[Palamedes doesn't know what to do about crying, exactly - he's simply letting it happen now, though his lack of care about what happens to the tears could also just be his extreme reluctance to let go of Viktor for even a second. When he's puffy-eyed and miserable over it later, he'll rethink his choices.
Until then, the Trench is grim, but at least the people in it are worth infinitely more. He's been enjoying the company, he'd said the last time someone asked, and that holds true now, listening to Viktor logic through it for him. A plan is good, a plan is a firm place to stand, but with some haste he must interject—]
Don't do any work on the ocean. Not without me. [The ocean cannot be trusted, first of all, but more than that Palamedes vividly recalls God's own unpleasant study and his notes upon notes about the ocean, and his rambling about "cracking" it, and the way he looks at Palamedes like a thing he should already own and gets uppity when the thing says no. Viktor is too intelligent and valuable and interested in enough similar concepts to stay off the radar of anyone who knows Palamedes, and even beyond that, it's not that big a town.
No, he wouldn't like that. No, Viktor shouldn't fiddle around with the ocean unless they both are. He says,] If anyone tries to tell you I'm a valuable part of their ocean projects, they're a liar.
[And the rest of that he'll save for the Lyctor conversation, although he doesn't know how well he conveys the "not now" vibe with a face that's been crying for a while now. Later.]
Trust me, [he adds, deflating a little, brushing some of Viktor's hair back and cupping his face.] Let's leave the ocean for last.
[Ah, and that sharp turn has distracted him from the earnest sweetness in the rest of what Viktor says, though he's more than willing to sink back into that instead of - ocean studies. It would be nice— to have done enough, to spend his days now studying creepy rocks with Viktor, without the voice at the back of his mind that always seems ready to tell him that if he's decided to stop for a moment when there are still things to do, he's made the wrong choice.
Would be nice. Might even be doable, now that this place has forced him to open enough boxes and cry about it.]
I want to continue our work on the bloodstones. This feeling... I want to be busy, to stave it off. But I can do it better with you. And Paul, and the rest. At least, I want to try.
[One afternoon of weeping can't overturn all of his bad habits, but there's that work in progress again; he can put in the work. He leans in to kiss him, gratitude and warmth and some more tears, sorry, and strokes Viktor's hair again when he pulls away.]
You said 'terrified together'. Is it just the usual, [he hates that there's a "usual,"] or something else?
no subject
Until then, the Trench is grim, but at least the people in it are worth infinitely more. He's been enjoying the company, he'd said the last time someone asked, and that holds true now, listening to Viktor logic through it for him. A plan is good, a plan is a firm place to stand, but with some haste he must interject—]
Don't do any work on the ocean. Not without me. [The ocean cannot be trusted, first of all, but more than that Palamedes vividly recalls God's own unpleasant study and his notes upon notes about the ocean, and his rambling about "cracking" it, and the way he looks at Palamedes like a thing he should already own and gets uppity when the thing says no. Viktor is too intelligent and valuable and interested in enough similar concepts to stay off the radar of anyone who knows Palamedes, and even beyond that, it's not that big a town.
No, he wouldn't like that. No, Viktor shouldn't fiddle around with the ocean unless they both are. He says,] If anyone tries to tell you I'm a valuable part of their ocean projects, they're a liar.
[And the rest of that he'll save for the Lyctor conversation, although he doesn't know how well he conveys the "not now" vibe with a face that's been crying for a while now. Later.]
Trust me, [he adds, deflating a little, brushing some of Viktor's hair back and cupping his face.] Let's leave the ocean for last.
[Ah, and that sharp turn has distracted him from the earnest sweetness in the rest of what Viktor says, though he's more than willing to sink back into that instead of - ocean studies. It would be nice— to have done enough, to spend his days now studying creepy rocks with Viktor, without the voice at the back of his mind that always seems ready to tell him that if he's decided to stop for a moment when there are still things to do, he's made the wrong choice.
Would be nice. Might even be doable, now that this place has forced him to open enough boxes and cry about it.]
I want to continue our work on the bloodstones. This feeling... I want to be busy, to stave it off. But I can do it better with you. And Paul, and the rest. At least, I want to try.
[One afternoon of weeping can't overturn all of his bad habits, but there's that work in progress again; he can put in the work. He leans in to kiss him, gratitude and warmth and some more tears, sorry, and strokes Viktor's hair again when he pulls away.]
You said 'terrified together'. Is it just the usual, [he hates that there's a "usual,"] or something else?