[ It isn't the 'stupidly pretty' remark which causes him to blush (...though she gets credit for ease of that delivery. who couldn't she win with such piercing eyes and unwavering certainty?...), but rather what she chooses to say last.
Sometimes, he wonders if he truly is the person she's described: the student-teacher, respected and well-liked, who hadn't a worry beyond running late to class (and on account of working extended hours at the high school, no less!). How different he is, than when he'd resided with his father and elder brothers; how he'd nearly forgotten them, until the events of earlier-on in the night.
Letting her work, he falls silent for a moment, perhaps two, lashes falling to half-mast as fatigue begins to weigh upon him. ]
Shall I tell you a secret? [ A secret, because it hasn't gone unnoticed, how Mattie neglects to speak of herself. Funny, that while they've met a fair amount outside of school hours, they do not know much about one another outside of what is immediately obvious and apparent to the eye.
By sharing some small facet of himself, perhaps it will make it more comfortable (or so he hopes). ]
It was only after moving to Recolle that I began to feel comfortable in my own skin. That it was okay to be myself, and pursue all the avenues which I had once thought to be unattainable because of my family name.
[ Notably, though, he does not care to elaborate on 'my family name', instead shifting ever-so-slightly to reach atop the vanity (his fingers just skirting over the marbled edge!) to fetch a tube of neosporin. ]
Truth be told, I think your tenacity inspired my own. [ In a manner of speaking. ] I want to graduate, and get through school, but...
It's also okay to dream bigger, if you wish to. There's no crime in that.
[ No, not at all. Not where either of them are concerned.
A beat, before he switches the subject. ] ...does the cut look that bad? You've been quiet.
no subject
[ It isn't the 'stupidly pretty' remark which causes him to blush (...though she gets credit for ease of that delivery. who couldn't she win with such piercing eyes and unwavering certainty?...), but rather what she chooses to say last.
Sometimes, he wonders if he truly is the person she's described: the student-teacher, respected and well-liked, who hadn't a worry beyond running late to class (and on account of working extended hours at the high school, no less!). How different he is, than when he'd resided with his father and elder brothers; how he'd nearly forgotten them, until the events of earlier-on in the night.
Letting her work, he falls silent for a moment, perhaps two, lashes falling to half-mast as fatigue begins to weigh upon him. ]
Shall I tell you a secret? [ A secret, because it hasn't gone unnoticed, how Mattie neglects to speak of herself. Funny, that while they've met a fair amount outside of school hours, they do not know much about one another outside of what is immediately obvious and apparent to the eye.
By sharing some small facet of himself, perhaps it will make it more comfortable (or so he hopes). ]
It was only after moving to Recolle that I began to feel comfortable in my own skin. That it was okay to be myself, and pursue all the avenues which I had once thought to be unattainable because of my family name.
[ Notably, though, he does not care to elaborate on 'my family name', instead shifting ever-so-slightly to reach atop the vanity (his fingers just skirting over the marbled edge!) to fetch a tube of neosporin. ]
Truth be told, I think your tenacity inspired my own. [ In a manner of speaking. ] I want to graduate, and get through school, but...
It's also okay to dream bigger, if you wish to. There's no crime in that.
[ No, not at all. Not where either of them are concerned.
A beat, before he switches the subject. ] ...does the cut look that bad? You've been quiet.