Jermaine's palpable discomfort earns a sympathetic look from Jake. It was clear that his unease came from lack of certainty, not lack of care. Hell, Jake wasn't too far off from that himself.

"Well, I told you about Fern. That all went down a couple weeks ago." He starts, voice halting. "They fought, he hasn't told me why, and it took a turn. The details are really fuzzy. It felt kinda... Cruel to ask for a play by play, y'know what I mean?"

Without waiting for an answer (or even making eye contact), Jake slams another carob chew. His jaw worked uneasily, trying to think through what increasingly felt like an impossible problem.

"Him having a hand in Fern dying really messed him up. He kept saying how Fern was him, and how much Fern loved me..." Oof, there it was. The guilt, tightening around his heart again. The thorns pricked him from the inside. "I dunno, Jermaine, the more I talk it out the more I think maybe this is all my fault somehow."