@briarsprince [ cont. from x ]
“Wise enough advice.” Leo sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and keeping his gaze even ahead, staring at nothing in particular over the dreamy scenery the castle’s balcony offered.
“Spending an excess amount of time in your past is in most cases un-wise, especially if one does so regretting events that have already come to pass and can no longer be adjusted..” He added, tone neutral.
“But you cannot rush fate, either. And you might look like a fool to try.” Leo smiled in a knowing manner at his addition to the philosophy posed to him.
“That sort of thinking is especially applicable in your somewhat turbulent life, isn’t it?”
Alm’s past and his future were so contrasting, it was as though it were the origin and fate of two completely different individuals– A village farm boy, to a king. But it belonged to Alm alone. Leo didn’t envy that.
Alm himself leaned a little against the balcony, but turned from observing the town in the distance beyond the glass, covered in fog, to the prince beside him. Mildly, he compared their postures and bearing as he listened to Leo — the blonde carried himself with grace and poise, something he knew he lacked outside of the field of battle. Was nobility never meant to relax, not even when outside of the noble court? He’d seen it in his friends who were raised nobles, he saw it in the nobles here in this dream world.
Maybe it should be something he takes up as well, even if it felt silly and unnecessary.
An uneasy smile found it’s way to his face at the rhetorical question left for him, and he laughed, shaking his head and turning back to the dreary scenery before them. At least, he thought it as much — trapped in a barrier of glass, with a murky void below, and fog covering their view of what lay beyond.
Much like he felt of what was in store for him in the waking world, really.
“You’re right.” He said, a rough exhale leaving through his nose. “You can’t just keep thinking about what could have been instead of looking at what you have to do now, especially if others depend on you.”
Pushing himself off the balcony, Alm decided to put his thoughts into practice, allowing himself to stand with his back straight and shoulders back.
“Still, I... think sometimes you have to give yourself time to lay the past to rest properly. Both things you regret, and things you wish could have been.” And how he wished it was as easy to do as it was to say. He turned to Leo again, canting his head a little to the side. “I guess it depends on the person, huh?”
A thought came to mind just then, recollections forming in his mind. If he was remembering correctly... “Mind if I ask you something, though?” Alm struggled to not withdraw in body language, and instead maintain stoicism. Something which was... incredibly difficult. “What was it like, growing up—” ... A family, your real one, might have sounded too... strange? Personal? ‘Knowing your place in this world’ might be even more so, and he wasn’t too sure how ‘as a noble’ would go. “... with siblings?” Hm. Yeah. Better. Not exactly the question he wanted to ask, but maybe it just wasn’t... something anyone could answer.
