[open w/ some closed threads] escort missions.

[arkitect]

WHO: Emet-Selch + others
WHAT: Catch-all for threads related to this.
WHEN: October, current & backdated
WHERE: Accompanied outings or the Gallows
NOTES: none currently!

[thread starters will go in the comments! this will contain both closed, preplanned threads and open thread options, please feel free to hit me up on plurk or discord if you want anything specific!]

Comments

[acreage]

[ in the right places at the wrong times could be the title of his biography. starkhaven was by choice, at least, but the tragedy that befell tantervale was only one in a string of similar incidents in his life. james holden, here to watch stations and civilizations and cities die, and live to tell of it. ]

Well, [ he says with a sideways glance, a wry eyebrow lift, ] if you'd seen that dragon, you wouldn't be forgetting about it in a hurry either.

[arkitect]

Mayhap I would not... though the rise and fall of entire nations have at times proved unremarkable, much less that of a singular settlement.

[filed under: things that are said entirely too neutrally.

he does have a good memory for the things he's seen, but once you've seen enough in your life-- these things begin to stand out less.]

[acreage]

Maybe if you've seen enough of them.

[ in other words: can't relate. ]

[arkitect]

Depending upon one's measure of 'enough'.

Were they your first?

[acreage]

[ he's quiet, a long moment. but then: ]

No, they weren't.

[ that's not a secret, even here. ]

[arkitect]

Yet they still affect you enough to be so moved by them.

[almost nothing more than an idle observation, but there's the slightest easing of the detachment in his tone. difficult to catch, maybe, but there regardless.]

Then whatever you have seen has not been sufficient to pass that threshold... if such a thing exists for you.

[acreage]

That's a good thing.

[ his tone is wry. not combative himself, but just some ways this side of it. ]

It means peoples' lives still matter to me. If I lose that, I'm lost.

[arkitect]

Many would. It takes a particular kind, you know, to witness the cruelties of the world repeatedly without eventually becoming numb to them-- it is a rare heart that can have that sort of empathy wrung from it repeatedly, without breaking from the strain.

[he's musing aloud, a bit, but emet-selch glances up to cast a sidelong look in his direction.]

I do wonder if it will prove to last, in your case.

[acreage]

Well, [ he says with an eyebrow lift, ] if it doesn't, you're welcome to say I told you so.

[arkitect]

[a brief little hum of acknowledgment seems, at first, like it might be his only response, arms folded casually behind his back as he continues walking. after a couple of moments, though:]

I believe I would prefer not to be given cause to say so, this time.

[surprise him, maybe.]