arthur pauses in his tirade and stares at him. "your father died when you were, like, three."
"and miraz killed him," caspian insists. "you've known me for years, arthur. do you really think i'd need to cheat to get through harvard business? we lived together, don't you think you would have known?"
"what does your getting caught have to do with your uncle killing your father?" arthur demands suspiciously. not that caspian is wrong, mind. arthur's known him since they were both pledges in the same frat at yale, and there's not a cheating bone in caspian's body. of course, he hadn't actually realized there was a thieving one either, so there's that.
"i didn't cheat," caspian insists. "my uncle set me up, my uncle killed my father and got me kicked out of harvard. look, you know i was supposed to take over the telmarine corporation when i turned twenty-five, my dad wrote it into his will. that was all i was ever going to do. but my uncle was running everything, holding everything in trust, you know? and i guess he decided he didn't want to hand it all over to me."
"huh," arthur says, but he considers it the thought. caspian certainly looks sincere, and it makes sense. arthur's met miraz a couple times, both before and after caspian pulled his disappearing act.
he snaps his fingers. "but you know what you do then, cas? you don't just run off into the underworld and start picking pockets, you hire a lawyer, you hire a lot of lawyers, hell, you come to me -- if you'd just come to me --"
he already knows that caspian's too proud for that, though.
"didn't you trust me?" he adds, a little bitterly.
"my uncle sent assassins after me!" caspian exclaims. "i almost got run over as soon as i stepped out of the dean's office; the truck backed up and tried to run me over again. miraz is ruthless, he would have come after my friends, he would have come after everyone who was close to me, no matter how powerful or whose son they were. i didn't want you to get hurt!"
okay, that sounds like caspian, who hadn't been so much for the employees but definitely gave a damn about the people on the same level as him, or who used to be on the same level.
"so the stealing," arthur says after a minute. "you only did it because, what, you had to?"
"well," caspian compromises, and grins, "and i'm very good at it."
no subject
"and miraz killed him," caspian insists. "you've known me for years, arthur. do you really think i'd need to cheat to get through harvard business? we lived together, don't you think you would have known?"
"what does your getting caught have to do with your uncle killing your father?" arthur demands suspiciously. not that caspian is wrong, mind. arthur's known him since they were both pledges in the same frat at yale, and there's not a cheating bone in caspian's body. of course, he hadn't actually realized there was a thieving one either, so there's that.
"i didn't cheat," caspian insists. "my uncle set me up, my uncle killed my father and got me kicked out of harvard. look, you know i was supposed to take over the telmarine corporation when i turned twenty-five, my dad wrote it into his will. that was all i was ever going to do. but my uncle was running everything, holding everything in trust, you know? and i guess he decided he didn't want to hand it all over to me."
"huh," arthur says, but he considers it the thought. caspian certainly looks sincere, and it makes sense. arthur's met miraz a couple times, both before and after caspian pulled his disappearing act.
he snaps his fingers. "but you know what you do then, cas? you don't just run off into the underworld and start picking pockets, you hire a lawyer, you hire a lot of lawyers, hell, you come to me -- if you'd just come to me --"
he already knows that caspian's too proud for that, though.
"didn't you trust me?" he adds, a little bitterly.
"my uncle sent assassins after me!" caspian exclaims. "i almost got run over as soon as i stepped out of the dean's office; the truck backed up and tried to run me over again. miraz is ruthless, he would have come after my friends, he would have come after everyone who was close to me, no matter how powerful or whose son they were. i didn't want you to get hurt!"
okay, that sounds like caspian, who hadn't been so much for the employees but definitely gave a damn about the people on the same level as him, or who used to be on the same level.
"so the stealing," arthur says after a minute. "you only did it because, what, you had to?"
"well," caspian compromises, and grins, "and i'm very good at it."