[ Smoke slithers through his lips like the drag of a cigarette that isn't there. ]
I'm a very tired man, Marco. I've spent a year and a half here making something of myself again. My reputation isn't GREAT but it could always be worse. I've always been in absolute control of my life since I was a kid.
It will be like that again. Jotaro was a sign that I was too lenient with my feelings. That was a mistake.
[ He says it like he's trying to make it be true. The waver in his lips says otherwise-- that he's fronting and forcing it. ]
I have the girls at the castle. It's fine... I won't let it happen again.
[Marco can't always handle being around people, especially these days, but he couldn't bear to simply be alone. Now that he's lost Fiddleford, he isn't sure what to do with the loss of someone around whom he felt so at ease, so... mostly free to confide in.
What could the Fog God do with a man who has closed himself off, who feels like he must be the master of his own emotions and nobody else can be relied on?]
[Maybe if Marco were less tired, he'd keep trying, searching for a way to voice his concerns without saying something Rohan would rather not here. But the way things are right now, he stands there with his mouth open for all of five seconds before giving up and saying:]
By the Fog God. That's what I mean. And I know you don't-- don't want to talk about it, so let's not.
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[ Smoke slithers through his lips like the drag of a cigarette that isn't there. ]
I'm a very tired man, Marco. I've spent a year and a half here making something of myself again. My reputation isn't GREAT but it could always be worse. I've always been in absolute control of my life since I was a kid.
It will be like that again. Jotaro was a sign that I was too lenient with my feelings. That was a mistake.
[ He says it like he's trying to make it be true. The waver in his lips says otherwise-- that he's fronting and forcing it. ]
I have the girls at the castle. It's fine... I won't let it happen again.
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[Marco can't always handle being around people, especially these days, but he couldn't bear to simply be alone. Now that he's lost Fiddleford, he isn't sure what to do with the loss of someone around whom he felt so at ease, so... mostly free to confide in.
What could the Fog God do with a man who has closed himself off, who feels like he must be the master of his own emotions and nobody else can be relied on?]
Y-You wouldn't care to hear the reasons.
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I don't care to hear them but sure. I've done most of the talking. Let me have it...
[ Regrettably. ]
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[Is there ANY way he could put this that would keep the conversation from turning sour again?}
... You're leaving yourself more open to being taken advantage of than you might... think.
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[ Now he kind of cares; if not only for what Marco's angle is here. ]
Explain.
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By the Fog God. That's what I mean. And I know you don't-- don't want to talk about it, so let's not.
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Are you implying that She would take advantage of me? [ His brow knits and his wings start to flare as he grows visibly agitated. Uh oh. ]
You should leave.
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... Right. I should, shouldn't I?
[- not that it was necessary. Words would have been enough to send him away.
Marco turns his back to Rohan, casts one last nervous glance at his surroundings, and then barely turns his head to look at him one more time.]
Thanks for... for not doing anything too serious to me. I really do mean that.
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You're welcome.
Don't push your luck.