They should learn to be themselves, first. [Break is firm on this.] Our own world burdened them with saving it, from problems that should never have been forced upon them. For all its faults, being here in this place is the first time any of them are able to choose who and what they'll be.
I have already enjoyed a full life of my own -- and, with so many fighters here stronger and in possession of more interesting skills than I, there's no need to worry I'm not doing my part against all the monsters and things if I retire. Since that's the case, giving these kids the opportunity to simply be kids who have a safe place to come home to is what suits me best of all.
[It's the first time he's verbalized this, but the wheels in his head have been surging in this direction since he was kidnapped by a flock of ravens, tossed into a boat with a relative stranger, and forced to use illusions of corpses as inspiration to bat around painful secrets. The discovery of just how horribly Trench is going to wind up hurting the kids has shown him what his real fight is, now. He's the only one of the lot who has ever known a truly loving home. The kindest thing he can do for them is to recreate it, and he's woefully unprepared.]
I imagine it's a troublesome thing, to teach a blind man to bake, and there will turn out to be things I simply must have an extra set of eyes about for. I'm bothering several people about it, so that I can learn as many different kitchen things as possible. However, I'm certainly capable of handling the washing up for you in return, and likely a few other annoying chores as well.
[Baltus chooses this moment to leap back onto the bed behind him and drape his head over Break's shoulder, the better to put his entire long face back into the frame with the small pumpkin he has indeed been chewing on hanging out of his mouth. Look, Lysithea! Here is Baltus's current pumpkin, and given the tooth marks shredding the sides of it, he has been enjoying it very much.]
...I would, of course, have this one with me. Every time.
no subject
I have already enjoyed a full life of my own -- and, with so many fighters here stronger and in possession of more interesting skills than I, there's no need to worry I'm not doing my part against all the monsters and things if I retire. Since that's the case, giving these kids the opportunity to simply be kids who have a safe place to come home to is what suits me best of all.
[It's the first time he's verbalized this, but the wheels in his head have been surging in this direction since he was kidnapped by a flock of ravens, tossed into a boat with a relative stranger, and forced to use illusions of corpses as inspiration to bat around painful secrets. The discovery of just how horribly Trench is going to wind up hurting the kids has shown him what his real fight is, now. He's the only one of the lot who has ever known a truly loving home. The kindest thing he can do for them is to recreate it, and he's woefully unprepared.]
I imagine it's a troublesome thing, to teach a blind man to bake, and there will turn out to be things I simply must have an extra set of eyes about for. I'm bothering several people about it, so that I can learn as many different kitchen things as possible. However, I'm certainly capable of handling the washing up for you in return, and likely a few other annoying chores as well.
[Baltus chooses this moment to leap back onto the bed behind him and drape his head over Break's shoulder, the better to put his entire long face back into the frame with the small pumpkin he has indeed been chewing on hanging out of his mouth. Look, Lysithea! Here is Baltus's current pumpkin, and given the tooth marks shredding the sides of it, he has been enjoying it very much.]
...I would, of course, have this one with me. Every time.