It’s surprising. Not what the other had said or how he had phrased each and every single word in such a way that it rivaled the redhead’s own blunt manner of delivering whatever he intends to say to others. Rather how sharp the contrast is in this Red’s speech patterns and how calm he appeared to be when compared to that of the Red that Silver knows relatively well. It’s nice seeing a familiar face, however that comforting familiarity that would somehow manage to seep it’s way in and allow for the redhead to relax slightly from his initially stiff, tense disposition that he typically took on whenever the exchanger met strangers, wasn’t present at the moment—it appeared that this encounter or rather the feeling that had settled in shortly after the two had encountered one another and exchanged a few words of which were nothing short of clipped and blunt in total, was best described as the sense of familiarity clashing with it’s opposite at the same time.
That’s the way it always was whenever Silver encountered alternates of people he knew though, wasn’t it? Even though the redhead personally didn’t want to feel that way, his view on feelings—as something that undoubtedly made him human and was naturally a part of him as a result yet at the same time as something that did nothing more than cloud his mind and prevent him from thinking as logically as he potentially could—playing a major part in his reluctance to feel that way, at the same time Silver was very well aware of the fact that whenever it came to certain feelings—especially if they were stronger than what he could possibly manage to suppress completely—that even with that acquired tight self-control of his coupled with his ability to force such emotions away, stowing them away for dealing with later in a more appropriate time and place, he couldn’t possibly force them away, not completely anyways.
This of course has him a bit frustrated, prompting the male to draw his attention to focusing on refraining from allowing for that frustration to show, keeping his expression as impassive as ever before as he processed the information given to him slowly yet carefully, bit by bit. The first part was… inconsequential, nothing worth responding to apart from simply acknowledging what had been said with a simple nod before moving onto the second part. It was interesting really, especially the part about Giovanni abandoning his alternate that resided within this world. The Giovanni that Silver knew probably wouldn’t have done that to him, or at least not while Silver was young and still in need of a parental figure in his life to care for and give him the emotional support he would need as he went through various changes both mental, physical, and emotional as he grew up, something the redhead had never received before in his entire that he could recall. Such memories made prior to his kidnapping were lost, something that Silver was actually grateful for since he’d rather not remember the ‘good times’ spent with his father. He’d rather remain in the dark about such matters, not because he couldn’t handle the truth, rather because if he remembered the happier times, if he remembered those series of moments in time where he might’ve seen his father in a more positive light, where he might’ve even loved him just as child typically does of their parent or parents, what he had to do would be made a lot more difficult—it would make the redhead despicably soft when he had to be harsh, cold, and completely bent on defeating his father and shutting down that stupid organization of his once and for all.
Regardless, the basic point was that this Giovanni and some part of his history was different from what Silver had experience with regarding his backstory. Giovanni had never abandoned him, in fact he had even looked for Silver for approximately 10 years or so, however that itself didn’t necessarily guarantee that the same wouldn’t have happened if Silver had not been kidnapped by Ho-Oh as a part of some sick fuck’s twisted plot. In fact, while Giovanni didn’t outright abandon him, ‘entrusting’ the exchanger to Lance and… ugh Pryce instead, in a way it could be seen as ‘abandonment’ based off how one could choose to look at it regardless. Silver understood why though and quite honestly, he didn’t blame the man for what he did the last time he’d seen him. He wasn’t upset, angry, or bitter over—that’s simply the way it was with people who were technically ‘enemies’ and truthfully-speaking, Silver personally wouldn’t have it any other way.
"To answer your inquiry appropriately, I believe that the simplest answer I can offer you in return is that the Red I know is someone different altogether. You two share the same name, however his mannerisms, speech patterns, and general behavioral patterns are quite different from your own. He has a slight accent over his words whenever he speaks, his physical appearance differs slightly from your own, and he generally tends to be rather cheerful, enthusiastic, stubborn, social, and irritatingly reckless. There is a fair amount more that can be said about the Red I am familiar with, however I believe that a brief summary should suffice."
From the clipped, indifferent manner in which Silver had given his answer, it was easy to perceive it as his being cold or showing some sort of contempt for his Red, even though that wasn’t the case at all—Silver simply just had a harsh way with words, easily hurting others or sounding as though he truly despised whatever individual he spoke about. Upon focusing on the compliment he’d received, Silver couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit perplexed, confused almost that in contrast to the harsh rebukes he tended to receive from on others in speaking and behaving the way he did, this person had actually commended him for it. It was nice to not be negatively criticized on being the way he was for once yet at the same time it was downright surprising. There wasn’t much to be said in return, not that much needed to be said in return anyways. It wasn’t that he was ungrateful that this Red had taken the time to say something nice to the redhead, he simply wasn’t certain of how people were normally supposed to respond past giving a simple ‘thank you’ in return—nothing else seemed necessary.
"… I don’t believe that labeling me as ‘cold’ is very far from the truth of the nature of my personality and resulting behaviour towards others… however I suppose that you have my gratitude in return for having said what you did regarding the way I speak to you."
