There's so much that Gustavain doesn't know about Emet-Selch, about who he was and what he was like before the version of him he's the most familiar with. But even so, there are some things he does know and what would be a lukewarm-to-cold response from anyone else has him finally looking over in a warm sort of shock, because that's... surprisingly easy, isn't it? Sweet, almost. He finds that it flusters him more than the tense silence did and he can't help but just blink at him for a moment too long to gracefully cover. He's probably also gaping just a little bit.
And then there's the warm, fond smile he's come to be known for, crinkling the skin around his eyes, before he flops backwards in the grass.
"I'll see what I can do. I've spent most of my time here staying away from them so as not to get in trouble rather than staying away because they would like to see me. But the theory should be the same."
There's so much he wanted to say, before. Before Elpis, even before the Tempest. He's keenly aware that the Emet-Selch he met on the First got everything wrong about what Gustavain was feeling at every possible moment, but he wasn't sure how to correct him then that didn't just sound like empty protest and none of it really matters now that they're here. There's a time where he would have said it all anyway, but the weight of what had happened on the First, what happened since, weighs him down in a way that sometimes looks like trauma and sometimes looks like maturity. And yet, he cannot fully say nothing either.
"If you change your mind, know that I would help you," he doesn't mean about keeping the scholars away, "but there would be no joy in it. There never was."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2022-08-22 06:55 pm (UTC)And then there's the warm, fond smile he's come to be known for, crinkling the skin around his eyes, before he flops backwards in the grass.
"I'll see what I can do. I've spent most of my time here staying away from them so as not to get in trouble rather than staying away because they would like to see me. But the theory should be the same."
There's so much he wanted to say, before. Before Elpis, even before the Tempest. He's keenly aware that the Emet-Selch he met on the First got everything wrong about what Gustavain was feeling at every possible moment, but he wasn't sure how to correct him then that didn't just sound like empty protest and none of it really matters now that they're here. There's a time where he would have said it all anyway, but the weight of what had happened on the First, what happened since, weighs him down in a way that sometimes looks like trauma and sometimes looks like maturity. And yet, he cannot fully say nothing either.
"If you change your mind, know that I would help you," he doesn't mean about keeping the scholars away, "but there would be no joy in it. There never was."