[he looks truly aghast--perhaps he just hasn't been here long enough to become as inured to the possibility of death, or perhaps it is just some part of his fundamental nature that makes him recoil from the thought. or maybe his vivid imagination is to blame, as it treats him to a grisly image of just how their neighbours might have sought to recover the Duchess's All-Sight from Quentin's body.
regardless, in one fluid motion he sets down his teacup and reaches out both hands to take hold of Quentin's. now it is his turn for his eyes to grow hard, though not from indifference--just the opposite. fiercely,]
That is not a lesson I ever wish for us to learn. [then, more softly,] Not with you. Not with anyone, if it can be helped. [okay, that part is a lie, he wouldn't get this upset over the prospect of a near stranger suffering this fate, but he would prefer for Quentin not to realize just how mercenary he can be with the lives of individual strangers. not yet, anyway.]
no subject
[he looks truly aghast--perhaps he just hasn't been here long enough to become as inured to the possibility of death, or perhaps it is just some part of his fundamental nature that makes him recoil from the thought. or maybe his vivid imagination is to blame, as it treats him to a grisly image of just how their neighbours might have sought to recover the Duchess's All-Sight from Quentin's body.
regardless, in one fluid motion he sets down his teacup and reaches out both hands to take hold of Quentin's. now it is his turn for his eyes to grow hard, though not from indifference--just the opposite. fiercely,]
That is not a lesson I ever wish for us to learn. [then, more softly,] Not with you. Not with anyone, if it can be helped. [okay, that part is a lie, he wouldn't get this upset over the prospect of a near stranger suffering this fate, but he would prefer for Quentin not to realize just how mercenary he can be with the lives of individual strangers. not yet, anyway.]