[WHOOPS, NOPE, the gift is temporarily forgotten despite Kaoru's itching curiosity to see what it is. (His fingers are still resting against the side of the bag, that's how much he wants to open it.)
But that request takes precedence first and foremost, because it's a shock and a delight and absolutely horrible all at once. He knows that he's had friends before, even if it's getting harder and harder to recall any details about them or what they had spent their days doing, but it's been such a long time since he's had one that he can hardly remember how to act around them. People you spend time with, who you actually want to spend time with, who you have fun spending time with - people that you want to see over and over again... He can't really remember what it feels like anymore, with the exception of the little sister that he still misses fiercely.
So he's pleased, then - it's a wonderful thing to hear. Even though he stumbles so badly over the idea of having a friend again, he wants one. It feels like all he ever does is reach his hand out only to have no one there to hold it, but this seems so promising that he can't help but want to grasp it immediately. Even if the Princess decides that his company is awful, worthless as he's so often told - and that's another fear, that she'll recant the offer as soon as she meets him - he'll at least be given the opportunity to leave this compound without judgmental, prying eyes watching him, making sure that he stays in line.
But it's horrible at the same time, because he doesn't know how he'll word this request to the family head without it being turned down. Now that the opportunity has been set out before him, he's terrified of it being taken away, and he knows well how easily that could happen. Just a word from the people that he hates so much and he'd be forced back to his room as this or that excuse is sent to Yase in his stead.
...He's just been sitting here gaping like a dumb fish for way too long though, so he snaps his mouth shut with a little click of his teeth, trying to keep his excitement under control and his hopes from ballooning too much.]
If— I would have to speak with honored mother and father, but if it's something that the Princess of Yase wishes for, it would be a grave dishonor to say no... [And then, even though he knows it's a risk to say such a thing, because it would make denial more difficult for the clan:] I wouldn't view it as an imposition at all.
no subject
But that request takes precedence first and foremost, because it's a shock and a delight and absolutely horrible all at once. He knows that he's had friends before, even if it's getting harder and harder to recall any details about them or what they had spent their days doing, but it's been such a long time since he's had one that he can hardly remember how to act around them. People you spend time with, who you actually want to spend time with, who you have fun spending time with - people that you want to see over and over again... He can't really remember what it feels like anymore, with the exception of the little sister that he still misses fiercely.
So he's pleased, then - it's a wonderful thing to hear. Even though he stumbles so badly over the idea of having a friend again, he wants one. It feels like all he ever does is reach his hand out only to have no one there to hold it, but this seems so promising that he can't help but want to grasp it immediately. Even if the Princess decides that his company is awful, worthless as he's so often told - and that's another fear, that she'll recant the offer as soon as she meets him - he'll at least be given the opportunity to leave this compound without judgmental, prying eyes watching him, making sure that he stays in line.
But it's horrible at the same time, because he doesn't know how he'll word this request to the family head without it being turned down. Now that the opportunity has been set out before him, he's terrified of it being taken away, and he knows well how easily that could happen. Just a word from the people that he hates so much and he'd be forced back to his room as this or that excuse is sent to Yase in his stead.
...He's just been sitting here gaping like a dumb fish for way too long though, so he snaps his mouth shut with a little click of his teeth, trying to keep his excitement under control and his hopes from ballooning too much.]
If— I would have to speak with honored mother and father, but if it's something that the Princess of Yase wishes for, it would be a grave dishonor to say no... [And then, even though he knows it's a risk to say such a thing, because it would make denial more difficult for the clan:] I wouldn't view it as an imposition at all.