@narrativeanomaly said: "so like if you want to toughen up, it's easy." Sass is drinking an energy drink, Reign Watermelon, to be exact. They will pay for it ten times over in tummy troubles later. "all you have to do it the." A brief pause. They squint at Ernest. "how many pounds of celery can you eat in one sitting. this is vitally important, i promise."
TOUGHEN UP? WHO ARE THEY, HIS PARENTS? ernest cringes at the notion, glancing over at them. perhaps he's just tired of being told to toughen up. he's an eldritch hunter with a severe phobia of blood, and hates the loud noises guns make and hates how it feels to stab anything, and would rather strangle himself than strangle something else.
why should he be ashamed of that? why is that a character flaw? "i'm already tough. i have really strong calves." that's not what they mean, and ernest knows that. but, to be fair, he is a ballet dancer. that comes with his passion. not with his job. but ernest is polite, and some would say earnest (haha), so he answers anyways, eyeing their energy drink.
here's another kicker, that's funny, considering everything he's meant to be:
"i'm a vegetarian. so like, a lot. i fuck with celery. what does that have to do with anything. i prefer eggplant." no jokes about that, please.