starwardbestrewn | whatever the hell this is

"I forget sometimes," Jade says, all casual veneer, "just how close you came to becoming a monster."

So that, it appears, is the way you're doing this. You slide the pile of papers back out of reach before you turn to him, the question written all over your face. You've never had a problem asking questions in the set of your eyebrows; it's just usually, especially with people like Jade, that everyone else ignores it until you verbalize it.

Jade meets your eyes, just barely, through his glasses, and doesn't do you the indignity of making you ask aloud just what the hell he's talking about.

"I certainly expected you to be. By your reputation alone... Well, suffice it to say that I've known plenty of young men in the military who joined up simply because it gives them an excuse to work out their urges to hurt others. It's acceptable if you limit the violence to when you're marching under some nation's banner, after all."

You're familiar with the type, as well, though the Oracle Knights got fewer of them than you think the national militaries do. You grimace, and say, "Don't insult me."

"You can't deny that it looked likely, from my position," Jade returns, wearing a smile like so many others. "You keep things under wraps to an impressive extent, even by my standards."

You fold your arms over your chest and lean back in your chair. "It wasn't like I had a choice," you mutter.

Jade doesn't answer that directly. Instead, he adjusts his glasses and says, "It was a splendid surprise to find out otherwise. Truthfully, I think the amount that you do care would kill me, were I to attempt it. It's one thing to act without morals when you actually have none, after all."

You frown a little less and say, "That's unusually stupid, coming from you."

Jade comes up a little short in a way that you know means you're going to have to actually have to explain, ugh. He blinks at you beneath the glasses and says, "I'm sorry?" in a way that you can't even enjoy as getting one over on him for once because for a moment he's just so damn confused you can't stand it.

"You learned them," you say. "Just because you don't have a natural talent for something doesn't mean you can't do it."

The udnerstanding flashes back into place, and the smile Jade gives you might actually be a legitimate one instead of just the face he's trained himself to make. "You mean like your talent for flattery?"

You huff, and don't favor that with a reply. It's bullshit and you both know it, but you'll let him keep his dignity. This time.