It was probably a good thing that Tal didn't realize he was being watched. Between the headache and his focus on the sky he missed Jude's scrutiny and didn't see the younger man's expression at the whispered sympathy. His own lips tugged into a grimace, awkward as always with the condolences of others. Boreal heaved a large sigh as the courier's voice emerged, gruffer than it had yet been. "Don't be. Y'weren't the one who killed 'em." That had been Neron, indirectly. He was quiet as Jude continued, and uncharacteristically still at his questions.
Though his eyes remained mostly dry he kept them locked on the stars, watching another flare of light arc across the heavens. "Always," he admitted, the words tugged loose reluctantly. Not for the emotion behind them so much as the prying, wounding words of a kid who couldn't know any better. "But don't worry about it. Or them." In his rough reassurance was love and a grief worn soft and aching with years. But there was selfishness, too, to hold his family close and the instinct to protect himself from further hurt.
He changed the subject abruptly back to something safer and relaxed a little when Jude took the hint. "Council, huh? Sounds important." Then again, Sah had used to be on the Halovian council so maybe it wasn't that big a deal. "Yeah, I go there pretty often on business. But Halo's better," he added in staunch defense of his home. "Not so damn hot all th'time. An' not so humid!" He snorted and then winced, instantly regretting that particular decision. "Ah... fuck. Uh. So what d'you do, anyways? I know I keep callin' you 'kid' but you're old enough to at least be 'prenticin' somewhere, right?"
Though his eyes remained mostly dry he kept them locked on the stars, watching another flare of light arc across the heavens. "Always," he admitted, the words tugged loose reluctantly. Not for the emotion behind them so much as the prying, wounding words of a kid who couldn't know any better. "But don't worry about it. Or them." In his rough reassurance was love and a grief worn soft and aching with years. But there was selfishness, too, to hold his family close and the instinct to protect himself from further hurt.
He changed the subject abruptly back to something safer and relaxed a little when Jude took the hint. "Council, huh? Sounds important." Then again, Sah had used to be on the Halovian council so maybe it wasn't that big a deal. "Yeah, I go there pretty often on business. But Halo's better," he added in staunch defense of his home. "Not so damn hot all th'time. An' not so humid!" He snorted and then winced, instantly regretting that particular decision. "Ah... fuck. Uh. So what d'you do, anyways? I know I keep callin' you 'kid' but you're old enough to at least be 'prenticin' somewhere, right?"
