"charles, do you think there's truly as much power in words as one believes?"
they had been eating lunch on the rooftop again, occasionally bringing up a rather philosophical topic of discussion, schrodinger's cat, the trolley problem, and eventually, the power of words.
charles hummed in thought, pausing and holding the sandwich he had been previously about to take a bite out of. "i...suppose so? it depends, doesn't it?"
vincent let out a quiet sound of acknowledgement in response, a smile playing on his lips as he spoke again. "does it?"
charles groaned good naturedly, putting down the remains of his lunch and crossing his arms to give vincent a raised eyebrow. this was routine by now, if charles gave an answer that ended in a question, vincent would twist it around and throw it back at him—a skill that also made itself known in their rare genuine arguments.
"okay, then i change my answer. it definitely depends on context." he rolled his eyes, earning a quiet laugh from vincent that made his face warm with blush. "like, if someone says they're going to kill another person, that doesn't mean they'll grow up to be murderers, let alone actually do it."
to his surprise, vincent only hummed in response, frowning in thought. charles felt his heart stop for a moment, afraid he had upset his companion with his words. as he opened his mouth to apologize, vincent spoke, in a tone that was odd and out of place.
"i mean smaller things. wants and needs, can and can't. if i tell someone ill give them whatever they need, that means what i provide is restricted solely to that—their needs." he paused, seemingly about to go silent in thought again, but continued. "but, if i tell them ill give them whatever they want, then i am selling my soul to them."
charles was quiet, letting the other's words sink in. he had a point—even small things like throwaway sentences and words could mean the difference between freedom and slavery, a locked room and an unlocked one. chewing his lower lip, he noted that vincent was glancing at him from the corner of his eye, seemingly waiting for a reply.
"telling someone you'll give them whatever they need isn't very much freedom." he began, and he took vincent's raised brow and quiet 'oh?' as a sign to continue.
"it's like—" he fumbled for words for a minute, absently picking at his gloves. "if you say you'll give someone whatever you can, that's more freedom that saying whatever they need. if you say whatever they need, you're applying yourself to their boundaries, but if you say whatever you can, you are applying yourself to your own."
vincent gave him a soft smile. "it seems mx.eyler is outsmarting me."
charles couldn't help but smile back, sitting beside him. "only a little. what prompted this, anyway?"
he didn't see vincent's smile drop into a blank stare for a moment, but he heard the reply:
"im only pondering."
charles smile faded, and he carefully rested a hand on the other's shoulder, wincing as he felt vincent tense up.
"if you need to talk..."
vincent gave him a wary smile. "didn't we just speak of wants, needs, and what someone can do?"
"i can help you. i want to help you." he answered firmly, but vincent silently pushed charles' hand off his shoulder with a sigh.
"you are not the answer to my problems, charles." he spoke quietly, and then his mouth twitched up into a lopsided smirk. "though, i appreciate the sentiment. would your miss warhol approve?"
charles let out a groan. "don't start."
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