09.Feb.13, 07:34 AM
D'ren was getting used to hearing bad things about Tsuen. He frowned slightly, eyes down-turned and expression hardening almost invisibly, and sighed. "You needn't apologize. I'm hearing a lot of that these days," he remarked, though that was where his comment ended. How could he talk to someone he barely knew about his feelings concerning Tsuen? They'd been through a lot together. They shared the hard decisions and the painful guilt, they shared the same fears and the same hopes...at least that was how it had once been.
Times change, and so do people.
She wasn't the same anymore. He didn't need to tell anyone that himself. No one needed to be told that. She even looked different these days, and all of her old stoicism and enduring spirit seemed to have corroded away, leaving only the crumbling mortar behind. D'ren wasn't sure when it had happened. It happened while he wasn't looking, worrying as he did about the Weyr and it's people. It happened when his back was turned, because he didn't have the presence of mind to turn around and check on her. Would she have done the same if he was the one going crazy? Would she be all right if he'd been more attentive? Would she have wanted him to worry about his job more than her own health, were she stable enough to comment?
All he knew was that someone needed to pity her and mourn her, even if no one believed in her anymore. He sure didn't, but he would mourn her just the same.
"Tsuen isn't important right now, though." That was all. He had nothing else to say on the matter.
He paused and rubbed his temples for a moment, trying to think of a response to her question as he emerged from the confused haze left by the previous topic. "I...well, thank you," he said, pleasant but concerned. "I'm not really sure what to tell you, R'ana. I'm not the Weyrleader anymore." There wasn't any bitterness in his tone, but there was marked wariness and mistrust. The intensity lingering in his eyes was unmistakable. He believed with all his heart that he'd been intentionally removed and that he was supposed to be dead. By asking to help, this girl was putting herself in a dangerous position.
"I am worried for Tsuen. I expect whoever did this to me will target her eventually," he muttered. Or use her. But who knew? He still wasn;'t even sure who to blame. There were too many people in the Weyr that he didn't trust.
He sighed again, defeated. "I just don't know. I want to see this resolved, but I am...I am very uncomfortable with S'kef being in charge. I don't know what's really going on out there."
Times change, and so do people.
She wasn't the same anymore. He didn't need to tell anyone that himself. No one needed to be told that. She even looked different these days, and all of her old stoicism and enduring spirit seemed to have corroded away, leaving only the crumbling mortar behind. D'ren wasn't sure when it had happened. It happened while he wasn't looking, worrying as he did about the Weyr and it's people. It happened when his back was turned, because he didn't have the presence of mind to turn around and check on her. Would she have done the same if he was the one going crazy? Would she be all right if he'd been more attentive? Would she have wanted him to worry about his job more than her own health, were she stable enough to comment?
All he knew was that someone needed to pity her and mourn her, even if no one believed in her anymore. He sure didn't, but he would mourn her just the same.
"Tsuen isn't important right now, though." That was all. He had nothing else to say on the matter.
He paused and rubbed his temples for a moment, trying to think of a response to her question as he emerged from the confused haze left by the previous topic. "I...well, thank you," he said, pleasant but concerned. "I'm not really sure what to tell you, R'ana. I'm not the Weyrleader anymore." There wasn't any bitterness in his tone, but there was marked wariness and mistrust. The intensity lingering in his eyes was unmistakable. He believed with all his heart that he'd been intentionally removed and that he was supposed to be dead. By asking to help, this girl was putting herself in a dangerous position.
"I am worried for Tsuen. I expect whoever did this to me will target her eventually," he muttered. Or use her. But who knew? He still wasn;'t even sure who to blame. There were too many people in the Weyr that he didn't trust.
He sighed again, defeated. "I just don't know. I want to see this resolved, but I am...I am very uncomfortable with S'kef being in charge. I don't know what's really going on out there."