Dimitri nods, silent. For a moment his melancholy breaks lighter, and he huffs. "As if being womanly is anything to be ashamed of. I'd be honored to be compared to any of the women in my life."
He sobers; takes another sip of his tea, and rests one hand on his knee so his anxiously-tapping fingers won't damage the cup. He doesn't want Ossie to think that he thinks --
"It isn't even -- " He's passed 'grating'; this is yanking twine through gear-teeth -- "A knight's honor is in battle. His duty to his lord is to kill and die without thought or question. That -- chivalry," the word curdles in his mouth, "has seen innocents slaughtered by the thousands, and a nation swear that killing was right and just. It's taken people I love, and the ones I have left aspire to emulate their deaths -- would claim that grief and horror disparage their sacrifice. It's not ... it isn't ... "
His shoulders sink. He sets the teacup down; his hands tangle together, warped knuckles interlocked, thumb pressed into a scar across his palm.
" ... I told you once the world could use more cowards. That's what I meant."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2023-03-25 09:48 am (UTC)He sobers; takes another sip of his tea, and rests one hand on his knee so his anxiously-tapping fingers won't damage the cup. He doesn't want Ossie to think that he thinks --
"It isn't even -- " He's passed 'grating'; this is yanking twine through gear-teeth -- "A knight's honor is in battle. His duty to his lord is to kill and die without thought or question. That -- chivalry," the word curdles in his mouth, "has seen innocents slaughtered by the thousands, and a nation swear that killing was right and just. It's taken people I love, and the ones I have left aspire to emulate their deaths -- would claim that grief and horror disparage their sacrifice. It's not ... it isn't ... "
His shoulders sink. He sets the teacup down; his hands tangle together, warped knuckles interlocked, thumb pressed into a scar across his palm.
" ... I told you once the world could use more cowards. That's what I meant."