i DOUBT this is how it'll go down in comic
the different font shows that azoth is not masking his voice. He's using his natural feminine voice. The change in font back to the common font shows him dropping a few octaves to sound masculine again.
i think about how characters react to their friend being trans. Azoth is trans. He's been out as male since he was a small child, and has pushed against being perceived as female since he first hit puberty and his body changed.
in his early adulthood he was taught to bind and trained his voice by his mentor who was a trans elder. He's very hush-hush about being trans. Not even his own handler and smithy, who he's worked with since the start of the forbidden lands expedition, know he's trans. Only Erik, Fabius, guild researcher and other high ranking staff, some veterans, and now Varka know he's trans.
Most just assume he's just fruity LMAO. Which yea he is LOL. Some think he's a mulan archetype where he actually is a girl who identifies as female but masks as male, while others don't know what's going on with him.
Needless to say, to call onto Varka, a huge brute of a c|s man to help him bind, is a huge display of trust. He trusts varka won't overreact or hurt him. He expects him to ask questions but not be hostile.
In his source material Varka is a very chivalrous man, a literal knight, whos very serious about respecting women's boundaries. So you can imagine he's thrown for a loop seeing one of the bros has breasts. He's definitely met other trans men before, but didn't know they were. I imagine being trans or just lgbt in the MH setting isn't a super discussed topic, as in there's much less stigma because there's like... Fucking monsters? Who cares if u wanna be a dude there's a diabols rampaging outside be a dude if u want just hunt the monster!!! I imagine most bigoted chars really go out of their way to be nasty to other humans when humanity is costanty fighting to survive.
so here we see a varka thrown for a loop and he's very nervous because this is probably as intimate he's ever been with a platonic "female" friend. But azoth reassures he's still male which just confuses Varka more. But azoth doesn't feel like educating today so the moment varka is given the Ok to dip he takes off because he really doesnt want to overstep despite his curiosity or get wrongly perceived as someone malicious. Hes acting with good intent and Azoth knows
Azoth would probably explain it to him later.
deep down azoth wishes guys didn't freak otu when it came to his chest. Even his dad is very nervous about helping him bind. Not in a gross way but in that annoying trying to be respectable way when Azoth just wants to be treated like any other guy.
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