User blog comment:Doctor Ibrahim/Ask the Doc and his Family!/@comment-30014014-20180218051709/@comment-28358106-20180304022211

"And you likewise, sir," Lucida continues, in her very small voice, "Although I feel as if I've known you for a long time.  N-not in a familiar way, of course," she says, holding up a hand to show her deference.

"I just...well, I suppose it's because I've studied insects for so l---"

She pauses mid-sentence, suddenly aware that she was about to liken Gladus to an inferior being. "...I mean, um, that I...have watched the natural world for a long time.  Though I guess that doesn't really count, in your case.  Um, I mean, not that you're unnatural..." Still trying to smile, she clams up and simply hopes her verbal blunders would be forgiven.

"I don't believe our pasts should be shackled to our ankles, Jester, and dragged about to show everybody how they should feel about us." Thomas' face grows contemplative, his voice even.

"Would I have brought Alex about of you were some unrepentant brigand?  No, of course not.  So why should we even think that to be who you are?  You go with the blessings of a benevolent Goddess as her avatar, and that, I think, is enough of a sponsorship of your character, although even that has its price.  I think every decision we make moves our character into a certain direction, not the other way around."

He pauses, looking away, then back. "...Though you bring up a point I've thought on a great deal.  I would like to believe that the love of others is enough to break us from our past, but I often wonder if the loss of self is worth it.  As how Demonic Energy can essentially change how a person thinks, or even what they are."