[Lance is quiet, listening carefully, accepting all of this as fact without question for now. After being in Hadriel for a time, and knowing what he does about some others, it seems ridiculous to question someone's story when they seem to so clearly believe that they're saying. He doesn't get any sense that Ushahin is trying to lie to him; exactly the opposite.
He can't say he doesn't wish it were a lie, though. The story is just... Terrible, really, and as fantastical as some of the elements are they can still be connected to things he knows. There are, after all, some unfortunate universals, even if the particular details might vary.
It makes sense that Ushahin would want to talk to someone; in fact it's far more astounding to think that he'd made it this far without doing so. Hopefully he has, at least a few times, and it's just been awhile; Lance isn't yet thirty--and likely will never be--and can't imagine having made it this far without talking to people about the weight of what he's been through, let alone a thousand years more.
He's silent until he's sure Ushahin is done, at least for the moment, and takes another few seconds to gather his thoughts before speaking.]
I'm sorry, for what you've been through.
[It isn't pitying; he means it genuinely, and he wishes that things had been different.]
I can't imagine what you've experienced, but I want to help you in any way I can.
[If that's what Ushahin wants, anyway. He's being honest about that as well, at least for the most part; there is a portion of Ushahin's story that he can imagine very well, but he carefully chooses not to go there especially considering Ushashin's stated ability to read minds.]
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He can't say he doesn't wish it were a lie, though. The story is just... Terrible, really, and as fantastical as some of the elements are they can still be connected to things he knows. There are, after all, some unfortunate universals, even if the particular details might vary.
It makes sense that Ushahin would want to talk to someone; in fact it's far more astounding to think that he'd made it this far without doing so. Hopefully he has, at least a few times, and it's just been awhile; Lance isn't yet thirty--and likely will never be--and can't imagine having made it this far without talking to people about the weight of what he's been through, let alone a thousand years more.
He's silent until he's sure Ushahin is done, at least for the moment, and takes another few seconds to gather his thoughts before speaking.]
I'm sorry, for what you've been through.
[It isn't pitying; he means it genuinely, and he wishes that things had been different.]
I can't imagine what you've experienced, but I want to help you in any way I can.
[If that's what Ushahin wants, anyway. He's being honest about that as well, at least for the most part; there is a portion of Ushahin's story that he can imagine very well, but he carefully chooses not to go there especially considering Ushashin's stated ability to read minds.]