"What was it like, in the place where you grew up?" He's quiet, but he always is - if anything, his sleeves make more noise than he does overall, including by speaking (but he's doing his best: outside the bounds of his own norms to try and be a little more approachable). "I apologize for not having asked much before - I've never been good at that sort of thing, but even if it's something I'm bad at, I may as well try just a little more."
Ā Ā Thereās a moment of silence (there always is when personal questions are asked), gaze on his face to try to see what else there is, but a small smile on their lips all the same. Gran doesnāt mind, they might not approach the topic on their own (or any personal topic for that matter), but they would never turn down a question. And so a humming sound is made while they lean back in the chair and look toward the ceiling of the room instead.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā ā Dāyou know Zinkenstillās other name ? āāItās Hermit Island ā, they start after half a minute of pondering, wondering how to most effectively convey the island they know as home. ā Not a lot of people visit, so we make do on our own ! The most harmless island youāll ever see ā, or so people said. The people who didnāt know of the shrine in the woods, the people who didnāt know of the people with ties to it; people like Gran. Twice had the empire been there, thrice if the time when they were simply passing above counted. How strange that such a tiny island held such big meaning for some people. Thereās a grin on their face, and no spoken words of everything that had happened in-between ā because this wasnāt a question of that.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā ā Itās quiet, and thereās not a lot of things going on, soābasically the opposite to the Grandcypher ā, because that, too, was home.Ā ā But the people there are just as nice. I owe a lot to them. Itās kinda like...a big family ā, thereās some hesitation before saying the last words, a mixture of embarrassment over the honesty and conflicted feelings of the times when the villagersĀ had told Gran the same thing whenever Gran had asked about their ownĀ family. ā Itās not the most exciting place, but the food is great, promise ! Hehe, there was a time when we didnāt have a lot of flour and we didnāt know the next time a merchant ship would pass by, so one of the townspeople... ā, trailing off on a story from long ago, finding it increasingly easier to talk about what Zinkenstill was like. Thereās some mindfulness regarding the length of it as per usual, but since he had asked something like this should be fine, shouldnāt it? Zinkenstill didnāt seem like a lot to most people, especially not compared to the Grandcypher where things were constantly changing, but despite everything, it was the first place Gran would call home.