[ The inquiry takes Bariyan by surprise, too, and causes him to freeze momentarily before squeezing Koltira's hand and letting go, taking up the bottle again to consider the question. Gods, he was not prepared for this conversation.
Why? he wants to ask, immediately. Retort with all the reasons why he doesn't want to answer, evade the question, deflect the conversation. But he'd wanted something solid to work with, hadn't he? Here it is.
And he can't think of anything to say.
His discomfort shows in his silence, in his gaze drifting towards a wall, in his fingers tapping a steady rhythm against the neck of the bottle, filling in, buying for time. He picks through his memories, reluctantly, finding each one more painful than the last.
He drinks. ]
Anything specific that you've been wondering about...?
[ It might be easier to focus if Koltira steers him down a particular path. Perhaps. He continues to think, sieving through his thoughts, trying to recall names and faces and erase them at the same time. ]
no subject
Why? he wants to ask, immediately. Retort with all the reasons why he doesn't want to answer, evade the question, deflect the conversation. But he'd wanted something solid to work with, hadn't he? Here it is.
And he can't think of anything to say.
His discomfort shows in his silence, in his gaze drifting towards a wall, in his fingers tapping a steady rhythm against the neck of the bottle, filling in, buying for time. He picks through his memories, reluctantly, finding each one more painful than the last.
He drinks. ]
Anything specific that you've been wondering about...?
[ It might be easier to focus if Koltira steers him down a particular path. Perhaps. He continues to think, sieving through his thoughts, trying to recall names and faces and erase them at the same time. ]