Leon's honestly not sure what to make of it at first. Is it a sincere apology? Is it not? The formal language makes it honestly hard to tell--it'd be easy for it to be condescending (misunderstandings, did that really come across as a misunderstanding?), and while he doesn't think that was the intent, there's certainly a suspicious part of his mind that wonders.
More than anything, though, he's just not sure how to answer it. A clean slate seems impossible--he's not sure how he's supposed to just forget that entire situation. It was too emotionally charged, and while he doesn't blame Steven for his actions regarding the robots... (he knew that, at least, was necessary, once he calmed down), the rest is...
He wonders, for a moment, if Steven is dismissing how he'd felt out of hand. He says he hadn't intended to be threatening. But even so, Leon had felt threatened--but admitting that would be admitting to weakness as well, which he can't possibly accept either.
But finally, he'll respond (anything else would be running away, which would hurt whatever little bit of pride he has left), in similarly formal language because that's how he was raised.]
For the simple fact that you are important to Otome, I do not intend to pursue this any further, nor do I have any intentions of opposing you.
[Causing Otome trouble would be horrible, after all, after all she's done for him, and Steven is her friend. Besides... it's never gone well for him to oppose people like this no matter how he looks at it. He'd like to pretend that he's stronger than that, but the reality is that he's a sixteen-year-old boy--standing up to things like this has always gotten him shut down, and he has no reason to believe that this would ever be any different. He doesn't know anything about Steven, after all. All he can really do is try to salvage his tattered pride.]
I would prefer we lay this subject to rest, just as you've suggested. I am not interested in discussing it any further than that.
no subject
Leon's honestly not sure what to make of it at first. Is it a sincere apology? Is it not? The formal language makes it honestly hard to tell--it'd be easy for it to be condescending (misunderstandings, did that really come across as a misunderstanding?), and while he doesn't think that was the intent, there's certainly a suspicious part of his mind that wonders.
More than anything, though, he's just not sure how to answer it. A clean slate seems impossible--he's not sure how he's supposed to just forget that entire situation. It was too emotionally charged, and while he doesn't blame Steven for his actions regarding the robots... (he knew that, at least, was necessary, once he calmed down), the rest is...
He wonders, for a moment, if Steven is dismissing how he'd felt out of hand. He says he hadn't intended to be threatening. But even so, Leon had felt threatened--but admitting that would be admitting to weakness as well, which he can't possibly accept either.
But finally, he'll respond (anything else would be running away, which would hurt whatever little bit of pride he has left), in similarly formal language because that's how he was raised.]
For the simple fact that you are important to Otome, I do not intend to pursue this any further, nor do I have any intentions of opposing you.
[Causing Otome trouble would be horrible, after all, after all she's done for him, and Steven is her friend. Besides... it's never gone well for him to oppose people like this no matter how he looks at it. He'd like to pretend that he's stronger than that, but the reality is that he's a sixteen-year-old boy--standing up to things like this has always gotten him shut down, and he has no reason to believe that this would ever be any different. He doesn't know anything about Steven, after all. All he can really do is try to salvage his tattered pride.]
I would prefer we lay this subject to rest, just as you've suggested. I am not interested in discussing it any further than that.