Chris listens. Chris listens and wars with himself, with his knee-jerk reaction. The thing he might have said years back now. The part of him that looked at Ra'ah's struggle with his magic and saw a man fearful when he'd never been before. Had seen fear that would get him killed or his friends killed and hadn't supported him but forced him to be hard. We need you through this so get through this.
The sharp taste of accusation lingers on his tongue. The arrogance in the words, the turn of either misguided sentiment or subconscious manipulations burn in Chris' skin and for a moment, he wants to snap and bite and pull his hand back for what he's hearing. But the look in Wolfe's eyes and his own...maturity, perhaps, has him breathing a sigh. That wasn't what was needed.
Wolfe might not need the firm hand Chris presented as he presented it, but he didn't doubt he still needed the guidance. The cleric instead of the king. Chris' expression softens, but not in conviction.
"Adalwolfe...no one has asked you to. You might not have wanted to be a leader, but you 'draw in' those around you not out of deceit, but out of earnest desire. You don't force anyone, you don't magic their minds or hearts, it is their decision. You dishonor those who love you and respect you to take their decisions and fates from them. If they are hurt or die following you, then that is a fate they were prepared for. If it is borne of an honest mistake and not guilt masquerading as a mistake, then you learn and remember and do better. You do do better. There are people here better for having you and it is not your decision or right to deny that."
He pulls his hand back, but not far, only enough to not be contained between Hawke's hands but to lace their fingers together. "You do keep fighting and you let yourself rest and you let yourself take counsel and yield when needed. You are the best of what a man can be, flaws and failures and all...for no man or god is without fault, flaw, or failure and, if you think hard on whoever told you to be 'the best' of mages...I suspect you'll find you've twisted their meaning. No person who loves you would ask for something that hurts you as you're hurting now."
no subject
The sharp taste of accusation lingers on his tongue. The arrogance in the words, the turn of either misguided sentiment or subconscious manipulations burn in Chris' skin and for a moment, he wants to snap and bite and pull his hand back for what he's hearing. But the look in Wolfe's eyes and his own...maturity, perhaps, has him breathing a sigh. That wasn't what was needed.
Wolfe might not need the firm hand Chris presented as he presented it, but he didn't doubt he still needed the guidance. The cleric instead of the king. Chris' expression softens, but not in conviction.
"Adalwolfe...no one has asked you to. You might not have wanted to be a leader, but you 'draw in' those around you not out of deceit, but out of earnest desire. You don't force anyone, you don't magic their minds or hearts, it is their decision. You dishonor those who love you and respect you to take their decisions and fates from them. If they are hurt or die following you, then that is a fate they were prepared for. If it is borne of an honest mistake and not guilt masquerading as a mistake, then you learn and remember and do better. You do do better. There are people here better for having you and it is not your decision or right to deny that."
He pulls his hand back, but not far, only enough to not be contained between Hawke's hands but to lace their fingers together. "You do keep fighting and you let yourself rest and you let yourself take counsel and yield when needed. You are the best of what a man can be, flaws and failures and all...for no man or god is without fault, flaw, or failure and, if you think hard on whoever told you to be 'the best' of mages...I suspect you'll find you've twisted their meaning. No person who loves you would ask for something that hurts you as you're hurting now."