"God save the constable," Raju snorts, and then smiles up at Francis for a moment, content, thoughtful. "But you're not wrong. There isn't anyone, is there? No one important."
He thinks over that idea. Thinks about the things Francis knows about him now. It's strange. There are things he can say, not just the awful parts but the everyday ones, that he's never really explained to anyone before. Uncle, a little, but not like this, not relaxed and just talking. When Raju goes on it's a little more slowly, charting new waters. "I... used to spend my time off talking to superior officer's sons, their cousins, the women they had their eye on. Involved in their lives. Getting on their good side. You have to look a certain way. But here, it only matters who I'd want to. And you don't care about any of that at all, do you? I could wear anything. I could grow my hair wild and stop brushing it for months and you'd only make fun of me."
no subject
He thinks over that idea. Thinks about the things Francis knows about him now. It's strange. There are things he can say, not just the awful parts but the everyday ones, that he's never really explained to anyone before. Uncle, a little, but not like this, not relaxed and just talking. When Raju goes on it's a little more slowly, charting new waters. "I... used to spend my time off talking to superior officer's sons, their cousins, the women they had their eye on. Involved in their lives. Getting on their good side. You have to look a certain way. But here, it only matters who I'd want to. And you don't care about any of that at all, do you? I could wear anything. I could grow my hair wild and stop brushing it for months and you'd only make fun of me."