06.Apr.12, 12:02 AM
Tal frowned, slumping lightly against the wall and listening with misgiving as R'nd explained himself. The healer imagined he at least owed R'nd an ear, though he remained largely unconvinced...not of the bluerider's good intentions, but of his own ability to look past the rank itself.
He knew it was unfair, but he couldn't just order his brain to shift modes.
"That's exactly why I don't want to be a dragonrider," he said bitterly. He looked straight at R'nd, but the effect was lost between distance and darkness. Talian was quiet for an uncomfortably long time before he spoke again. "That'll be the last thing your leaders can take from me," he said with deceptive stoicism, choosing intentionally to say 'your leaders' instead of a generic, catch-all 'you'. It was a minor token of acknowledgement, a sort of 'benefit of the doubt' term. Tal was doing his best not to label R'nd, though his mistrust lingered.
"They've taken everything else from me. My craft is all that remains," he whispered. "I don't think it's worth a dragon, but if I say anything like that, they just say 'you don't know what you're talking about. Of course you want a dragon'. It's....I don't know," he said, stopping gently before he could get off on a tangent. He was an emotional boy and had poor control over his expressiveness. The last thing he needed was to dump a sob story on R'nd right now. "It's not important."
He sighed again. "I'm sorry to have bothered you," he said one final time, soft voice muffled somewhat as he hugged his knees. He hoped R'nd would get the message and leave him alone now. He didn't know what else he could say; he had nothing particularly nice to say and he didn't want to go off the deep end. He just couldn't imagine anything in between.
He knew it was unfair, but he couldn't just order his brain to shift modes.
"That's exactly why I don't want to be a dragonrider," he said bitterly. He looked straight at R'nd, but the effect was lost between distance and darkness. Talian was quiet for an uncomfortably long time before he spoke again. "That'll be the last thing your leaders can take from me," he said with deceptive stoicism, choosing intentionally to say 'your leaders' instead of a generic, catch-all 'you'. It was a minor token of acknowledgement, a sort of 'benefit of the doubt' term. Tal was doing his best not to label R'nd, though his mistrust lingered.
"They've taken everything else from me. My craft is all that remains," he whispered. "I don't think it's worth a dragon, but if I say anything like that, they just say 'you don't know what you're talking about. Of course you want a dragon'. It's....I don't know," he said, stopping gently before he could get off on a tangent. He was an emotional boy and had poor control over his expressiveness. The last thing he needed was to dump a sob story on R'nd right now. "It's not important."
He sighed again. "I'm sorry to have bothered you," he said one final time, soft voice muffled somewhat as he hugged his knees. He hoped R'nd would get the message and leave him alone now. He didn't know what else he could say; he had nothing particularly nice to say and he didn't want to go off the deep end. He just couldn't imagine anything in between.