[What am I supposed to do if you're out there and I'm in here, and they start tracking you down?
And it stops him short. He nearly replies anyway, his tongue moving faster than his mind, too lost in his mounting anger and tension to think about what either of them are actually saying. It's snarling instinct, a seething desire to bite and tear and release tension: you cannot be so foolish as that, child or not, you cannot think that I had a choice, something short and sharp and cutting. Something patently mean and utterly unfair, and yet all the more satisfying for it.
But his mind doubles back, and suddenly all that anger hits a wall and shatters. His expression melts from a fierce scowl into something more startled, his eyes darting about Astarion's face as he tries to understand.]
What do you mean, track me down? I—
[A breath. A beat. And as tension slowly starts to drain from his body and his clever mind begins to work, he says slowly:]
no subject
And it stops him short. He nearly replies anyway, his tongue moving faster than his mind, too lost in his mounting anger and tension to think about what either of them are actually saying. It's snarling instinct, a seething desire to bite and tear and release tension: you cannot be so foolish as that, child or not, you cannot think that I had a choice, something short and sharp and cutting. Something patently mean and utterly unfair, and yet all the more satisfying for it.
But his mind doubles back, and suddenly all that anger hits a wall and shatters. His expression melts from a fierce scowl into something more startled, his eyes darting about Astarion's face as he tries to understand.]
What do you mean, track me down? I—
[A breath. A beat. And as tension slowly starts to drain from his body and his clever mind begins to work, he says slowly:]
. . . you were worried for me?