"Not worried about what I might say, are you?" He can't help but to grin at the threat and pretty much the overall timbre of the conversation. Yes, he can easily see that he enjoys taking care of himself and has no dearth of vanity. While it might be off-putting in some, it's not so much in Dorian. It's just...him.
Cullen looks back out over the water, the smile slow to fade. "It's not something I've ever given much thought, myself. I'm not there to be looked at. It's really better if people don't, or if all they see is the uniform and not who's wearing it." He serves a function, and it is the sole of how he has seen himself for a long time now.
An eerie sound drifts across the water, wavery and high pitched then slowly dipping down into a register that can't be heard but is felt in the chest and body, in the very rocks on which they sit. Cullen's entire aspect changes. He sits forward, scanning the moonlight shifting waves.
After several moments of breathless anticipation, he points at a spume of water jetting up nearly fifteen feet in a fine spray no more than twenty yards offshore. "Look! Look, look, look! You never...Maker's breath, you almost never see them in this close. I wonder if--" He cuts off as a large, dark shape breaks the surface. It seems to go on and on before eventually dipping back under again.
"Ridge whale." He cuts a quick glance sideways at Dorian. "They breed here this time of year. Sometimes you can see the pods way out in the harbor." More of the sounds fill the air. He has scrabbled around to climb to his feet and is standing, leaning forward, and staring hard at the waves. There's no sign of the tired Knight-Commander now. He seems younger, completely delighted. "Maybe we'll see a calf."
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Cullen looks back out over the water, the smile slow to fade. "It's not something I've ever given much thought, myself. I'm not there to be looked at. It's really better if people don't, or if all they see is the uniform and not who's wearing it." He serves a function, and it is the sole of how he has seen himself for a long time now.
An eerie sound drifts across the water, wavery and high pitched then slowly dipping down into a register that can't be heard but is felt in the chest and body, in the very rocks on which they sit. Cullen's entire aspect changes. He sits forward, scanning the moonlight shifting waves.
After several moments of breathless anticipation, he points at a spume of water jetting up nearly fifteen feet in a fine spray no more than twenty yards offshore. "Look! Look, look, look! You never...Maker's breath, you almost never see them in this close. I wonder if--" He cuts off as a large, dark shape breaks the surface. It seems to go on and on before eventually dipping back under again.
"Ridge whale." He cuts a quick glance sideways at Dorian. "They breed here this time of year. Sometimes you can see the pods way out in the harbor." More of the sounds fill the air. He has scrabbled around to climb to his feet and is standing, leaning forward, and staring hard at the waves. There's no sign of the tired Knight-Commander now. He seems younger, completely delighted. "Maybe we'll see a calf."