When the dawn comes
[WHO] childishanise and maddening_gale
[WHERE] Hotel Mezzo, Room 204B, Time: some ungodly hour of the night
[ABOUT] Anise needs someone to talk to after her nightmare.
[WARNINGS] Spoilery spoilers for ToA
---
Jade had long since resigned himself to being The Adult. The Adult was not a glamorous position, but it was a necessary one when traveling with a group of teenagers and one man who was barely out of his teens. It was The Adult's responsibility to be the level-headed one, the one who would pick up the slack of the less-experienced party members, the one who always knew what to do when everything in the world went wrong. The Adult could do no wrong. He'd never been particularly good at being a nice Adult, but he did it anyway.
It had occurred to him that, now, those troublesome teenagers were well on their way to Adulthood. They would soon no longer rely on him to be the calm one in a crisis. They would be the ones playing parent surrogate to the next generation of nobles, royals, and adventurers. Except for Anise.
Anise was sixteen - not a child, but not even close to being an Adult. Her life as an Oracle Knight and Mohs' spy had undoubtedly warped her perception of what constituted a 'normal' childhood. But even being essentially forced to grow up did not make her an adult. Jade had only known about the change in theory, but the next four to five years of her life would be ones of rapid emotional growth. An Adult would be expected to handle the grieving process with dignity and haste. Expecting the same of a teenager was absurd; unless that teenager was Jade, who had completely skipped grief and went about his life as normal the next day. More importantly, she wasn't merely grieving, she was guilty.
Someone had to be The Adult. Damned if he wouldn't take up that role again for her sake, even if it was some awful hour in the early morning.
He tapped at her door. "Anise?"
[WHERE] Hotel Mezzo, Room 204B, Time: some ungodly hour of the night
[ABOUT] Anise needs someone to talk to after her nightmare.
[WARNINGS] Spoilery spoilers for ToA
---
Jade had long since resigned himself to being The Adult. The Adult was not a glamorous position, but it was a necessary one when traveling with a group of teenagers and one man who was barely out of his teens. It was The Adult's responsibility to be the level-headed one, the one who would pick up the slack of the less-experienced party members, the one who always knew what to do when everything in the world went wrong. The Adult could do no wrong. He'd never been particularly good at being a nice Adult, but he did it anyway.
It had occurred to him that, now, those troublesome teenagers were well on their way to Adulthood. They would soon no longer rely on him to be the calm one in a crisis. They would be the ones playing parent surrogate to the next generation of nobles, royals, and adventurers. Except for Anise.
Anise was sixteen - not a child, but not even close to being an Adult. Her life as an Oracle Knight and Mohs' spy had undoubtedly warped her perception of what constituted a 'normal' childhood. But even being essentially forced to grow up did not make her an adult. Jade had only known about the change in theory, but the next four to five years of her life would be ones of rapid emotional growth. An Adult would be expected to handle the grieving process with dignity and haste. Expecting the same of a teenager was absurd; unless that teenager was Jade, who had completely skipped grief and went about his life as normal the next day. More importantly, she wasn't merely grieving, she was guilty.
Someone had to be The Adult. Damned if he wouldn't take up that role again for her sake, even if it was some awful hour in the early morning.
He tapped at her door. "Anise?"