Doru could not gauge whether or not the other had intended the insult given before, but he simply scoffed in response, shaking his head once again.

Finally, he focused again on the stone in his clawed hand. A long sigh left him. He didn't really feel like arguing further, despite feeling his pride itch.

"You are hard to read, Archimedes," he spoke again, after a pause. "Words are tools. An answer can be an insult if one intends it. Yet..."

He analyzed what he could of their conversation past. He sighed. "You likely did not intend insult, but suggesting I was an interchangeable piece in the equation, easily replaced by someone else to give life? That did insult me, even if you did not intend such."

Doru grimaced. "...Forgive my irritation, I am sensitive regarding this, it seems. Do you have an answer, for my last question, if I may ask? Is there a solution to my dilemma to create yet not care for, without letting it fend for itself or giving it to my family?" He misliked both options there.

"I do not simply want to give it to a random stranger, because though familiarity is unnecessary, the... caretaker must have potential, if in a different way," he spoke, growing thoughtful.

He laughed, but it was a bitter noise, already assuming a negative response. "I would give the child to your care, if you wanted. You certainly seem capable and clever, both good traits. But you also seem a purposeful gembound, for all that I know not your purpose. What I do not know is if your purpose one that can intersect with mine."

@Archimedes

Again he listened, an ear twitching toward some distant sound and remaining there, on alert. His gaze did not waver from Doru, and at length--again when the stranger had finished speaking--he considered.

"You lack empathy?" he asked, and it was an innocent enough question given context a moment later. "Is this why you don't want to raise a child-?" Then he sat back, turning his gaze upon the ceiling, a sigh escaping him. It was a thoughtful sound. "If the child inherits that trait, and your power, no doubt it might be dangerous to raise. But you don't want to just leave it to fate, you say-?" he asked, turning his attention back on Doru.

He didn't mention what had been said before, didn't address the perceived insult or apology, as though it were water swept beneath a bridge. "Though if it inherited that power, of course I imagine it could fend for itself. Mm... I do have allies who might aid in raising it; they might find such a friend useful."

He tried to imagine The Piano raising a child. Unsurprisingly, he could not.

Archimedes gave the question, and its offer, all the due consideration that he ought to.

"It is a responsibility, of course, but I am... capable." A warning expression crossed his features briefly, the faintest furrowing of brows--the most expression he had yet shown--as a single paw gestured toward the stone. "The magic can fail, though. If you did not know."

@Doru

Doru shrugged. "It depends on your definition of empathy, I suppose. I can understand and interpret emotional cues quite well, usually. But... well, there is a reason I find familial connections are unappealing. Ties that did not grow naturally, but I am expected to feel for, even more so feel the greatest of love for..." He shook his head.

"I feel. But I cannot simply make myself feel when I do not. I am grateful to my parents, certainly, but I do not know if I love them. I care for my brother, because he was a companion for a time, but I do not know I love him either. I do not know this child, so how can I love it?"

He shrugs yet again. "Perhaps I do not have the capability for love at all. Maybe I define love wrong, or maybe everyone else does. I don't know."

"I do know I would find raising a child burdensome, even if I wish it to be raised."

He looked thoughtful. "You speak of allies. You don't speak of a cause, but so long as it is not outright war, like that of Order and Chaos, I care not. Consider that this child might prove a loyal ally themself, if nothing else."

Doru nods. "I know it can fail. But give me a location where you think best, and I shall see if the chrysalis will grow. If you are inclined to accept, that is."

@Archimedes

"No, no, nothing terrible. We are merchants, nothing more; but our travels afford us adventure, at the very least. The child would not be bored."

The rat winked, then, as if boredom were the most terrible of fates.

"As for the emotions, I do not know that it matters so much. We are all different," he added, with an agreeable, companionable sort of tone. Then he sat up, looking around. The snake, as if on cue, lifted its head higher, turning left to right as if slowly scanning the cave, its forked tongue flicking out to taste the air. It was clear that Archimedes, and his familiar both, were inspecting all of Polaris.

"This cave itself is not a bad location. It's powerful. It suits you, mm? And it would be an auspicious start. But... hidden, safe. Under that overhang over there would do?" he suggested, nodding off toward a low slab of rock leading to a small crevice in the wall. It would have had enough space for a creature even Doru's size, but it was shadowed, not so easily noticed.

Undoubtedly the rat was familiar with hiding and moving in such spaces; he seemed to have picked it out of the near-dark easily enough.

@Doru

For all that he did not love the child-to-be, in a way, Doru did want was best for it, he realized. His idea of what was best for it was limited, though, and it was accompanied by an awareness that he was not what was beat for either it or himself.

So it appealed to Doru to hear that the child would not be bored, not because boredom was the worst thing that could befall one, but because it indicated more to him than just that.

”That is good,” he murmured.

He studied the shadowed area indicated, the crevice. It would do. He nodded, quieter than before.

At last, Doru got up for his seated position, uncaring if Archimedes followed him. The other would likely wish to ascertain that this worked, he imagined.

Whichever the case, it was time.

[Exit Doru to /showthread.php?tid=11678 ]

@Archimedes

Archimedes didn't hop down from the snake, but the Charger did turn and slither slowly some distance behind Doru. The reptile seemed unhurried, and Archimedes in no rush to press it to go faster.

The rat seemed almost idle, in fact, unconcerned although certainly attentive. His attention wasn't wandering, at least.

Whatever he was actually thinking, or feeling, he kept to himself. Perhaps it wouldn't make great conversation, but Doru didn't seem to be focused on talking now regardless. It was time for magic, instead.

exit Archimedes