[Damen's awareness is a thread that lengthens because it is tied on two ends. Laurent takes his expression out of sight but he can't remove his attention so easily. He has hated this man. He has hated him so much that the thought of killing him was the only thing that had sustained him through his youth- through the hands he passed through. If only it were still so simple.
This conversational gambit is not meant to assuage his doubts about poison in the food- it is a declaration of his intent to stay. To refuse to be dismissed. Laurent looks into the empty hearth when Damen steps into the bath, when he does not close the door behind him. He continues looking until he evens out the fracture in his expression, and then sets about starting a fire.
By the time Damen emerges it is the second time that Laurent will have carefully eaten one half of what was brought up on the board, and he will be found sitting on the provided chair, examining the state of his jacket. He doesn't want to lift his head when Damen enters, but he does nonetheless.]
no subject
This conversational gambit is not meant to assuage his doubts about poison in the food- it is a declaration of his intent to stay. To refuse to be dismissed. Laurent looks into the empty hearth when Damen steps into the bath, when he does not close the door behind him. He continues looking until he evens out the fracture in his expression, and then sets about starting a fire.
By the time Damen emerges it is the second time that Laurent will have carefully eaten one half of what was brought up on the board, and he will be found sitting on the provided chair, examining the state of his jacket. He doesn't want to lift his head when Damen enters, but he does nonetheless.]