At the talk of Æros love life, it felt rude to pay too much attention to the bout, and so he shifted his body and the majority of his focus to his neighbour on the podium. His answer, tentative and guarded as it was, rivaled the gladiators indeed in garnering his interest.
"I... understand." Arvælyn was hesitant to be overly transparent about his past, though he certainly understood Æros' aversions. Vulnerability was not something that had come easy to him, after years of looking after number one. He'd explored it first with Aurin, the results of which had been a mixed bag, and later with Finn. The latter experience had been night and day from the former. But still he was guarded, in his way. There were distinctions between them. Their priorities weren't aligned in some ways that felt insurmountable... Undefinable, at least in the languages the two of them spoke- And both were fluent in Common.
Still, he smiled to hear that perhaps Æros was at least beginning to embark upon something akin to what he'd found.
"No need to leap into any of that. But don't be quick to dismiss it, either..." Arvælyn lifted his glass, as if in toast, though there was nothing of that intention in the gesture. At least not consciously.
"I think we fit rather well together as we are, I and Finn... Though there have been certainly times when I'd have killed for your talent." As an actor he'd been typed out of roles for one reason or another. He'd thought that he was half-Elven for most of his life, and yet he always so favoured the Hytori stereotype that it hadn't been practical to cast him in one of the many human or, of course, Avialæ roles that had been available at the Golden Peacock when he'd worked there.
"Ha! What a thing to be able to forget something like one's natural appearance. That, my friend, is talent remarkable."
"I... understand." Arvælyn was hesitant to be overly transparent about his past, though he certainly understood Æros' aversions. Vulnerability was not something that had come easy to him, after years of looking after number one. He'd explored it first with Aurin, the results of which had been a mixed bag, and later with Finn. The latter experience had been night and day from the former. But still he was guarded, in his way. There were distinctions between them. Their priorities weren't aligned in some ways that felt insurmountable... Undefinable, at least in the languages the two of them spoke- And both were fluent in Common.
Still, he smiled to hear that perhaps Æros was at least beginning to embark upon something akin to what he'd found.
"No need to leap into any of that. But don't be quick to dismiss it, either..." Arvælyn lifted his glass, as if in toast, though there was nothing of that intention in the gesture. At least not consciously.
"I think we fit rather well together as we are, I and Finn... Though there have been certainly times when I'd have killed for your talent." As an actor he'd been typed out of roles for one reason or another. He'd thought that he was half-Elven for most of his life, and yet he always so favoured the Hytori stereotype that it hadn't been practical to cast him in one of the many human or, of course, Avialæ roles that had been available at the Golden Peacock when he'd worked there.
"Ha! What a thing to be able to forget something like one's natural appearance. That, my friend, is talent remarkable."
