[ Riz listens with rapt attention, trusting wholly in Adaine's ability to tell him what he needs to know to explain the story without giving away too much of the future that could compromise Riz's own timeline's future (one day, it would be nice if Principal Aguefort were to explain timelines to them, but the man has never had a cogent thought in his life) and setting aside any such fears to do what he has to do in the moment: be a good friend to his friend who had very recently committed righteous patricide. He's perched on his knees on the chair, elbows propped up on the table, every inch of his laser-sharp focus directed at Adaine in a way that he knows others find unsettling at the best of times, but that Adaine has only ever seemed to find natural.
(He deliberately doesn't wonder what he will face, in the Nightmare Forest. His greatest fear is being unprepared. Doing any preparation will be a futile effort.)
When it comes to Aelwyn -- well, he'd seen her, after she was rescued from that horrific prison. Even someone as filled with the rage of justice as Riz can forgive what she'd put them through easily enough. How he feels about Aelwyn is immaterial. The only thing he really cares about is how Adaine feels about her, much like he'd only judged the aforementioned patricide as far as Adaine feels about it, in that vicious, mercenary way that teenaged friendships so often go. ]
That's awesome, Adaine. Not that you guys had to go through all that - I'm really sorry about that part - but that you kicked his ass the way he probably hates most.
[ With her fists. Never mind that it was a spell at the end of the day. He can practically hear that posh accent that all high elves seem to have, going on and on about how brutish that way of fighting is. ]
So now you and Aelwyn... you guys are free from them for good, aren't you? [ A way forward, unmoored by their horrific parents. (Maybe she should punch Kristen's parents too. Riz wisely keeps this thought to himself.) ] She's on the same page, right? That it's good that he's dead? [ He stops, corrects himself: ] They're dead?
[ He can't imagine they could have left their mom alive, after all of that. ]
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(He deliberately doesn't wonder what he will face, in the Nightmare Forest. His greatest fear is being unprepared. Doing any preparation will be a futile effort.)
When it comes to Aelwyn -- well, he'd seen her, after she was rescued from that horrific prison. Even someone as filled with the rage of justice as Riz can forgive what she'd put them through easily enough. How he feels about Aelwyn is immaterial. The only thing he really cares about is how Adaine feels about her, much like he'd only judged the aforementioned patricide as far as Adaine feels about it, in that vicious, mercenary way that teenaged friendships so often go. ]
That's awesome, Adaine. Not that you guys had to go through all that - I'm really sorry about that part - but that you kicked his ass the way he probably hates most.
[ With her fists. Never mind that it was a spell at the end of the day. He can practically hear that posh accent that all high elves seem to have, going on and on about how brutish that way of fighting is. ]
So now you and Aelwyn... you guys are free from them for good, aren't you? [ A way forward, unmoored by their horrific parents. (Maybe she should punch Kristen's parents too. Riz wisely keeps this thought to himself.) ] She's on the same page, right? That it's good that he's dead? [ He stops, corrects himself: ] They're dead?
[ He can't imagine they could have left their mom alive, after all of that. ]