kuwei is good at acting. the way he says not important belies the shaky way he’d changed the subject moments ago, the way he diverted attention away from jason’s question. he can’t call it calculated, no, but it is deliberate. jason’s eyes narrow for a second, sliding sidelong to look at kuwei — to try and catch out something to give cause for further questioning.
but… nothing. there’s a plea in it, from the way he says i would rather not focus on work, and yet it doesn’t SOUND like it. how is he doing that?
`okay,` next time, then. whatever has kuwei up at hellish hours, and forgetting to eat, can’t be good. `you asked if it worked? well — short answer: no.` hiking a sleeve up, jason shows him the red glare of grazed skin. `long answer: i fell, like… ten times. but i’m getting there, i think. it would be nice to be able to take off whenever i wanted — sadly, nature has other ideas. i’m stuck waiting for stormy conditions, so i can manipulate air pressure easier,`
he grimaces, and sighs. `unfortunately for me, stormy skies means a high chance of getting electrocuted, too. zoya won’t teach me how to redirect lightning, yet, and i’d rather not get shocked. i hope your endeavours are working out better than mine.`
he can see jason’s reluctant to drop it, and he’s perceptive - the way he’s looking at him, kuwei can tell he’s looking for something, and he isn’t sure if he’s relieved or not when jason’s gaze slides away a moment later. it’s not that he doesn’t want to tell him. actually, he does, badly. jason’s been a listening ear and unquestioning support since they met, and he’d listen now, kuwei’s sure of it. he’s as sure of that as he is that he’s not supposed to talk about this, any of it, yet, so for the moment he presses his lips together and says nothing.
( it’s convenient, too ; the tricky thing about this conversation, whether they have it now or in ten years or never, is that there’s no good place to stop. no matter how much kuwei wants to talk now, to know someone’s still there and listening, just to be able to talk about it with someone who isn’t directly involved in some way... there’s a lot more things he’s not ready to tell jason, too. things he isn’t ready to relive, and alright, things he isn’t sure how jason’s going to react to.
kuwei can pretend not to care, can tell himself a hundred times over that he didn’t choose what the shu and fjerdans are trying to unleash, that it has nothing to do with him anymore except that he’s trying to fix it. but part of him is still scared of the way jason might look at him after that. )
-- unlike the way jason’s looking at him now, some mix of embarrassment and eagerness and pride in his haphazard flying attempts. haphazard, but sort of working. ‘that is...’ in the end, he can only exhale and shake his head. kuwei’s never heard of anyone flying on grisha power alone, even squallers, but it’s such a jason thing to try and to succeed that it brings a smile to his face anyway. ‘then i wish you luck. you have to promise to show me when you get it right.’ the thought of lightning, though? that makes him somewhat uneasy. the smile falters, just for a moment. ‘promise to be careful, too?’
pointedly ignoring jason’s last sentence.
jacobvanloon
izzy806
dededos
kianamaiart
stormborns
pixelskylines
