"Yeah," Lloyd said, still smiling, this time at the memories that played through his head. Dirk sitting down and trying to walk him through homework, hours spent teaching Lloyd what he could of his craft, meal times when Lloyd tried to recite Dwarven Vows - they all held a similar thread. "Whenever I got too frustrated with something, Dad would make me take a break. I still had to do it, so it's not like he was going easy on me." And of course with the case of meals, that break meant that he stayed hungry even longer. A break didn't mean Dirk was backing down from making Lloyd practice his Dwarven Vows. "But he said if I was too stuck to think something through, then I needed to stop until I could get unstuck. I guess... I guess I just never thought about it like that for stuff besides homework or things I'd do at home." Things he'd do with Dirk.
Dad, I hope you're all right. He swallowed and tried to shove the worry aside. He still didn't know what Yuan had meant with that comment he'd made about his father. Maybe he hadn't been threatening Dirk. Maybe it had just been a bluff. Either way, there wasn't anything Lloyd could do about it yet, not until he found a way back to his world. Which he couldn't work on until tonight. And until then...
Guy was right. Dirk was right. Maybe the best thing he could do right now was work on staying unstuck.
Unstuck and unbrainwashed. Lloyd winced at the sobering thought. Winced, then took a breath and tried not to be phased by it, tried not to get stuck again. "If that happens..." If that happened, what would he do? "If that happens, we'll just have to do what we can to remind people about who they are." None of his friends from his world were here, but he had made other friends. Friends who knew him as Lloyd, not Nigel. If he forgot, they could remind him. And... he also had Kratos. He might not be friends with the man, but surely Kratos wouldn't put up with the Institute doing something like that. Surely he wouldn't let Lloyd just forget.
Surely... This wasn't the same as Colette. Shaking his head, Lloyd tried to push that uneasy thought away as well. Too many worries, too many what-ifs. He needed to focus on the here and now, and worry about what might happen when it did.
"So... Think you can get that ball past me?" He let the corners of his mouth slide up. Here and now. He could do this.
Yeah, I think we're at a good point.
Dad, I hope you're all right. He swallowed and tried to shove the worry aside. He still didn't know what Yuan had meant with that comment he'd made about his father. Maybe he hadn't been threatening Dirk. Maybe it had just been a bluff. Either way, there wasn't anything Lloyd could do about it yet, not until he found a way back to his world. Which he couldn't work on until tonight. And until then...
Guy was right. Dirk was right. Maybe the best thing he could do right now was work on staying unstuck.
Unstuck and unbrainwashed. Lloyd winced at the sobering thought. Winced, then took a breath and tried not to be phased by it, tried not to get stuck again. "If that happens..." If that happened, what would he do? "If that happens, we'll just have to do what we can to remind people about who they are." None of his friends from his world were here, but he had made other friends. Friends who knew him as Lloyd, not Nigel. If he forgot, they could remind him. And... he also had Kratos. He might not be friends with the man, but surely Kratos wouldn't put up with the Institute doing something like that. Surely he wouldn't let Lloyd just forget.
Surely... This wasn't the same as Colette. Shaking his head, Lloyd tried to push that uneasy thought away as well. Too many worries, too many what-ifs. He needed to focus on the here and now, and worry about what might happen when it did.
"So... Think you can get that ball past me?" He let the corners of his mouth slide up. Here and now. He could do this.
Besides, he could definitely do with some fun.