A/N: I'm on a roll with these man. All the angst. All of it.
He's bitter. He'll never admit it, but he is. And he has every right to be. All those years spent trying to win Larten's affections as a child, and it never worked. Maybe somewhere deep down, that old man did love him, but it would've been nice if he had actually said it. At least once would've been enough..
And then that new kid comes along. Larten seemed to have no trouble warming up to him. It wasn't fair. It's not the kid's fault, but deep inside, he'll always feel a resentment towards him. But he'll just smile and pretend. Pretend he's fine and that it doesn't still hurt. That sometimes he'll feel jealous of Darren, because he was able to win the old man's affection. He was fine acting fatherly towards Darren, so why couldn't he have done that with him?
That's not the only reason he's bitter. It's not. The other half of his bitterness was because of Liz. He still loved Liz Carr, and he always would. But she left, leaving him only with a note and some underwear.. Gods, he misses her. If only she were now.. That would help. It definitely would.
At least he'll be remember as that happy old goofball who kept everyone awake with his snoring. He'd rather be remembered that way than as a bitter old man. But when Kurda's knife hit, well... Let's just say he's got one more reason to be bitter.
A/N: I have to stop writing these, I'm making myself sad.