/lit/ - Literature

The sculptor and the soldier in the book were like dolls of him and Ruben. Their conversations, their aspirations - they all sounded too familiar. It dawned on Nero that this must have been what Ruben was going through. He thought of the sculptor, and now understood why the character has disturbed him so much. 'Ruben, is this really how you saw me? I was never this noble and beautiful.'

Nero paused from reading any further, haunted by the notion that his soft-spoken friend once might have wanted to choke him for gratification. No wonder the man has gone mad when he realized the depravity within himself, and ran to that church and chose celibacy for the sake of his friend.

When he first demanded Ruben to explain what was he thinking, why he was giving up his happiness for some unseen god, the latter did not make any sense. The man was unable to conjure up the words, for he must have not been able to comprehend it himself. Nero then pictured his friend laying alone against the altar rail, having lost both his companion and the chastity he suffered for. Tears welled up in his eyes. 'Only if I had, instead of demanding to know everything, have just trusted him and stood by him.'