[ Drizzt’s sarcasm is met with a little “hmph” but even short, it’s easy to hear the smile in it. Drizzt isn’t wrong, for one, but this is the kind of gentle ribbing he does take well. Lohse and Sebille had always been much more pointed in how they gave Fane a hard time (which he very much deserved), but this gentler sort is another little trait that reminds Fane of Ifan. He might have a type, but he’s very much ignorant of it…
But Drizzt’s explanation makes that warmth invisibly fade. It’s not a surprise, exactly. It’d been a brutal place and one that Fane really had no context for at all. Rivellon may be a shithole and its people ignorant jackasses, but they still weren’t Drow. Or rather, proper Drow, now that Drizzt puts the point on it that he’s indeed not like them. ]
I did see. It was…
[ He starts to say, and there’s open concern in his voice, but he doesn’t interrupt further. Reflexively, he doesn’t know how Drizzt could find way to love them, but it is only that. When he considers it just a moment more, he understands. When he’d first mulled over the idea of saving his people, it had occurred to him that it was all his people, even the ones he’d disliked for stakes that now seemed petty. Even his King that had wronged him so. It’s different, of course, but there’s a similarity he sees that quiets the first impulse.
Fane’s mind is movingly quickly, since he’s not sure what to say to it either. He’s sorry that Drizzt had to live in a place like that or that he’s glad that Drizzt was not a proper Drow. That of all the worlds they’ve visited so far, that was the only one that Fane had decided to let go.
But those uncertain thoughts are set aside when Drizzt guides his hand. He’s confused at first, since he doesn’t understand the gesture until he moves his hand to his actual Shard. It’s a case where the sensation itself isn’t even necessary. He feels the gratitude and accepts it with ease, since that part is simple. He’d returned it because it seemed like the right thing to do, and he would have done so for most Shard-Bearers. But the affection…
He moves his hand so that he can grip Drizzt’s hand gently, if only for a moment. He has affection of his own, but he’s a bit afraid of letting that be as open and earnest as Drizzt’s. So, it’s a touch given in return. It’s not the first time, but again, he wishes so badly that he could feel the other man’s hand. So, he’s a bit glad that it’s brief. The sting of lacking that connection never seems to abate, and so he readily turns his attention towards— ]
Ah.
[ Ironically, that lament is rather quickly follow by being glad for his state, because he’d surely blush to have this “gift” follow those feelings. But he laughs for the ridiculous coincidence of it, and he reaches out to grab his own Shard and inspect it. It’s a different shape, like it was meant to be set in a slightly differently shape inlay on his skull, but the color is identical. ]
I fear reading too much into the fact that we found each other’s Shards, but— Ha, what a silly thing. I imagine you had no more pleasant a time on Bloodmoon Island to obtain it than I did yours.
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But Drizzt’s explanation makes that warmth invisibly fade. It’s not a surprise, exactly. It’d been a brutal place and one that Fane really had no context for at all. Rivellon may be a shithole and its people ignorant jackasses, but they still weren’t Drow. Or rather, proper Drow, now that Drizzt puts the point on it that he’s indeed not like them. ]
I did see. It was…
[ He starts to say, and there’s open concern in his voice, but he doesn’t interrupt further. Reflexively, he doesn’t know how Drizzt could find way to love them, but it is only that. When he considers it just a moment more, he understands. When he’d first mulled over the idea of saving his people, it had occurred to him that it was all his people, even the ones he’d disliked for stakes that now seemed petty. Even his King that had wronged him so. It’s different, of course, but there’s a similarity he sees that quiets the first impulse.
Fane’s mind is movingly quickly, since he’s not sure what to say to it either. He’s sorry that Drizzt had to live in a place like that or that he’s glad that Drizzt was not a proper Drow. That of all the worlds they’ve visited so far, that was the only one that Fane had decided to let go.
But those uncertain thoughts are set aside when Drizzt guides his hand. He’s confused at first, since he doesn’t understand the gesture until he moves his hand to his actual Shard. It’s a case where the sensation itself isn’t even necessary. He feels the gratitude and accepts it with ease, since that part is simple. He’d returned it because it seemed like the right thing to do, and he would have done so for most Shard-Bearers. But the affection…
He moves his hand so that he can grip Drizzt’s hand gently, if only for a moment. He has affection of his own, but he’s a bit afraid of letting that be as open and earnest as Drizzt’s. So, it’s a touch given in return. It’s not the first time, but again, he wishes so badly that he could feel the other man’s hand. So, he’s a bit glad that it’s brief. The sting of lacking that connection never seems to abate, and so he readily turns his attention towards— ]
Ah.
[ Ironically, that lament is rather quickly follow by being glad for his state, because he’d surely blush to have this “gift” follow those feelings. But he laughs for the ridiculous coincidence of it, and he reaches out to grab his own Shard and inspect it. It’s a different shape, like it was meant to be set in a slightly differently shape inlay on his skull, but the color is identical. ]
I fear reading too much into the fact that we found each other’s Shards, but— Ha, what a silly thing. I imagine you had no more pleasant a time on Bloodmoon Island to obtain it than I did yours.