[Van Zieks allows the hand on his arm, because to refuse Kaspar whatever gave him comfort at the moment would be cruel, he imagines.]
I hardly think you can rightly say that of a man whose work sends people to the gallows. [It's a weak protest, really. After a moment of hesitation, he places his own hand over Kaspar's.]
Really I marvel at your own strength of character for your good nature to persist in the face of such trials, Kaspar.
Does your work, send men to the gallows for their choice in partner?
[ It's sharper than his usual tone, but barely. Kaspar couldn't blame him if he did, given the men he'd walked to the gallows. The way he asks is not rhetoric. He fully believes it a possibility that van Zieks has, even if he doesn't directly suspect it.
Any softness left in his words belong to a friend long gone, whose mind he'd so admired, and before that his first and only love. Both lost to circumstance for the good of the country.
He sounds as though accepting defeat, and it feels as much. He'd followed orders, resisted where safe. A lesson handed him by his father, that surviving with a free mind is a victory in itself in a world that will never understand. He does not regret it, but it leaves him appreciative of van Zieks ability to defend his principles. ]
I followed in my brother's footsteps and focused my efforts on trying men who I felt were doing the most damage to London. Leaders of organized crime, fraud, high profile murderers. [You know, real criminals.]
You survived, for all intents and purposes, with your optimism intact. Meanwhile, I allowed a single moment of loss to profoundly change who I was as a person. [He was, as he said, very different when he was younger.]
[ Kaspar is drawn to him at his response, moving even as van Zieks continues speaking. For London, the greater good, for his brother, he cared. Kaspar can't imagine van Zieks complicit like he'd been in his own youth. Words that are firm, immediate, and to Kaspar born of all the things he so admires in van Zieks, grounds him. Confirmation of what he felt is a subtle relief he didn't expect.
With easy acceptance, it is instinct to set his tea aside and embrace what he is allowed of the other man's seated form while he remains standing. It's unclear if he is seeking comfort or providing it with strong arms and soft flannel. Perhaps both.
His low voice is paired with the gentle run of his fingers in dark hair, if he has yet to be shooed away. ]
We are, very different people. And your loss, was also profound.
[The hug is a surprise, and he tenses up reflexively just in how he wasn't expecting it. But he doesn't push Kaspar away, because while he would never in a million years admit it, he so desperately missed and wanted for someone to just hold him and tell him it was okay to be sad, which is essentially what Kaspar is giving him permission to do.
What's important is that it mattered to you
A memory, half-remembered, of Klint comforting him, when he was probably upset about something ridiculously childish. But he'd been given permission to be upset anyway. Of course, Kaspar is nothing like Klint. It really had no connection at all. But it does stop him from apologizing for his feelings. He simply remains still for a minute in Kaspar's grasp. He doesn't cry, doesn't feel like he really knows how to anymore, but he does relax in the other man's hold.]
You're remarkably kind, Kaspar. [Quietly observed when he finally feels he should say something.]
[ Kaspar holds him through the tensing, patient and comfortable in the silence. The feel of his warmth, the subtle movements under cloth to breath, innately has him synching his inhales with van Zieks. Bestowing physical affection like this comes naturally, almost needy after so many years under lock and key.
When van Zieks comments, Kaspar's hand travels to press against the other man's hair. Instead of words, Kaspar hums a soft sound as he curls into him slightly. ]
[And it's at this exact moment that first germinates the seed of what is at the root of several of his issues later on in their time in Crescentview, a single thought of; what did I do to deserve this?
For the moment, though, he's able to dismiss it, and the extra layer of kind touch finally pushes him over some sort of threshhold and he can't stop himself from returning Kaspar's hug, grip tight and resolute as so many of his actions are, almost to the point that it negates the intrinsic softness of a hug.]
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no subject
I hardly think you can rightly say that of a man whose work sends people to the gallows.
[It's a weak protest, really. After a moment of hesitation, he places his own hand over Kaspar's.]
Really I marvel at your own strength of character for your good nature to persist in the face of such trials, Kaspar.
no subject
[ It's sharper than his usual tone, but barely. Kaspar couldn't blame him if he did, given the men he'd walked to the gallows. The way he asks is not rhetoric. He fully believes it a possibility that van Zieks has, even if he doesn't directly suspect it.
Any softness left in his words belong to a friend long gone, whose mind he'd so admired, and before that his first and only love. Both lost to circumstance for the good of the country.
He sounds as though accepting defeat, and it feels as much. He'd followed orders, resisted where safe. A lesson handed him by his father, that surviving with a free mind is a victory in itself in a world that will never understand. He does not regret it, but it leaves him appreciative of van Zieks ability to defend his principles. ]
... I survived, that is all.
no subject
[His answer is firm and immediate.]
I followed in my brother's footsteps and focused my efforts on trying men who I felt were doing the most damage to London. Leaders of organized crime, fraud, high profile murderers.
[You know, real criminals.]
You survived, for all intents and purposes, with your optimism intact. Meanwhile, I allowed a single moment of loss to profoundly change who I was as a person.
[He was, as he said, very different when he was younger.]
no subject
With easy acceptance, it is instinct to set his tea aside and embrace what he is allowed of the other man's seated form while he remains standing. It's unclear if he is seeking comfort or providing it with strong arms and soft flannel. Perhaps both.
His low voice is paired with the gentle run of his fingers in dark hair, if he has yet to be shooed away. ]
We are, very different people. And your loss, was also profound.
no subject
What's important is that it mattered to you
A memory, half-remembered, of Klint comforting him, when he was probably upset about something ridiculously childish. But he'd been given permission to be upset anyway. Of course, Kaspar is nothing like Klint. It really had no connection at all. But it does stop him from apologizing for his feelings. He simply remains still for a minute in Kaspar's grasp. He doesn't cry, doesn't feel like he really knows how to anymore, but he does relax in the other man's hold.]
You're remarkably kind, Kaspar.
[Quietly observed when he finally feels he should say something.]
no subject
When van Zieks comments, Kaspar's hand travels to press against the other man's hair. Instead of words, Kaspar hums a soft sound as he curls into him slightly. ]
no subject
For the moment, though, he's able to dismiss it, and the extra layer of kind touch finally pushes him over some sort of threshhold and he can't stop himself from returning Kaspar's hug, grip tight and resolute as so many of his actions are, almost to the point that it negates the intrinsic softness of a hug.]