The movement caught Anton's eye and he glanced down at Gene's rings. What he had initially overlooked as a teenager's fashion suddenly seemed ... somewhat more threatening, when he saw the shape of the gems. Not a good look, but enough.
He really ought to have taken a closer look at his comics collection. He hadn't out of respect for the fact there were people in Keeliai out of those universes. He hadn't wanted to unduly influence his perception of them. But it had been a little too long since he'd stopped to read them, if he'd overlooked Gene's name and the rings for this long.
In light of that, there was a slightly longer pause than usual before Anton answered, though he had already looked away from the rings, as if the glance was unconscious and nothing else. Which it had been, initially.
"You haven't ruined your life," Anton said calmly. "One cannot ruin one's life at eighteen, unless you choose to deny the potential of the future. Will your future depend on the graciousness of others? Yes. That's a consequence you'll have to accept in order to move forward. When someone commits a crime, Gene, their life no longer belongs to themselves. It belongs to the sufferance of others. That doesn't mean you can't make something of it; it just means you'll have to do so on their terms, and not yours."
Anton inclined his head a little. There was more than one issue in Gene's words. It was difficult choosing which ones to address. "Tell me. If you gave money to a beggar and later went searching for the money you gave away, because you didn't remember where it had gone, would the loss of your money be meaningless?"
no subject
He really ought to have taken a closer look at his comics collection. He hadn't out of respect for the fact there were people in Keeliai out of those universes. He hadn't wanted to unduly influence his perception of them. But it had been a little too long since he'd stopped to read them, if he'd overlooked Gene's name and the rings for this long.
In light of that, there was a slightly longer pause than usual before Anton answered, though he had already looked away from the rings, as if the glance was unconscious and nothing else. Which it had been, initially.
"You haven't ruined your life," Anton said calmly. "One cannot ruin one's life at eighteen, unless you choose to deny the potential of the future. Will your future depend on the graciousness of others? Yes. That's a consequence you'll have to accept in order to move forward. When someone commits a crime, Gene, their life no longer belongs to themselves. It belongs to the sufferance of others. That doesn't mean you can't make something of it; it just means you'll have to do so on their terms, and not yours."
Anton inclined his head a little. There was more than one issue in Gene's words. It was difficult choosing which ones to address. "Tell me. If you gave money to a beggar and later went searching for the money you gave away, because you didn't remember where it had gone, would the loss of your money be meaningless?"