[ As Tav explains, Bastien nods. Hums once. No sign in any of that that Rowntree hates anyone, of course, but plenty of sign that Tav hates himself—which is fair, honestly. If Bastien couldn't help murdering people who didn't deserve it, he wouldn't be overly fond of himself either. ]
Yes, well,
[ is his only answer to the second part, a polite semi-agreement for the sake of not wasting time discussing when apologies are or are not needed.
He waits until he's successfully found and lit a cigarette to say anything else. ]
No one hates you, Tav. Not that I know of. Certainly not for what happens when you are not yourself. When people seem frustrated, it is...
[ Inhale, exhale, in anticipation of a mouthful. ]
We are at war, you know? We all work a lot. We have a lot to worry about. And in the meantime we are home to all kinds of people who are not easily accepted in Thedas—rifters like you among them—and we have spent years and money and sweat and blood convincing the world that they can trust us to do our work and to keep people safe, insofar as that is ever up to us.
So what is happening with you, it is very inconvenient. It is not only that we can't let you kill someone. Of course we can't. But we also can't let people outside of this fortress know that it was ever a risk.
And in the meantime we have the war, we have dozens of other problems we cannot set aside to worry about you. We thought our people were dead, you know? Benedict had been replaced by a demon. We thought he was dead. We were realizing he was not the only one. I should not have been short with you that way, and I am sorry, but if people are brusque with you, it is not because you hurt anyone's feelings threatening to kill them. People threaten us all the time.
no subject
Yes, well,
[ is his only answer to the second part, a polite semi-agreement for the sake of not wasting time discussing when apologies are or are not needed.
He waits until he's successfully found and lit a cigarette to say anything else. ]
No one hates you, Tav. Not that I know of. Certainly not for what happens when you are not yourself. When people seem frustrated, it is...
[ Inhale, exhale, in anticipation of a mouthful. ]
We are at war, you know? We all work a lot. We have a lot to worry about. And in the meantime we are home to all kinds of people who are not easily accepted in Thedas—rifters like you among them—and we have spent years and money and sweat and blood convincing the world that they can trust us to do our work and to keep people safe, insofar as that is ever up to us.
So what is happening with you, it is very inconvenient. It is not only that we can't let you kill someone. Of course we can't. But we also can't let people outside of this fortress know that it was ever a risk.
And in the meantime we have the war, we have dozens of other problems we cannot set aside to worry about you. We thought our people were dead, you know? Benedict had been replaced by a demon. We thought he was dead. We were realizing he was not the only one. I should not have been short with you that way, and I am sorry, but if people are brusque with you, it is not because you hurt anyone's feelings threatening to kill them. People threaten us all the time.