Ion considers the question. He knew he hadn't been there as long as some of the people he had met, but when he forced himself to go back and think of all the things that had happened in the time since he had arrived...well, it felt like so much longer. "Seven...no, nearly eight months, now."
Granted, for how long and arduous of a stay it felt, Ion couldn't help the guilt that accompanied the thought. Because as painful as it was for him, how much worse had it been for those who had been there longer? How many more cruel experiments and games had they undergone? And for how often Ion longed to be reunited with a thriving, happy Auldrant, how much more did the others long for their own respective worlds?
To think of what it had been like seemed to be a complaint in and of itself. Ion didn't want to be selfish.
He listens carefully to what Jade has to say about Anise, knowing that the man has a point. Some things really were better left unsaid, and maybe that was true in this scenario, as well. Was it simply how close he felt to Anise that made it so much harder to accept things for what they were? Or had he simply grown tired of ignoring her evasiveness with a gentle smile, playing along so to not make her uncomfortable, all the while letting it fill his heart with uncertainty?
"Not at all," he assures, finally. "Those are all good points you mention. And if I were still on Auldrant, knowing only what I knew then to be true--that Van had been defeated and Mohs arrested--I would have been more than satisfied to let the subject remain unspoken."
Ion sighs. "I suppose, however, if I'm being honest, I'm not sure I can stop myself from being troubled either way." He was afraid to know what Anise was hiding from him--because if his suspicions were correct, it wasn't news that any one person would be glad to receive. But the circumstances had changed. Ion had been told that things weren't as simple: that Van hadn't really been defeated. He knew that at some point, Anise had met--and named--another replica of the original Ion that he himself had never known of.
"If it would hurt Anise to talk about it, I'm more than happy to let her hold on to her secrets...but I wonder, at this point, if it wouldn't be easier for the both of us if she didn't feel as if she had to keep it from me anymore." In the end, that was what it was really about, wasn't it? It hurt more than anything, the way she'd stiffen and turn away. He just wanted her to be comfortable around him, and to trust that whatever it was she was withholding from him, he'd forgive it. He'd forgive her.
no subject
Granted, for how long and arduous of a stay it felt, Ion couldn't help the guilt that accompanied the thought. Because as painful as it was for him, how much worse had it been for those who had been there longer? How many more cruel experiments and games had they undergone? And for how often Ion longed to be reunited with a thriving, happy Auldrant, how much more did the others long for their own respective worlds?
To think of what it had been like seemed to be a complaint in and of itself. Ion didn't want to be selfish.
He listens carefully to what Jade has to say about Anise, knowing that the man has a point. Some things really were better left unsaid, and maybe that was true in this scenario, as well. Was it simply how close he felt to Anise that made it so much harder to accept things for what they were? Or had he simply grown tired of ignoring her evasiveness with a gentle smile, playing along so to not make her uncomfortable, all the while letting it fill his heart with uncertainty?
"Not at all," he assures, finally. "Those are all good points you mention. And if I were still on Auldrant, knowing only what I knew then to be true--that Van had been defeated and Mohs arrested--I would have been more than satisfied to let the subject remain unspoken."
Ion sighs. "I suppose, however, if I'm being honest, I'm not sure I can stop myself from being troubled either way." He was afraid to know what Anise was hiding from him--because if his suspicions were correct, it wasn't news that any one person would be glad to receive. But the circumstances had changed. Ion had been told that things weren't as simple: that Van hadn't really been defeated. He knew that at some point, Anise had met--and named--another replica of the original Ion that he himself had never known of.
"If it would hurt Anise to talk about it, I'm more than happy to let her hold on to her secrets...but I wonder, at this point, if it wouldn't be easier for the both of us if she didn't feel as if she had to keep it from me anymore." In the end, that was what it was really about, wasn't it? It hurt more than anything, the way she'd stiffen and turn away. He just wanted her to be comfortable around him, and to trust that whatever it was she was withholding from him, he'd forgive it. He'd forgive her.