on the events of 3.2 and the upcoming 3.3

[traveler_aether]

[Aether sits, chin propped on a palm, in his own contemplation while his mun does much the same, somewhere he can't see. He has had long enough to adjust to this whole at-first-uncomfortable-but-now-curious sensation of knowing she's there, out of reach but never gone entirely. Theirs isn't an unfriendly relation, though they do disagree on some things.]

[While now is not one of those incidents, he isn't sure where he stands on the issue either, though he can see the merit. Begrudgingly.]

I know what you're thinking. You know this isn't going to work the way you would like. It's only going to hurt you more than it will me if that will be the way things go, so tell me.

[He shifts, leaning to his other side.] What are you going to do if it all goes south? I can only do so much, and you can't save them all. The world is cruel, much as we would like it to be kinder to those of us who have lost so much.

[He isn't saying this to make things worse. He knows well enough he's speaking for them both, putting voice to facts that need no introduction. He's trying to be realistic. If this, what she wants, is still possible at all, it's going to be an uphill battle on a slippery slope from start to finish. And he isn't completely set on taking this on, everything in the bigger picture considered.]

[Still, it isn't like him to leave everything as it is. Even for that person. Aether runs a hand down his face, sighing, staring down the metaphorical road he knows he's about to set off on, little as he's looking forward to it.]

I make no promises. All I can guarantee is that I'll try. [Then, after a moment.] I have my doubts - you do too - but you're right. I can't just leave this be either.

[He just hopes against hope that they won't regret this.]