[And for a moment... that is all he says. Chiron has never been moved easily into emotions, and that hasn't changed now, either. He allowed "Claude" his chance to speak, and now the centaur stands quiet to digest it all.]
How harsh life has been to you.
[Musing, and not exactly with a note of sympathy. It's only a comment of truth as Chiron sees it - you do not become all of these things without being forged by the fires, as it were. Another stretch of silence, and then he rouses himself back to life, shoulders straightening]
Very well. Whatever name you decide suits you at the moment, you are familiar enough to me, and my ears did not perceive any lies.
[...]
Son of House Riegan, you were close to Raven, then?
(No, there weren't any lies. Not this time around as he just... waits. Like a student called up to a teacher, confessing to the trouble he's been at for who knows how long. And now, he stands, not nearly as proud as he's been before.
He's really let Chiron down, hasn't he? And it's this awareness that causes him to shift some, one hand reaching for his arm and just... tugging at his own sleeve.)
I didn't lie.
(Not this time.)
... I was. Like attracts like and all that. As I said before, we even spoke the day before he died.
[Naturally it is up to Claude -- Riegan -- if he wants to divulge the information, but Chiron will still ask all the same, not quite realizing his tone has caused any distress in the other.
Sometimes he is very much a teacher addressing a student and little else]
[... Chiron cannot see Claude, but his eyes still... soften slightly, as if there is some part of his words that have reached a more private core of the centaur]
Yes, I did see him briefly, and there was much unrecognizable to him.
[... Voice more accommodating, and he nods briefly]
I do not think you were wrong to tell him to value himself. No matter his fate, I hope those are words he took to heart.
[The arrows belonged to him since the beginning, but Chiron kept them hostage for his own whims. It's hardly heroic or worthy of praise, and Chiron decides not to excuse the conduct, even if he had his reasons]
no subject
[And for a moment... that is all he says. Chiron has never been moved easily into emotions, and that hasn't changed now, either. He allowed "Claude" his chance to speak, and now the centaur stands quiet to digest it all.]
How harsh life has been to you.
[Musing, and not exactly with a note of sympathy. It's only a comment of truth as Chiron sees it - you do not become all of these things without being forged by the fires, as it were. Another stretch of silence, and then he rouses himself back to life, shoulders straightening]
Very well. Whatever name you decide suits you at the moment, you are familiar enough to me, and my ears did not perceive any lies.
[...]
Son of House Riegan, you were close to Raven, then?
no subject
He's really let Chiron down, hasn't he? And it's this awareness that causes him to shift some, one hand reaching for his arm and just... tugging at his own sleeve.)
I didn't lie.
(Not this time.)
... I was. Like attracts like and all that. As I said before, we even spoke the day before he died.
no subject
[Naturally it is up to Claude -- Riegan -- if he wants to divulge the information, but Chiron will still ask all the same, not quite realizing his tone has caused any distress in the other.
Sometimes he is very much a teacher addressing a student and little else]
no subject
(Of course, there was more but that's the part that stands out to him the most now.)
Did you see him after he changed? His eyes... were like a dead man walking. There wasn't any will. I wanted him to value his life.
(Some good that did, given where they are now.)
no subject
Yes, I did see him briefly, and there was much unrecognizable to him.
[... Voice more accommodating, and he nods briefly]
I do not think you were wrong to tell him to value himself. No matter his fate, I hope those are words he took to heart.
no subject
Quietly,)
I hope so, too.
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As I mentioned, you could very well make them again yourself, but if they have sentimental value... I have no right to keep them from you.
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He's relieved and he reaches out for the arrows. Carefully, as if they were made of glass and could break at any moment, he takes them, r)
Thank you, Teach... Chiron.
(He holds them delicately,)
I owe you for this.
no subject
[The arrows belonged to him since the beginning, but Chiron kept them hostage for his own whims. It's hardly heroic or worthy of praise, and Chiron decides not to excuse the conduct, even if he had his reasons]