Hanna would like to think that he has the patience for the second option, doesnt think that the first is sustainable even if he feels like it would be satisfying to stay on for at least a little bit longer. He might feel bad about it, but it wouldnt really change anything.
"Thirdly, there is this smaller, simpler revenge: to decide that he has forfeited the chance of your goodwill. A gift you offer freely, no matter what anyone has done before we come here. A gift he did not believe in, want, or notice, and would have chosen to spurn if he had. You have your answer, and you are not obliged to offer it endlessly. You may hate him, but you need not dwell on hating him. You may simply decide that your pain, your anger, your helplessness, your friends' suffering - he did not think there was any cost to him, to cause this. But you are the cost."
Kahl's eyes are very bright and very green in the dimness of the chapel; there is a low thrum under his voice, something like a purr but perhaps more like distant thunder.
"You are extraordinary, Hanna Falk Cross, in your ability to listen, even to creatures wholly different from yourself. In your ability to accept people as they are, no matter how strange, to offer kindness and fairness as well as you can see it. In your ability to be...friendly, even to creatures who have never had a friend, and do not know how it is done, no matter how grand and terrible, or prickly and strange. I know this, from the way you have spoken to me.
"He is...very like me, in some ways. Perhaps you could have been a friend to him. But now he will never know. You do not need to hurt him. His life has already been filled with pain, and there is pain in store for him yet. You do not need to make more. That is not what you wish to do with your life. There are others here, who will help him, and who may one day befriend him. But you will never be one of them. The consequences of his own actions, upon his own head."
It isnt often that Hanna is left speechless, staring down at the green-eyed god in his lap, the hand that had been petting him still on his back.
And perhaps its a testament to how far he's gotten since his graduation and the acceptance but lack of practice in putting himself up higher on the shelf that he isn't immediately rejecting the idea that the loss of him is a cost anyone would care about.
But then, he cares about it, and the god who chose and was chosen by someone he cares deeply about can see who he is and explain it far more eloquently than he ever could.
"U-um...Thanks. I-" now he's flustered, unsure what to say.
The Eleven won't care, won't ever know to care, in all likelihood. But it will still be a loss for him. And it will do Hanna good, to practice knowing it for himself.
"None of the paths are entirely without sacrifices. But those are your choices. If you wish to remain here for a time, and think on them, I will stay with you."
He doesn't need to say anything, if speaking is difficult. Kahl is a cat, after all. He knows how to sit in silence with someone.
Hanna's hand starts to pet down his back again, finding himself becoming more of a cat person despite his own dog person energy. When you're surrounded by cats, he supposes it makes sense.
"I think I will, for a little bit. Do you like Queen?" He asks, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his Zune, setting one earbud in and leaving the other hanging in his lap close to Kahl as he scrolls through his library.
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Re: Chapel
"Alright... so then what's the third option?"
Re: Chapel
Kahl's eyes are very bright and very green in the dimness of the chapel; there is a low thrum under his voice, something like a purr but perhaps more like distant thunder.
"You are extraordinary, Hanna Falk Cross, in your ability to listen, even to creatures wholly different from yourself. In your ability to accept people as they are, no matter how strange, to offer kindness and fairness as well as you can see it. In your ability to be...friendly, even to creatures who have never had a friend, and do not know how it is done, no matter how grand and terrible, or prickly and strange. I know this, from the way you have spoken to me.
"He is...very like me, in some ways. Perhaps you could have been a friend to him. But now he will never know. You do not need to hurt him. His life has already been filled with pain, and there is pain in store for him yet. You do not need to make more. That is not what you wish to do with your life. There are others here, who will help him, and who may one day befriend him. But you will never be one of them. The consequences of his own actions, upon his own head."
And what could be more neutral than that?
Re: Chapel
And perhaps its a testament to how far he's gotten since his graduation and the acceptance but lack of practice in putting himself up higher on the shelf that he isn't immediately rejecting the idea that the loss of him is a cost anyone would care about.
But then, he cares about it, and the god who chose and was chosen by someone he cares deeply about can see who he is and explain it far more eloquently than he ever could.
"U-um...Thanks. I-" now he's flustered, unsure what to say.
Re: Chapel
"None of the paths are entirely without sacrifices. But those are your choices. If you wish to remain here for a time, and think on them, I will stay with you."
He doesn't need to say anything, if speaking is difficult. Kahl is a cat, after all. He knows how to sit in silence with someone.
Re: Chapel
"I think I will, for a little bit. Do you like Queen?" He asks, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his Zune, setting one earbud in and leaving the other hanging in his lap close to Kahl as he scrolls through his library.
Re: Chapel
Re: Chapel
He takes in a deep breath as it starts and melts into the pew, head back and petting Kahl.
Re: Chapel