yaris 19, 2719 - in the evening
Lars' eyes were drawn up to the imbala's face again when he spoke, and he found himself once again silenced, oddly uncomfortable (or perhaps not uncomfortable, but he couldn't find the word) with the offered kindness, and unaware of how to respond to it. He couldn't accept, he reminded himself, but he could not refuse either, and so he didn't respond, dipping his head slightly in acknowledgement. He couldn't first receive help without payment and then dinner as well.
It was not anyone's place to serve him, he thought, and certainly not another passive, but then - this wasn't the same, not even slightly, as a servant bringing dinner to a student in Brunnhold. Aremu owed him nothing, and presumably was not trying to get anything out of him either.
This was Niccolette's house, Aremu confirmed, and Lars made a mental note not to mess with anything - not that he would have in the first place, not intentionally, but he certainly didn't wish to give the woman any more of a reason to dislike him. He did not wish to make an enemy of her, nor did he want to get on Aremu's bad side.
He stepped closer to the counter as Aremu set out the eggplants, cutting them in halves. It was difficult, he realized, to stand back and watch someone else prepare food while his own hands were empty, unused.
"I can... make out certain letters," he gave, drawing his hands together before him, keeping them still, "I learned, when I was younger. I think I knew how for a while, but it's lost to me, now."
Lars had tried, throughout the years, to somehow unlock that ability; he'd read over notes and books and anything he could get his hands on, but outside of a few letters, nothing made sense. For a while he had kept a note from his parents, with words undecipherable but memorized clearly - a note from Bennett, as well, that he'd never made sense of.
He breathed in deep, eyes drifting across the kitchen, "could I at least assist you?" requested the passive, "I would feel bad if I didn't at least help you with dinner, for taking your time."