[There are moments in a man's life when he recognizes that he has a chance to fold his hand and sit out a round, perhaps when the stakes have grown uncomfortably high. He can just toss down his cards and decline continuing; he could just say that he's got somewhere to be to the black-eyed man and haul his books back to camp.
Deal me in, then. He approaches, takes the seat, and sets down his load. Though there's no violence or abruptness in the gesture, the sheer weight, relative to their carrier, results in a startlingly loud sound in the massive archives.
There's a heaviness too, he thinks, to the man. Not a physical encumberment; an emotional one, then? Intellectual, metaphysical? He resolves to find out as much as he can with this opportunity, because while the man has the air of an overworked professor, L's large-eyed apparent youth and frail, hungry frame give him an air of vulnerability and occasionally daftness. It might be his best weapon, next to the sheer power of his brain.]
Isn't it? A terrible thing, I mean...
[The sentiment, and its presentation, are wholly authentic. This is in fact a situation L can genuinely empathize with, and was even before he started working on an antivenom for a beast he's only seen in a dream. For a moment, he remembers what Paul told him about not denying their association, should it come up, because they've been seen together often enough that this man would be likely to realize it.
Bet modestly at this juncture. Don't fold; don't bluff. He smiles palely in the dim light, canting his shaggy head.]
no subject
Deal me in, then. He approaches, takes the seat, and sets down his load. Though there's no violence or abruptness in the gesture, the sheer weight, relative to their carrier, results in a startlingly loud sound in the massive archives.
There's a heaviness too, he thinks, to the man. Not a physical encumberment; an emotional one, then? Intellectual, metaphysical? He resolves to find out as much as he can with this opportunity, because while the man has the air of an overworked professor, L's large-eyed apparent youth and frail, hungry frame give him an air of vulnerability and occasionally daftness. It might be his best weapon, next to the sheer power of his brain.]
Isn't it? A terrible thing, I mean...
[The sentiment, and its presentation, are wholly authentic. This is in fact a situation L can genuinely empathize with, and was even before he started working on an antivenom for a beast he's only seen in a dream. For a moment, he remembers what Paul told him about not denying their association, should it come up, because they've been seen together often enough that this man would be likely to realize it.
Bet modestly at this juncture. Don't fold; don't bluff. He smiles palely in the dim light, canting his shaggy head.]
Do you believe you're approaching one, at least?