Author's Notes: I was thinking I'd have to break my switching POV rule with this one. As I wanted to focus more on Hudson's reactions and thoughts in this chapter. But I figured out a way to make Robbins' perspective interesting enough to keep to the formula. So here you go finally XD

This chapter takes place the night after The Mirror episode. Enjoy!

Timing was yet another one of Hudson's strong points, Robbins realized with a start. For just as he was hitting a roadblock with his Merlin book and frustration began to mount, a familiar rapt against the glass caught his attention. Normally Gilly would be barking up a storm and nudging Robbins to get up and greet him, but the old girl was busy in the living room catching up on her naps. She had very little to do as of late, thanks to her master's encroaching deadline and penchant for neglecting almost everything else in leu of getting one more page done. Regardless, that ever elusive flow had abruptly abandoned him and he believed he was due for a break soon anyway.

Cue the gentle yet firm knocking on the glass doors to his right, announcing his peculiar student's arrival. Robbins couldn't help the warm smile that stretched across his face as he rose to his feet and walked to the doors.

"It be me" Hudson spoke in that gravelly thick accent that Robbins had come to enjoy.

"I figured" he chuckled softly as he cracked open the doors with a light squeak. "C'mon in, Hudson" he motioned to the study while stepping aside. A low grunt accompanied by heavy footfalls and shuffling leather was his only response, which struck him as odd.

"Everything alright?" he asked as Hudson paced across the room, his steps seemed heavier than normal.

"Aye, everythin's fine" Hudson replied, a sigh hanging on his words. And judging by the slightly muffled sound, the Scotsman wasn't even facing him at the moment. Robbins raised an eyebrow at the sudden tension in the air.

"You sure about that?" he tried again.

"Aye, nothin's wrong. Let's just get started" Hudson quickly answered, the sound of pages flipping at a lazy pace trailed behind it.

Robbins stayed still for a moment longer, raising both eyebrows before walking to his chair as if eggshells were scattered across his path. "Sure thing..."

He had to admit, this wasn't exactly what he was hoping for when he imagined Hudson arriving tonight. Their visits were usually filled with amicable curiosity, comfortable laughter, occasional awkwardness, and an endearing reluctance to say goodbye. Sure they didn't always talk about the most comfortable of subjects, nor was every moment a 100% joyful one. But there was always a sense of warmth and, oddly enough, familiarity. Robbins was comfortable with Hudson and he believed Hudson was comfortable with him to an extent. There was still the matter of the larger man making a dedicated effort to not touch Robbins more than expressly necessary. Overall though, Hudson had begun to relax a bit.

But this atmosphere, it was like the night they first met. And that made Robbins clear his throat to combat a forming lump inside it.

"Alright, where'd we leave off?" he asked, not expecting an answer. "We finished the phonetics and did a few words. Why don't we try some simple sentences this time?"

Hudson shuffled erratically in his seat, "Yes... let's do..." a brief silence passed between them, "that" he finished flatly.

"There should be some 3 word sentences on one of those pages, see if you can find 'em"

"Sure" Hudson said low as the chair groaned under his shifting weight. He must have leaned forward to see better.

There was nothing but the crackling of the fireplace and the occasional rubbing of calloused hands against rough skin in the room. Robbins waited for Hudson to initiate the next part of the conversation, it seemed obvious now that Hudson had something on his mind and the more Robbins prodded, the less likely it would be for Hudson to take his mind off of it. Best to just let him work it out in his head and talk about it if he wanted to than for Robbins to try and pull it out of him. No matter how much he wanted to.

"But before that..." Hudson began, as if on cue.

"Hm?" Robbins encouraged.

Hudson's hands shuffled over his skin again as the Scotsman grumbled a little bit. "Robbins, do ye... recall anything strange happenin' last night?"

Robbins blinked a few times as his eyebrows raised.

"Um, not really, no" he answered, confusion clear in his tone.

"Nothin' outta the ordinary at all?" Hudson rephrased, "Not even a small thing that was just a wee bit odd?" he pushed, almost frantic.

Robbins simply shook his head. "Nope, not a thing" he leaned forwards a bit before asking his own question. "Why do you ask?"

"N—no reason" Hudson stammered out as he shuffled in his seat. "Just curious, is all" he mumbled as he stroked his beard, evident by the combing sound. Robbins gave him a flat look behind his dark glasses as he let his guest gather himself a bit before he investigated the strange line of questioning.

"Did, uh... somethin' strange happen to you last night?" he offered, trying to sound innocent.

"Ye have no idea..." Hudson sighed deeply, a light obscuring of his voice led Robbins to believe he'd propped his hand under his cheek. He sounded tired. No, "exhausted" was more like it.

Robbins could only imagine what could have Hudson, Scottish super spy (still sounded so weird to say), incredibly strong and capable soldier, exhausted like this. Was it some kind of black ops mission that sent him all over the country in a single day? Or maybe it was a harrowing undercover assignment he'd had to put together and complete in a short amount of time? Perhaps it was simply his age and long hours on top of the stress of the job getting him down. Whatever it was, Robbins knew he'd never get the answer to these questions, for one very simple reason.

"But it's not somethin' you can talk about, right?" he answered as he sat back in his chair.

"Aye. 'Tis class-cee-fied information" was Hudson's predicted response, "Can't be discussin' it with no one outside my clan" he added, a hint of remorse in his tone.

Robbins smirked a bit before motioning towards Hudson, "I understand". Which, he did. Truly.

"Need to know" is need to know, he knew his place. While he would speculate and let his imagination run away with it privately, he was fine being left in the dark about the specifics of these matters. Something told him deep down he didn't really want to know anyway. It was definitely better this way.

"Found 'em" Hudson spoke up, bringing Robbins' attention back.

"Good, now try readin' em"

"Puttin' me on the spot..." Hudson huffed, a quiver in his voice that he masked by clearing his throat. "Alright, here goes..." he gulped before taking the plunge.

All things considered, he was doing well. Robbins had to take into account the rate in which a child or adolescent would progress with these lessons, then how an adult fluent in a completely different language would progress, then somehow apply that to Hudson's progress. And despite how convoluted it seemed to get, Robbins had to conclude that his peculiar student was doing fine, if not great.

They'd gone through the alphabet and half the phonetics that first night, the next night he had everything memorized and they'd finished the phonetics. Which included the more advanced ones, like "ph", "th", "ch", etc. Again, the next night he had successfully memorized all of what they covered, so they moved to small words. Hudson had been able to grasp those rather quickly, barring a few confusing arrangements for him. The silent "k" in "know" was particularly frustrating, but simultaneously entertaining for Robbins. And now, with the short sentences, he was doing alright. "See spot run", "Sam went home", "Sue likes cake", he was nailing those in a relatively short time.

But as soon as he flipped the page and started on the slightly more complicated sentences, Hudson got uncharacteristically silent. Not that being silent was unlike him, far from it, but the air of the silence was full of tension. A step beyond careful trepidation or thoughtful deliberation. No no, this feeling in the air, accompanied by Hudson's occasional gulping and smacking of his lips to begin speaking, but never actually saying anything, it could only be one thing.

"No need to be nervous, Hudson" he finally spoke up, startling Hudson a bit if his sharp inhale was any indication. "Just take it one word at a time, same as the other sentences"

"I—I ain't nervous, Robbins!" he replied gruffly, before settling back into the cushions. "I just... don't know what I'm lookin' at for some 'o these"

"Oh? Describe what's confusin' you" he offered gently.

"Well, see this one here, it's got a 's' and a 'k' together an' I don't think we went over that one" he began, tapping the paper rigorously. "And then over here there's 2 p's together! What's that aboot? Do I just go 'puh-puh' or one long 'pffft' sound?!" Hudson struggled, the light breeze coming from him indicated a lot of frustrated pantomiming which made Robbins stifle a laugh.

"Not much of a description but I'll make due" Robbins chuckled out as he placed his hands on top of his cane. At least some of the usual atmosphere had returned.

Hudson groaned under his breath before slumping back. "Oh, right... sorry Robbins" he offered, a low grumble resonating in his apology.

"No, the fault's mine. It'd be much easier if I could just see what you're talkin' about, huh?" Robbins forced himself to chuckle back. After a beat he took a breath and continued in a low voice. "Ya know, it's not too late to get a better teacher"

"No!" Hudson shot back, his deep voice bouncing off the walls causing Robbins to go rigid. That was sudden. "No. Robbins, yer..." he stopped himself, smacking his lips before continuing. "I can't trust anyone else with this. I've already come so far with ye, I intend to finish what we've started" he finished, forceful and assured. The complete opposite of what he'd been all night.

Robbins smirked to himself, "Fair enough". He let silence reign between them for a moment, just to let it all sink in.

That immediate rejection of the notion that he should be replaced was... well, it warmed Robbins' heart, he wouldn't lie. It seemed like Hudson had more he would have said, but that all too familiar masculine mask held him back from really letting loose everything. Robbins understood that, it was difficult to break away from that conditioning, Hudson was no exception to that. He was human, just like everyone else. Still, to even want to express anything more than what was already understood between them was a strong step forward that Robbins appreciated. He felt the same, he just made the offer to be polite and let Hudson know he's not trapped with him.

Robbins cleared his throat, another lump dissolved, before he focused back on the business at hand.

"So uh, the 2 'p's would just be the one 'p' sound. We never drag out the 'p' sound, or the 't' sound for that matter" he clarified as Hudson hummed along, stroking his beard once again.

"As for the other one you said, 's' and 'k', it's more often than not a combination of the 's' sound and 'k' sound. Just 'sss' and 'kuh' together".

"I see..." Hudson said after a minute of silent study, the earlier shakiness in his voice gone.

"Now, why don't you give the 'sk' sentence a try? See how ya do" Robbins encouraged, motioning to the booklet.

But Hudson remained silent for a moment longer, his gaze seemed to linger on Robbins before darting else where in the room. It was a curious feeling, Robbins noted, the feeling of someone's eyes on you, especially when they knew you couldn't stare back. It wasn't exactly a comfortable feeling, nor was he entirely sure that Hudson was doing it at first, but over the course of a a few seconds, the sensation became clear. Hudson was eyeing him and Robbins had no idea why. Had he said something strange accidentally? Or was he still a bit nervous about reading those sentences?

Just as Robbins took a breath to ease Hudson's worries, the Scotsman broke the silence himself.

"Do ye... miss it?"

Robbins immediately closed his mouth and blinked a few times. "Miss what?"

Hudson shuffled awkwardly in his seat before answering. "Yer, uh... yer sight" he ventured, that nervous tension present again as Robbins sat there stunned for a second.

"Well—" he began, half coughing.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" Hudson back tracked, his voice raised higher than normal.

"That's quite the question, Hudson" Robbins barreled through, wringing his hands together.

Hudson waved rigorously in front of Robbins, "I'm sorry, ye don't have to answer that!"

"Now, hang on—"

"Just forget I said anythin'!" he cried, grabbing Robbins' shoulders firmly.

Shocked, Robbins took considerable effort to calm himself as he placed his hands on Hudson's paladins and lightly pushed him back.

"No it's okay, it's okay. Relax" he soothed as best he could, standing as he guided Hudson back down into his seat.

"No, it was tactless of me to even—"

"Hudson" Robbins cut him off, not wanting him to go down that road. "It's fine. Really"

And it was. He should have expected the question at some point because everyone asked him that eventually. Some took much longer to ask than others, but the question was on everyone's mind when they met him. How could it not be? If he was honest, he used to have the same question burning in his mind when he saw other blind people, before his vision went dark on that fateful day. So he didn't mind anyone asking the question, especially not a friend who obviously had something weighing on him and this was his roundabout way of asking for help.

"It's a valid question. I just wasn't expecting it, is all" Robbins assured as he stepped toward his crackling fireplace.

Hudson got back up, "Ye really don't have to answer, I just—"

"No, I'll answer it. I don't mind" Robbins stood to the side to face Hudson, as best he could of course.

"I'd be lyin' if I said I didn't miss being able to see. It's such a fundamental part of being a normal guy. I mean, I got a list in my head a mile long of all the things I wish I could look at. It can get pretty melancholy at times, thinking about everything beyond my reach... especially the things I used to take for granted" Robbins couldn't help the smile that showed his teeth as he went to that special place in his mind where he hid all his favorite sights like a photo album.

"Like the bubbles in boiling water. Or the waves of the ocean crashing into the shore. The sun setting over a gorgeous landscape. A beautiful woman dancing her heart out under a dazzling spotlight..." he sighed deeply, a content smile on his face. "God, I could go on and on about all the things I miss lookin' at. The imagination just doesn't compare to the real deal, ya know?" he shook his head a bit before reaching a hand out towards Hudson, who he knew was hanging on his every word.

Robbins recoiled his hand back. "But as soon as I start slipping into that mindset, I try to pump the brakes" before Hudson could ask the obvious question, he provided an answer. "Because I can't let myself be shackled to what I don't, or rather, can't have. I have to be thankful for what I do have so I can move forward and live my life" he clarified, his smile settling down into a small grin.

It was a hard lesson to learn, but he'd done it years back. When he was first blinded and learning to live again it was easy to slip into harmful longing. But he persisted and over time he achieved a better grasp on those thoughts and emotions. Then when he'd broken up with his now ex-fiance, those feelings came back in full force for a while. And before he could get them back under control, he hooked up with his now ex-girlfriend, who distracted him long enough to break it off and send him spiraling back down the rabbit hole of everything he misses. But again, he persevered and refocused himself on everything he still had, and now he was at peace.

Not to say he was never unhappy or had bad days, those would always come. But on the whole, Robbins couldn't complain. He had a great deal to be thankful for. Gilly, the house, his work, his neighbors and acquaintances. Not to mention his health, his mind, his family. And now... Robbins looked back in Hudson's direction, his smile growing just a bit wider as he chuckled under his breath. The point was, there was plenty he could whine and bemoan about, but there was even more to be grateful for and enjoy. What was that one Charles Dickens quote that applied to this...? Ah, that's right.

"As a wiser man than me once said: Reflect upon your present blessings—of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some" he stated with some authority. It was a quote that had stuck with him through the years and helped him maintain that focus. But there was one other quote that he hung onto even more...

"But to go back even further: He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has" he supplied, satisfied with his memory. He still had it when it counted. Hudson sat in stunned silence for a moment before he plopped back down in the chair, the leather squeaking as it received his weight.

"Wow..." was all he could muster in his dazzled state. Robbins couldn't help but giggle in response. Hudson was so easy to impress sometimes. But he was grateful he could help by sharing these words of wisdom that guided him through many troubled times in his life.

"Yeah, Epictetus has quite a few pearls of wisdom like that", Robbins informed, hoping to pique the Scotsman's interest in the lesser known Greek philosopher.

Robbins himself had no knowledge of him until he looked into James Stockdale, a fellow Vietnam vet, and his incredible story of survival. He'd quoted the philosopher in his book and Robbins of course had it in his collection. But after looking into him for himself, Epictetus had become Robbins' favorite ancient thinker. He figured if Hudson ever took to reading like he had, Epictetus would be a nice figure for him to look into.

"Epic is right..." Hudson finally spoke up, absentminded by the inflection of his voice.

Robbins doubled over, "Hahahaha! Good one!" he chuckled before rising back to his full height. That took him off guard. Again. "I gotta remember that" he sighed pleasantly before walking back to his chair.

Hudson squirmed a bit in his chair, opening his mouth then promptly closing it again to fidget some more. He really wasn't himself tonight...

"What if...?" he spoke up again, awkward and unsure. "What if ye tried to focus on the things ye have now and forget about the things ye don't have... but the past keeps..." shuffling and stifled moaning, "showin' up outta the blue?" he finished plopping his hands down to his knees, a sign that he was at his wits end.

"What... what would ye do then?" a low pained breath escaped the man, likely without his consent.

Robbins nodded slowly. "Huh..." was all he could say at the moment, as he wanted to really take the time to weigh his words.

It wasn't that he didn't know what to say, on the contrary, it was painfully obvious what Hudson was struggling with and what he needed to do to fix it. It was honestly a little cute how much he tried to hide it and failed spectacularly. Though Robbins figured he'd keep that detail to himself. He wasn't sure what Hudson meant by his past resurfacing out of the blue, but if his demeanor and tone was anything to go off of, it seemed to be a matter close to his heart. A ghost from his past must have come back into his life unexpectedly or something must have irritated an old wound without warning. That was his best guess and he wasn't going to hold his breath on Hudson disclosing the details anytime soon.

His Scottish friend was firmly stuck in the stereotypical masculine credo, to be up front with others about your weaknesses or struggles is forbidden. Keep everyone at a distance, never open up, hold everything inside until you go numb. Damn the consequences to your mental, emotional, and physical health, let pride rule your every move to maintain your status as a "real" man. It was nauseating.

How could anyone truly live like that? Especially once they got to his age and in Hudson's case, even older? But Robbins supposed he had no one to truly blame here, save society itself, but what good would come of that presently? As he discovered himself long ago, the only way to help someone out of that mindset is to gently guide them into a different perspective. Forcing someone to open up never ever ended well, for anyone. This way, if done right, the person wouldn't even realize they were abandoning their old mindset, they would just assume they're naturally maturing into a healthier person. Which, to be fair, is true.

However, focusing on what the person needs is far better than pointing out what they've been doing wrong this whole time. Instead of turning them around and showing them how far away they are from where they should be, a simple nudge in the right direction works far better. And Hudson had given him a convenient vehicle to take him in that direction, so Robbins settled into the driver's seat and shifted into gear.

"Well, I guess I'd just have to lean on the people around me for support" the blind writer dropped, waiting for Hudson to engage with the response.

"Support?" was the question he was met with, and it broke his heart. It sounded like Hudson had never even heard the concept before. Robbins held back the sympathy welling up inside him and continued.

"Yeah. I mean, they're part of what ya got now and should be rejoicing about" he explained, before gesturing towards Hudson with one hand. "For example, when my ex broke up with me, I was a wreck. All I could think about was how much I wanted her back and the future we could have had together and how all the things I'd missed out on wouldn't be so bad if I just had her... how cruel life was now that she had left..."

Robbins pointed at Hudson before continuing. "But ya know what broke me outta that funk?" he led on.

"What?" Hudson asked mesmerized, shuffling closer to Robbins as if he was literally being drawn in. Robbins smirked to himself.

"My niece came to visit me. She demanded I get ready for a day out with her and the rest of the family, and she didn't give me no chance to say no" he relayed full of mirth, a giggle peeking through his words.

"Next thing I knew, we were out to dinner, havin' a blast. And for the first time since my ex left... I was alright" he waved his hand quickly as he looked to the side. "Don't get me wrong, it still hurt, my imagination still ran away with me concerning her, but... I was better about it. It wasn't all I was thinkin' about. It wasn't my focus, it wasn't this big thing that would suck me up and hold me hostage" he closed his hand into a fist. And slowly, he opened it back up again.

"It became... manageable. Smaller. Less horrible and painful" he huffed out a satisfied breath. "Until finally, I just kinda got over it" Robbins finished with a nonchalant shrug as he leaned to the side, his smirk widening.

Hudson fiddled with his hands a bit before speaking up again. "When did ye... get over it?" he asked, struggling with the words a bit.

"I don't know exactly, but it didn't happen over night, lemme tell ya", he leveled with him. Hudson needed to know that it was a process, not a flick of a switch. "Still, thanks to my family, some of my friends, and giving myself a lotta time to heal... it just doesn't hurt anymore".

"And ye couldn't have... 'gotten over it', without yer family?" Hudson wondered, a reservedness in his voice. Like he hoped his intentions weren't completely laid bare, despite them being out in the open the entire time. Still, Robbins didn't acknowledge that sentiment and let him cling to the illusion. Anything to get this through to him.

"No, of course not. I figure some guys tougher than me could'a done it alone, sure. But it would've taken 'em much longer and it would've been far more difficult. And that's the thing:" he leaned in closer to Hudson, his arms out to this sides. "Why make things more difficult for yourself when ya don't have to?"

Hudson opened his mouth to speak, but no words dared come out. Robbins knew he had him there. Onward he pressed.

"It's okay to recognize when ya need support, it's why we have family and friends in the first place. Otherwise, what're they there for? Decoration?" he joked, hopefully to take the tension away without downplaying the message itself.

The feeling of Hudson's gaze boring into him stopped and the sound of his calloused hands rubbing together took its place. He was looking down at them in thought, most likely. Good. He'd gotten through to him.

"Support..." the Scotsman repeated low. "It's easier fer some to ask for than others" he said plainly, an anonymous admission in his mind, no doubt.

"Yeah. But not impossible, right?" Robbins smiled. "It takes wisdom to know what you need, it takes courage to go and get it" he said, gently placing his hand on Hudson's shoulder. The lack of rejection or discomfort was all he wanted in response. But he could feel the stiffness that Hudson had been carrying this whole time dissolve as the man finally relaxed.

"Aye... Suppose yer right aboot that..." he replied, stroking his beard before speaking up again. "Who said that proverb?"

"Yours truly" Robbins grinned proudly. "Like it?"

Hudson let out a soft laugh. "I do, it's... perfect" a strong hand like a lion's paw dropped onto Robbins' shoulder, returning the gesture. "Thank ye, Robbins. Ye always give me somethin' good to consider" Hudson said, smile clear in his tone as he gave a firm squeeze to Robbins' shoulder.

"No problem, happy to help" Robbins said as he took his hand back and dropped it onto the coffee table. "Now, whaddya say to some 'sk' and double 'p' sentences, huh?" he grinned with a twinkle in his eye.

Hudson popped up to his feet. "Ack, I was hopin' ye forgot aboot that!" then dropped back down in his seat with a gruff landing.

"No such luck, buddy!" Robbins laughed back.

Hudson joined in for a moment before collecting the booklet in his hands and finally pushing through the sentences. He did great, as always. Robbins never had to worry about him, at least on that particular front. When it came to his emotional and social development, he was a surprising collection of unresolved issues and harmful habits. One would think that the super secret spy organization he works for would be on top of the mental and emotional state of their agents, but apparently not.

It was a sorry state of affairs, this poor old soldier who constantly put himself between those that would do the world harm and the innocent populous who would never know he existed, was suffering in silence. Not even leaning on his fellow agents, his "clan" as he called them, for support. And if Robbins knew him as well as he thought, Hudson was already functioning as support for them, but selflessly keeping his own needs and pain to himself. Which is noble in one sense, but in another practical sense, was making everything worse. And of course Hudson couldn't see it that way. He was too busy being that patriarchal pillar of strength and hardness, unable to let anything out to disturb that image.

It was an unsustainable system, something had to give and unfortunately, Hudson would be the one buckling under that insane pressure. He needed help, clearly. He basically came right out tonight and asked for help, as directly as he could. After all, change is difficult, especially when you're older and already set in your ways. Old dogs, new tricks, that familiar adage. But when change is so desperately needed, one had to try.

Though he freely admitted, he wasn't a professional shrink or anything, Robbins would certainly help him where he could. Give a word of wisdom or two, nudge him in the right direction, try to set his mind at ease at least for a little while. Heck, he'd already been doing it before tonight, but this moment really highlighted how much support Hudson was in need of. Support Robbins would gladly supply for as long as it was needed. For the one present blessing he was most thankful for was currently struggling to pronounce the word "skipped".

Author's Notes: And that does it for this chapter! I noticed there was a lot of worldbuilding, plot, backstory, and theme stuff for the last few chapters, which duh, emThe Mirror/em is a huge episode in the series. There was no getting around the sheer massive dump of that heavy stuff. So this chapter, in an effort to give everybody a breather, including myself, I decided to have our two characters just talk. Focus back on the core of the fic, which is of course the relationship between these 2 old soldiers. So I hope everybody was okay with that. We'll get back to plot, worldbuilding, lore, and all that stuff next time, I think. I dunno, we'll see.

As for notes, I don't have much really. Other than Gilly is sleeping today because she's still exhausted from the whole Gargoyle!Robbins ordeal from Chapter 9. She deserves a nice long rest after all that craziness, don't you think? XD

The Charles Dickens' quote and Epictetus' quote were included here simply to show off how well read Robbins is and how him being well read has helped him become as wise as he is and it highlights why he specifically can help Hudson in ways the others cannot. Say what you like about Goliath's love of reading, but I doubt he has the recall and wisdom to apply everything he reads to precisely what Hudson is going through at any given moment. No, some things can only come with age and experience, 2 things Robbins has over Goliath... sort of, technically Goliath is older than Robbins but—you know what I mean, moving on XD.

Also, Epictetus is pretty neat, he's one of my favorite Greek philosophers and one that is very much lesser known so I wanted to shine a quick light on him. Also, the story of James Stockdale that I quickly reference here is fascinating. Like, wow. Very glad I stumbled upon that little tidbit during the research phase of this because it just fits perfectly. Of course Robbins would be interested in Vietnam vet stories, especially one as harrowing and dramatic as Stockdale's. And with Stockdale's clear love of Epictetus on full display, Robbins would definitely check the philosopher out on his own and ultimately resonate with his teachings. It just flows so naturally, I'm really glad for that coincidence.

Anyway, that's all for this chapter, hope you enjoyed it. Next time we'll be going back to Hudson's POV and getting closer to another of my favorite episodes. See ya later! C: