@clemencied continued from: [x]
Clouded as his mind was with doubts as of late, Thancred's expression was a far cry from the one he used to wear when he first met Meteor; when it still felt easier to make light of any given situation, no matter how dire, and not have it feel like a chore.
It seemed like a lifetime ago now, to them both, no doubt. Both of them carried more weight on their shoulders now than they had back then. It was one of the few similarities Thancred could still find between him and the Warrior of Light. Although, as always, Thancred also found the other man carried the weight of the world with far more grace than he would ever be able to.
"I'm not sure that I have," he admitted with a tired smile. Mind filling with thoughts about events long past, supposedly overcome, or so he let his friends believe, but the shadow Lahabrea once cast upon his mind still lingered, even after his demise, even after all this time of being freed of him by Meteor's hands.
It was... easier here in the First, to forget, to remind himself that he was truly himself, knowing that his body wasn't really here, that he really was the only one that could possibly be inside his head, no matter how fiercely his paranoia told him the opposite.
"--But thank you," he said belatedly. "It is... reassuring to hear you say that." Especially when everyone else kept telling him how much he had changed.
Mayhap the other's genuine statement would become something to cling to when Thancred once again woke from a nightmare. If he was lucky, it would then even drown out the remnants of the Ascian's laughter in his ears.
