[ He thinks to object, initially. They might need all the help they can get with what must needs be done, but they are only slivers of a whole. Lacking in the power, the expertise to be able to adequately effect change if they cannot control their powers or themselves. Teaching one student is difficult enough when he's nearly whole; teaching a slew of them would be - well. Not impossible. He's going to have to sort out a way to do it with the shards of the Ascians, one way or another. To add a few into the mix wouldn't be impossible.
The decision is not, cannot be his, though. It is Viktor's and Viktor - Emet-Selch finds himself wholly distracted from the last bit of his meal pooled at the bottom of the bowl, eyes drawn to Viktor like a moth to flame. For all that Viktor seems uncertain about the path forward, when he begins explaining, none of that carries over. He speaks as if he's attended Anyder, as if he's been doing this for hundreds of years rather than a paltry handful.
For a moment, Emet-Selch thinks, it is the closest to home he has ever felt in thousands of years. I love listening to you talk about this. I love you, Emet-Selch thinks with quiet revelation, the thought surprising him each and every time it occurs. He hadn't thought such a thing possible, and yet every so often, Viktor reminds him that it is, impossibly. ]
Keep your fussing over me to a minimum, if you would. We've plenty of real issues to worry about without catering to my - [ A pause, the faintest twitch of his lips. ] Tired arms. Or pride. They will discover the body tomorrow, and while I do not imagine the sting will have wholly faded, in a few days we ought to make our way there and...introduce ourselves. It would, I think, be worthwhile for you to come along.
[ Emet-Selch can manipulate as well as make peace if needed, but he does not remember how to manage Viktor's ability to speak to people at their level, in the way they need, kindly, effectively. Without searching for an angle, or soft, fleshy spot to exploit. To talk to them as they are, not how they were, with thousands of years of expectations laid upon them. ]
Your shard may also have wisdom on how to sort them out. It would behoove us to speak to them first.
[ Two birds with one stone. Already, he's mulling over what sort of lesson to teach in the morning and what items would act in a fashion similar enough to Viktor's description. Something old, made of component parts that wish to be together because their aether knows no other way. A rock, perhaps; while unexciting, it would serve the purpose of very old. A tree, mayhap, if they can find one old enough. He'll mull over it tonight, maybe. For now, he finishes off his stew and steals his hand back with a final stroke of his thumb across Viktor's knuckles. ]
You wished to snoop about where we ought not be tonight, aye?
no subject
The decision is not, cannot be his, though. It is Viktor's and Viktor - Emet-Selch finds himself wholly distracted from the last bit of his meal pooled at the bottom of the bowl, eyes drawn to Viktor like a moth to flame. For all that Viktor seems uncertain about the path forward, when he begins explaining, none of that carries over. He speaks as if he's attended Anyder, as if he's been doing this for hundreds of years rather than a paltry handful.
For a moment, Emet-Selch thinks, it is the closest to home he has ever felt in thousands of years. I love listening to you talk about this. I love you, Emet-Selch thinks with quiet revelation, the thought surprising him each and every time it occurs. He hadn't thought such a thing possible, and yet every so often, Viktor reminds him that it is, impossibly. ]
Keep your fussing over me to a minimum, if you would. We've plenty of real issues to worry about without catering to my - [ A pause, the faintest twitch of his lips. ] Tired arms. Or pride. They will discover the body tomorrow, and while I do not imagine the sting will have wholly faded, in a few days we ought to make our way there and...introduce ourselves. It would, I think, be worthwhile for you to come along.
[ Emet-Selch can manipulate as well as make peace if needed, but he does not remember how to manage Viktor's ability to speak to people at their level, in the way they need, kindly, effectively. Without searching for an angle, or soft, fleshy spot to exploit. To talk to them as they are, not how they were, with thousands of years of expectations laid upon them. ]
Your shard may also have wisdom on how to sort them out. It would behoove us to speak to them first.
[ Two birds with one stone. Already, he's mulling over what sort of lesson to teach in the morning and what items would act in a fashion similar enough to Viktor's description. Something old, made of component parts that wish to be together because their aether knows no other way. A rock, perhaps; while unexciting, it would serve the purpose of very old. A tree, mayhap, if they can find one old enough. He'll mull over it tonight, maybe. For now, he finishes off his stew and steals his hand back with a final stroke of his thumb across Viktor's knuckles. ]
You wished to snoop about where we ought not be tonight, aye?