Unsurprisingly, Tal hadn't really thought this whole plan through and Maea's quiet, reasoned words were logical and rational and sensible and the courier's scowl deepened with each one.
Because it would be so easy to fall back into that old low-level chronic depression and thinking that he couldn't do anything. That someone else would deal with it because he wasn't strong enough or smart enough or qualified in any way that mattered. He could feel her words tugging seductively at him, coaxing him back into inertia and inactivity, standing back and watching others strive - maybe hopelessly, maybe stupidly - and telling himself that it wasn't his fault it was all going to hail...
"Okay. Okay y'have a point," he growled, shaking himself in an echo of Boreal as she was displaced and stood up, her limpid eyes watching Maea worriedly. "So we leave th'Greatwood alone for now. Might be it is too big for us t'deal with on our own. But Hak Etme an' King's End an' th'Grounds? They're not overrun yet, an' we've got a better chance o' slowin' th'Void crap down there. Maybe... maybe we don't need t'stop it in its tracks by ourselves. Maybe we just need t'slow it down so th'demis can get their shit together, yeah?" He turned to give her a wan, lopsided grin. "An' we can pick through those places one plant an' critter at a time. An' if we're just burnin' little stuff, fire'll work just fine!"
Because it would be so easy to fall back into that old low-level chronic depression and thinking that he couldn't do anything. That someone else would deal with it because he wasn't strong enough or smart enough or qualified in any way that mattered. He could feel her words tugging seductively at him, coaxing him back into inertia and inactivity, standing back and watching others strive - maybe hopelessly, maybe stupidly - and telling himself that it wasn't his fault it was all going to hail...
"Okay. Okay y'have a point," he growled, shaking himself in an echo of Boreal as she was displaced and stood up, her limpid eyes watching Maea worriedly. "So we leave th'Greatwood alone for now. Might be it is too big for us t'deal with on our own. But Hak Etme an' King's End an' th'Grounds? They're not overrun yet, an' we've got a better chance o' slowin' th'Void crap down there. Maybe... maybe we don't need t'stop it in its tracks by ourselves. Maybe we just need t'slow it down so th'demis can get their shit together, yeah?" He turned to give her a wan, lopsided grin. "An' we can pick through those places one plant an' critter at a time. An' if we're just burnin' little stuff, fire'll work just fine!"
