arnon struggled to stifle the laugh that sprung from him at kadenās misplaced hopes. they both knew arnonās tendencies to act before thinking were alive and well, just as they had been before arnon had sampled a taste of true freedom. āno promises,ā with a wink, arnon gave the kresnik an entirely genuine grin, unable to help himself from remaining true to form, āthough for the sakeāa your sanity, iāll do my best. for a bit.ā
arnonās chipper expression faltered slightly as kaden continued. to know that little had changed for kaden, that things remained as they ever were⦠it didnāt sit right with arnonās sense of right and wrong. if anyone deserved a chance of a real life again, it was kaden. of that much, arnon was absolutely certain, all biases aside. ānothinā new at all, huh? dunno how you can put up with it.ā at the invitation to divulge into those precious two years of unbridled freedom, arnon brightened again, his smile soon settling back into place. āwell, the old man made sure i caught up on my education. whole lotāa traininā; not jusā practicing with my abilities, swords anā stuff tooā he always got a little too into it, thinkinā back on itā¦ā pursing his lips in thought, arnon considered kadenās follow-up question carefully. naming names was out of the question. he had to handle this delicately. āgettinā away from tiernan was, arguably, the hardest part. had a little outside help here anā there to make it a little easier, but letās jusā say it took a lotāa planninā and hopinā. and gettinā the timinā right.āĀ
"Patience as a virtue helps," Kaden offered with a rueful grin that didn't last long on his features. It was what he kept telling himself but these days he wasn't so sure. There were times where his virtue dropped so low he could barely feel it. An odd feeling too, he'd noted the angrier he grew. Like walking on a frozen lake with a hole cut open in the ice and he plunged right into the dark waters. And then he'd swim back up to the surface, restore his body temperature, and carry on.
Course his face fully soured at the mention of Abban and no, the kresnik made zero attempt to hide his disdain for the halfling's sperm donor. "Can't believe the coward's still kickin'," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head. He frowned at Arnon again. "Doubt you'll be gettin' lucky like that again in here without help bein' able to get through."














