[It's a helpful reminder, in a way. It is painfully easy to forget that, when Buzen and Matsui seem so... well, maybe not normal, but no stranger than anyone else.
But this is Kaveh. Kaveh, who has a kind word even for the person that's kept him near-destitute. Who, long before he ever spent any time around Nahida, wondered, Who looks out for her?]
I'll try. [Matsui deserves that much. Kaveh doesn't think he'll ever truly understand the world from Matsui's perspective--he doesn't know any spirits or magical beings, has never fought anything but his own battles--but he doesn't want to disrespect Matsui.
Still, he hesitates.] I don't know what happened before we came together. But I don't think you all are any less deserving of empathy than the rest of us.
[Even if they're as different as could be, even if they live in very different worlds--Matsui is still standing before him. Kaveh can feel his emotions, just as he knows Matsui must be feeling his. That's not something Kaveh can disregard so easily. It's why he doesn't hate Rang, for all that he's willing to get in his face and pick a fight; Kaveh simply cannot turn off his empathy, even when, perhaps, he should.]
[The reminder of what had happened before they met up makes a swell of deep melancholy rise up in him, like the upward pulse of an enormous creature moving its slow way miles below the surface. It wasn't real, but he still can't let the pain of it go.
Still, one thing becomes clear to him in this moment. He regards Kaveh's face with a relatively impassive look, the sharpness of his gaze due in part to how bright his eyes are. Without the tie of emotionshare, it would be extremely difficult to read what he's feeling by expression alone.
But the emotion behind it is a sort of morose apology, like he's witnessed something tragic that he knows he can't do anything about.]
You have been burdened with a tender heart.
[It's not a terrible thing to be empathetic. Humanity needs empathy to survive. But it's a weight, and that weight can be crushing, and he feels for Kaveh accordingly.]
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But this is Kaveh. Kaveh, who has a kind word even for the person that's kept him near-destitute. Who, long before he ever spent any time around Nahida, wondered, Who looks out for her?]
I'll try. [Matsui deserves that much. Kaveh doesn't think he'll ever truly understand the world from Matsui's perspective--he doesn't know any spirits or magical beings, has never fought anything but his own battles--but he doesn't want to disrespect Matsui.
Still, he hesitates.] I don't know what happened before we came together. But I don't think you all are any less deserving of empathy than the rest of us.
[Even if they're as different as could be, even if they live in very different worlds--Matsui is still standing before him. Kaveh can feel his emotions, just as he knows Matsui must be feeling his. That's not something Kaveh can disregard so easily. It's why he doesn't hate Rang, for all that he's willing to get in his face and pick a fight; Kaveh simply cannot turn off his empathy, even when, perhaps, he should.]
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Still, one thing becomes clear to him in this moment. He regards Kaveh's face with a relatively impassive look, the sharpness of his gaze due in part to how bright his eyes are. Without the tie of emotionshare, it would be extremely difficult to read what he's feeling by expression alone.
But the emotion behind it is a sort of morose apology, like he's witnessed something tragic that he knows he can't do anything about.]
You have been burdened with a tender heart.
[It's not a terrible thing to be empathetic. Humanity needs empathy to survive. But it's a weight, and that weight can be crushing, and he feels for Kaveh accordingly.]