Emberwood Happiness in Retrospect

It's surprising, the easy tone with which the stranger replies to him. He's not quite sure what he was expecting once the surprise has finished flooding through him. It makes his neck prickle with unease, his gaze level but beginning to falter slightly. Dante's not an idiot, is the thing. He doesn't (proverbially speaking) see the world in black and white, with righteous and evil and no in-betweens. He understands the nuance that comes with the connotations of good and bad, and often simply doesn't award the titles to anything or one he comes across. Still, it'd be a lie to say he wasn't expecting something more outwardly... bad when he met one of Donovan's men. Instead, the face he's met with seems sombre, collected. Their- his?- voice is cold but not in a way that feels standoffish, rather it leaves Dante with the impression that the man carries himself with formality. It's odd, the whole of it. 

I meant- his voice comes out more uncertain than he intends for and the boy cuts off his words briskly. Regathering himself, Dante begins again, attempting to hold himself a little more surely this time as he responds, This place is... it's quiet here. There's peace. I don't believe your kind are known for their peacefulness. It's a question just as much as it is a statement, his eyes searching the other man's face with a dim wariness. Though the mouse's voice starts with more determination it fades off into an inquisitive coo, soft and equally grave but never hinting at disdain.

His stomach is knotted with slight confusion and unrelenting conflict. Dante's not sure why he's even engaging in conversation with this stranger, but still, he can't bring himself to pull away. He's not to be speaking with Saints, he knows that. It's just... he's just realized that -to at least some extent- he's got to make his own judgements; Seelie court has been nothing but accepting to the boy, a haven, but he can't rely on them to form opinions for him. If his encounters with Orlaith had taught him anything, it was that even within a pack of benevolent faeries, there could be poor decisions and misjudgements made.