His answer is, first, a quietly gravelly sound that stands in for a yes and no, working on his cigarette.
"No Circle is like the other," is a reflexive qualification, whether he expects Bastien might know that or not, by now. "Ours was strict, but it could depend on who was watching. I think," and he pauses, some internal sifting around. "I'm sure other children were cleverer about it than we were, mischief without being caught. But we got each other in trouble plenty. Me more than Tsenka. She was shameless about throwing about the blame."
Because they are talking about Tsenka, still, and oddly, it doesn't hurt nearly as much to talk about a past life within stone walls than it might be. Like all of that had died once already.
Not no hurt. The next breath out, thick with smoke, is heavier. "I didn't mind. It was good to have, you know," and the sentence ends there, like he's already expended the energy needed to find the correct descriptor.
no subject
"No Circle is like the other," is a reflexive qualification, whether he expects Bastien might know that or not, by now. "Ours was strict, but it could depend on who was watching. I think," and he pauses, some internal sifting around. "I'm sure other children were cleverer about it than we were, mischief without being caught. But we got each other in trouble plenty. Me more than Tsenka. She was shameless about throwing about the blame."
Because they are talking about Tsenka, still, and oddly, it doesn't hurt nearly as much to talk about a past life within stone walls than it might be. Like all of that had died once already.
Not no hurt. The next breath out, thick with smoke, is heavier. "I didn't mind. It was good to have, you know," and the sentence ends there, like he's already expended the energy needed to find the correct descriptor.