The edible distraction held little interest to Brendon and he mostly ignored it, sparing only a distracted glance at the food Nate was happily stuffing his face with. What have you been doing? Wasn’t that the question. Unlike Nate, Brendon had never exactly stood out in the Black Tower. He’d always been considered unremarkable, unimportant, by everyone except Alastair, and that had been his protection; nobody really knew of the extent of his involvement with Alastair’s followers. That’s why, now that Alastair was dead, he was merely out of favour, not imprisoned or dead himself.
He shrugged. “Not much, to be honest with you,” he said. Only working to undermine the Tower leadership, and then praying to the Light that nobody figures out just how involved I was in that. He offered a mildly self-deprecating smile. “Don’t mind me. I’m sure you’re right. I did have friends here, and… things were better then.” That part was no lie, though he’d never thought of it that way at the time. Another, perfectly bland smile. “Some of my… friends… were much like you, out by the Blightborder more often than not. Maybe you remind me of them.”
And sure enough, there was something like Akashi about this Nate, something like Alastair himself even… And that was a big part of the reason why Brendon was convinced there was something wrong. Someone like Akashi or Alastair wouldn’t have just sat timidly, going out to play with the weather when told to, if he really wanted to be doing something that mattered. Even if he truly just wished to prove himself trustworthy… No, what he was doing was much the same as Brendon himself; keeping his head down, and people did that when they anticipated trouble, not when they felt at home.
But what was Brendon going to do about it? And why was it his problem in the first place? Other than… well, he didn’t have anything better to do with his life. If people like Reuben Carridus wanted to keep Nate in the Black Tower, neatly under control, then Brendon was by default opposed to that. Though that still didn’t answer the question of how he was going to do anything about it.
He shrugged. “Not much, to be honest with you,” he said. Only working to undermine the Tower leadership, and then praying to the Light that nobody figures out just how involved I was in that. He offered a mildly self-deprecating smile. “Don’t mind me. I’m sure you’re right. I did have friends here, and… things were better then.” That part was no lie, though he’d never thought of it that way at the time. Another, perfectly bland smile. “Some of my… friends… were much like you, out by the Blightborder more often than not. Maybe you remind me of them.”
And sure enough, there was something like Akashi about this Nate, something like Alastair himself even… And that was a big part of the reason why Brendon was convinced there was something wrong. Someone like Akashi or Alastair wouldn’t have just sat timidly, going out to play with the weather when told to, if he really wanted to be doing something that mattered. Even if he truly just wished to prove himself trustworthy… No, what he was doing was much the same as Brendon himself; keeping his head down, and people did that when they anticipated trouble, not when they felt at home.
But what was Brendon going to do about it? And why was it his problem in the first place? Other than… well, he didn’t have anything better to do with his life. If people like Reuben Carridus wanted to keep Nate in the Black Tower, neatly under control, then Brendon was by default opposed to that. Though that still didn’t answer the question of how he was going to do anything about it.