[ That's not the answer he expected. If asked, Claude couldn't exactly say what he expected since there's a variety of reasons someone might've chosen to go back. He's named a couple of his, sure, but if he sat and thought about it he could probably also come up with more even if they'd touch on things he'd normally leave unsaid.
What Sylvain says is decisive and like that's all there is to it. But if their time together has taught Claude anything - and especially so in the last couple months in particular - it's that so often something else can be found beneath with a little digging. And it couldn't be that simple, or so he thinks as he moves from merely glancing up at Sylvain to full on studying him as they walk, when he knows some more about what being in the pit cost the other man now than he had at the time when it was already apparent enough.
And so it's with that in mind, a request for clarification rather than anything else, that at the end of that unintended pause what Claude says first is, ] What?
no subject
What Sylvain says is decisive and like that's all there is to it. But if their time together has taught Claude anything - and especially so in the last couple months in particular - it's that so often something else can be found beneath with a little digging. And it couldn't be that simple, or so he thinks as he moves from merely glancing up at Sylvain to full on studying him as they walk, when he knows some more about what being in the pit cost the other man now than he had at the time when it was already apparent enough.
And so it's with that in mind, a request for clarification rather than anything else, that at the end of that unintended pause what Claude says first is, ] What?