[No, it's nothing as twisted as the Chosen system, not really--though maybe that's more a matter of perspective, and what you think of the way the Man in the Moon goes about these things. After becoming a Guardian and everything concerning the conflict with Pitch leading up to that, Jack wouldn't have tagged it a necessarily bad thing, and in the end he's happier for it... (But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't still the slightest bit bitter about the sheer lack of communication right up until then, because three hundred years of silence is a bit difficult to forget, no matter how well things might turn out in the end...)]
[(Not to mention how he'd apparently been the only one that'd had his memories wiped after the transition, to boot--)]
[But Zelos's reaction to that is pretty interesting all the same, in a way. Something that 'comes with' these types of situations... that's a succinct way of putting it too, in a way, and that by itself is enough to earn a curious look from Jack. With the implication that maybe their situations aren't so separate after all, if the latter can make an accurate connection like that...]
[Still, even before he can start musing over that, Zelos is already moving again, and shifting the vein of the conversation in that abrupt way he always does; approaching a bit closer than might have been normally comfortable, too (also nothing actually new), and Jack doesn't give any ground this time, tilting his head up a bit to frown at him a bit at that question.]
[He'd have to be deaf to miss that initial desperate tone, after all, for all that Zelos might try to lighten it by adding on to it.]
...You're right, nobody's exactly happy with you at the moment. You went off and pulled a reverse-mole and almost got yourself killed too--I don't think I've ever heard of anybody being able to pull that off and keep everyone happy at the same time. [a simple shrug, though Jack keeps steady eye-contact with the latter as well as he's able, and that belies the casual air] Don't really see what there is to be worried about, though. I don't think you understand just how often I've been blamed for stuff over the years...
[And here, at length, the wry smile returns.]
It's practically my calling card at this point. Definitely not enough to keep me from sticking with somebody when I know they're on the right side of things. --Especially if they're a friend.
[Even if 'friend' sounds a bit...odd now, for some reason, in this context. Maybe it's something to do with the subject matter, and maybe it's something to do with how close they're standing to each other, too--but it's the term that Jack knows best, the closest thing he's ever been able to assign for a thing like this.]
no subject
[(Not to mention how he'd apparently been the only one that'd had his memories wiped after the transition, to boot--)]
[But Zelos's reaction to that is pretty interesting all the same, in a way. Something that 'comes with' these types of situations... that's a succinct way of putting it too, in a way, and that by itself is enough to earn a curious look from Jack. With the implication that maybe their situations aren't so separate after all, if the latter can make an accurate connection like that...]
[Still, even before he can start musing over that, Zelos is already moving again, and shifting the vein of the conversation in that abrupt way he always does; approaching a bit closer than might have been normally comfortable, too (also nothing actually new), and Jack doesn't give any ground this time, tilting his head up a bit to frown at him a bit at that question.]
[He'd have to be deaf to miss that initial desperate tone, after all, for all that Zelos might try to lighten it by adding on to it.]
...You're right, nobody's exactly happy with you at the moment. You went off and pulled a reverse-mole and almost got yourself killed too--I don't think I've ever heard of anybody being able to pull that off and keep everyone happy at the same time. [a simple shrug, though Jack keeps steady eye-contact with the latter as well as he's able, and that belies the casual air] Don't really see what there is to be worried about, though. I don't think you understand just how often I've been blamed for stuff over the years...
[And here, at length, the wry smile returns.]
It's practically my calling card at this point. Definitely not enough to keep me from sticking with somebody when I know they're on the right side of things. --Especially if they're a friend.
[Even if 'friend' sounds a bit...odd now, for some reason, in this context. Maybe it's something to do with the subject matter, and maybe it's something to do with how close they're standing to each other, too--but it's the term that Jack knows best, the closest thing he's ever been able to assign for a thing like this.]