[ Ciel is sharp. She's picked up on the heart of the matter quickly, impressively so. A soft, humorless smile floats onto Howl's features as he looks down at his hands. The darkened, roughened change to his palms is hard to describe, something between burn scars and callouses. Could he comfortably touch another person with hands like this? A woman? Who would want him to touch them with these hands, when Howl wouldn't want to be touched by them himself?
With a soft sigh, he takes a tea sandwich from the platter as an excuse to lower his hands. ]
I felt... fine. It didn't bother me at all.
[ The neutral tone of his voice helps elaborate: really, he felt almost nothing. Howl is more bothered by how wrong that itself feels, than by the feelings themselves. He isn't one to feel nothing as he launches homicidal attacks on others, risking his own life to do so. He remembers when warfare like this disturbed him greatly, a time when he was willing to sacrifice his life to stop such fighting, not perpetuate it. ]
...Is that not how you feel, in the same situation, Ciel? [ another genuine question. there's no sarcasm in his voice. ]
no subject
With a soft sigh, he takes a tea sandwich from the platter as an excuse to lower his hands. ]
I felt... fine. It didn't bother me at all.
[ The neutral tone of his voice helps elaborate: really, he felt almost nothing. Howl is more bothered by how wrong that itself feels, than by the feelings themselves. He isn't one to feel nothing as he launches homicidal attacks on others, risking his own life to do so. He remembers when warfare like this disturbed him greatly, a time when he was willing to sacrifice his life to stop such fighting, not perpetuate it. ]
...Is that not how you feel, in the same situation, Ciel? [ another genuine question. there's no sarcasm in his voice. ]