When Dorian brings it up the Bull studies Dorian's head too, and he's about to say something about it - something he'll have to remember for later, remember to insist that the next healer they find sees Dorian first, because head wounds can be trickier sometimes than the injuries you can actually see - but then Dorian brings up something the Bull's never considered long enough to even know it would make him feel all weird.
Not that he's going to say anything about it. Letting on that the idea of touching a mage's staff - he'll have to remember to make that joke, he doesn't take an opportunity like that and all that work at convincing Dorian he's comfortable enough with magic that Dorian doesn't have to worry could take a big hit - the idea of doing it's waking up the kid somewhere in the back of his head who's too young to know if he's a mage yet, who's heard the stories, who already knows the kind of damage he can do when he's not watching out even without any demons calling the shots, the kid who spent years dreading the thing that would wake some kind of magic up inside him and either take him on some kind of awful rampage or take his whole life away.
Stupid. If that fear hadn't quite faded when they'd declared him ben-hassrath, by the time he finished training it was on its way out. He's way too old for it to decide to come back now. Especially not for something like this.
If the Bull lets on that this kind of little thing is creeping a part of him out, Dorian will laugh. Or, he won't, not and mean it - he'll probably just get all careful around the Bull again, even warier about mentioning the magic thing - but thinking about Dorian laughing at him instead for what a stupid, baseless little fear it is helps the Bull limit his reaction to a moment's neutral expression, to maybe an instant's tenseness in his muscles, a hint of wariness as he eyes the staff, gaze flicking up and down its length.
Don't think about the stupid stuff. Have fun with it. "So you're saying I should take your long hard rod?" he starts, focusing on Dorian and feeling a little smile just starting to grow. "So I can grab it in my big hands and push and just keep pushing on it till it gives out under me? If you're really sure about it, I mean, I thought you wanted to keep playing hard to get a little longer but everyone reacts to stress in their own way, I guess."
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Not that he's going to say anything about it. Letting on that the idea of touching a mage's staff - he'll have to remember to make that joke, he doesn't take an opportunity like that and all that work at convincing Dorian he's comfortable enough with magic that Dorian doesn't have to worry could take a big hit - the idea of doing it's waking up the kid somewhere in the back of his head who's too young to know if he's a mage yet, who's heard the stories, who already knows the kind of damage he can do when he's not watching out even without any demons calling the shots, the kid who spent years dreading the thing that would wake some kind of magic up inside him and either take him on some kind of awful rampage or take his whole life away.
Stupid. If that fear hadn't quite faded when they'd declared him ben-hassrath, by the time he finished training it was on its way out. He's way too old for it to decide to come back now. Especially not for something like this.
If the Bull lets on that this kind of little thing is creeping a part of him out, Dorian will laugh. Or, he won't, not and mean it - he'll probably just get all careful around the Bull again, even warier about mentioning the magic thing - but thinking about Dorian laughing at him instead for what a stupid, baseless little fear it is helps the Bull limit his reaction to a moment's neutral expression, to maybe an instant's tenseness in his muscles, a hint of wariness as he eyes the staff, gaze flicking up and down its length.
Don't think about the stupid stuff. Have fun with it. "So you're saying I should take your long hard rod?" he starts, focusing on Dorian and feeling a little smile just starting to grow. "So I can grab it in my big hands and push and just keep pushing on it till it gives out under me? If you're really sure about it, I mean, I thought you wanted to keep playing hard to get a little longer but everyone reacts to stress in their own way, I guess."