It helped to know that there was something beyond the arrival of the dragon. There was something after that. It meant (if he voiced the thought out loud he knew he would be called presumptuous) that Vox Machina had survived. And that they had been working on saving Tal'Dorei. And that Gilmore himself was fit to aid them. There was comfort in that.
He supressed the shiver that ran down his spine at the touch to his beard, straightening up again. "I hope you told me that. Not that I would need any more encouragement to return home after our meeting. I will bring you stories, and whatever wonderous things I find along the way." Gilmore could feel the colour rising in his cheeks, his heart still beating fast in his chest. He loved to be flattered, of course he did. He craved that kind of attention, but it was too much to comprehend from J'mon. It seemed an impossibility that they, who must have been in the company of thousands of others, could hold him at such a high esteem.
But what would they gain from empty flattery?
Gilmore was out of his depth, and it was brilliant.
He watched J'mon move towards the bed, looking them slowly up and down again, taking in more now that he'd calmed down somewhat. And at their behest he followed, smoothing down his robes once more as he walked.
"Shall I?" Gilmore gestured to the kettle and the bubbling water. Then he corrected himself. "May I?" The tea, too, smelt like home. Gilmore missed it more than anything now. It had been so long. He shouldn't have allowed that time to slip by-
Pouring one cup, Gilmore handed it to J'mon with another small bow, then made a cup for himself, taking a seat on the bed.
"My last memory is of watching the king, King Uriel, he was addressing us and- and then there were dragons. Um. They descended on the city. He was killed, so many people were killed," Gilmore sipped his tea, his gaze somewhere over J'mon's shoulder as he remembered. The shock of arriving here had somewhat dampened the trauma of what had just happened, but now he was processing it. "Gods, so many...the whole town was...I- the um, is it better? Were they winning? Vox Machina?"