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[agardener]

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[agardener]

He laughs again. "Oh! Is this blackmail? I've heard about this. What are the terms? What do you wish from me? Money? Mushrooms? I have one of those."

[anashthetic]

"Blackmail," they sniff, "is such an ugly word, and an inapplicable one, besides. I'm not asking anything of you. Merely letting you know something may happen."

[agardener]

He looks playfully disappointed. "Ah well. That is another experience that I cannot claim, I suppose."

[anashthetic]

"Never say never! It could still happen. It just won't happen about this."

[agardener]

He just smiles at them with a shake of his head. "Ah, I am fortunate to have a friend such as you."

[anashthetic]

One eyebrow raises very slightly. "Fortunate is perhaps not the word I might choose, but I'll take it."

[agardener]

"Why not?" he wonders. "You have been a wonderful friend so far."

[anashthetic]

That startles a choked laugh out of them. "You - if you were anyone else I'd say you couldn't be serious." Sym, however, is Sym, and is not given to insincerities.

[agardener]

"But I'm not anyone else." He watches them curiously. "Why do you think that of yourself?"

[anashthetic]

"You haven't known me long enough to make this type of judgement, alright? Trust me on this one."

Never mind that he did, once, in another life. The further they get from that breach the less they want to claim that person as a version of themself they'd ever want to be.

[agardener]

He looks confused, his brow furrowing. "What do you mean? I have no judgement."

[anashthetic]

They take a deep (and unnecessary) breath and pinch the bridge of their nose. "Having an opinion on me is, in and of itself, a judgement."

[agardener]

"Oh?" he asks and there's a genuine concern in the tone. "I didn't realize that."

[anashthetic]

"Having an opinion of your own, one not inherited from others, is inherently you making a judgement." This is not the discussion she intended to be having! And yet.

[agardener]

"Wouldn't an opinion coming from someone else also be a judgement, then?" he wonders.

[anashthetic]

"It's their judgement, not yours, and at that point you're just parroting whatever they said anyways."

[agardener]

He pauses, still clearly confused. "But isn't that simply - still judging?"

[anashthetic]

She's being so very patient right now, she thinks. Hasn't even properly told him to fuck off with this at all, not with any feeling behind it. "Their judgement and theirs alone. Unless you've thought about it and decided you agree, in which case the judgement is shared."

[agardener]

He nods.

"I think I understand now. Well, I apologize for the judgement," he says with a small little bow.

[anashthetic]

"I'm a judgmental bitch myself," Ashton snorts, "so don't apologize to me, I'm not bothered."

[agardener]

He chuckles. "What judgements have you made about me?" he wonders, more curious than actually worried.

[anashthetic]

There's a flicker of mischief in her eyes. "To name one, I've judged for myself you're quite appealing to the eye."

[agardener]

He laughs but it's warm, not mocking. "I did hope for that. I created this myself, though I can never get the ears right."

[anashthetic]

"The ears are a positive~ Anyone who says they detract from the overall look has no taste."

[agardener]

He watches them a moment, tilting his head. "Are you saying that you find this form pleasing to look at?" he wonders. "Would there be another that you might find just as...pleasing?"