Zavien
Smiling at Koa's delayed understanding, Zavien shakes his head. "Nah, just the 'dying there' part. I'm not eager to relive it every time I step outside the gate." He chuckles, willing to put up with it occasionally, but not on a daily basis. Plus, the cold never really sat well with him.
He chops more potatoes, piling them high where someone else comes to retrieve them, supposedly to fry them. The probing doesn't get very far as he makes a point to avoid looking towards the burger cook, but the grimace is obvious. "Not exactly..." But Koa's also not unrelated, and he waits patiently for the man to give his piece about reconnecting with Kai before he's sighing, his shoulders slumping slightly from the weight of it all. "Well, that's a relief. Maybe he'll get off my back about it now."
Finally looking back to his friend, Zavien gives an apologetic shrug of his shoulders, knowing he's not going to help the strained relationship with what he has to say. "When you were gone and he couldn't get ahold of you, Kai came to meet with me. He wanted me to promise not to tell you about him and Flora, but I told him I wouldn't lie if you asked me outright about it, but that I would try to send you his way if I saw you. It seemed fair enough to me." He sighs, shaking his head at the memory, the way the young man had exploded with panic and aggression. "Well, he got pissed, said some things about me being dishonorable, then threatened to lie to Lena if I said anything to you..." His voice fades, more memories darkening his eyes as he looks down at the knife, pausing in his work as sorrow and hurt color his heart. For a moment, he stays still, contemplating how everything had gone so wrong.
Then he moves, slipping back into the rhythm of slicing and chopping as he gives another shrug of his shoulders. "I chalked it up to young bullheadedness - gods know I can be like that - but it didn't sit right, and he'd been making all these bold promises on Flora's behalf, so when I saw her next, I made the stupid mistake to warn her about him threatening leaders." A small bit of hollow laughter cracks from his chest, regret evident in the pinch of his eyes. "You can guess how well she took that..."
The attempt at a smile falls away, pain lining his forehead. "She didn't pull her soldier support, but she made it very clear that I was an amateur leader and Stormbreak was nothing more than an ant in comparison to Torchline." Not in those words exactly, but the sentiment had been there, her venomous words shrinking him and his home down to something pathetic and insignificant. Zavien hadn't been able to stop thinking about it for days, trying to focus on the city's qualities rather than its paltry strength. Still, his lips purse even thinking about it now. "I didn't appreciate that - not because we weren't struggling and barely beginning rebuild, but because she chose to use that as a threat, to shove it in my face when all I'd tried to do was help." Golden hair brushes his forehead as he shakes his head then raises his eyes to look at Koa when he finishes adding, "She forgave me when I apologized again - when I went to tell her about Stormbreak falling - but I don't think I could live comfortably knowing that's who leads me..." Meaning Torchline is off the table for him, despite how 'powerful' it may be.
He chops more potatoes, piling them high where someone else comes to retrieve them, supposedly to fry them. The probing doesn't get very far as he makes a point to avoid looking towards the burger cook, but the grimace is obvious. "Not exactly..." But Koa's also not unrelated, and he waits patiently for the man to give his piece about reconnecting with Kai before he's sighing, his shoulders slumping slightly from the weight of it all. "Well, that's a relief. Maybe he'll get off my back about it now."
Finally looking back to his friend, Zavien gives an apologetic shrug of his shoulders, knowing he's not going to help the strained relationship with what he has to say. "When you were gone and he couldn't get ahold of you, Kai came to meet with me. He wanted me to promise not to tell you about him and Flora, but I told him I wouldn't lie if you asked me outright about it, but that I would try to send you his way if I saw you. It seemed fair enough to me." He sighs, shaking his head at the memory, the way the young man had exploded with panic and aggression. "Well, he got pissed, said some things about me being dishonorable, then threatened to lie to Lena if I said anything to you..." His voice fades, more memories darkening his eyes as he looks down at the knife, pausing in his work as sorrow and hurt color his heart. For a moment, he stays still, contemplating how everything had gone so wrong.
Then he moves, slipping back into the rhythm of slicing and chopping as he gives another shrug of his shoulders. "I chalked it up to young bullheadedness - gods know I can be like that - but it didn't sit right, and he'd been making all these bold promises on Flora's behalf, so when I saw her next, I made the stupid mistake to warn her about him threatening leaders." A small bit of hollow laughter cracks from his chest, regret evident in the pinch of his eyes. "You can guess how well she took that..."
The attempt at a smile falls away, pain lining his forehead. "She didn't pull her soldier support, but she made it very clear that I was an amateur leader and Stormbreak was nothing more than an ant in comparison to Torchline." Not in those words exactly, but the sentiment had been there, her venomous words shrinking him and his home down to something pathetic and insignificant. Zavien hadn't been able to stop thinking about it for days, trying to focus on the city's qualities rather than its paltry strength. Still, his lips purse even thinking about it now. "I didn't appreciate that - not because we weren't struggling and barely beginning rebuild, but because she chose to use that as a threat, to shove it in my face when all I'd tried to do was help." Golden hair brushes his forehead as he shakes his head then raises his eyes to look at Koa when he finishes adding, "She forgave me when I apologized again - when I went to tell her about Stormbreak falling - but I don't think I could live comfortably knowing that's who leads me..." Meaning Torchline is off the table for him, despite how 'powerful' it may be.
It is not a bad thing
to celebrate a simple life.
to celebrate a simple life.
