For once he wasn't being intentionally mysterious, so much as trying not to rub personal details in the face of someone who the bard didn't think knew of the leatherworker, and whose last known lover had just gotten married to another man. He blinked, however, at the paper that was handed to him, reading over the writing on it - and then laughing, a startled bark of sound that quickly faded as he shook his head ruefully, realizing how silly he had sounded. "Ah... no, sorry. My thoughts jumped ahead of my mouth. I'd meant a list of those afflicted, so we could keep track of who already has it, and if any new infections are cropping up that are related to those already blighted. And... to keep track and make sure no one who has it is hurting themselves or others," he added reluctantly. "I'd write up my own symptoms and post them but, honestly, I'm concerned with how to word it so we don't start a panic... or a backlash against those already infected." He echoed Loren's thoughts aloud unknowingly, his expression growing darker and more pained. "Though if I had to guess... blood might be a route of transmission. It's not something I'm eager to test, though, to be honest, even on animals. The last thing we need is to deliberately infect more creatures with it." He had a bad feeling about what those animals would start to do, if they weren't already tearing into other creatures out in the Greatwood.
His lips quirked a little, gratitude and gallows humor lifting past the exhaustion that was settling over him in the wake of fighting back his earlier spikes of temper. "Honestly? If things were different I'd probably be a lot more petty about it. But now..." He lifted his shoulder in a light shrug, deceptively nonchalant about the corruption coursing through his veins. "If I let myself get angry at anyone, no matter how deserved, it's like opening a door. And every time I do, I lose a little bit more of myself to what's waiting on the other side. So I am learning to forgive a lot more people than I would have a season ago." And there was far too much to do to hasten that process any further than it was already going.
He listened curiously to the descriptions of the children, Launceleyn pups he'd somehow missed in all the emergencies that seemed to pile up one after another in the Hollowed Grounds. Then again, he was not particularly good with children, and was more than happy to keep them at a distance. The wanted lists, though... "I think they're technically gone," he reassured Loren with a shaky wave. "Edy cleared mine herself when she... ah... called me to the Manor." And if Loren hadn't heard about that debacle, Jigano wasn't going to be the one to enlighten him. "But there is concern about what Zariah will do when she returns. She might have pissed a lot of people off, but no one denies that she's a powerful mage... and even if she doesn't make it back, it'll take time for the distrust she sowed to subside." One didn't run roughshod over a country - however small and humble their little barrier-bounded land was - for a full season without a few lasting consequences among the populace.
The bard nodded; he could send a note to the Launceleyn Manor after he talked to Remi and got his answer. The praise caught him off-guard though, and he blinked as something warm blossomed in his chest. It was not the first time he had received thanks, but such things were rare - perhaps because it had simply become expected of him. If there was meddling to be done, the fox was usually there, for good or ill. He could only hope that this time around it would be for good. "Thank you," he said, voice quiet as he inclined his head to the scholar. "That is... very kind of you. It means a great deal to hear it." With Loren's contributions at the meeting, Jigano suspected that the other man would quickly be receiving such words as well.
His lips quirked a little, gratitude and gallows humor lifting past the exhaustion that was settling over him in the wake of fighting back his earlier spikes of temper. "Honestly? If things were different I'd probably be a lot more petty about it. But now..." He lifted his shoulder in a light shrug, deceptively nonchalant about the corruption coursing through his veins. "If I let myself get angry at anyone, no matter how deserved, it's like opening a door. And every time I do, I lose a little bit more of myself to what's waiting on the other side. So I am learning to forgive a lot more people than I would have a season ago." And there was far too much to do to hasten that process any further than it was already going.
He listened curiously to the descriptions of the children, Launceleyn pups he'd somehow missed in all the emergencies that seemed to pile up one after another in the Hollowed Grounds. Then again, he was not particularly good with children, and was more than happy to keep them at a distance. The wanted lists, though... "I think they're technically gone," he reassured Loren with a shaky wave. "Edy cleared mine herself when she... ah... called me to the Manor." And if Loren hadn't heard about that debacle, Jigano wasn't going to be the one to enlighten him. "But there is concern about what Zariah will do when she returns. She might have pissed a lot of people off, but no one denies that she's a powerful mage... and even if she doesn't make it back, it'll take time for the distrust she sowed to subside." One didn't run roughshod over a country - however small and humble their little barrier-bounded land was - for a full season without a few lasting consequences among the populace.
The bard nodded; he could send a note to the Launceleyn Manor after he talked to Remi and got his answer. The praise caught him off-guard though, and he blinked as something warm blossomed in his chest. It was not the first time he had received thanks, but such things were rare - perhaps because it had simply become expected of him. If there was meddling to be done, the fox was usually there, for good or ill. He could only hope that this time around it would be for good. "Thank you," he said, voice quiet as he inclined his head to the scholar. "That is... very kind of you. It means a great deal to hear it." With Loren's contributions at the meeting, Jigano suspected that the other man would quickly be receiving such words as well.
