...If I am being honest, I was waiting for the moment where something I said would ruin everything.
[ Which is probably why he kept talking.
There's time that Gold doesn't look down at their hands, joined, because he is too entranced to turn his eyes anywhere else but at Stolas' own. It's all of the ways that they differ, as one human born to one Hellborn, but there is still something whole and familiar. The ways in which they were immediately similar, ways that other people did not have as qualities themselves. The parts that he didn't pull out for business, the softer things. The secret things. The things that once or twice he shared, but only with someone, not alongside them.
There is also that core of dark magic that swims in his blood and feels something kin to it. Some element that darkness was tied to long ago, some thread of the Enchanted Forest's tapestry that once weaved within the Hells as well but too long ago for anyone living to remember.
There are the immediate ways that they differ, just as two beings from very different worlds, illustrated perfectly in the intertwining of fingers. Stolas' talons could easily overtake him but seem in their own way gentle, methodical, fine. All while underscoring something similar in his own hands, long fingers that are slow but very certain, specific, soft. All of it less seen as anything deterring, as distinction. ]
You really must forgive me. I was so prepared for this to go very very wrong that now I'm uncertain what to do with myself.
[ And as though on cue, the kettle starts to whistle. It immediately gives him something to do, though notable that he doesn't remove his hands. His eyes flicker briefly, and the kettle gently removes itself from the heat.
He affords Stolas' hands a last, reassuring squeeze before he begins to serve them. ]
If I may... And -- I want to be clear I could see you were in a bad way when we met. It certainly wasn't my ambition to...steal anyone. I had faith things would turn out. I wanted that for you, and I saw some similarities in what either of you were willing to show me. [ So perhaps that was why. ]
no subject
[ Which is probably why he kept talking.
There's time that Gold doesn't look down at their hands, joined, because he is too entranced to turn his eyes anywhere else but at Stolas' own. It's all of the ways that they differ, as one human born to one Hellborn, but there is still something whole and familiar. The ways in which they were immediately similar, ways that other people did not have as qualities themselves. The parts that he didn't pull out for business, the softer things. The secret things. The things that once or twice he shared, but only with someone, not alongside them.
There is also that core of dark magic that swims in his blood and feels something kin to it. Some element that darkness was tied to long ago, some thread of the Enchanted Forest's tapestry that once weaved within the Hells as well but too long ago for anyone living to remember.
There are the immediate ways that they differ, just as two beings from very different worlds, illustrated perfectly in the intertwining of fingers. Stolas' talons could easily overtake him but seem in their own way gentle, methodical, fine. All while underscoring something similar in his own hands, long fingers that are slow but very certain, specific, soft. All of it less seen as anything deterring, as distinction. ]
You really must forgive me. I was so prepared for this to go very very wrong that now I'm uncertain what to do with myself.
[ And as though on cue, the kettle starts to whistle. It immediately gives him something to do, though notable that he doesn't remove his hands. His eyes flicker briefly, and the kettle gently removes itself from the heat.
He affords Stolas' hands a last, reassuring squeeze before he begins to serve them. ]
If I may... And -- I want to be clear I could see you were in a bad way when we met. It certainly wasn't my ambition to...steal anyone. I had faith things would turn out. I wanted that for you, and I saw some similarities in what either of you were willing to show me. [ So perhaps that was why. ]