[ Devo looks over sharply as soon as Dusty gets to the bit about his parents being bad people, who had tried to inculcate him with bad opinions. He doesn't know the details, couldn't begin to guess considering he knows nothing about Dusty's world... but the parallel is undeniable. And yet Dusty looks at it from a completely different perspective to all Devo's worst fears. What he says about the core of a person remaining untouched in spite of their environment isn't a concept Devo's ever heard put into words, at least not so directly.
He nods his head, slow and thoughtful. ]
I have to admit I have never thought about it like this before. I really hope you are right, and that, given time, I can - dig down through what I was taught and find who I was meant to be, under that mountain of crap.
[ He thinks of Brother Seldom, then, his patience and encouragement, how he'd urged Devo to try new things and be curious and work to discover himself, now that he's no longer under the Hand of Guidance's shadow. ]
Thank you. I think you must be a very kind person, huh, not to make fun of me!
[ Devo's face has been expression his confusion and distress (and then relief) fairly openly, without the help of any kind of truthfulness potion. And he doesn't even blink at Dusty's perhaps unusual name, accepting it easily and saying back: ]
It is nice to meet you, Dusty.
[ He doesn't really know what to say, when Dusty admits he's trying to be as honest as he can to level the playing field. It seems like such a kind gesture that, for just a moment, a twinge of suspicion nestles itself in Devo's chest. He knows all too well that, sometimes, when people seem unusually nice and genial, it is a manipulation tactic. Perhaps when he lets his guard down, Dusty will start trying to recruit him to some group or agenda. Hopefully, not. But the possibility is there in his mind.
And, unfortunately, since the woman working at the booth shrugs and says, regretfully, that they have no antidotes but the effects are likely to wear off in about an hour, things in his mind aren't staying there like they ought to be.
He looks down at Dusty's hand on his arm, both liking the contact and feeling his stomach twist a little with increased uncertainty. Quietly, with more sadness in his voice than he'd like, Devo asks: ]
Hold on, are you... being so nice to me, even though I am making an ass of myself, because you are trying to recruit me for something? Do I- do I seem like an easy target, huh?
no subject
He nods his head, slow and thoughtful. ]
I have to admit I have never thought about it like this before. I really hope you are right, and that, given time, I can - dig down through what I was taught and find who I was meant to be, under that mountain of crap.
[ He thinks of Brother Seldom, then, his patience and encouragement, how he'd urged Devo to try new things and be curious and work to discover himself, now that he's no longer under the Hand of Guidance's shadow. ]
Thank you. I think you must be a very kind person, huh, not to make fun of me!
[ Devo's face has been expression his confusion and distress (and then relief) fairly openly, without the help of any kind of truthfulness potion. And he doesn't even blink at Dusty's perhaps unusual name, accepting it easily and saying back: ]
It is nice to meet you, Dusty.
[ He doesn't really know what to say, when Dusty admits he's trying to be as honest as he can to level the playing field. It seems like such a kind gesture that, for just a moment, a twinge of suspicion nestles itself in Devo's chest. He knows all too well that, sometimes, when people seem unusually nice and genial, it is a manipulation tactic. Perhaps when he lets his guard down, Dusty will start trying to recruit him to some group or agenda. Hopefully, not. But the possibility is there in his mind.
And, unfortunately, since the woman working at the booth shrugs and says, regretfully, that they have no antidotes but the effects are likely to wear off in about an hour, things in his mind aren't staying there like they ought to be.
He looks down at Dusty's hand on his arm, both liking the contact and feeling his stomach twist a little with increased uncertainty. Quietly, with more sadness in his voice than he'd like, Devo asks: ]
Hold on, are you... being so nice to me, even though I am making an ass of myself, because you are trying to recruit me for something? Do I- do I seem like an easy target, huh?