Insistent? Most definitely. But in the name of laying plans for future favors? Far from it.
Credence has that part backward--the point of setting him up with need-to-know information and a survival tool is so that the other won't be indebted to anyone, least of all to Jess. Make no mistake, were it Callum Brightwell standing here instead of his son, he'd lean on Credence in just the way Credence imagines, trading promises for loyalty, protection for servitude. There's a reason the Brightwells dominate the smuggling market; his father had been the one to teach Jess there's more than one way to hold a knife to someone's throat.
But the last thing he wants is for a sense of obligation to shackle them together. What he really wants, what he's wordlessly hoping as Credence pockets the blade, is that Credence will be able to stand on his own feet without the help.
(Because if he isn't able to, then Jess will be the one to feel obliged to help him, and he can't be responsible for someone and fail them again. He can't have another Morgan. Another Thomas. He can't. He can't.)
It's why he shakes his head emphatically and says, "No need," in response to Credence's thanks. "We were all new once. You're doing yourself the favor by keeping your eyes sharp."
The gesture to the rooftops momentarily draws Jess' gaze back up to the narrow ledge he'd swung down from. It's only a two storey drop, and he hadn't jumped from its full height; in the course of his career as a runner, a small feat like that was like taking the stairs to Jess.
"I was already up there on watch. Good vantage point." He assumes what Credence really wants to know is how and why Jess had snuck up on him, not about his climbing habits. "Some of us do regular sweeps, but it's not always enough. I wanted to catch you before you got too far."
no subject
Credence has that part backward--the point of setting him up with need-to-know information and a survival tool is so that the other won't be indebted to anyone, least of all to Jess. Make no mistake, were it Callum Brightwell standing here instead of his son, he'd lean on Credence in just the way Credence imagines, trading promises for loyalty, protection for servitude. There's a reason the Brightwells dominate the smuggling market; his father had been the one to teach Jess there's more than one way to hold a knife to someone's throat.
But the last thing he wants is for a sense of obligation to shackle them together. What he really wants, what he's wordlessly hoping as Credence pockets the blade, is that Credence will be able to stand on his own feet without the help.
(Because if he isn't able to, then Jess will be the one to feel obliged to help him, and he can't be responsible for someone and fail them again. He can't have another Morgan. Another Thomas. He can't. He can't.)
It's why he shakes his head emphatically and says, "No need," in response to Credence's thanks. "We were all new once. You're doing yourself the favor by keeping your eyes sharp."
The gesture to the rooftops momentarily draws Jess' gaze back up to the narrow ledge he'd swung down from. It's only a two storey drop, and he hadn't jumped from its full height; in the course of his career as a runner, a small feat like that was like taking the stairs to Jess.
"I was already up there on watch. Good vantage point." He assumes what Credence really wants to know is how and why Jess had snuck up on him, not about his climbing habits. "Some of us do regular sweeps, but it's not always enough. I wanted to catch you before you got too far."