It's a serious offer, he can tell that much, so he does put some thought into it, one hand coming up to rest thoughtfully against his chin... and he doesn't even notice when 'thoughtful' turns into destructive but he starts chewing at his cuticles pretty quickly. Clearly a deeply ingrained habit judging from the wreckage of his fingertips.
"I don't know... a lot of us older kids wanted... we wanted to make a difference." And the world they'd been in was overrun with SCPs that were terrifying and dangerous. Like 106 and what had happened to poor Shiro. "But given the opportunity to freely travel between worlds I know a lot of them would want to go home."
Lance could go home, see his friends again, reconnect with Blue... maybe he'd even let Tal go with him still, see space and and help the other Paladins and maybe then he wouldn't screw everything up so much and there was so much he could learn. Not just cars and trucks and airships but space ships and maybe it wouldn't matter that he'd fucked everything up so much because he could do something useful and-
He blinks up at Ardyn, refocuses on what he's supposed to be talking about, not even noticing the shock that brought him back as blood slowly begins to surface along the side of his thumb. "I think a lot of the younger kids would rather go back... and some of them that have... purposes but it's... complicated."
"I don't think I'd want to go back to Eos, though. I miss Iris and everyone but... I can actually maybe change things back in Michigan, do something to help." going back to Eos would mean going back to being a useless kid again.
CW: minor self harm
"I don't know... a lot of us older kids wanted... we wanted to make a difference." And the world they'd been in was overrun with SCPs that were terrifying and dangerous. Like 106 and what had happened to poor Shiro. "But given the opportunity to freely travel between worlds I know a lot of them would want to go home."
Lance could go home, see his friends again, reconnect with Blue... maybe he'd even let Tal go with him still, see space and and help the other Paladins and maybe then he wouldn't screw everything up so much and there was so much he could learn. Not just cars and trucks and airships but space ships and maybe it wouldn't matter that he'd fucked everything up so much because he could do something useful and-
He blinks up at Ardyn, refocuses on what he's supposed to be talking about, not even noticing the shock that brought him back as blood slowly begins to surface along the side of his thumb. "I think a lot of the younger kids would rather go back... and some of them that have... purposes but it's... complicated."
"I don't think I'd want to go back to Eos, though. I miss Iris and everyone but... I can actually maybe change things back in Michigan, do something to help." going back to Eos would mean going back to being a useless kid again.