( @cobrathieved ) « “Why should I listen to a word you say?” (From Cobrathieved because of reasons)
JUST BECAUSE HE was a dad, it didn’t mean Florian had a wealth of knowledge and experience with teenage rebellion — or in fact, what this was: the guarded wall of a kid who never learned to trust the grown-ups around him. After all, Aimee’s version of rebellion and striking her own path had never alienated her from her parents, but Florian could imagine that he could actually see the turret built up around Jay. The question had caught Florian off-guard, since among the new gaggle of teens in his home, Jay had been one to generally seem even-keeled for the most part; the new wariness in his voice reminded Florian that just a few weeks out of the only place he ever knew with virtual strangers wasn’t exactly going to heal any of the breaks of trust that any of the kids had experienced.
But it was the first time he’d had to tell Jay no.
“Right now, I’m responsible for keeping you safe,” Florian replied. “And for me, that means all of you: body, mind, emotions, all of it. Going out to the Fire Marsh is dangerous, and even the kids who have gone went through a lot of training beforehand. If you want to go, we can start training, if you’d like? But the trip that some of the Tourney boys are making in a week will have to go without you.”