Re: Axel: Rae & Fen
Fen leveled a gaze at Rae when she spoke of not chasing his Sister, but merely perusing what he took as potential allies. It was no secret what he was doing, as he stared into her in an attempt to divorce any would-be dishonesty from the truth of her words, but so too was it clear that her response seemed to satisfy him. The hairs on the back of his neck relaxed as did the microscopic tension in his muscles he hadn't even realized was there. His eyes continued to scan hers for a long moment before, perhaps in a display of his own trust, he actually turned his gaze away from her entirely.
"The disinterested set a good foundation for such things." It was her first real parlay from Fen, taking into account what she'd said with an air of agreement. He'd not suggest it, not yet, but he certainly tucked the idea into his head. If she too sought a life unfettered by the path they were supposed to be on, if she was willing to use the word 'defenses', then perhaps there might come a day when Fen would count her among allies as well. Time would be the decider there, but she'd squarely laid the first flagstone upon which he felt he could comfortably step, and the nonchalant shoulder he turned to her was evidence to that — assuming one knew how to read the gesture.
"I am no stranger to going hungry." Fen remarked of his own appetites, and with it tipped another token of his favor toward her. Would she remember, or had she even known, of the time he'd spent locked away? The Uncle had never trusted him, for reasons Fen had only come to know once he'd escaped the Vale itself, and the starvation that had been imposed upon him in an attempt to stunt him seemed to carry with it some measure of good fortune for the world in which he walked. He paused at the end of his words, turning golden eyes back her way.
"But there is enough." Enough blood, enough interest, enough anchors and moors to keep him leashed to the place? Fen had no intention of filling in the blanks and, though his tone was flat and neutral, he offered a nod in agreement to her statement. There was enough to keep him here. In fact, in stark contrast to her own designs, that shape was his sister and brother, but that was something he made an active effort to conceal in his tone.
"However, should those come with desires to bring me back into the fold of their desires..." His tone drifted with his gaze back out to the rink. He didn't hide the apathy in it, in fact he underlined it so it could be understood for a moment in sharp and unquestionable terms. He let it hang as eyes turned back towards Rae. He waited until he caught her gaze directly and, using a tone that left no room for disagreement, finished the thought. "Then I make no promises for what is left standing when the dust settles."