[The artlessness with which Stiles scrutinizes Liem might be amusing in how unabashedly he peers at him, if it were not also uncomfortably familiar. Typically the curious do at least attempt to be a little more circumspect, but he has weathered many a suspicious stare over the years from people who are just a little too perceptive for his own good. He resists the impulse to frown in the face of it, sipping at his water as the young man attempts to decide which question he wants to ask first.
The topic on which he ultimately settles manages to wind the ever-present tension in Liem’s shoulders just a little tighter.]
Nor have I ever, [he says stiffly.] At this point I think it might set me ill at ease, to be stalked by one wherever I went.
[He can imagine himself forever catching sight of it from the corner of his eye, startling at movement when he’d thought himself alone. It would be a difficult thing to get used to after over a century without one.
He moves on briskly.]
You have heard already, I’m sure, that those drawn here are plucked from dying worlds. Certainly these islands are said to have come from whole worlds of their own, before they ended up here. I have heard that Springstar is a little piece of a place called “Greece.”
no subject
The topic on which he ultimately settles manages to wind the ever-present tension in Liem’s shoulders just a little tighter.]
Nor have I ever, [he says stiffly.] At this point I think it might set me ill at ease, to be stalked by one wherever I went.
[He can imagine himself forever catching sight of it from the corner of his eye, startling at movement when he’d thought himself alone. It would be a difficult thing to get used to after over a century without one.
He moves on briskly.]
You have heard already, I’m sure, that those drawn here are plucked from dying worlds. Certainly these islands are said to have come from whole worlds of their own, before they ended up here. I have heard that Springstar is a little piece of a place called “Greece.”