#reading through the comics tonight and they're already giving me some insight

[pancake-breakfast]

Post-Imposter Factory, I think I have a clearer picture of the relationship between Neil and Eva. It's clear from the get-go that they're good friends who've been around each other enough to both know exactly what buttons to push and to forgive a lot of button-pushing. But finding out about Neil's history with his mother puts things in better perspective.

Eva's always acted like she's kind of given up on Neil. Like whatever hope she's had for him has been cast aside due to his flippant nature. And that's probably true. What goes overlooked is that his flippancy is this coping mechanism he's developed to keep people at arm's length specifically because he expects to die young from the same disease that took his mother.

He cares deeply about Eva, but has a hell of a time showing it because, to him, caring about someone includes keeping them from the eventual heartbreak of losing him. He's asking himself a lot of the same questions his mom asked herself; in particular, is it worth it to try and build a life with someone else when you have such limited time?

He also has his dad's tendency to embrace the moment, but it seems like he's taken that to the exact kind of extreme his dad was worried about taking it himself, where he's so focused on the moment that he forgets to look at the bigger picture.

Which isn't to say Neil never looks at the bigger picture. He's clearly been plotting stuff with his special machine for ages. But when he looks at that bigger picture, it's never something he looks at with the thought of how others might help him with it. They have to take the Roxie path and sort of force their way there.

The problem is, Eva's not the force-her-way-in type. Or perhaps inasmuch as she is, she's tired of trying to force her way into Neil's life. She's decided all she's done for him and with him thus far is enough... except it isn't. She wants more from him, for him, and for them. But she no longer knows how to ask for it (if she ever did to begin with), and that seems to weigh on her.

Anyway, I'm glad they've suggested this isn't the last game in the series. Looking forward to more of their story.