[ Eustace follows suit, grabbing a black coffee for himself before turning to look out the window. He doesn't bother with the menu, being enough of a creature of habit to order the same dish every time he visits.
It's quiet enough in the restaurant that the question, quiet as it is, grabs his attention immediately, his head swiveling around and brows creasing slightly at the unprompted dig into his personal life. But he answers without hesitation or suspicion, once again too tired to try and suss out any ulterior motive prematurely. ]
Fifteen. It was the earliest they would have let me in.
[ Which implies a willingness on his part to throw himself headfirst into the horrors of war rather than any sort of forced conscription. Truthfully if his guardian had been anyone in the Society but Ronan, no doubt he would have been allowed in even earlier. But Ronan had always had more of a conscience than the rest, and a strong desire to protect him from the cruelties of the world despite how much he'd done his best to shake off that protection.
Now more than before, he wonders how different things might have been if Ronan hadn't been there keeping an eye on him. How much easier would it have been for the Kenoma to pull him under and drown him completely? ]
really hate that you're making me think about this
It's quiet enough in the restaurant that the question, quiet as it is, grabs his attention immediately, his head swiveling around and brows creasing slightly at the unprompted dig into his personal life. But he answers without hesitation or suspicion, once again too tired to try and suss out any ulterior motive prematurely. ]
Fifteen. It was the earliest they would have let me in.
[ Which implies a willingness on his part to throw himself headfirst into the horrors of war rather than any sort of forced conscription. Truthfully if his guardian had been anyone in the Society but Ronan, no doubt he would have been allowed in even earlier. But Ronan had always had more of a conscience than the rest, and a strong desire to protect him from the cruelties of the world despite how much he'd done his best to shake off that protection.
Now more than before, he wonders how different things might have been if Ronan hadn't been there keeping an eye on him. How much easier would it have been for the Kenoma to pull him under and drown him completely? ]
Why do you ask?
[ This isn't exactly very Gen-typical behavior. ]