Re: [The grills: Castor & Pollux]
Hannah, with that look that seemed well beyond her years, reminded Will of a lot of people he'd come across in his life and he let himself ponder on her life for a moment. It wasn't judgmental in the slightest, just his own curiosity. She, like everyone, was a series of events that had turned them into who they were today. Will liked to consider the early pages of the book, to step back and imagine what a person might have gone through to get there. So far she was a mystery to him with things he couldn't quite figure out how they all fit together, but he also figured that made sense given where he was and that this was their first meeting.
"I think we've got more control over it than we think, even if it's just training the brain to think a certain way. We're pretty adaptable creatures." It was how he got through his hard days, or had been prior to when he'd started using crutches. At least these days that was too a minimum, something he was sure his liver was thankful for. "I think we're responsible for the ramifications of what we say and do, sure. Intent or not. We don't have control over it but, say you hurt someone's feelings you cared about without meaning to, would you try and make that right?" He paused for a moment, turning the kabobs. "I would, but if I still thought what I said was true, I'd hold to that while trying a different, less hurtful, way of expressing it because I don't want to hurt someone and I'm responsible for the fact that I did, same as I am for the words that I choose to let out of my mouth the second time."
Will had never been much of a panderer, even if he was soft handed a lot of the time. People, he reasoned, they needed kind and gentle, and for just the reason she'd said.
"It sure is that Hannah." He chuckled warmly at her commentary that it was complicated. "And ridiculous a lot of the time too huh?" He tried to sprinkle in a dash of humor for a second. "Maybe that's the trick, to stop taking it so seriously?" The question at the end was largely rhetorical as he turned another kabob onto its last rotation while they talked.
"Maybe it's the kindness." He answered her, at least half honest. "If square peg's the norm, and kindness isn't, then that seems like a really good reason to be a round peg to me." It was simple and easy. "But there's a lot of other reasons too probably." He didn't want to lie to her, even if he wasn't about to go confessing everything. "Besides, being a round peg generally means you get to be around other round pegs and I think that's a much better way to be, especially if this conversation is any indication." It was a genuine compliment tacked onto the end. "And thank you." Because he appreciated what she'd said about him too.
"You give yellow a really good name then." Rolling with people's perspectives was another thing he'd picked up as a trade-skill in life, and Will found it easy to apply it genuinely in interpersonal conversations too. "As for what I've found here besides the postcard? Well, we can add new friends to that list first if you're interested?" It was a genuine offer too. "I like the place too, it's got its strange kind of charms. I like the mix of nature and city not too far away, plus like you said, I feel like there's possibility here. It's like you can taste it in the air." Maybe it was a little poetic, and Will honestly didn't mean it that way, but that didn't make it any less true.
"Is that something you're comfortable with me asking about, your family?" He knew family could be touchy for some people, so he didn't want to overstep or bring up something she didn't want to share. "I'm not the least bit surprised to hear you've made good friends though. You're a really interesting person with a lot of good insights and an excellent conversation partner." Those two things, he could say with authority. "What kind of things do you like to go and do with your friends? — and can you grab me one of the plates out of the cooler there please? These are just about done."