Life had been easier, in a way, when he didn’t care; he could ghost through his days flippant and frivolous, never stopping to worry or fret or show concern for other people. For the longest time, he’d experienced Thedas at a remove: only one foot in the world, the other holding himself at a distance in case he up and vanished someday. Now that he’s all in, however —
Stephen has to admit that something twists, sharp, in his chest at the sight of her distress. He worries. Some of it, at the start, had been because he remembered another teenaged girl who had been under his wing, in need of his assistance, but that’s about where the similarities end. Ness is very much not America. New problems, different problems.
He folds his hands on the table, and simply looks at her. Steady, patient.
“Speaking as someone who’s something of an expert in not being fine,” he starts, “and as someone who’s a consummate workaholic himself— completing all your work isn’t, actually, the most important part. Believe it or not.”
no subject
Life had been easier, in a way, when he didn’t care; he could ghost through his days flippant and frivolous, never stopping to worry or fret or show concern for other people. For the longest time, he’d experienced Thedas at a remove: only one foot in the world, the other holding himself at a distance in case he up and vanished someday. Now that he’s all in, however —
Stephen has to admit that something twists, sharp, in his chest at the sight of her distress. He worries. Some of it, at the start, had been because he remembered another teenaged girl who had been under his wing, in need of his assistance, but that’s about where the similarities end. Ness is very much not America. New problems, different problems.
He folds his hands on the table, and simply looks at her. Steady, patient.
“Speaking as someone who’s something of an expert in not being fine,” he starts, “and as someone who’s a consummate workaholic himself— completing all your work isn’t, actually, the most important part. Believe it or not.”