"I don't care if she doesn't." That came out too quickly, like most things he says about other people, and it isn't quite what he means. He tries again. "She doesn't have to," he corrects. That's better.
The thing is that it's not usually up to him whether or not he's liked, and he's long made peace with that. He can watch other people's lives play out from the outside and not get involved. It's safer that way. There are hundreds of other people's lives on his shelves; it's all the same.
...The Knight likes him. And they have a fair few things in common, as they both keep finding.
"I do know." Lemm's gaze drifts up to meet theirs, just studying them for a while. "You've made it clear enough." By helping him. Offering so much patience. Their reassurances, over and over, that his mistakes haven't put an end to it. He knows, and it's more than enough.
This isn't how they meant it, but it strikes him as unfair not to offer something. They're right; he's witnessed so much of their history, and he has let them in on almost nothing of his.
Hesitantly, Lemm offers them this:
"I'm not keeping any big secrets, you know... Hard to imagine what'd be of any interest." A huff, soft and just barely tinged with forced humour. "Like you, I suppose. Except anything I thought to tell would be shockingly mundane."
no subject
The thing is that it's not usually up to him whether or not he's liked, and he's long made peace with that. He can watch other people's lives play out from the outside and not get involved. It's safer that way. There are hundreds of other people's lives on his shelves; it's all the same.
...The Knight likes him. And they have a fair few things in common, as they both keep finding.
"I do know." Lemm's gaze drifts up to meet theirs, just studying them for a while. "You've made it clear enough." By helping him. Offering so much patience. Their reassurances, over and over, that his mistakes haven't put an end to it. He knows, and it's more than enough.
This isn't how they meant it, but it strikes him as unfair not to offer something. They're right; he's witnessed so much of their history, and he has let them in on almost nothing of his.
Hesitantly, Lemm offers them this:
"I'm not keeping any big secrets, you know... Hard to imagine what'd be of any interest." A huff, soft and just barely tinged with forced humour. "Like you, I suppose. Except anything I thought to tell would be shockingly mundane."