03-12-2019, 07:04 PM
Jude might have been unversed in how to plea for assistance, but even he understood that 'Please help me save the world' was a bad lead. Save the world from what? From who? How? When? It made more sense to start with the what, to give Near some sense of the stakes, before Jude invested any more time in sketching the situation. It also made sense to feel out Near's willingness to tolerate the terrifying; whatever his character, Jude needed him to have a particular temperament. Which he was increasingly unsure of.
It was awful, living one's whole life amongst people who had always said, Yes, and?, and then suddenly running into someone who said, No. Jude did not follow Near's reference, but the tone was enough to indicate he was being mocked again. And again, with the 'kid'! "You are an asshole."
The wounded animal urge to hide in a hole finally overrode Jude's paralysis. He turned on his heel and exited the room in long, exaggerated strides, walking as fast as he could without breaking into a jog. Plan A was not working. Time for Plan B.
It was awful, living one's whole life amongst people who had always said, Yes, and?, and then suddenly running into someone who said, No. Jude did not follow Near's reference, but the tone was enough to indicate he was being mocked again. And again, with the 'kid'! "You are an asshole."
The wounded animal urge to hide in a hole finally overrode Jude's paralysis. He turned on his heel and exited the room in long, exaggerated strides, walking as fast as he could without breaking into a jog. Plan A was not working. Time for Plan B.