[ Emet-Selch could have the princeling dealt with in a quarter bell, if Viktor would only allow it. While they are on far more even footing now than they were at the start of their little adventure, there is a part of Emet-Selch aware enough to recognize that were there a leash to be held, it would be Viktor whose hand it rests in. The collar does not sit as tight as it once did, either. Less hands wound tight 'round his throat and more a steady, solid pressure, reminding and tempering him.
The laughter is more startling than it ought to be, perhaps. Emet-Selch looks up from soaking stew broth into the latest slice of bread, eyebrows climbing up to join his hairline. ]
Is it. [ For all that it is not uttered like a question, it is one. Would that he could read Viktor's mind and know what it was that was so amusing, but Viktor does not elaborate and Emet-Selch finds himself a new task to occupy his thoughts, mulling over Viktor's request. The short answer is no; the charts and diagrams he could whip out would be borderline incomprehensible to anyone who hadn't spent the better part of their life studying magic and he cannot imagine it would do more than confuse Viktor further.
The problem to be solved is an interesting enough one, though, and he's quiet for a few moments, chewing thoughtfully, barely tasting the meal as he considers the options as they are. He could attempt to simply explain it, bruteforcing his way through but that would not be a sufficient solution, he fears. Just as likely that they get annoyed with each other because Emet-Selch lacks the patience. Hythlodaeus would... Stars, what would he do, he was always better at this sort of thing.
Hythlodaeus would look at it as a fun little challenge, he thinks. One best solved by something physical, tangible. Glasses, maybe. An item one could wear that would simulate the same view, if dimmed. A passable solution, though something twists uncomfortably in Emet-Selch's chest, a disdain he can't quite shake about the idea of making light of something once so rare. Were he better, maybe he would find it satisfying to be able to share what so many regarded as a gift; as it is now, to do so would feel too much like a betrayal of what once was. ]
Any chart or diagram I could hope to lay out would be so incomprehensible it would be useless. [ No, they've an answer, and it sits between them, tangled in the both of their souls. ] A more...efficient solution would be to lift the veil and allow the use of my eyes, effectively.
[ That level of detail work is not something he has actively practiced, nor is it something he is certain he could successfully maintain, along with the barrier keeping the both of them apart. The magic is too new, and Viktor is too unpredictable. But given the alternative... ]
The veil I've placed between us exists to keep us both separate, safe from...comingling we do not wish to occur. To lift the veil to that extent - there is a chance, a small chance but one nonetheless, that I may not be able to fasten it down once again. Or that one or both of us, receives rather more than we intend to share, should you think to agree.
no subject
The laughter is more startling than it ought to be, perhaps. Emet-Selch looks up from soaking stew broth into the latest slice of bread, eyebrows climbing up to join his hairline. ]
Is it. [ For all that it is not uttered like a question, it is one. Would that he could read Viktor's mind and know what it was that was so amusing, but Viktor does not elaborate and Emet-Selch finds himself a new task to occupy his thoughts, mulling over Viktor's request. The short answer is no; the charts and diagrams he could whip out would be borderline incomprehensible to anyone who hadn't spent the better part of their life studying magic and he cannot imagine it would do more than confuse Viktor further.
The problem to be solved is an interesting enough one, though, and he's quiet for a few moments, chewing thoughtfully, barely tasting the meal as he considers the options as they are. He could attempt to simply explain it, bruteforcing his way through but that would not be a sufficient solution, he fears. Just as likely that they get annoyed with each other because Emet-Selch lacks the patience. Hythlodaeus would... Stars, what would he do, he was always better at this sort of thing.
Hythlodaeus would look at it as a fun little challenge, he thinks. One best solved by something physical, tangible. Glasses, maybe. An item one could wear that would simulate the same view, if dimmed. A passable solution, though something twists uncomfortably in Emet-Selch's chest, a disdain he can't quite shake about the idea of making light of something once so rare. Were he better, maybe he would find it satisfying to be able to share what so many regarded as a gift; as it is now, to do so would feel too much like a betrayal of what once was. ]
Any chart or diagram I could hope to lay out would be so incomprehensible it would be useless. [ No, they've an answer, and it sits between them, tangled in the both of their souls. ] A more...efficient solution would be to lift the veil and allow the use of my eyes, effectively.
[ That level of detail work is not something he has actively practiced, nor is it something he is certain he could successfully maintain, along with the barrier keeping the both of them apart. The magic is too new, and Viktor is too unpredictable. But given the alternative... ]
The veil I've placed between us exists to keep us both separate, safe from...comingling we do not wish to occur. To lift the veil to that extent - there is a chance, a small chance but one nonetheless, that I may not be able to fasten it down once again. Or that one or both of us, receives rather more than we intend to share, should you think to agree.