Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2022 20:40:45 GMT -5
It had taken Ber longer than it should have to finally stop by @thom ‘s office in Skia. What he liked to tell himself was that he had been busy. What was closer to the truth was that he had – only somewhat willfully – ignored the much-loved book that had ended up in the chest with the rest of his belongings, until the guilt of not actually trying to read it like he’d told Temperance he would finally ate at him enough to crack open the cover. With enough time and effort, he found that he could read it, but it was a rather painful process that resulted in him wanting to bash his head against the wall. So the book had ended up back inside the chest with only the first few sentences of what was probably a very enjoyable story having ever been read. Working up the nerve to decide to ask the other man for help and then to follow through with that decision had taken even longer.
On the training grounds, one did not last long as a soldier if they did not learn how to take a beating, weather the humiliation that followed, and learn how to admit when they were lost. Ber could do that there. So why was here, at a nondescript office in the city, any different? Thom’s friendly, Ber reminded himself, lingering outside the door, book in hand. A small part of him scoffed: as if the anxiety pooling in his gut was because he was afraid of being faced with a lack of friendliness. Barring an awkward few moments toward the end of the evening, the investigator had been nothing but friendly and welcoming during the entire time they had interacted, and it had all seemed genuine. He ran on the streets as a boy. He knows how it is.
Yes, Thom did, but then he went and taught himself how to do everything and became successful both in the military and out of it. And meanwhile, here was Ber, who didn’t know very much at all, least of all his numbers and letters, and regularly had no idea what he was doing, stopping by the man’s office and hoping – what, that he could somehow ask for help with skills that Thom found easy while simultaneously impressing the other man and not making a fool of himself?
Good luck, said the roiling mess of his insecurities.
Come on, Stormcrest. Don’t be a wimp, said a part of him that sounded suspiciously like his commanding officer. Knock on the damn door.
With a deep breath and before his nerve could fail him, Ber steeled himself and knocked on the damn door.