[ The thing about a long life is one's thoughts inevitably weary and age, grow heavy. Oh, he still has hope in abundance, that's true. But deep down, in the places he doesn't ever really show anyone, there are shadows stirring quietly, barely held back some days. A long life, and everything is just stuff, he'd told Amy once. It's why he needs people, his friends, to see everything all over again through their eyes.
He wasn't looking for anything in particular in prompting Jaskier to play his favorite song, beyond just wanting to share in something the other man is proud of. And yet, Jaskier has given him far more than he ever expected, far more than the other man can possibly know. He's seeing a glimmer of something again that brings him a different kind of hope, like peeking through a window with fogged glass and still noticing the candlelight even if it's muted.
Take this heart and break this heart for extraordinary things.
So much vulnerability in that, in the giving and taking of love.
Love.
He knows what it is, yes, elusive, powerful, destructive, constructive, woven through the fabric of all that ever was, is, and could be. Run from it and it will still follow. A lesson he's still learning, a thousand years on. Here in this moment, he's still learning.
The Doctor watches him with rapt attention and the fact that he quietly observes says much about how meaningful it is to him. When it's over, he stands up quickly, clapping enthusiastically with a cheerful smile on his face. He may technically be a lone audience of one, but he has all the passion of a crowd of twenty. ]
Oh, well done! You know, the mind is so beautifully complex. We take in and process new things everyday. New faces, countless new moments. Things are done to us and said to us and we catalogue it all. Some of it gets filed away for a short time, some of it for a long time. There are cognitive factors, physiological reasons why we might remember one thing and not another, but one of the most important reasons we hold onto something long after the moment is gone is we attach an emotion to it.
[ Sorry, Jaskier, he's definitely getting to the point any moment now — ]
That is to say — Jaskier, you're extraordinary and I won't ever forget this. This, this is a memory that never gets lost. Thank you. Being honest, this absolutely deserves far more than cake.
no subject
He wasn't looking for anything in particular in prompting Jaskier to play his favorite song, beyond just wanting to share in something the other man is proud of. And yet, Jaskier has given him far more than he ever expected, far more than the other man can possibly know. He's seeing a glimmer of something again that brings him a different kind of hope, like peeking through a window with fogged glass and still noticing the candlelight even if it's muted.
Take this heart and break this heart for extraordinary things.
So much vulnerability in that, in the giving and taking of love.
Love.
He knows what it is, yes, elusive, powerful, destructive, constructive, woven through the fabric of all that ever was, is, and could be. Run from it and it will still follow. A lesson he's still learning, a thousand years on. Here in this moment, he's still learning.
The Doctor watches him with rapt attention and the fact that he quietly observes says much about how meaningful it is to him. When it's over, he stands up quickly, clapping enthusiastically with a cheerful smile on his face. He may technically be a lone audience of one, but he has all the passion of a crowd of twenty. ]
Oh, well done! You know, the mind is so beautifully complex. We take in and process new things everyday. New faces, countless new moments. Things are done to us and said to us and we catalogue it all. Some of it gets filed away for a short time, some of it for a long time. There are cognitive factors, physiological reasons why we might remember one thing and not another, but one of the most important reasons we hold onto something long after the moment is gone is we attach an emotion to it.
[ Sorry, Jaskier, he's definitely getting to the point any moment now — ]
That is to say — Jaskier, you're extraordinary and I won't ever forget this. This, this is a memory that never gets lost. Thank you. Being honest, this absolutely deserves far more than cake.