"Huh?" Roland's thoughts break momentarily, a lapse in his efforts to connect what paltry dots he could gather when he hears Tidus speak up, but not expecting to hear just that. "What do I want?" He repeats, blinks as he watches Tidus close his books and fiddle with himself.
Roland already had something to say, a reply waiting at the tip of his tongue. 'I want more', he is inclined to mention. Of what? Perhaps everything. But this isn't what comes out of the older man, his paternal instinct suddenly spiking when Tidus has done nothing but attempt to shrink smaller and smaller since he spoke to him on the the train. And it's different than the way Inigo would deflect his own issues with a sweet little smile and a bravado to hide his pain. Tidus almost seems like he's both wanting to be here, but also, not. Roland's never seen him so uncertain of everything - his words, his movements. A worry that blooms exponentially overtakes him for a breath of a moment before he decides enough was enough.
His voice remains steady, hoping to be the anchor against the waves of Tidus's seeming indecision and uncertainty. He faces him a bit better now, sitting so that his crossed legs are swiveled to the side, arms folded against his chest. Roland's pinned him on the spot with that gaze, a look he's thrown the other in the past, but never to this extent of concerned.
"You know what I want." Roland answers, no rush, no pressure. He just speaks. "I'm trying to get information so we're better prepared to deal with surprises. You know there's more to the stories apart from what the train tells us." And it's an asserting sort of lilt, as if Roland is trying to remind Tidus of the things he knows, the feeling in his heart that led him to seek Roland out once, telling him to care about more than just team colors and councils and doing a headcount.
"That's why I'm here. Looking for clues. Figuring things out as best I can." His gaze softens noticeably. "But alone, I'm pretty much destined to always meet a dead-end. Now, I'd like to ask you the same thing. What do you want, Tidus? Do you want to tell me that you'd rather work alone on gathering intel? Or, do you want to take me up on my offer to find out more about this kingdom and its blight business? Together?"
And he means that, despite being ready to walk away if Tidus told him to go. It may not be the most nurturing way to address whatever this was, but Roland has his methods too. And he'd rather help Tidus regain his footing now, versus abandoning him to the directionless wind as he thought might be the solution. Clearly, it isn't. So Roland will guide, as best he could.
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Roland already had something to say, a reply waiting at the tip of his tongue. 'I want more', he is inclined to mention. Of what? Perhaps everything. But this isn't what comes out of the older man, his paternal instinct suddenly spiking when Tidus has done nothing but attempt to shrink smaller and smaller since he spoke to him on the the train. And it's different than the way Inigo would deflect his own issues with a sweet little smile and a bravado to hide his pain. Tidus almost seems like he's both wanting to be here, but also, not. Roland's never seen him so uncertain of everything - his words, his movements. A worry that blooms exponentially overtakes him for a breath of a moment before he decides enough was enough.
His voice remains steady, hoping to be the anchor against the waves of Tidus's seeming indecision and uncertainty. He faces him a bit better now, sitting so that his crossed legs are swiveled to the side, arms folded against his chest. Roland's pinned him on the spot with that gaze, a look he's thrown the other in the past, but never to this extent of concerned.
"You know what I want." Roland answers, no rush, no pressure. He just speaks. "I'm trying to get information so we're better prepared to deal with surprises. You know there's more to the stories apart from what the train tells us." And it's an asserting sort of lilt, as if Roland is trying to remind Tidus of the things he knows, the feeling in his heart that led him to seek Roland out once, telling him to care about more than just team colors and councils and doing a headcount.
"That's why I'm here. Looking for clues. Figuring things out as best I can." His gaze softens noticeably. "But alone, I'm pretty much destined to always meet a dead-end. Now, I'd like to ask you the same thing. What do you want, Tidus? Do you want to tell me that you'd rather work alone on gathering intel? Or, do you want to take me up on my offer to find out more about this kingdom and its blight business? Together?"
And he means that, despite being ready to walk away if Tidus told him to go. It may not be the most nurturing way to address whatever this was, but Roland has his methods too. And he'd rather help Tidus regain his footing now, versus abandoning him to the directionless wind as he thought might be the solution. Clearly, it isn't. So Roland will guide, as best he could.