Isla's offer of sanctuary was met with a grateful smile and a tilt of Jigano's white head in acknowledgment. "Thank you, Isla. I'm not yet sure what I'll do when the Long Night comes... part of me wants to find a way to study these 'monsters' that are said to walk the darkness, but I'm also not eager to put myself at such risk just for curiosity's sake. I'm no cat, after all!" He grinned, tilting his head with a wink. "I'll keep the infirmary in mind, though. If nothing else, you'll finally have a captive trainee for a week if I do!"
He wished, a little wistfully, that their lighthearted banter could have continued longer, but Isla's hesitance at her decision was a sobering reaction and the lorekeeper was always willing to listen. He glanced down at her folded hands, a tightening at the corners of his eyes showing his own worry at her tension as she spoke. He hesitated for a moment, then turned his hand palm-up between them, if she chose to take it - or simply letting it rest on his thigh if she chose not to.
"I don't think I would have made the same decision," he temporized, but his own smile flickered in return, even if there wasn't much humor on it. "And... yes. Perhaps it was foolish. That sort of change is permanent, it sounds like. I asked my friend Samuel about it, but... his status as an Ascended, the requirement to feed from blood or ichor... distressed him, so I didn't push. So while I am still curious I'm also worried about the drawbacks. Losing the sun... among other things." He took a slow breath, exhaling as he looked east to the patchwork of silver starting to rise behind the bare branches of the trees.
"Do you think it's worth it?" he asked quietly. "The price of this knowledge? Would you make the same choice again, knowing what you do now?"
He wished, a little wistfully, that their lighthearted banter could have continued longer, but Isla's hesitance at her decision was a sobering reaction and the lorekeeper was always willing to listen. He glanced down at her folded hands, a tightening at the corners of his eyes showing his own worry at her tension as she spoke. He hesitated for a moment, then turned his hand palm-up between them, if she chose to take it - or simply letting it rest on his thigh if she chose not to.
"I don't think I would have made the same decision," he temporized, but his own smile flickered in return, even if there wasn't much humor on it. "And... yes. Perhaps it was foolish. That sort of change is permanent, it sounds like. I asked my friend Samuel about it, but... his status as an Ascended, the requirement to feed from blood or ichor... distressed him, so I didn't push. So while I am still curious I'm also worried about the drawbacks. Losing the sun... among other things." He took a slow breath, exhaling as he looked east to the patchwork of silver starting to rise behind the bare branches of the trees.
"Do you think it's worth it?" he asked quietly. "The price of this knowledge? Would you make the same choice again, knowing what you do now?"
