04-16-2025, 12:23 AM
Is there a polite way Jude can answer 'why'? He has written and rewritten the answer in his head many times. The original 'why' was twofold: because Jude had liked Courtland and trusted him, and because Near was presumed to have inherited some of his father's influence, gravitas, and intelligence. The refurbished 'why', present at their last encounter, was that Near had asked after him, leading Jude to believe there was perhaps a delayed inheritance of the idealized traits. Instead, Near revealed himself still destitute in terms of an attractive personality.
Then he revealed something else.
The car alarm rings out in the silence, the pitch rising and falling, screaming out for its owner in the dark.
"You could be useful," Jude says finally. Near's suggestion to fight had been asinine before, but now it has some teeth. Or, maybe not teeth, but there's a shield. Jude wonders whether he can die, but while he's not raring to find out, he at least feels confident that he could scramble away from a violent encounter intact enough to regenerate. Near Farr in a fight? Pure liability.
Until the reveal. Now Jude thinks there's a real chance that Juliet wouldn't simply invent a way of exploding Near's head like a grape and using the ensuing torrent of blood to drag her twin brother back to their world-ending lair. Moreover, Jude thinks that maybe, just maybe -- big maybe -- Near is the key Courtland left behind. Maybe that's why Near didn't know where to look.
Then he revealed something else.
The car alarm rings out in the silence, the pitch rising and falling, screaming out for its owner in the dark.
"You could be useful," Jude says finally. Near's suggestion to fight had been asinine before, but now it has some teeth. Or, maybe not teeth, but there's a shield. Jude wonders whether he can die, but while he's not raring to find out, he at least feels confident that he could scramble away from a violent encounter intact enough to regenerate. Near Farr in a fight? Pure liability.
Until the reveal. Now Jude thinks there's a real chance that Juliet wouldn't simply invent a way of exploding Near's head like a grape and using the ensuing torrent of blood to drag her twin brother back to their world-ending lair. Moreover, Jude thinks that maybe, just maybe -- big maybe -- Near is the key Courtland left behind. Maybe that's why Near didn't know where to look.