If there's a silver lining to be found in all this, it's that Jack's line of questioning pulls Eliot up short, any thought about inconvenient attraction banished to the back of his mind.
"Well," Eliot starts to answer, but he can't quite manage to get a thought out. His first instinct is to be insulted, and part of him wants to defend his education, the idea of doing something for its own sake because it was difficult and worth the effort, but as affronted as he may be, Jack's questions are...annoyingly pertinent. He's not wrong, that's the fucking thing.
He stares at his coffee, which supplies no answers. As defensive as he feels, he also wants to agree: yes, it was all kind of bullshit in the end, no it didn't prepare any of them for what they'd actually end up encountering. Yes, he's still a little bitter. Even if he did get a good deal out of it. He wishes there were easy answers, or ones he could give without sounding like a complete prick. But he can't just keep silent either, not in the face of Jack's scrutiny.
"I think Magicians have been asking themselves what the point is since the beginning," he replies with a sigh. He remembers all the arguments he used to get in with Richard, practically screaming matches. Fucking morally simplistic Christian Richard. "Practically speaking, not many people can do magic, and the general public don't know it exists, and I assume the secrecy is to prevent Magicians from becoming, I don't know, exploited for labor. Or maybe it's oversight to keep us from turning into maniacal dictators. Wondrous or not, magic can't change human nature. There are people who study to try and improve existing technology, or use magic to mitigate natural disasters and climate change, but I honestly don't know that there are enough Magicians to make a difference."
Eliot knows he's running the risk of becoming very grim, and he ought to leave it at that. He thinks as he sips the coffee and sets the cup back down, and he can't quite keep the bitterness out of his voice when he adds, "They didn't train us for battle, at my school. They assured us we wouldn't need to use that kind of magic." And they were so very wrong, but he can't get into all that with a stranger.
no subject
"Well," Eliot starts to answer, but he can't quite manage to get a thought out. His first instinct is to be insulted, and part of him wants to defend his education, the idea of doing something for its own sake because it was difficult and worth the effort, but as affronted as he may be, Jack's questions are...annoyingly pertinent. He's not wrong, that's the fucking thing.
He stares at his coffee, which supplies no answers. As defensive as he feels, he also wants to agree: yes, it was all kind of bullshit in the end, no it didn't prepare any of them for what they'd actually end up encountering. Yes, he's still a little bitter. Even if he did get a good deal out of it. He wishes there were easy answers, or ones he could give without sounding like a complete prick. But he can't just keep silent either, not in the face of Jack's scrutiny.
"I think Magicians have been asking themselves what the point is since the beginning," he replies with a sigh. He remembers all the arguments he used to get in with Richard, practically screaming matches. Fucking morally simplistic Christian Richard. "Practically speaking, not many people can do magic, and the general public don't know it exists, and I assume the secrecy is to prevent Magicians from becoming, I don't know, exploited for labor. Or maybe it's oversight to keep us from turning into maniacal dictators. Wondrous or not, magic can't change human nature. There are people who study to try and improve existing technology, or use magic to mitigate natural disasters and climate change, but I honestly don't know that there are enough Magicians to make a difference."
Eliot knows he's running the risk of becoming very grim, and he ought to leave it at that. He thinks as he sips the coffee and sets the cup back down, and he can't quite keep the bitterness out of his voice when he adds, "They didn't train us for battle, at my school. They assured us we wouldn't need to use that kind of magic." And they were so very wrong, but he can't get into all that with a stranger.