He inclined his head in agreement, unable to argue when she called him stubborn: both a strength and a flaw he suspected would be his downfall someday when combined with his curiosity. "I thought that martyrdom might be a way to atone for my past," he admitted, looking up at her again. "For things I did on another world. A shortcut to forgiveness, back before I had close bonds here... and even after. But I've been learning that it only hurts myself and those around me." Amalia, Rory, Isuma... "I know this path is a difficult and thankless one, but it has rewards, too, and there is beauty in the soullights. They shine brightest in the dark, like your stars in the night."
She might not have intended it to be a compliment, but he was both surprised and pleased that she thought he had potential. He had his own vanity, and she knew it well. "Others might have," he agreed simply. "But they didn't."
She knew Ludo better than he ever would, with centuries (and more?) of experience with her fellow herald and the bond of divinity no mortal could understand. He took her correction with a nod, though he'd found it easier to get close to the masked god than the starlit goddess, her own nature catlike in her own ways. Perhaps a matter of luck, or the whims of the divine?
"I regret that name every day," he admitted with a wince as she turned the title of 'Sage' on him. After suggesting it to Edrei in a fit of fey mischief he'd not thought of himself as such since, but he bore it as the lesson of his mistakes in overcomplicating and otherthinking things too far. "I cannot control what Ludo does, but... I am curious..." And wasn't that an understatement? "If you chose to do so, how would you change me to suit your purpose?"
She might not have intended it to be a compliment, but he was both surprised and pleased that she thought he had potential. He had his own vanity, and she knew it well. "Others might have," he agreed simply. "But they didn't."
She knew Ludo better than he ever would, with centuries (and more?) of experience with her fellow herald and the bond of divinity no mortal could understand. He took her correction with a nod, though he'd found it easier to get close to the masked god than the starlit goddess, her own nature catlike in her own ways. Perhaps a matter of luck, or the whims of the divine?
"I regret that name every day," he admitted with a wince as she turned the title of 'Sage' on him. After suggesting it to Edrei in a fit of fey mischief he'd not thought of himself as such since, but he bore it as the lesson of his mistakes in overcomplicating and otherthinking things too far. "I cannot control what Ludo does, but... I am curious..." And wasn't that an understatement? "If you chose to do so, how would you change me to suit your purpose?"
