Dorian
"A fair enough point." Dorian conceded with a nod, happy enough to let the topic drop.
As it was, a shift in mood would take his mind far afield as Ronin pinned him with an accusatory question. "Have you ever met and Ascended?" The change in his demeanor was small, the slightest tensing of his jaw, the way the warmth in his gaze melted away slowly into cold, nothingness. Dorian glanced away from Ronin briefly, staring out at the ocean again. He had already tread these waters with Amalia, he had already reopened these wounds to gain the trust of another. How many more times would he be asked to torture himself so?
Fucking Rosencrantz.
After a long pause, the Orator took a slow, deep breath in. "I have, actually. The love of my life left me to join the Voice." he said softly, voice tight with emotion he held back by sheer force of will. "They are people, with actual feelings. I empathize with mourning them and calling them friends..." he stared, pausing as he finally looked back at Ronin. "But you do not understand yet the control she can exert over them - how she can coerce them to her bidding, love and kin and friendship be damned. I can assure you the day will come when she asks them to choose between herself - the one whom they rely on to exist - and you. The day will come when she asks them to prove their loyalty by wounding the people closest to you, because you are, by virtue of your bond with Safrin, her eternal enemy."
Dorian stopped briefly, gaze and words imploring the man to understand even as he spoke with and even, pleasant tone. He did not speak out of ignorant hate or rumored tales of monsters but from experience. He had seen her playbook firsthand. "I would not ask you to hate them. I would only ask that you assist us, so that such suffering can be mitigated." he said.
As it was, a shift in mood would take his mind far afield as Ronin pinned him with an accusatory question. "Have you ever met and Ascended?" The change in his demeanor was small, the slightest tensing of his jaw, the way the warmth in his gaze melted away slowly into cold, nothingness. Dorian glanced away from Ronin briefly, staring out at the ocean again. He had already tread these waters with Amalia, he had already reopened these wounds to gain the trust of another. How many more times would he be asked to torture himself so?
Fucking Rosencrantz.
After a long pause, the Orator took a slow, deep breath in. "I have, actually. The love of my life left me to join the Voice." he said softly, voice tight with emotion he held back by sheer force of will. "They are people, with actual feelings. I empathize with mourning them and calling them friends..." he stared, pausing as he finally looked back at Ronin. "But you do not understand yet the control she can exert over them - how she can coerce them to her bidding, love and kin and friendship be damned. I can assure you the day will come when she asks them to choose between herself - the one whom they rely on to exist - and you. The day will come when she asks them to prove their loyalty by wounding the people closest to you, because you are, by virtue of your bond with Safrin, her eternal enemy."
Dorian stopped briefly, gaze and words imploring the man to understand even as he spoke with and even, pleasant tone. He did not speak out of ignorant hate or rumored tales of monsters but from experience. He had seen her playbook firsthand. "I would not ask you to hate them. I would only ask that you assist us, so that such suffering can be mitigated." he said.
You & I will always be unfinished business
