The weapon will serve Claude well during the hopefully-short time he'll need it as they make their way across the mountain, back to the portals that brought the search team here. Accustomed as Altaïr is to wielding the finest Damascus steel, he can find no fault with the work of Jayce and Viktor's workshop. And Altaïr will be fine himself — fifteen knives, a dagger and his hidden blade should be sufficient to see them safely back.
All that isn't what's at the forefront of his mind right now, though. Altaïr has no real doubts about whether they'll make it. He's already thinking of what happens next; for the Summoned as a group and for himself and those he came here for.
Circumstances are still fairly dire, but it's easy to fall back into their usual conversational gambits. Push and pull, never going too far, no lies told but nothing straightforwardly revealed. He hears the observation and recognizes the bigger question behind it, as before. The difference is that this time Claude knows there's more to the half-answers Altaïr has given in the past, doesn't just suspect, and Altaïr knows he knows.
A few months ago this would have bothered him. Right now it's not the question but the timing that's inconvenient.
"I expect you do. Though there's still more to learn." He flicks his wrist and the hidden blade retracts, sliding into the bracer as if it were never there, but the empty space on his hand where it took the place of a finger remains. "Perhaps we could speak later, when there are fewer immediate concerns."
no subject
All that isn't what's at the forefront of his mind right now, though. Altaïr has no real doubts about whether they'll make it. He's already thinking of what happens next; for the Summoned as a group and for himself and those he came here for.
Circumstances are still fairly dire, but it's easy to fall back into their usual conversational gambits. Push and pull, never going too far, no lies told but nothing straightforwardly revealed. He hears the observation and recognizes the bigger question behind it, as before. The difference is that this time Claude knows there's more to the half-answers Altaïr has given in the past, doesn't just suspect, and Altaïr knows he knows.
A few months ago this would have bothered him. Right now it's not the question but the timing that's inconvenient.
"I expect you do. Though there's still more to learn." He flicks his wrist and the hidden blade retracts, sliding into the bracer as if it were never there, but the empty space on his hand where it took the place of a finger remains. "Perhaps we could speak later, when there are fewer immediate concerns."