confrontation with Eric that he knew of someone who had embraced it.
He didn't have much time to dwell on it at first, what with Frax and Notacon and Eric himself. But after the battle… he understood. It wasn't that he loved being by himself; it was how he'd coped all his life. And after a lifetime of tricking himself that he was better off without friends… of course he believed it now.
Of course, that didn't prevent Trip from sensing the raw feeling of suddenly being alone as Eric drove off into the distance.
Trip wants to something for him. Reach out to him; prove to him that the bad times are over now. That he doesn't have to be alone.
But Eric will disagree. And considering what happened the last time he and Eric disagreed on something, Trip's fairly certain that he should take a more subtle approach when he does.
And he will. Because while everyone is alone at some point, no one should be alone for so long that they can convince themselves that it's better that way.
