It's not something that should be hitting Krouse like a revelation. They've been nothing but enthusiastic about talking up each other's skills to date, and the same has gone for their wizard. He knew they liked one another, that they'd call each other friends as well as party members, that given how they've talked about their school they've no doubt been through some things that would raise even his eyebrows.
But there are friends you know because of something you do together, and then there are friends where it stops being about whatever brought you together in the first place. Not a difference between fake and real, like some people might put it, but a difference of degree.
His expression doesn't really change as he listens. He keeps smiling, and it's not like he's concealing some drop in his mood. It's just a faint, bruised wistfulness that starts to creep in at the corners of his eyes before he blinks it away. ]
It's a little annoying when someone lives up to their own hype. [ Annoying in a good way, praise delivered via backhand spin. ] I hear what you're saying about practical experience, but it's not just that. You've put the work in.
[ There's getting competent, and there's getting good. ]
Maybe that's why there are only the three of you. Had to nerf you somehow. [ He catches himself, shaking his head and lifting his fingers off the side of his mug. ] Nerfing means making something less powerful. It's from these foam dart guns on Earth. Foam darts instead of real bullets is a nerf, which I'm realizing sounds much more violent than I thought when I'm saying it out loud.
no subject
It's not something that should be hitting Krouse like a revelation. They've been nothing but enthusiastic about talking up each other's skills to date, and the same has gone for their wizard. He knew they liked one another, that they'd call each other friends as well as party members, that given how they've talked about their school they've no doubt been through some things that would raise even his eyebrows.
But there are friends you know because of something you do together, and then there are friends where it stops being about whatever brought you together in the first place. Not a difference between fake and real, like some people might put it, but a difference of degree.
His expression doesn't really change as he listens. He keeps smiling, and it's not like he's concealing some drop in his mood. It's just a faint, bruised wistfulness that starts to creep in at the corners of his eyes before he blinks it away. ]
It's a little annoying when someone lives up to their own hype. [ Annoying in a good way, praise delivered via backhand spin. ] I hear what you're saying about practical experience, but it's not just that. You've put the work in.
[ There's getting competent, and there's getting good. ]
Maybe that's why there are only the three of you. Had to nerf you somehow. [ He catches himself, shaking his head and lifting his fingers off the side of his mug. ] Nerfing means making something less powerful. It's from these foam dart guns on Earth. Foam darts instead of real bullets is a nerf, which I'm realizing sounds much more violent than I thought when I'm saying it out loud.
I think I have to stop making references.