"You, serah, are no fun," Gareth informs Colin primly, stepping into the hall and closing the door behind him. "But you have a deal. Your eyebrows--and the furniture--will be safe from me."
Colin grins at him and starts walking him toward his store. When they get there, he unlocks the door and goes about lighting candles.
"It'll take a bit to get the fire going," he says, insisting on lighting each and every light with a match and not with magic. "But I wanted to talk to you about something, if you're agreeable."
Something sensitive, something he doesn't want people, even other mages, to hear them discussing.
Gareth would hesitate if it were most people asking him about the war. There were things that were dangerous to say about the war, things he didn't want to say, and plenty that people didn't want to hear, and they didn't know they didn't. But Colin seems safe--to an extent. So, he takes a seat at the table, tone cheerful enough as he reaches up to try to flick embers of flame at candles to light them before Colin can.
"The war? I was in it. Right at the front lines. I suppose that makes me a veteran?" He looks down at his body, flexing a leg. "That sounds so odd. I guess I should start predicting the weather with my joints. But yes, the war. What about it?"
"It's..." Colin trails off, rolling his shoulders back. "You did your bid for king and country, as it's said in Ferelden. You all fought for my freedom while I hid aboard a merchant ship. I should at least know what it was like for you. What you did, what the enemy did."
"King and country, huh? Wish one of them would've sent a thank you card." The joke is that he has neither, fought for neither. But the sentiment is nice enough--maybe if you consider mages as their own country.
Overthinking a saying is pushed aside in favor of mulling over Colin's request. It's not something that can be answered easily, and Gareth gives it the thought that it's due.
"To preface, the experience was obviously different for everyone. I know for a lot of people, it was the worst time of their lives. But for me?" And here, he breaks into a smile, leaning forward with an excited energy. "It was the best time of my life. After a life in the Gallows, it was--it was amazing, Colin. I was living among my fellow mages, free mages, we were all free and we were all united in fighting for that freedom. No more bowing to the Templars, no more running and hiding, no more Tranquility. I'd been afraid for so long, and finally, I could fight, I could defend myself. We weren't outmatched anymore."
Gareth is, if nothing else, good at getting hyped up, spreading that energy. He all but bounces in his seat as he goes on, hands gesturing along with him, saying as much as his words. "I won't lie, it was brutal. People died, people I fought alongside died. But people I knew had been dying before this--dying, or worse. Now they were at least dying fighting for something they believed in. And I knew I could die, but I wasn't afraid, not any more. I killed--I killed a lot of people. I did. But they were all Templars." Or at least, they were on the Templars' side, or they were not on his side--he tried to be careful. He tried--could he guarantee?
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"It'll take a bit to get the fire going," he says, insisting on lighting each and every light with a match and not with magic. "But I wanted to talk to you about something, if you're agreeable."
Something sensitive, something he doesn't want people, even other mages, to hear them discussing.
"The war?"
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"The war? I was in it. Right at the front lines. I suppose that makes me a veteran?" He looks down at his body, flexing a leg. "That sounds so odd. I guess I should start predicting the weather with my joints. But yes, the war. What about it?"
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Overthinking a saying is pushed aside in favor of mulling over Colin's request. It's not something that can be answered easily, and Gareth gives it the thought that it's due.
"To preface, the experience was obviously different for everyone. I know for a lot of people, it was the worst time of their lives. But for me?" And here, he breaks into a smile, leaning forward with an excited energy. "It was the best time of my life. After a life in the Gallows, it was--it was amazing, Colin. I was living among my fellow mages, free mages, we were all free and we were all united in fighting for that freedom. No more bowing to the Templars, no more running and hiding, no more Tranquility. I'd been afraid for so long, and finally, I could fight, I could defend myself. We weren't outmatched anymore."
Gareth is, if nothing else, good at getting hyped up, spreading that energy. He all but bounces in his seat as he goes on, hands gesturing along with him, saying as much as his words. "I won't lie, it was brutal. People died, people I fought alongside died. But people I knew had been dying before this--dying, or worse. Now they were at least dying fighting for something they believed in. And I knew I could die, but I wasn't afraid, not any more. I killed--I killed a lot of people. I did. But they were all Templars." Or at least, they were on the Templars' side, or they were not on his side--he tried to be careful. He tried--could he guarantee?
He doesn't share that with Colin.