//

  He’s searching the wealth of photos on his phone for the one that’s of his friend. It’s a little harder than expected to find a good photo of Heather. Not because he doesn’t look good when he’s stationary. It's just the part about him being stationary long enough for anyone to get a good photo that is a little difficult! He’s always laughing or moving in ninety-eight percent of the photos and when he does manage to sit still either he took the photo himself or it’s the work of someone extremely close to him who has his attention. Dakota stops his search though when the other says that they know Heather

   His eyes lift and there’s a question that lives in them but for the moment he says nothing. Instead he gives a little nod and just pockets his phone again. As he does so, he listens to the rest of what is told to him. Discreet he pretends he didn’t hear the tension in the other’s voice about Heather, nor the mumbling that passed about plants surviving. Dakota is good with plants and he credits it to carefully learning about them over the years.

   Though, if anything, he also credits his skills with them now to the amount of times he failed to care for plants he had in the past. 

  Patient he waits for the other to make his way through sharing that he wants to try and keep a plant to show that he can to someone he cares for. A girlfriend. The dots are coming together slowly to something that Dakota was briefly told by Heather in passing but he doesn’t say anything other than, “I get you. I have this thing where I want to show I can stand on my own if I need to a lot of the time. It’s both saved my ass and at times almost got me killed.”

  The seat is offered and though he does have a bit of a schedule to keep today, he figures it can’t hurt to help a little. He settled down in the seat and then looks to the other man. “Uh..” he starts and then laughs before he dips just a bit again, “I’m Dakota.”

   Then he starts in, “Some of the easiest plants to keep alive are succulents and cacti, but like…it’s basic as hell to have them. Don’t get me wrong, they’re nice and all but when it comes to, I guess, showing interest in her interests, it might go a little better to kick it up a notch. Think..mmm,” he pauses to drum up some plants he knows from memory. “You could get a Cast Iron plant… Or some other type of small indoor tree-like plant. Ooo! Like a Money Tree! They’re kinda cute and grow really well indoors and you only need to water it when the soil goes dry.”

   He stops before he gets swept away, “Or were you thinking more like flowers? Because that’s a whole other ball game and does require a liiiiiiiiitle bit more care.”

Khonshu knew immediately. They embodied Heather perfectly. "They match him very well." He said, confidently, but if one really noticed, there was shame behind his voice. "I know....Heather." He nodded again before staring at the flowers. "That is a very good choice for him." He gave a smile before looking at the plants that were his table mates.

"They survived....I guess I could do this after all...maybe." He mumbled before looking at his phone. "I don't know what kind of plant to get for my first house plant...my girlfriend...she really is into plants but I don't want to ask her because I want to surprise her sort of?" He wasn't making sense, but he had his idea. He didn't want Hecate to have to teach him about this, and that he wanted to do it on his own, for her.

"I want to show her that i'm trying to learn her interests?" He wasn't sure what he was trying to say - it was an attempted to make it sound better but it wasn't working. "What plant would be easy to kill - not kill. NOT. Kill." He rubbed his head before motioning to the seat. "I don't know how long you have but I'd really appreciate the help?"

Building Friendships \\ Arwyn & ’Kota

{{ “Poor chap never learned how to swim, eh?” Hahaha! Continued from this haphazard moment with @mparwyn

//

  Arwyn pulls his arm away and Dakota waits for the inevitable hiss of pain that flows. His deeply concerned look melts for a few seconds into a flat one of someone who sees the bravado behind pulling away but knows better through personal, painful, past experience. Keeping quiet (pointedly not saying ‘I told you so’) he waits the bit of time in which his newer friend needs to calm and then painfully move his arm back.

   “Yeah. Ow.” He says but it carries no more sting than a shoulder bump in a crowd. He is careful as he holds up Arwyn’s arm and gingerly tests it with gentle fingers to see where it might have been hurt. He’s determining if it’s a break, a sprain or a hairline fracture as best he can from the reaction. Though the need for the reaction test is void as he sees the full damage. Under his breath he mutters a curse and takes out his cell phone.

  “We gotta get you to a hospital. That’s not something you want to just let alone.” There it is, the concern in his voice; it seeps into the look on his face again. Drawing his brows a little closer together. Rapidly he shoots off a text to someone he works with and then looks at Arwyn again. “Hey whoa, whoa.”

   It’s the hyperventilating that is his secondary worry- too much of that can lead to the other passing out and risking further injury. “Breathe bro. Come on, breathe with me.” He moves to half hold up and half cradle the other to him in case he starts to get dizzy and demonstrates the breathing to slow down. 

   “Think you can stay with me long enough that I can get you an ambulance?”

//

   She laughs and it’s an awkward little sound. Dakota doesn’t mind it though- she’s more reserved than some of his employees and newer so she’s learning her own comfort levels within the space. He is just happy that she’s seeming to get the knack of things around here with a few small mistakes that were easily fixable. She had a good demeanor and didn’t mind the hustle and bustle of the restaurant when it got busy.

   Rosalyn even handled the chaos of rushes better than most people would. The new hire seemed to thrive under the pressure of chatter and busy tables and learning all at once. She even earned a good sum of tips on her first days in. To say that Dakota was pleased with her efforts at her work was an understatement. 

  He doesn’t gloat just yet though. There would be time for that later. For now, the slow and easy start to the shift before the hectic rush in two hours was prime time to relax and prep. “Nah, nothing going on right now. It’s post the carnival and getting just a little warmer so people are starting to realize that bed rotting is a little less fun than going out now that the cold is gone.”

  She comes closer and takes up one of the new menus to look over and Dakota takes the opportunity to sip a bigger pull from his own cup. “Yeah, I just finished them a bit ago. What do you think? Is the font a comfortable reading size? Anything sounding appetizing to you?”

Kettle & Fire \\ Rosalyn & ‘Kota

A promised starter for the wonderful @mpxshinhye

//

  Goodness knows that Honeypot needed the extra help.

    It had been in a huff at the end of a chaotic day that Dakota had muttered under his breath that he needed someone around this place that had some sense they were born with. It had been approximately eleven hours later that his new hire, Rosalyn had come to answer that haphazard prayer with a breezy smile and a resume that screamed potential. Her willingness to learn and her overall demeanor that was friendly but not overwhelmingly so had him slightly second guessing if she could handle the roughness of the other staff that joked heavily with each other, but still, she was so pleasant! He had made the solid decision to hire her within the first six minutes of the interview and the remaining bit of it was formality.

    Now, several weeks into her time there with them, Dakota is helping her with some training for the new summer menu updates. He’s there a little earlier than her and has brewed a mid afternoon coffee to help him wake up more. There is enough for her and the other early staff to have a cup as well. When the bells on the front door chime her entry Dakota looks up from the booklet he’s sliding the new menu into.

    “Good morning,” he jokes. It’s so far from morning that it’s nearly laughable but there they are, in his case having only been awake long enough to process that he 1.) has to open today because Kiki is coming back into town tomorrow and 2.) that it is in fact, Sunday, their busiest day of the week. “Fancy a cup of wake-the-hell-up?”

//

   The other man asks if the flowers represent his friend well and Dakota chuckles. Heather, much like the flowers, was beautiful and sort whimsical to look at and had many faces to them— but both were strong. Dakota had been privy to a lot of happenings in his friend’s life that many would never know about and he had watched the ways that he had picked up and kept going even when most would fold to life’s pressures. “Yeah, they really do. I’ll show you why when I get them. It’s.. kind of something you only get though when you see them both side by side.”

   Dakota thinks about showing a picture of Heather to the guy but he’s setting down the array of plants he has already and can’t just yet. He’ll do it in a bit when he’s back from the little shop. “Thanks! I’ll be right out! Give me like five minutes.. give or take!”

   And with that Dakota disappears into the shop with his wallet and things, leaving the other man behind with the collection he’s gotten. Quick and true to his word, Dakota emerges not but six minutes later with something wrapped in brown paper and tied off with a bow of twine around its middle. From the top of the wrapped bundle the most beautiful delicate pink-purple blossoms stick out cheekily.

   “Back! I got them! I’ll show you why they remind me of him— one sec, I have this photo…”

//

   “Probably got to do with that weird shape they got. Jack be creepin’.” Dakota answers the question. 

   He’s standing near to the asker, his hands dusting the dirt from one of his plants off his palms. There’s dirty on his jeans and a smudge of it on his face but it does nothing to take away the handsomeness of his features or the friendliness of his smile. Looking down at his hand first Dakota extends it out and gives a slight dip at the waist in greeting. “‘Sup?”

   The plants around him give him away as an enthusiast but even still it’s not every day that someone can recal the look of a plant just by the name. “You fiendin’ for a plant too? I got…”

  He laughs and motions to his collection, “Just a few myself today. I’m eyeing something for a friend of mine too, in that window over there. You wanna watch my babies while I get it?”

   Placing his trust in this stranger with his plants is wild but he’s simply got to get those flowers! “I’ll pay you after I get them. They’re for my friend because his name is Heather and well… they’re Heathers.”

Almond Milk \\ Davina & ‘Kota

{{ La-la-oopsie! A fresh starter with the tea lady @mpxdavina

//

  People have an unusual way of finding their way back into each other’s lives. They can brush in brief passing when seeing each other through some window and never really talk. They could meet and suddenly become the best of friends. They could meet and fall head over heels for each other and suddenly that can end. All these things can happen and people buzz through their lives witnessing much but nothing of it at the same time.

   In the case of Dakota and Davina, a cold brought them together in a brief but good meeting at a tea stall. Now it’s a bright and beautiful day that they meet again- or well would have anyway. Dakota has his eyes down on his phone as he accidentally bumps shoulders with someone that he barely gives a glance to as he mutters a half hearted ‘sorry’ as he keeps going.

  The universe tries again a few days later. This time they would have met again on a slightly chillier day when people were more huddled together grumping about how it’s practically summer so it should be warm. He’d have noticed her among the others standing near him as he waits for the crosswalk to change- if he wasn’t in his head about something with his headphones on to drown out the sounds of people around him. 

    It’s another attempt at maybe warning him that they nearly meet once more a week after that too. This time, the universe places them in the grocery store a mere aisle away from each other. Dakota is reading the back of packet of noodles when he sneezes sharply and from the other aisle he hears a soft ‘bless you’. 

  “Yeah, thanks!” He calls back as he drops the noodles into his cart and then makes his way toward the check out!

   The fourth time they’re in proximity to each other, the universe is playing no games. They’re going to meet again and this time it’s for sure.

   There in the rush of a coffee shop Dakota is making his way out of the door with a hot cup of warm almond milk just as someone is making their way in. And if he could just for two solid seconds LOOK UP he might have seen her coming in quickly. There a force that knocks the wind from his chest as impact is made and then the feeling of something hot splashing along his arm and onto his face. Warmed almond milk and cinnamon tea hit the glass of the door and fly onto his arm, chest and part of his hair as he reels back from running into someone.

   “JESUS!” He declares disgruntled by the collision. And then he does look up finally. there in front of him is a face he knows but can’t quite place just yet, shock on both of their features as the milk and tea seep into the fabric of their clothes. “Shit, I am so sorry.”

//

   “Probably got to do with that weird shape they got. Jack be creepin’.” Dakota answers the question. 

   He’s standing near to the asker, his hands dusting the dirt from one of his plants off his palms. There’s dirty on his jeans and a smudge of it on his face but it does nothing to take away the handsomeness of his features or the friendliness of his smile. Looking down at his hand first Dakota extends it out and gives a slight dip at the waist in greeting. “‘Sup?”

   The plants around him give him away as an enthusiast but even still it’s not every day that someone can recal the look of a plant just by the name. “You fiendin’ for a plant too? I got…”

  He laughs and motions to his collection, “Just a few myself today. I’m eyeing something for a friend of mine too, in that window over there. You wanna watch my babies while I get it?”

   Placing his trust in this stranger with his plants is wild but he’s simply got to get those flowers! “I’ll pay you after I get them. They’re for my friend because his name is Heather and well… they’re Heathers.”

Khonshu wanted more plants in his life, seeing Hecate's place with a bunch of greenery made him want to take some too. There were plants that didn't need much attention and he wanted that kind, but some were very pretty as well....but those were more work. He hummed and hawed at the idea of what to buy before even getting to the shop.

Khonshu liked to know plans ahead of time, and wanted to be able to be in and out right away - not bothering anyone for any reason. It was his old stubborn ways. He was outside of the store for a little while. staring at the plants and the flowers in the window before shaking his head.

He was feeling frustrated at the fact that he was so hung up about plants. Centuries ago he wouldn't have cared and just agreed to whatever plants he didn't even look at - in fact he probably wouldn't have any plants at all.

He went to the cafe near by and ordered a drink before taking it outside so he could think. Sitting down he was scrolling through his phone about plants. The god was starting to giggle and cackle at the idea of the plants and their names: Sneezewort, Bear’s Breeches, Dancing Girl Ginger.

"How can you name a plant "Jack-in-the-pulpit" he questioned so egarly. Sipping his drink he started to laugh again.

Sight for Sore Eyes \\ Kaya & ‘Kota

Making connections again~ Continued from here with @mpxkaya

//

  Her familiar face makes Dakota remember that his choice in sleeping on a park bench is a worrisome thing for the average person to see. Especially in a city like theirs where it wasn’t really done. Back home in California- sure, not all that weird to find people sprawled out on benches, doorways and even on the sidewalks at times. But here? Nah. Her familiar face also makes him remember that he had spent last night drinking far too much with Ryul, Heather, Noel and Invidia.

   “Okay is a social construct made by the Big Cheese in charge to keep us going to our capitalist prisons- I mean jobs.” The answer is not a real one save for that it’s too real where it hits. He closes his eyes again as his stomach protests his waking state- loud and angry it demands attention soon. “I’ll be Gucci as long as I eat something before my stomach eats itself.”

   He sits up and yawns before stretching his arms overhead and actually assessing if he’s doing alright today. The hangover he’s sporting is going to be a pain but nothing he can’t handle with good food and taking it easier at work later. Her offer of a jacket is a nice one but if he starts moving around he’ll get warm enough. It’s early in the day when the cool of the night is still there before noon will heat away the midday.

  “Mm, no coat.” He answers and moves to stand fully now. He twists at the waist and his spine gives a satisfying pop that he hums about before pushing his hands over his face and up into his hair. “What time is it?”

Complimentary \\ Noel & ‘Kota

Bro?! BRUUUUUUUHHHHHH! Continued from here with @mpxnoel

//

   Dakota watches the way that Noel sputters on his drink and a wicked little smile lives on his lips. That signature smirk that lives in his family line only turns into a full boxy grin when Noel regains himself enough to say he’s a few years too late to the party because his friend is courting his cousin.

   “Ah, such a shame.” It’s obvious that it’s not a shame as he laughs and carries on, “Should have shot my shot before I left you to pick him up that day. I knew that uniform he was wearing did something to you- you came back blushing like a tomato!”

   He spins his table towel and flicks it at Noel before erupting into laughter again. Noel being the startled one looks good on him! Ah, but Noel is quick and clever! Dakota’s laughing slows as he watches the other lift the glass to his lips and gaze at him over the edge of it. Those green eyes hold him there and for a second Dakota can see how his cousin got pulled in as they stay steady and he hears Noel talking. DANGER! Dakota narrows his own eyes on the other, kicking up memories of beating his ass for using that sway on his family.

   “Watch yourself,” he says still mock-glaring. “My cousin’s affection for you won’t save you for an old style beat down like I used to give you. And it will hurt twice as hard now because he’s not in the room. I’ll rock your shit Noel and I don’t care if you cry or not.”

    He’s kidding. Mostly!

Greenery \\ Khonshu & ‘Kota

{{ In which Dakota will most likely drop at least one plant and ruin his whole week - open starter! First come, first serve!}}

//

   He really doesn’t need more plants. One solid look at the private back garden of Honeypot would tell anyone that. Hell, one solid look at the front of the building would! Dakota had a surprisingly good green thumb that was not talked about too much but made itself obvious when he was on one of his binges again. Like today!

   Today, in the bright sunshine of the afternoon, Dakota is marching his way across town from one of the many spots to buy plants with one potted small tree on his left arm, several hanging plants on his right and some leaves peeking from the open top of his backpack. It’s too much- even for the demigod as he stops for a second and his eyes fall on a floral display in a shop window. 

   “Heather…” he says to no one, thinking very clearly that his friend might like the arrangement. The wheels are turning in his head about how he can juggle all of it in his arms and he’s got that look of determination in his eyes that is worrisome to others.

   Dakota sets the tree down and then the three hanging plants before he pulls out his phone to take a quick picture of the flowers to send off to his friend to ask about. It’s a fools venture to text about them- he’s going to get them either way. Putting his phone back in his pocket Dakota starts to collect the mass of his plants before he’s setting off again. He’ll come back for the flowers.

  He gets about a half block away then stops and looks back. But what if the shop closes before he can get back?…. He turns around and starts walking back stopping only when he hears the chuckle of someone seated at an outside table. 

Kettle & Fire \\ Rosalyn & ‘Kota

A promised starter for the wonderful @mpxshinhye

//

  Goodness knows that Honeypot needed the extra help.

    It had been in a huff at the end of a chaotic day that Dakota had muttered under his breath that he needed someone around this place that had some sense they were born with. It had been approximately eleven hours later that his new hire, Rosalyn had come to answer that haphazard prayer with a breezy smile and a resume that screamed potential. Her willingness to learn and her overall demeanor that was friendly but not overwhelmingly so had him slightly second guessing if she could handle the roughness of the other staff that joked heavily with each other, but still, she was so pleasant! He had made the solid decision to hire her within the first six minutes of the interview and the remaining bit of it was formality.

    Now, several weeks into her time there with them, Dakota is helping her with some training for the new summer menu updates. He’s there a little earlier than her and has brewed a mid afternoon coffee to help him wake up more. There is enough for her and the other early staff to have a cup as well. When the bells on the front door chime her entry Dakota looks up from the booklet he’s sliding the new menu into.

    “Good morning,” he jokes. It’s so far from morning that it’s nearly laughable but there they are, in his case having only been awake long enough to process that he 1.) has to open today because Kiki is coming back into town tomorrow and 2.) that it is in fact, Sunday, their busiest day of the week. “Fancy a cup of wake-the-hell-up?”

EQ \\ Erik & ‘Kota

Lessons in emotional intelligence continued from here with @mperik

//

   A quiet few seconds pass between what little he did share and what his customer- Erik- replies with. It would be an awkward few seconds if the other had chosen to pass some judgment on him for his past but he doesn’t. Dakota is grateful for the discretion from him. They know each other a little and in truth it’s mostly through the retelling of Kihara in Dakota’s case and the now semi-frequent visits to Honeypot that Erik had taken up. He likes him coming around and didn’t mind it when the demigod had become curious enough to ask him things now and then.

   He almost welcomed it actually.

   Today, he had asked how Dakota had come to own the business they stand in. There was a brief but present pain on his face as he recounted his younger days on the island when he had worked under the original owner; his elation at being hired, the troubles he got himself in but his boss always excused and taught him through, the nearness of their bond. He had found in his prior boss a friend, a teacher and a confidant who had pushed him to pursue any and everything that had made him smile.

   And then the harrowing day when that friend and teacher was no longer there. No calls, no explanations, just a change of ownership passed down to Dakota. His teacher had left behind a sea of questions unanswered by him and only a lesson that Dakota had already been learning:

                       That no matter how tightly you love someone and respect them, they can one day disappear.

     He hadn’t been ready to take over the business. He hadn’t been ready for another loss in his life at the time. He just…. Wasn’t ready. But he had to be, because that was all he could do. Hurt, heal, move on.

    To collect the money needed to keep the business afloat during that first few months he had borrowed from some and the difference he had made up in little packets of white powders sold in the realm beyond the bridge. And when it was all enough to keep going, he said goodbye to the remaining family he had in that world and disappeared himself into this one. Only one other time did he venture back out again and it was to put to the earth the last of his purely human family.

  There was a great ocean of hurts that Dakota carried inside himself but all he says after the gentle kindness of the other’s safety is, “Coming right up.”

   All he’s ever really learned is that others leave. But because he’ll remain always, Dakota takes the empty mug and refills it and grabs a basket of fresh made tortilla chips and a small bowl of salsa and another of guacamole to pair with it. Food was a language of love too and it’s what he has left to give back out to others. He comes back after a moment and sets it all down on the table before he looks to Erik again. Those eyes like golden honey have something in them but it’s welcoming.

    “Domestic or imported for takeaway? Or the honey ale we make ourselves?”

❛ don't think this changes anything between us. ❜

&. 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐬 (𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬?) 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. {Accepting!}

//

“It doesn’t.”

And that he says with absolute certainty as he stands from the table and readjusts his coat. He had needed information and got it. There’s a polite dip of his head out of habit but when Dakota does leave, he’s got no cause to look back. “Later.”

❛ sometimes i think you must hate me. ❜

&. 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐬 (𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬?) 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. {Accepting!}

[[ This muse is gone too but just for the record’s sake, he should know. For clarity, Alexios and Dakota were dating but the muse got cut during an AC and myself and Ares mun decided the pair would stay together and Alexios would be an NPC. ]]

//

Dakota exhales the smoke in his lungs into the night air off the balcony of his boyfriend’s penthouse. His cheeks are flushed from laughing just a minute before as he holds the phone in one hand that has a picture of the pair of them on screen. They look terrible in it but they are happy.

“Nah,” he says still smiling. This his soul knows in its deepest point. “I wouldn’t know how to hate you even if my life depended on it. And I don’t want to learn how now!”

He takes a slow drag off the cigarette before he blows it out in a series of rings that drift between them. “Don’t overthink it- I loved you before. I love you now. I’ll love you even when I’m too old to remember anything else.”

❛ DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THIS IS EASY FOR ME? ❜

&. 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐬 (𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬?) 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. {Accepting!}

//

Dakota covers his ears as the volume of her voice rises and pointedly scoots himself slightly away from her. The action makes his barstool wobble, steady then tip slightly to the side with his weight and he places one foot down to fully stay upright.

“STOP SHOUTING!” He says in equal escalated volume. Drawing his hands down and looks at her. There’s no real bad blood between them, just a slight misunderstanding prior and now the shouting. He blames the music being a bit too loud tonight honestly but still. “You gonna get me mad before I even know what you’re talking about!”

Correcting the barstool again and then self soothing by knocking back the shot he ordered, Dakota recalibrates before speaking again. “Do I think what was easy?”

❛ well, someone needs to shut the fuck up. ❜

&. 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐬 (𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬?) 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. {Accepting!}

//

Ah, this one again. Dakota had a brush with this person once already but had found that rather than being put off by their rough edges, he was more curious. Some other unfortunate soul had spoken and though the grievance was likely very light in nature, the reaction was all the same sharp. Rounding the corner of the aisle Dakota spies the familiar face of that man he met recently and the unfamiliar one of some new resident to the island.

“Another bad day? Or is this some intellectual aspersion that you’re dealing with today?” He asks before turning his attention to the new unfamiliar person between them. “Go. Away.”

"you're not bad as everyone says you are"

&. 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐬 (𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬?) 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. {Accepting!}

[ Yeah I know they’re gone but I’m just clearing the box out and this was too fun for me to toss away.]

//

He’s unfolding the clean pale yellow tablecloths as he hears this. Isn’t that funny to hear in relation to him from a man who hardly knows his life story? Dakota shakes out the fabric in his hands as he laughs dryly at the remark.

“Do you say this merely because I let you in to escape the rain? Or is it some moral bright point that your god gives you that makes you see the minimal good in another person as a redeemable trait for a life of rubble?”

It’s rude. Rude in the sense that he’s picking at the threads of his own being before someone who might give it the credit it is due. It’s sad in the sense that it’s remarkably inaccurate. Dakota shakes the fabric harder, snapping it for a second as he goes on, “If there are those that speak against me, it is on things that they don’t know well enough from me. And they speak it alone— I make no corrections to those I would not serve at my tables.”