He swallows hard at the first question, but the second restores the little bit of color he'd lost.
"Kind." Anders has to swallow a second time, this time around a lump in his throat making his voice a little hoarse. "Kind, sweet, funny, gentle. He... He was one of my teachers, for a time, and I was known for being, um."
The look on his face is part-reflection, part-wistful, and just slightly wry. "Trouble. I was known for being trouble. I'd escaped twice at that point, been hauled back and punished and was contemplating how I'd go about running a third time when I wound up in his class. One of the punishments had, had punished other mages too, so some in the Circle were not... kind. But he was unbothered. I would act up and he'd work through it, I'd pretend I didn't know the answer to something and he saw through it, and I wound up with a crush."
More than a crush, eventually, and his gaze goes back to Karl from Nari. "We weren't allowed relationships, mages in the Circle, and he refused to have anything with a student, but I proved more stubborn than him." His expression softens, saddens. "It would have been better for him if I hadn't been, in the end. But I can't... Without him and what we had, I'd not have made it through Kinloch Hold."
Much like he has a feeling Nari wouldn't have done well with the Inquisition if she hadn't been there with Sina.
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"Kind." Anders has to swallow a second time, this time around a lump in his throat making his voice a little hoarse. "Kind, sweet, funny, gentle. He... He was one of my teachers, for a time, and I was known for being, um."
The look on his face is part-reflection, part-wistful, and just slightly wry. "Trouble. I was known for being trouble. I'd escaped twice at that point, been hauled back and punished and was contemplating how I'd go about running a third time when I wound up in his class. One of the punishments had, had punished other mages too, so some in the Circle were not... kind. But he was unbothered. I would act up and he'd work through it, I'd pretend I didn't know the answer to something and he saw through it, and I wound up with a crush."
More than a crush, eventually, and his gaze goes back to Karl from Nari. "We weren't allowed relationships, mages in the Circle, and he refused to have anything with a student, but I proved more stubborn than him." His expression softens, saddens. "It would have been better for him if I hadn't been, in the end. But I can't... Without him and what we had, I'd not have made it through Kinloch Hold."
Much like he has a feeling Nari wouldn't have done well with the Inquisition if she hadn't been there with Sina.