Okay, if someone is yelling at Najaran, but doesn't genuinely love and care for her-- no, not even. Najaran shouldn't be yelled at, period. Even if-- and this he gets-- even if they get emotional (and why would they get emotional about this if they didn't care for the girl at all?)-- yelling is not...
Esteban's nose scrunches up at this. Conflicts are never pleasant.
This is why he's here. This is why he thought it important to be there for her today. She'd already sounded pretty downtrodden, and Esteban... can see why she's done it. He can't fault her for doing her best-- though he does wish she'd take better care of herself. For his sake, if not for her own.
"An' what if you didn't?" he asks gently, smoothing away the slight frown that had plagued him when thinking too much.
There's that odd... effect of the train again; that death doesn't matter because it's just temporary, or so says the belief. Esteban had heard about it, knows that he'll overplay on that too, someday, one day, when he thinks a small sacrifice for the many is a better option than doing nothing.
"What if you did die, and we didn't get you back?" His arm drops from around her shoulders to let her move as she wants, but the spot at his side is left free in an open invitation if she wants to get back in that hug. "We don't just get hurt by the people that we love being hurt, Najaran. We get hurt by the risks they take too." Hmm, that's a little too close to scolding her, isn't it.
"I'm not saying you're in the wrong. I'm sayin' that people care about you, and we don't want you hurt. So that's always a question you've gotta ask yourself." He holds her gaze this time-- because it's important. He gets her. He does. But he also doesn't want anyone he's come to care for to step into harm's way needlessly.
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Esteban's nose scrunches up at this. Conflicts are never pleasant.
This is why he's here. This is why he thought it important to be there for her today. She'd already sounded pretty downtrodden, and Esteban... can see why she's done it. He can't fault her for doing her best-- though he does wish she'd take better care of herself. For his sake, if not for her own.
"An' what if you didn't?" he asks gently, smoothing away the slight frown that had plagued him when thinking too much.
There's that odd... effect of the train again; that death doesn't matter because it's just temporary, or so says the belief. Esteban had heard about it, knows that he'll overplay on that too, someday, one day, when he thinks a small sacrifice for the many is a better option than doing nothing.
"What if you did die, and we didn't get you back?" His arm drops from around her shoulders to let her move as she wants, but the spot at his side is left free in an open invitation if she wants to get back in that hug. "We don't just get hurt by the people that we love being hurt, Najaran. We get hurt by the risks they take too." Hmm, that's a little too close to scolding her, isn't it.
"I'm not saying you're in the wrong. I'm sayin' that people care about you, and we don't want you hurt. So that's always a question you've gotta ask yourself." He holds her gaze this time-- because it's important. He gets her. He does. But he also doesn't want anyone he's come to care for to step into harm's way needlessly.
"Is your selflessness worth your selfishness?"