26.Jan.12, 06:48 PM
Talian listened quietly to B'jin's hesitant, murmured responses. The young man passively accepted the mug of Klah, which he started gulping at without so much as blowing on it. Pain tolerance and years of late night studying made him a champion of guzzling hot drinks. He needed it. He hadn't been sleeping well and it had already been a long day.
B'jin's words left a bad taste in Talain's mouth. He eyed the greenrider suspiciously, carefully looking for signs of falsehood, but when he looked at B'jin he saw someone not unlike himself. B'jin was obviously outwardly emotional, the sort of man that didn't bother to hide his feelings from others. Candid. Transparent. Sensitive.
Like Talian.
He couldn't ignore the weight in B'jin's tone as he made his offer. Talian took another long gulp. "You want to know me?" he asked. "...Can't you just make your dragon spy on my mind?" he asked softly. He didn't care to expose himself to B'jin any more than he already had, though he wearily admitted to himself that it was probably inevitable. "Don't you think it's awfully arrogant to do this to someone and then assume that they want to be your friend?" he went on. There was no bite to his tone, though it was laced with a noticeable spike of sadness.
He frowned. "I know you people think of this as...some sort of privilege. But I don't want a dragon. I don't want to be here. You can pretend like you're doing me some sort of favor, but the truth is I'm here against my will, far away from home...I'm a prisoner, and you have no intention of ever letting me go. You expect me to 'adapt' to that?" he asked. His hands remained perfectly steady, but his voice trembled.
"How many other people have you done this to?" he asked, looking pointedly at B'jin. He stared directly into the greenrider's eyes, his own both accusing and almost pleading. He realized in that moment that he didn't even know B'jin's name. He inhaled softly, readying himself for an unpleasant reality. "I'm not sure if I want to know you or not. You never even told me your name," he said. "All you've done is take me from my home, then turn around and tell me that you care without even bothering to specify why..."
B'jin's words left a bad taste in Talain's mouth. He eyed the greenrider suspiciously, carefully looking for signs of falsehood, but when he looked at B'jin he saw someone not unlike himself. B'jin was obviously outwardly emotional, the sort of man that didn't bother to hide his feelings from others. Candid. Transparent. Sensitive.
Like Talian.
He couldn't ignore the weight in B'jin's tone as he made his offer. Talian took another long gulp. "You want to know me?" he asked. "...Can't you just make your dragon spy on my mind?" he asked softly. He didn't care to expose himself to B'jin any more than he already had, though he wearily admitted to himself that it was probably inevitable. "Don't you think it's awfully arrogant to do this to someone and then assume that they want to be your friend?" he went on. There was no bite to his tone, though it was laced with a noticeable spike of sadness.
He frowned. "I know you people think of this as...some sort of privilege. But I don't want a dragon. I don't want to be here. You can pretend like you're doing me some sort of favor, but the truth is I'm here against my will, far away from home...I'm a prisoner, and you have no intention of ever letting me go. You expect me to 'adapt' to that?" he asked. His hands remained perfectly steady, but his voice trembled.
"How many other people have you done this to?" he asked, looking pointedly at B'jin. He stared directly into the greenrider's eyes, his own both accusing and almost pleading. He realized in that moment that he didn't even know B'jin's name. He inhaled softly, readying himself for an unpleasant reality. "I'm not sure if I want to know you or not. You never even told me your name," he said. "All you've done is take me from my home, then turn around and tell me that you care without even bothering to specify why..."