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[credere]

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[magician_king]

"Okay. This buys you ten decisions you get to make on my behalf to help me for the better, and I don't get to argue."

He says, smiling.

[credere]

Credence visibly startles, his shoulders drawing up.

"I don't want to do that."

He finds it nigh-on impossible to make decisions for himself, never mind anyone else.

[magician_king]

"Then you don't have to use them. But if you say a codeword- 'broken windows' then I'll know."

He promises.

[credere]

"...alright. But I don't think I ever will."

Fair warning.

[magician_king]

"That's fine. It's nice to have someone looking out for me, anyways."

Is how he interprets it.

[credere]

"Oh. That's - I will. I mean, I do. I try to. Look out for you," he says, feeling clumsy with the words even as he says them.

[magician_king]

"I know."

He promises, and looks down at his hands.

"I can tell."

[credere]

"Oh -- "

Because he'd asked Mick to return Quentin's magic. Of course. He must think he's an idiot.

"I'm sorry, I. That's obvious."

[magician_king]

"Don't apologize."

He says, shaking his head.

[credere]

"Alright. Sorry," he says, and then winces at the stupidity of apologizing for apologizing. Where Quentin gets the patience to tolerate him, he has no idea.

[magician_king]

Quentin makes a fond, amused sound- because he hears it, of course.

"Whenever you get down this road, try to remember, it's me."

[credere]

And Quentin won't get angry with him. Quentin won't hurt him. Quentin isn't looking for reasons to hate him.

(For now. But everyone loses patience in the end, don't they? What happens then?)

"Yes. I - I'll try."

[magician_king]

"I won't mind if it comes and goes."

He promises, sincerely.

[credere]

Credence nods.

"I don't mean to be -- irritating," he says, haltingly. "I. I do trust you."

[magician_king]

"You aren't irritation. Or, I'll tell you when you are."

He promises, with a shrug.

"Don't worry so much. I know that's easier said than done, but commit to trying not to. You put yourself in knots worrying about sure things."

[credere]

That gives him pause,

"....I don't...how do I know if something is a sure thing?"

It's a genuine question. He's been lied to so many times; he's been turned on by the very same people who should have had a duty to help him. How on Earth can he know?

[magician_king]

"That, I'm worse at. I trust when I shouldn't."

Is what he's learned over the years.

[credere]

"I do too. I did. I thought..."

He blinks and stares at his feet.

"I thought better of someone than I should have done."

[magician_king]

"I don't know what to do for that."

He does admit, readily.

"I'm sorry."

[credere]

"....I trust you," he whispers, like he's admitting some terrible flaw in his personality. "I don't even know if I should, but...I do."

[magician_king]

"...I think I have to tell you about Benedict, before you can honestly decide if you're making the right choice."

He admits, throat locking up tight.

[credere]

With no awareness of the weight that name carries, not beyond the way it makes Quentin's voice change, Credence can only nod.

"...alright."

[magician_king]

"So there was a little while where I was-- in a position of authority, and the place I worked had an official library."

Actually, he decides they're going to need more context than this.

"It was a castle, in a world not like earth. Talking animals, lost islands, rolling blue seas filled with fantastic creatures."

[credere]

That in itself could bear much more explanation, but if Credence is good at anything, it's accepting things at face value.

(Though this would be easier if he'd been read fairytales as a child.)

Fantastical lands, a castle, a library. He nods his understanding.

[credere]

That in itself could bear much more explanation, but if Credence is good at anything, it's accepting things at face value.

(Though this would be easier if he'd been read fairytales as a child.)

Fantastical lands, a castle, a library. He nods his understanding