Loren was at least being honest and open with him, even if that meant a significant dose of vitriol as he clung to his self-imposed illusions of monstrosity and guilt. Jigano let the goose fly ahead and gain some space reluctantly, a faint rumble of affection in his powerful chest. Why do I ask you for help? Aside from being an intelligent man, a powerful mage, and a man who has taken his Loreseeker responsibilities seriously? Because you're my friend, Loren. It had taken time and tragedies aplenty to get there, but for Jigano they most certainly had. And you are someone I enjoy speaking with, working beside, and solving problems with. Admittedly, this wasn't the most fun conversation they'd ever had. But thanks to their rather spectacularly awful first meeting, at least it wasn't the worst?
He listened to the cold anger in Loren's words, the raging and railing against the family that had abandoned him when he wouldn't toe the line and fit the mold they had decreed for him. A name you were going to see reborn, he said quietly, remembering Loren's staunch resistance to abandoning the name and becoming something wholly his own. A name free of the hate and loathing Zariah had tinged it with. Do you truly find kindness to be such a burden? See compassion as a weakness? In others, such as Abasi? Best not to ask what Loren thought of him when the summoner was in such a wounding mood. But he was no Zariah Launceleyn, not even on his worst day, and that was one of the reasons Jigano liked him.
He listened to the cold anger in Loren's words, the raging and railing against the family that had abandoned him when he wouldn't toe the line and fit the mold they had decreed for him. A name you were going to see reborn, he said quietly, remembering Loren's staunch resistance to abandoning the name and becoming something wholly his own. A name free of the hate and loathing Zariah had tinged it with. Do you truly find kindness to be such a burden? See compassion as a weakness? In others, such as Abasi? Best not to ask what Loren thought of him when the summoner was in such a wounding mood. But he was no Zariah Launceleyn, not even on his worst day, and that was one of the reasons Jigano liked him.
