catches him off guard, knocks him off center and he finds himself staring at Fox and he
isn't sure if he trusts it
He doesn't accept right away. There's a catch. There's a trick. And he just has to regard Fox for moment, trying to read that masked face of theirs for some sort of slip. But it's impossible to read...
And he lowers his head and takes the first step forward. Alright, yeah, let's go to the inn.)
[ off they go to the inn! where they then head to the kitchen, and fox starts brewing some tea. claude can watch as much as he likes and be assured that fox isn't secretly slipping poison into it or anything.
(Honestly poison him. It won't kill him. He's got a reputation!!!
He's quiet the whole time! Just sort of in his thoughts until he's spoken to and he lets out a forced laugh,)
Hah... don't you listen to our conversations?
(Really? This is to make you explain. That has to be it. He still has the bruise on his face!!)
... I played games with someone's heart. I didn't set out to but that's what happened. Now she won't talk to me and you're paying for it, aren't you?
(Fox is dead last. So much for "working together" and "getting along" to collect nova.)
Shima is dead. Kano too. Was he one of yours? The three of us have been compared to each other enough times... (It's just his suspicion now.) I let him die.
I can't work with Izumo anymore. I blew that hint you gave me. I couldn't use it this week.
(Thanks Chinese dads for team swapping with him out of no where.
What hasn't happened. Everything is so disorganized, coming out of order and something keeps coming back into the sequence,)
I shouldn't have told her anything.
(Should have just kept lying. Pretending everything was fine. Stringing her along and telling her tainted words.)
I do, but I don't hear all of them, so it's better that I don't make assumptions.
[ he listens, quietly. ]
... I don't care about the rankings, so don't let that get to you. [ as he steeps the tea-- ] Don't worry about using the hints either. There's a pragmatic benefit to them, but ultimately, it's more that I thought it would help you, personally, to find one another.
[ to be able to talk more freely and support each other... however badly that's gone now. ]
... The truth has a way of getting out eventually. I don't think what Goneril-san--or what anyone did--can stay hidden forever.
In that sense, as hard as it is, it might be better for things to be aired out now. Whether or not you can ever fix things with Kamiki... if you let it wait until the very end, when you know for a fact that you have no time to do so, you'd be left wondering if maybe you should've given yourself that time after all.
[ ... ]
I won't say her anger isn't justified, or that you handled everything as well as you could've. At the same time, I do think you were put in a difficult position and that many people probably would've made the same choices as you. And above all, it's on us, the Leaders, for asking that of Goneril-san in the first place.
[ well. more like rabbit, as claude knows, but fox isn't going to point to them specifically and go "that one."
once the tea is finished, fox pours it into two cups and holds one out to claude. ]
(The best thing to really do in this situation is to listen and he does so. The entire time. Not a word, not a thought, just listening and when it's all over
It isn't wrong but it isn't right either. But that's just how things are here, isn't it?
He accepts the tea, holding the cup in both hands, feeling the warmth in his fingertips,)
I don't blame you. Any of you.
(A quiet admission. He's never blamed any of them. Maybe it helps that the first case he heard of was Rabbit. Rabbit who always seemed timid and easy to trouble. He couldn't imagine them asking Hilda to do what they did without good reason. And he trusted Hilda who trusted Rabbit. Even if logically, it would be easy to blame them... he doesn't.)
Nothing can make everything right here. Even if we help the Realm, bring back the dead, and some how manage to undo the damage that's been caused... there are things that can't be undone.
(Something will always be wrong. Nothing will ever be as it was. Everything can't be made right.)
I want to make things at least a little more right than they are now. For everyone.
... Yeah. That's how life is--even if you try to hold onto everything, there are things that'll inevitably fall through and be lost. Even so, all we can do is try and move on.
[ ...
they sip at their own tea. ]
Seems like our team can communicate with the removed now. Any plans for your messages next week?
(He looks down at his cup now, just staring at the color,)
I've never believed in an afterlife before. When you die, you die. That's the end. There's no point talking to the dead because there's nothing they can do.
(It's one of his fundamental beliefs. The reason why he refuses to die and chooses to live with everything the way he does.)
The idea is... I'm still wrapping my head around it. Even if I know now that it's possible.
(There's something there that catches his attention but instead of speaking of it right away, he takes his first sip of tea. Hmm, he still can't taste but he can at least feel how warm it is,)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
gently, ]
Let's go to the inn to sit down. I'll make some tea, while we're there.
no subject
catches him off guard, knocks him off center and he finds himself staring at Fox and he
isn't sure if he trusts it
He doesn't accept right away. There's a catch. There's a trick. And he just has to regard Fox for moment, trying to read that masked face of theirs for some sort of slip. But it's impossible to read...
And he lowers his head and takes the first step forward. Alright, yeah, let's go to the inn.)
no subject
as they do-- ]
What happened?
no subject
He's quiet the whole time! Just sort of in his thoughts until he's spoken to and he lets out a forced laugh,)
Hah... don't you listen to our conversations?
(Really? This is to make you explain. That has to be it. He still has the bruise on his face!!)
... I played games with someone's heart. I didn't set out to but that's what happened. Now she won't talk to me and you're paying for it, aren't you?
(Fox is dead last. So much for "working together" and "getting along" to collect nova.)
Shima is dead. Kano too. Was he one of yours? The three of us have been compared to each other enough times... (It's just his suspicion now.) I let him die.
I can't work with Izumo anymore. I blew that hint you gave me. I couldn't use it this week.
(Thanks Chinese dads for team swapping with him out of no where.
What hasn't happened. Everything is so disorganized, coming out of order and something keeps coming back into the sequence,)
I shouldn't have told her anything.
(Should have just kept lying. Pretending everything was fine. Stringing her along and telling her tainted words.)
no subject
[ he listens, quietly. ]
... I don't care about the rankings, so don't let that get to you. [ as he steeps the tea-- ] Don't worry about using the hints either. There's a pragmatic benefit to them, but ultimately, it's more that I thought it would help you, personally, to find one another.
[ to be able to talk more freely and support each other... however badly that's gone now. ]
... The truth has a way of getting out eventually. I don't think what Goneril-san--or what anyone did--can stay hidden forever.
In that sense, as hard as it is, it might be better for things to be aired out now. Whether or not you can ever fix things with Kamiki... if you let it wait until the very end, when you know for a fact that you have no time to do so, you'd be left wondering if maybe you should've given yourself that time after all.
[ ... ]
I won't say her anger isn't justified, or that you handled everything as well as you could've. At the same time, I do think you were put in a difficult position and that many people probably would've made the same choices as you. And above all, it's on us, the Leaders, for asking that of Goneril-san in the first place.
[ well. more like rabbit, as claude knows, but fox isn't going to point to them specifically and go "that one."
once the tea is finished, fox pours it into two cups and holds one out to claude. ]
no subject
It isn't wrong but it isn't right either. But that's just how things are here, isn't it?
He accepts the tea, holding the cup in both hands, feeling the warmth in his fingertips,)
I don't blame you. Any of you.
(A quiet admission. He's never blamed any of them. Maybe it helps that the first case he heard of was Rabbit. Rabbit who always seemed timid and easy to trouble. He couldn't imagine them asking Hilda to do what they did without good reason. And he trusted Hilda who trusted Rabbit. Even if logically, it would be easy to blame them... he doesn't.)
Nothing can make everything right here. Even if we help the Realm, bring back the dead, and some how manage to undo the damage that's been caused... there are things that can't be undone.
(Something will always be wrong. Nothing will ever be as it was. Everything can't be made right.)
I want to make things at least a little more right than they are now. For everyone.
no subject
[ ...
they sip at their own tea. ]
Seems like our team can communicate with the removed now. Any plans for your messages next week?
no subject
(He looks down at his cup now, just staring at the color,)
I've never believed in an afterlife before. When you die, you die. That's the end. There's no point talking to the dead because there's nothing they can do.
(It's one of his fundamental beliefs. The reason why he refuses to die and chooses to live with everything the way he does.)
The idea is... I'm still wrapping my head around it. Even if I know now that it's possible.
(Thanks, Hikaru.)
no subject
To be honest, you and me both. Everything that's been happening here is far more fantastical than anything I'm used to.
no subject
And what are you usually used to?