It took some time. Long stretches of a moment gathered up, a shaky breath slowly evening out, though he still did not release his hold from Alaric. Even if he could feel a part of himself wanting to straighten up, to stop acting so child-like and hiding away, the rest of him remained firmly where he was. Seen as childish or not, he wished to bask in the happiness in finding his friend alive and seemingly well for a little longer before facing reality again. The fact that his dear friend had been kept as some sick form of amusement for the foolish bastard only served to add even more fuel to the fire that was his urge to slice that bastard's head off at the first opportunity he got. For now, he would have to curb such a murderous impulse for the sake of present company.
[color=#008e02]"I'll make sure he pays for that, don't worry,"[/color] It was barely more than a whisper, a murmur of a promise that Alaric might catch if he were paying attention beyond the chaos around him, but even if he didn't, he would keep his word. Not just for a friend, but for the thousands upon thousands that had been lost. Joyful as seeing him was, it was also a reminder of why he'd carried on fighting for so long. Why he still did instead of simply retiring. He was old enough by now, but what point was there when the People still suffered? Of course that seemed irrelevant when Al began speaking of their youth, it seemed like so long ago now.
He could only grumble a little as he slowly extracted himself from his friend, a tired shake of the head as he turned to stand at his side. [color=#008e02]"If you start saying things like 'royal family', they're going to ask questions Al. No one needs to hear about my boring childhood."[/color] Calling it a 'childhood' likely wasn't the right word, but he wasn't about to talk about what came before, Megara mostly and Ruth occasionally might be decent people, but such a level of trust for anything more took time. Who knows it might happen in their lifetime, but it had taken him decades to share such a thing last time. He would not do so now. If nothing else, Ruth always provided a distraction to the current conversation, somewhat useful. For once.
[color=#008e02]"I'll make sure he pays for that, don't worry,"[/color] It was barely more than a whisper, a murmur of a promise that Alaric might catch if he were paying attention beyond the chaos around him, but even if he didn't, he would keep his word. Not just for a friend, but for the thousands upon thousands that had been lost. Joyful as seeing him was, it was also a reminder of why he'd carried on fighting for so long. Why he still did instead of simply retiring. He was old enough by now, but what point was there when the People still suffered? Of course that seemed irrelevant when Al began speaking of their youth, it seemed like so long ago now.
He could only grumble a little as he slowly extracted himself from his friend, a tired shake of the head as he turned to stand at his side. [color=#008e02]"If you start saying things like 'royal family', they're going to ask questions Al. No one needs to hear about my boring childhood."[/color] Calling it a 'childhood' likely wasn't the right word, but he wasn't about to talk about what came before, Megara mostly and Ruth occasionally might be decent people, but such a level of trust for anything more took time. Who knows it might happen in their lifetime, but it had taken him decades to share such a thing last time. He would not do so now. If nothing else, Ruth always provided a distraction to the current conversation, somewhat useful. For once.
01-22-2024, 08:11 PM
