"That I gave it all I had," The Anchor-light isn't visible beneath gauntlet. He flexes the hand anyway, unconscious. "That this wasn't a waste."
Everyone thinks about it: What else they'd do, if they'd done different. What if he'd stayed in the Alienage, found a labourer's job? He'd only have found himself a conscript or a refugee. Else quit lyrium, and taken his leave of Broward? A vagrant without ties or trade.
With a mouth still to feed.
A hundred ways to end up in the exact same place - with less training. With little support. If Barrow's seen a fair amount, he knows it, what it is to be outside fortune. The reality of that division.
"We've been given so much. What's it worth unless we use it?"
Barrow's smile is gentle, fond, perhaps a little proud: the kids are all right, at least sometimes. It's strange to see someone in boots he occupied decades ago, making the same sorts of decisions, asking the same questions, and ultimately doing a far better job of it.
"You're in the right place, then," he says gently, "I hope it deserves you."
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-04-02 11:22 pm (UTC)"That I gave it all I had," The Anchor-light isn't visible beneath gauntlet. He flexes the hand anyway, unconscious. "That this wasn't a waste."
Everyone thinks about it: What else they'd do, if they'd done different. What if he'd stayed in the Alienage, found a labourer's job? He'd only have found himself a conscript or a refugee. Else quit lyrium, and taken his leave of Broward? A vagrant without ties or trade.
With a mouth still to feed.
A hundred ways to end up in the exact same place - with less training. With little support. If Barrow's seen a fair amount, he knows it, what it is to be outside fortune. The reality of that division.
"We've been given so much. What's it worth unless we use it?"
What are any of them worth?
no subject
Date: 2024-04-03 08:19 pm (UTC)Barrow's smile is gentle, fond, perhaps a little proud: the kids are all right, at least sometimes. It's strange to see someone in boots he occupied decades ago, making the same sorts of decisions, asking the same questions, and ultimately doing a far better job of it.
"You're in the right place, then," he says gently, "I hope it deserves you."