It'll keep coming up. Happens to be one of those questions that have a habit of cropping up in places like this—what it means to live, and live well.
[He says this with experience, drumming his fingernails absently on his kneecap to a melody only he can hear, a sea shanty that exists only in his memory. He does smile a little when she tells him that people have been kind, though, and says:] Then we're doing better than I thought we might.
[Granted, they don't have higher ambitions than "survive the winter" right now. The pirates of Nassau had such lofty goals and ideals that had crashed right into reality like a ship splintering against a cliff that loomed up out of nowhere. And speaking of pirates...
For a long moment, Edward's quiet. Then, on the edge of it being too long, he speaks:]
I used to be a pirate. Years ago, now. I've done much worse than loot abandoned houses. [He doesn't say it with pride, or regret. Simply says it like he's stating a fact.] It's been a long time, though, and these days I'm a merchant. Or I used to be before I showed up here. [It's still not the whole truth, and he certainly won't tell this kid he still kills people, this time in the service of a greater cause than himself. He knows how that sounds.]
no subject
[He says this with experience, drumming his fingernails absently on his kneecap to a melody only he can hear, a sea shanty that exists only in his memory. He does smile a little when she tells him that people have been kind, though, and says:] Then we're doing better than I thought we might.
[Granted, they don't have higher ambitions than "survive the winter" right now. The pirates of Nassau had such lofty goals and ideals that had crashed right into reality like a ship splintering against a cliff that loomed up out of nowhere. And speaking of pirates...
For a long moment, Edward's quiet. Then, on the edge of it being too long, he speaks:]
I used to be a pirate. Years ago, now. I've done much worse than loot abandoned houses. [He doesn't say it with pride, or regret. Simply says it like he's stating a fact.] It's been a long time, though, and these days I'm a merchant. Or I used to be before I showed up here. [It's still not the whole truth, and he certainly won't tell this kid he still kills people, this time in the service of a greater cause than himself. He knows how that sounds.]