Post by Deleted on May 10, 2023 11:45:32 GMT -5
Ber had not actually asked for advice about drinking nor was he particularly in the mood to hear Woodwick’s verbose alcohol-related wisdom, which ultimately boiled down to don’t be stupid. The knowledge wasn’t anything new to Ber, and he thought he exemplified his understanding of it by limiting his reaction to a silent nod. After all, it would be stupid to pick a fight with Woodwick in the mess hall, right after receiving a warning to not squander his second chance at being a soldier.
He met the captain’s subsequent words with a greater willingness to listen and silently followed along as the other man walked him through the thought process. Woodwick said he had to think logically about what he knew so that what he felt wouldn’t— wouldn’t what, overwhelm him? What he felt kept demanding his attention, however, and even now, he couldn’t help the continuous, prickling awareness of a thousand sets of eyes boring into the back of his head. Surely, logically, the entire mess hall couldn’t be staring at him, but even the smallest bit of the spotlight had Ber wanting to disappear from view.
Woodwick asked after his reaction to the additional attention next, offering a list of possibilities that had the soldier stiffening and looking away as he suddenly felt seen in an entirely different way. He couldn’t decide which was worse: the gnawing paranoia of another attack from the inside or the disconcerting vulnerability that came with one of his least favorite people so astutely voicing that which Ber himself hadn’t even put into words. After a long moment in which his wounded pride had him wanting to bluff his way through a denial of everything, he finally admitted, “Almost everyone can be turned into a werewolf, and… I don’t know who’s paired and who isn’t, but there’s a lot of them too.” More than enough to instigate an even more disastrous reenactment of the ball, should any one of them be so inclined.