He wanted to scratch his nose but his hands were busy with the dusting cloth and so he settled for wrinkling it in thought instead as he listened to Kiada’s words. It was a mirror of her own expression, though he didn’t realize it as they worked on their separate projects.
”I mean… it sounds like y’don’t trust other people, either,” he said slowly to Kiada ’s statements, brow furrowed in thought. ”An’ from what I heard, sure, I figure y’have good reason for that.” He hadn’t been too fond of the Ascended, either, after hearing what a group of them had done to the Tower in Stormbreak. As far as he knew, everyone involved in that raid was dead now, though, and there wasn’t much point staying mad at ghosts. ”But…look. I guess y’don’t really know me an’ I get that maybe my word doesn’t mean much t’you, but I haven’t met anyone else wantin’ t’keep livin’ in th’War ‘til today.” He tilted his head towards Maea to include her. ”Even Stormbreak. They’re workin’ on bein’ more inclusive o’ Abandoned, yeah, an’ still got a ways t’go. But I’ve been makin’ a lot o’ deliveries there an’ keepin’ an ear out, an’ I haven’t heard anyone bein’ weird ‘bout Fae or Ancients or Mer.” Something about those races being ‘natural’ probably, with gods-given magic that stayed neatly in a box instead of the custom wild magic of the Abandoned.
Or maybe he was just listening to the wrong conversations.
He shifted his attention to the shelves in the Study, testing their sturdiness with careful pushes and pulls until he was satisfied that they would stand up to whatever burdens Maea placed on them. ”I was getting’ th’sense that the old gods aren’t really comfortable with Dygra, but they’re not lookin’ for a fight with her, either,” he said slowly to Kiada. ”Kinda like Safrin an’ Ludo aren’t real comfortable with each other, y’know? Only, maybe less personal than that,” he added, remembering some of the stories he’d heard about pranks the Ludo had pulled on the goddess in recent years. ”But at least there’s peace ‘tween all th’ones we got now.” Give or take whatever was going on with the void stuff and whether there was some alien deity involved with it…
Then Maea got personal and Tal scowled at the dusting cloth he grabbed to begin scrubbing the grit off the shelves with. It was frustrating, feeling like he had to prove himself over and over again. But it wasn’t anything new, at least. ”I mean, yeah. I’ve already helped build a Dygra shrine,” he pointed out. ”Am I responsible if someone with a screw loose decides t'sacrifice a human at it tryin’ to get in good with her?” He shook his head. ”There’s crazies an’ assholes all over Caido. Every region, every race. I’ve had t’deliver stuff from or to a lot of ‘em. Shrines don’t make people dicks. They do that all on their own, with or without ‘em.”
He balled up the dusting cloth, meeting Maea’s gaze squarely and jutting out his chin. ”’Cuz you’re not Ascended anymore,” he pointed out bluntly. ”Th’War ‘tween th’Ascended an’ everyone else is over, an’ we’ve got new problems now. An’ I know it’s not fair, askin’ you t’move on when you’re still hurtin’, but this Void shit? It’s not waitin’ for people t’heal. It’s everyone’s problem. Ancient, Abandoned, Accepted, whatever. Every race. Every region. Yeah, I want th’comfort of havin’ someplace t’pray for help when I’m out on a run for myself. But I also want someplace a non-Ancient can pray for healin’ here if they get bit by a void spider. An’ if you want t’do th’same with Dygra shrines in other regions, I’ve got no problem helpin’ with that, either.” He scowled down at the dusting cloth that he’d twisted while he’d been talking before throwing it in the bucket with the other used cloths. ”I gotta bad feelin’ it’s gonna take all o’ us workin’ t’gether t’deal with this shit. But if you wanna cut yourselves off again, well… I don’t think it’s a good idea. But I'll respect it."
”I mean… it sounds like y’don’t trust other people, either,” he said slowly to Kiada ’s statements, brow furrowed in thought. ”An’ from what I heard, sure, I figure y’have good reason for that.” He hadn’t been too fond of the Ascended, either, after hearing what a group of them had done to the Tower in Stormbreak. As far as he knew, everyone involved in that raid was dead now, though, and there wasn’t much point staying mad at ghosts. ”But…look. I guess y’don’t really know me an’ I get that maybe my word doesn’t mean much t’you, but I haven’t met anyone else wantin’ t’keep livin’ in th’War ‘til today.” He tilted his head towards Maea to include her. ”Even Stormbreak. They’re workin’ on bein’ more inclusive o’ Abandoned, yeah, an’ still got a ways t’go. But I’ve been makin’ a lot o’ deliveries there an’ keepin’ an ear out, an’ I haven’t heard anyone bein’ weird ‘bout Fae or Ancients or Mer.” Something about those races being ‘natural’ probably, with gods-given magic that stayed neatly in a box instead of the custom wild magic of the Abandoned.
Or maybe he was just listening to the wrong conversations.
He shifted his attention to the shelves in the Study, testing their sturdiness with careful pushes and pulls until he was satisfied that they would stand up to whatever burdens Maea placed on them. ”I was getting’ th’sense that the old gods aren’t really comfortable with Dygra, but they’re not lookin’ for a fight with her, either,” he said slowly to Kiada. ”Kinda like Safrin an’ Ludo aren’t real comfortable with each other, y’know? Only, maybe less personal than that,” he added, remembering some of the stories he’d heard about pranks the Ludo had pulled on the goddess in recent years. ”But at least there’s peace ‘tween all th’ones we got now.” Give or take whatever was going on with the void stuff and whether there was some alien deity involved with it…
Then Maea got personal and Tal scowled at the dusting cloth he grabbed to begin scrubbing the grit off the shelves with. It was frustrating, feeling like he had to prove himself over and over again. But it wasn’t anything new, at least. ”I mean, yeah. I’ve already helped build a Dygra shrine,” he pointed out. ”Am I responsible if someone with a screw loose decides t'sacrifice a human at it tryin’ to get in good with her?” He shook his head. ”There’s crazies an’ assholes all over Caido. Every region, every race. I’ve had t’deliver stuff from or to a lot of ‘em. Shrines don’t make people dicks. They do that all on their own, with or without ‘em.”
He balled up the dusting cloth, meeting Maea’s gaze squarely and jutting out his chin. ”’Cuz you’re not Ascended anymore,” he pointed out bluntly. ”Th’War ‘tween th’Ascended an’ everyone else is over, an’ we’ve got new problems now. An’ I know it’s not fair, askin’ you t’move on when you’re still hurtin’, but this Void shit? It’s not waitin’ for people t’heal. It’s everyone’s problem. Ancient, Abandoned, Accepted, whatever. Every race. Every region. Yeah, I want th’comfort of havin’ someplace t’pray for help when I’m out on a run for myself. But I also want someplace a non-Ancient can pray for healin’ here if they get bit by a void spider. An’ if you want t’do th’same with Dygra shrines in other regions, I’ve got no problem helpin’ with that, either.” He scowled down at the dusting cloth that he’d twisted while he’d been talking before throwing it in the bucket with the other used cloths. ”I gotta bad feelin’ it’s gonna take all o’ us workin’ t’gether t’deal with this shit. But if you wanna cut yourselves off again, well… I don’t think it’s a good idea. But I'll respect it."
