Ment
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Henry looked at the money that had appeared on his plate and in his beer with a mixture of surprise and detachment.
-- Tch, -- he muttered through his teeth. In other situations, and even with Lin, he might have said something like "haha, lol," acting like a (self-proclaimed) great Internet troll, but now, his remaining good mood had vanished. After fishing the coins out of his food and piling them up on the edge of the table, he just thought that maybe inventing a singer-leader wasn't such a great idea from his subconscious's point of view.
"You know, it's really not easy for her, because her world was similar to ours," Quen began hesitantly in Henry's thoughts. -- "And she wasn't a warrior or a hero..."
"Yeah, I know. And who has it easy?" -- Henry poked at some unappetizing, fatty piece of meat with his fork. -- "Do you think I wanted all this? I wanted to sit in a room and watch movies, and play video games. Ideally, without interruptions for work. Do you think I wanted to go crazy and end up who-knows-where, doing who-knows-what? And now they're throwing it in my face, saying I'm a chatterbox, that I can't shut up for a minute, even though I literally saved a girl's life with my words today. And I don't see Lin anywhere."
"Henry..."
"And you know what's the worst? That we're going to have to fight these monsters, and maybe many others. And the last thing I want is to die there, in my own madness. I hadn't really thought about it before, but the last time was uncomfortably close, and I thought..."
"..."
"I thought, why am I even trying? Is anyone forcing me to be a hero, to be a mercenary here? It's all fake, who even needs this? I just thought, let me live an interesting life in my head... And now I'm thinking, am I completely stupid?"
"Henry, even if you don't agree with me, it's all real. And your feelings are too. I understand..."
"Quen, no need. I know you understand. And even though I don't believe in you, let's just say I appreciate it."
"And that's thanks enough..."
"Anyway, I'm probably completely stupid."
"Well, if you think you're not very smart, then I'm stupid too, for settling in your head, right?"
"Yeah, I'm a complete idiot," the American smiled.
Without delay after dinner, he slips the money back to Lin (in private, into her palm).
-- You've really done it, Commander... Okay, I'll play along with you, just this once. But let's do it properly, okay? Otherwise, the story is getting too weird, and I don't really like those kinds of plots. Okay?
-- By the way, you can put all the blame on me, say that I confessed myself, because some of your punishments are just perverse. Tying up Nikta, seriously? I think that if you find a scapegoat and then suddenly forgive everyone else, it might be even better for discipline, remember Zeikin, how he immediately shifted the blame. Besides, people really risked their lives there, it was a tough day, well, you know. Okay, I'm going.
-- Tch, -- he muttered through his teeth. In other situations, and even with Lin, he might have said something like "haha, lol," acting like a (self-proclaimed) great Internet troll, but now, his remaining good mood had vanished. After fishing the coins out of his food and piling them up on the edge of the table, he just thought that maybe inventing a singer-leader wasn't such a great idea from his subconscious's point of view.
"You know, it's really not easy for her, because her world was similar to ours," Quen began hesitantly in Henry's thoughts. -- "And she wasn't a warrior or a hero..."
"Yeah, I know. And who has it easy?" -- Henry poked at some unappetizing, fatty piece of meat with his fork. -- "Do you think I wanted all this? I wanted to sit in a room and watch movies, and play video games. Ideally, without interruptions for work. Do you think I wanted to go crazy and end up who-knows-where, doing who-knows-what? And now they're throwing it in my face, saying I'm a chatterbox, that I can't shut up for a minute, even though I literally saved a girl's life with my words today. And I don't see Lin anywhere."
"Henry..."
"And you know what's the worst? That we're going to have to fight these monsters, and maybe many others. And the last thing I want is to die there, in my own madness. I hadn't really thought about it before, but the last time was uncomfortably close, and I thought..."
"..."
"I thought, why am I even trying? Is anyone forcing me to be a hero, to be a mercenary here? It's all fake, who even needs this? I just thought, let me live an interesting life in my head... And now I'm thinking, am I completely stupid?"
"Henry, even if you don't agree with me, it's all real. And your feelings are too. I understand..."
"Quen, no need. I know you understand. And even though I don't believe in you, let's just say I appreciate it."
"And that's thanks enough..."
"Anyway, I'm probably completely stupid."
"Well, if you think you're not very smart, then I'm stupid too, for settling in your head, right?"
"Yeah, I'm a complete idiot," the American smiled.
Without delay after dinner, he slips the money back to Lin (in private, into her palm).
-- You've really done it, Commander... Okay, I'll play along with you, just this once. But let's do it properly, okay? Otherwise, the story is getting too weird, and I don't really like those kinds of plots. Okay?
-- By the way, you can put all the blame on me, say that I confessed myself, because some of your punishments are just perverse. Tying up Nikta, seriously? I think that if you find a scapegoat and then suddenly forgive everyone else, it might be even better for discipline, remember Zeikin, how he immediately shifted the blame. Besides, people really risked their lives there, it was a tough day, well, you know. Okay, I'm going.