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The Meeting
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Topic Started: Jul 4 2010, 12:01 AM (603 Views)
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Hiros
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Jul 18 2010, 07:03 AM
Post #16
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“No, not quite…” The foreign priest seemed to understand that it was important, but the cause of the importance wasn’t quite on target. He smiled slightly at him, he did have one thing right though. The hunt was important. “Hunting is important, but nobody really lives in the village year long accept for me and my staff, and a few others.” He spread his hands in a motion of disbursement, “Everyone else comes and goes with their tribe. But that is not why we pray.” He paused, and spoke quietly. “Celest teaches that death is just as sacred as birth.” He paused, hoping that Caleb wouldn’t make a cruel retort towards Celest. Although he thought the priest would do his best to understand, sometimes ideas like that made people dislike Celest. Not that many outsiders understood him at all to begin with.
Sidonie was a little irked that Trent seemed to think that the whole thing needed more explanation. But she soaked up Caleb’s answer like a sponge, leaning forward slightly with rapt attention. It did sound somewhat violent, but strength wasn’t always physical, like he said. And the desire for justice made sense too. Not that anyone had ever wronged her, but… sometimes she wondered why Thantos’s temple was the second largest. Maybe Celest had wanted justice too. “Those are good things to pray about…” She smiled at Caleb, and then glanced over at Trent, and then back at Caleb. “I think a lot of people pray those things to Thantos here too… He is a very important god in the Ice Realm. I just didn’t realize his followers didn’t give thanks for food.” She smiled, a little embarrassed to be explaining her thoughts in front of everyone. She blushed, and then turned her attention back to the food.
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Vivica
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Jul 19 2010, 04:01 AM
Post #17
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“Ah, I think I understand better. Thank you.” Caleb nodded once in Trent’s direction. “Most people here must grow up to be hardy people, the way you have to travel to survive.” Following the herd of whatever could be used for substantial meat must have been how the tribes of the Ice Realm moved. He felt embarrassed for not remembering that fro his studies. He was hardly prepared to discuss Celest’s scriptures without making himself look foolish or asking a lot of questions. But it would be worth it for the knowledge he took in and he hoped that he would find willing listeners at Celest’s temple. The word of Thantos could apply to anybody. The sacred nature of death in Celest’s teachings was difficult to take in. Death was to be observed in reverence, not as something sacred, as one would look at tigers. He gathered his thoughts before he spoke, to avoid embarrassing himself. “In what context is it sacred? Do you mean natural death? I can’t imagine murder or execution being sacred... In Thantos’s scriptures, it is an honor to die fighting for your realm or in defending virtuous beliefs, but ‘sacred’ is never used. I’m sorry if I sound ignorant. This concept is almost completely foreign to me.” He must have sounded like a fool; after he’s welcomed into the temple and the head priest is kind enough to discuss with him over dinner, he questioned their beliefs like an ignorant follower.
It made him happy to hear that Sidonie was aware of Thantos’s importance in the Ice Realm. Could they have that in common as well? A woman who followed Thantos was a good woman to him. But it sounded like he was getting ahead of himself. Sidonie only seemed to be aware that Thantos was worshipped by some in her realm. However, he put on a small smile in the midst of his conversation with Trent and nodded in acknowledgement of her comment.
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Hiros
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Jul 19 2010, 05:59 AM
Post #18
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“You’re welcome. I appreciate you asking.” He nodded slightly at Caleb’s comment about them being hearty. It was probably true, but different types of heartiness were required for every realm. Most of them would have a hard time in other realms, because of the heat and strange customs. He frowned when Caleb brought up murder and execution. “The act of killing isn’t sacred. And I don’t just mean humanoid life.” He stirred his stew in the bowl, trying to figure out how to explain it. “Life is a cycle. Being born is balanced by dying. If this didn’t happen… It would be very problematic.” He ate some of his stew. It was a lot to think about over dinner, but he enjoyed it anyway. It seemed that Pathos had picked a good man as his successor.
Sidonie ate quietly, half listening to the conversations of others at the table, but still paying attention to Caleb and Trent’s conversation. It seemed like they were going to keep talking religion. It seemed almost rude to her that it was the first thing that they had jumped into. She was more interested in news from the other realms, or knowing what Caleb’s home and family life was like. Couldn’t they discuss faith later, in the study or something? Or a future meal? The first one that he was here for seemed a little… too business like. And she really felt too embarrassed to poke her nose into the conversation again, and try to lead it somewhere else.
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Vivica
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Jul 19 2010, 09:02 PM
Post #19
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“Well, I’m very eager to learn and to share.” Caleb lifted his bowl to finish the last of his stew while Trent spoke and wondered briefly if it was considered rude to ask for seconds. He would only take what he thought he could finish. There may not have been enough food readily available to give fill everyone’s bowl a second time. He would ask a little later.
Caleb thankfully avoided having a nerve struck during the conversation on death. Ice Realmers did not consider death by murder or execution to be sacred: what a relief. He wouldn’t be able to even begin to see things from that sort of cruel perspective due to his experiences. The death of those who deserved to be executed deserved no title such as “sacred.” That would nearly put them in the same tier as what others worshipped. As far as murder, nothing about it was sacred. In spite of the belief not touching upon a sensitive topic, Caleb couldn’t help but have trouble understanding how death was sacred. “Only the gods were immortal and they created us to be mortal. We cannot have everlasting life. I don’t understand how death is sacred.” Treating death that way seemed almost pointless. Were they ever at risk of not facing death? No. Caleb hoped to Thantos that his words were not insulting and continued to explain his perspective. “We cherish the life that we have with our loved ones. If they experience complications in health towards the end of their life, then some may pray for their suffering to end. We view death with reverence, but we are thankful that our loved one is at peace.”
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Hiros
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Jul 19 2010, 10:08 PM
Post #20
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Trent was quiet as Caleb explained his position. When he was finished, he smiled. “I think you understand better than what you think you do. But it’s painful to give it a high position, isn’t it?” His voice was kind and a little sad. “As you said, death gives us a time limit, to cherish everything that we can in the time we are allotted, because otherwise it’ll slip through our fingers. More importantly, it also gives us a limit to the amount we can suffer…” He paused, and chose his next words carefully, “It is said that Celest envied that.” Sidonie was starting to worry that Caleb thought they were sick and twisted for placing death in an important position. But it was a difficult thing to explain without touching on the whole divergence of what people thought of Celest. Talking about death being sacred probably made him think like people from other realms. That Celest was a bad god who threw the realms out of balance. It wasn’t fair. So, after she finished her stew, she spoke up again, “It’s not like we like death. It’s just that it’s an important part of life, whether we like it or not. What I don’t understand is how things like flowers or tigers can be sacred. They don’t do anything. They’re just symbols.”
Trent frowned at Sidonie. She was behaving like a sulky child. “Sidonie, if you’re going to be rude to our guest, perhaps you should excuse yourself from the table. I’m sure you still need to prepare for your watch anyway.”
Sidonie froze, very tempted to snap something back at the priest. It wasn’t fair that they were talking about something irritating. Or that they kept the conversation on something so heavy during dinner. Instead, though, she sighed, “I’m sorry for being rude…” Her voice wavered a little as she tried to hold back tears of embarrassment. “I do need to prepare…” She stood up and took her dishes to the kitchen.
Edited by Hiros, Jul 20 2010, 01:17 AM.
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Vivica
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Jul 20 2010, 03:41 AM
Post #21
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Caleb was surprised at how Sidonie had lashed out at him and at his religion. He felt a small stab of pain in his gut, but he kept eye contact with her, a firm expression on his face to let her know that he had been insulted. His words had been chosen carefully to avoid being disrespectful towards their beliefs; Trent had seemed happy to deal with his ignorance and to explain their values in a way that he could better understand. He was wording everything with care. Why, then, did she feel the need to disrespect his religion? Yes, tigers and flowers were symbols, but what did she find right about minimizing their significance when he came to the temple for understanding? Before he could open his mouth for rebuttal, her mentor spoke and sent her away. He watched her go and then turned back to Trent.
“Have I said anything offensive?” he asked, visibly upset. He hadn’t mocked them for viewing death as sacred. As a matter of fact, he felt that he was starting to understand it better, thanks to Trent’s patience. “Thank you for explaining... Yes, it is a little difficult to accept it as being sacred. Death is a sensitive subject for many of us. It can be hard to lose a loved one, even when they’ve lived a full life.” Caleb slouched in his seat slightly and loosely folded his arms. Though he wanted to continue the conversation without any distractions, he couldn’t help but keep Sidonie in the back of his mind. “I would be interested in reading the scriptures pertaining to this.” He hesitated to think over his next statement. “Do you mean to say that you Celest did not want to live as a god?” The psychology of the gods was always a difficult topic; no living being had been alive when the gods were around, nor were there personal journals from the gods to study. Still, it was a fascinating subject.
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Hiros
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Jul 20 2010, 05:01 AM
Post #22
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Trent sighed as Sidonie left. Caleb seemed quite upset about her lashing out. He’d have to give her a stern talking to later. “No… It’s just that holding death sacred is one of the many things that make foreigners think Celest is an evil god. I think she’s just worried that with you not understanding it, you might think the same.” He spread his hands in dismay, “However, she is young and doesn’t always think about her words before speaking.” It really was a habit she needed to break, because not everyone would be as patient with her as Trent and his coworkers.
After he spoke about starting to understand the concept, the young man still seemed upset about Sidonie’s outburst. “Once she calms down, I’m sure she’d be willing to explain herself and understand where you’re coming from better. She isn’t against learning from her mistakes. But if you don’t want to, I’ll be happy to talk to her instead.”
He nodded slightly when Caleb expressed interest in the scriptures. “I’m glad you are interested. I’ll find some for you to read.” He nodded again at his question. “I do believe that.” Trent couldn’t imagine being placed under such a heavy burden and be forced to live with it forever.
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Vivica
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Jul 20 2010, 08:48 PM
Post #23
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“I don’t think that at all” Caleb said, feeling offended once more. “I want nothing more than for us o reach an understanding. That’s why I agreed to come here.” It would be a waste of both his and the temple’s time if he did not listen with an open mind. While a few of the concepts seemed difficult to understand, Caleb would see to it that he did everything in his power to learn all he could about those ideas. Sidonie could be forgiven for her outburst. As Trent has said, she was young (and she was still in-training) and she had yet to learn to have the patience necessary to gain status. “I have acolytes in my temple who still need to learn the same lesson. You have to be firm with them.”
“I don’t mind speaking to her. I’m not angry, just a little surprised.” He wanted to hear it straight from her whether she was sincere in devaluing what he held sacred. Had it been another acolyte, he would have been able to calmly explain how symbols could be considered sacred and lecture on how they should not attack the beliefs of others. But, he liked this girl and he knew it. It hurt to have his life’s devotion attacked by her when he had been making an effort to learn. “Thank you. Reading the texts might help me to understand more. I also appreciate that you have the patience to deal with my ignorance. But, ah…Before we move on, is it rude of me to ask for seconds?” He was still rather hungry after his trip.
“Life may have been difficult for Celest, don’t you think so?” Caleb chose his words extremely carefully here, working from his knowledge of the history of the gods. “He was brought into the world by Amara long after his siblings grew up together. He and Thantos were close, but he must have felt isolated from them.” He paused, and then offered another perspective. “Or, do you think that he may have been born with depression? The gods were imperfect…”
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Hiros
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Jul 20 2010, 10:28 PM
Post #24
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“I know. I’m afraid you might find that a lot of ice realmers can be quite defensive,” Trent sighed. Even with his training and long standing relationship with Pathos, there were times when the other priest pushed his buttons. It was understandable, but regrettable. Many foreigners had strange and offensive ideas about the ice realm, and most ice realmers didn’t want anything to do with them. He nodded slightly when Caleb claimed to have the same problem. It irked him to have the younger man to suggest how he should handle his students, but he let it slide. Some people, no matter how hard they trained, just didn’t have the right attitude for the clergy.
Trent was glad that Caleb would talk to Sidonie. “I didn’t want to impose. I generally encourage my students to try work out their differences with others before intervening myself.” Sometimes it couldn’t be helped, but they needed to learn how to deal with conflict on their own. “I am glad that you’re trying to understand. I hope you extend the same patience to us.” He chuckled when Caleb asked for more, “Please, go ahead. I can’t imagine that you’ve had many hot meals lately.”
The ice elf looked thoughtful as Caleb suggested reasons that Celest might not be happy. “I think he knew his burdens early on… Because he didn’t create a humanoid race of his own. He didn’t want to create people only to see them suffer.”
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Vivica
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Jul 21 2010, 03:54 AM
Post #25
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“I’ll do my best when dealing with that.” Often times, when a distraught member of the temple came seeking help from him their first reaction to a suggestion would be to get defensive. But through patience and careful words, they could be calmed down. It was normal for people to get defensive when they felt they were being attacked. Even though he saw the diverse city of Florentior as a place of high tolerance, he would sometimes be faced with a native from an older generation who didn’t appreciate a Dark Realmer—especially one that brought the word of Thantos—in their homeland. He had experience with defensiveness and intolerance towards who he was, but never from a romantic interest. It had seemed like she liked him, too…
“Ah, thank you. I haven’t. There’s no better way to learn than experience.” Caleb commented, filling his bowl with a little more stew; it was an amount that he knew he could finish. “And she seems like a good girl. I’m sure we’ll be able to resolve things.” He told himself that he wouldn’t be soft on her because of his feelings. Thantos taught that one should always defend their beliefs; he wouldn’t waver because he had illicit thoughts about her. Nobody walked over his beliefs.
He finished his soup and agreed with Trent on the matter of Celest. Thantos feared that his people would suffer as well. The Dark god may have had trouble coping with it, but from his troubles, his people were able to learn that not all suffering could be controlled. All they could do as a community was to help those whose lives were not treating them well. Caleb stood and picked up his dishes and then thanked the people before him for the meal. “I’ll put my dishes away… Ah, where can I find Sidonie?”
Caleb washed his dishes out of politeness; he wanted to make himself less of a burden while he was staying in the temple. With that out of the way, he sought out the young woman, hesitating before her door. He could feel his heart about to burst out of his chest, but he summoned up his nerve and rapped his knuckles gently on the door. “Sidonie? Could I speak to you, please?”
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Hiros
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Jul 21 2010, 06:08 AM
Post #26
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Once in her room, Sidonie gathered the materials that she would need for her night watch. Her poor mood made her movements forceful. She carelessly shoved her writing utensils and large sketchbook in a bag on her bed, as well as a notebook. She took a little more care with the case that held her telescope. She’d get her hide tanned if she broke such an expensive piece of equipment. Still, she was upset. Why did she have to open her big mouth? Now he’d probably hate her and go back and tell Pathos that she was horrible. She was such a stupid moron. Sidonie sniffled and rubbed her eyes. Maybe she should contrive to stay with her family for the rest of Caleb’s visit, to avoid further embarrassing herself in front of the handsome foreigner. She wished an avalanche would just swallow her up so she wouldn’t have to face him.
And then he knocked on her door. Why did he want to talk? Was he mad? She really didn’t want him to see her tiny room. Embarrassments on top of embarrassments. She debated pretending she wasn’t there until he left, but she had been tromping around her room just moments before. He had probably heard her. Sidonie sighed and opened the door. “Come in…” She stepped out of the way so he could enter. She kept her eyes down like a sulking child. She picked up her bag and set it gently on her desk, in case he decided to sit down. Sidonie stood awkwardly, waiting for him to speak. She didn’t want to open her mouth and make things worse until he said why he was there. It had already gotten her into enough trouble for one night.
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Vivica
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Jul 21 2010, 06:44 AM
Post #27
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“Thank you…” Caleb opened the door quietly and stepped inside, then closed it behind him to avoid eavesdroppers. It would be embarrassing for her if anybody overhead his lecture, should the conversation end up in that direction. Caleb stood slightly slouched and inspected the body language of the girl before him. Her gaze avoided his as if she might be angry at him. In her mind, maybe he had been about to insult her god and her beliefs. Or, she felt guilty of her actions. It made him feel a little sorry for the young woman, who still had to learn to control what she said. He took in a deep breath and released a slow sigh. “I want to ask you why you attacked my beliefs, Sidonie,” his calm, hesitant voice asked. “I was trying to understand how death is sacred and thanks to Father Trent’s patience in explaining it to me, I think I do.” Feeling a little bolder, his arms folded loosely across his chest. “Questioning is not attacking and attacking will not help me learn.” A frown played on his lips. “I hope you remember that I came here seeking an understanding—and tolerance. I’ll not undermine your beliefs and I expect the same from you.” As a student, did she not represent the temple? Where had her restraint been? In spite of his feelings, Caleb wanted to be firm with her; his god was always put before emotions.
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Hiros
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Jul 21 2010, 07:28 AM
Post #28
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Tears welled up in Sidonie’s eyes as Caleb politely requested an explanation and gently scolded her. “I-I didn’t mean for it to be an attack…” She sniffled, and wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve. She took a deep breath, waiting to be able to continue without bawling. “When you said you didn’t understand… I was scared that you’d think he was bad…” She blushed, “And I really don’t understand why it would be hard to understand something important like death being sacred, when ordinary stuff is sacred for you… I wasn’t trying to be mean…” Her expression was miserable. “I just messed up…” If Trent hadn’t immediately scolded her, she might have been able to save the conversation with out it resorting to tears. Or without running off at least. She really liked foreigners visiting, and so far she really liked Caleb. But getting embarrassed and messing up like this wasn’t any good. It just made her feel awkward and disgusting. “I’m really sorry…” She finally looked up at him with sad puppy dog eyes. She hoped that he would forgive her.
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Vivica
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Jul 21 2010, 08:28 AM
Post #29
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The expression in Caleb’s eyes softened slightly when the pale young woman before him began to cry. So, she was sensitive… He hadn’t gone hard on her, but at least he was able to see that she felt badly about her actions. It would be easy for him to forgive her; he couldn’t have her keep up her tears. He wanted badly to take her in his arms, to stroke her hair, and kiss her… Caleb nearly shook his head to chase away the inappropriate thoughts. He sighed and reminded himself that he was a professional. “I’m not from here and it’s not a concept that I’ve read about. Not everything can be understood immediately. Please think before you speak…” He relaxed his stance, allowing his arms to rest at his sides. “Death may be a heavy topic, Sidonie, but all of us, as mortals, face it. Is that not ordinary as well? Is it respectful to call one religion’s sacred icon ordinary when what you view as sacred is even more common? I don’t think that’s fair.” He looked at her with understanding eyes and allowed himself to smile. “We all say things that we don’t mean, but we can work towards tempering our thoughts so that we can say what we truly want to say.” In the end, he just couldn’t stay mad at that adorable face. “I forgive you…” For half-a-second, Caleb lurched forward, as if he were about to embrace her, but he stopped himself before he could act foolishly. It wouldn’t have been proper—even thinking of a pat on the shoulder and the electricity he would feel from touching her seemed improper. “I forgive you. Dry your tears.” He smiled sympathetically at her, his eye contact lingering for a few seconds longer than he should have allowed, before he glanced at the suitcase on her desk, thankful for its presence. Not being able to lay a hand on her was driving him crazy. “Should I leave?”
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Hiros
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Jul 22 2010, 01:00 AM
Post #30
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Sidonie sniffled and nodded. “I’ll try to be more understanding…” It was embarrassing that he was scolding her, but she wanted to show willingness to improve. She listened quietly when he explained his position. It was helpful to understand why he had problems understanding, and why it had been rude for her to say what she said, but she couldn’t comprehend his logic. Just because something was common didn’t mean that it was ordinary. She couldn’t understand why a random flower or a random animal could be sacred when they weren’t any different from any other animal or flower. At least with death, it affected people strongly. There were religious rites, special alters, and rituals associated with death, even among those who didn’t consider it sacred. When someone died, it wasn’t an ordinary event. But she didn’t want to argue. Especially since she probably would just mess things up even more. “Oh…” She nodded hesitantly, “I’ll try…” She was never very good at hiding her emotions. She could hide what was fueling them, sometimes, but not that she had them.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. For a second, she thought that he might hug her. She reminded herself that the idea was entirely ridiculous. Although she was tempted to fling her arms around him and cry on his shoulder until she felt better about all of this, he probably would be offended by the breach of propriety. She didn’t want to make him mad at her. “T-thank you…” She dried her eyes with her sleeve, and caught Caleb’s gaze. Her heartbeat raced, and suddenly she was very aware that they were alone in her room with the door closed. She was almost disappointed when he looked away. “You don’t have to… I don’t have to leave for a while…”
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