victory_road | Arrival; [Video]

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Arrival; [Video]

The gear's feed flickers in to a rather disheveled looking redhead that clearly doesn't want to be doing this. Because goddess and all the saints, he does not want to be doing this. Asking for help is already a task. Asking for help within a brand new world he cannot even begin to comprehend? Nightmare scenario. He's clearly lost and disoriented, and there's music and a fire pony following him around. Really, the only good thing is the fire pony- ponyta- whatever.

"Okay, don't know what this is, where this is going, or who's on the other end, but I can read instructions well enough to get to this point. Hi, Sylvain here, no clue where I am besides a very unhelpful 'New Bark Town' sign a few paces back, and I found a horse on fire. A baby horse, err, or maybe a pony. So... help? Maybe? I'm not even sure what I'm asking here."

And the apparent cause of how much of a mess his red locks are becomes obvious as he sweeps a hand through it again like a nervous tick. Behind him, the camera is panned just enough for a ponyta to be seen running obviously bored laps back and forth. They're pretty clearly at the edge of town, the buildings of New Bark still somewhat visible. Sylvain didn't make it very far...

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"Good," Claude replies, with a smile. "And we'll take care of you, since we know from experience that you're kind of terrible at doing that yourself. But so long as we're all looking out for each other, it all balances out in the end anyway, right?"

He rests his chin on one hand. "I don't know exactly what to say now, though. Obviously it'd be best to fill you in, but...it'd be easy for you to get overwhelmed by trying to take in too much too fast, and that's not going to help you or anyone else. Also, maybe it's better if you get filled in on things by the people who made those memories with you, rather than getting them from me secondhand...or, at the very least, it might be better to hear that kind of stuff in person. But that's a whole lot of stuff to set aside, and I don't know what to talk about instead."

The redhead looks as though he's about to protest, then abruptly shuts his mouth. No, Claude's right. He is terrible at taking care of himself, and always has been. He's just in a place of being defensive right now with some much information coming at him. So he lets out an exhausted sigh, and simply nods.

"I think I'm already at my limit for today's quota of: 'life just has to get weirder, doesn't it?'" Sylvain scrubs a hand through his hair, making even more of a mess of it. Seriously, today has been A Lot.

"Don't worry about it. You've been a saint already by giving me a heads up before I stumbled my way into a mess. I probably owe you half dozen favors already and I just got here. So I think maybe I'll just try to process everything for now. Felix will probably be here soon anyway. It'll give me some time to sort stuff out... Thanks, Claude. Seriously."

"There's enough of that here to last a lifetime, and you haven't even been hit with the worst of it yet," Claude says with a chuckle. "Hopefully it'll be awhile before you are. So instead of adding further complexities and complications for you, how about I remove one? When people show up here, they lose any special powers from their world - which is to say, none of our Crests are working, not that you've likely had any opportunity to observe that. Not a big deal for most of us, considering how peaceful this world generally is, although it means a lot to Dimitri. He doesn't really break things by accident anymore."

He smiles a little, but there's something a touch more serious in his eyes. Clearly, Claude knows at least something of Sylvain's feelings about Crests, and is speaking to them now. "In this world, 99% of the time, Crests may as well not exist. The other 1% is that occasionally - every six months or so - a strange weekend happens where people get their powers from home back for a few days. But for the rest of the time...Crests don't matter. And there are people here from worlds that don't have Crests at all - the vast majority of them, actually. If you ever wanted to live a life without a Crest, or without people treating you differently for having one...this is the place to do it."

That said, though, he waves a hand. "In the meantime, as for favors owed...you're kidding me, right? I thought you said you remembered Derdriu, but I know I for one haven't forgotten. Without you and the others, I'd be dead now. Not only is a heads-up about vital information just about the least I can do in light of that, but I don't think it even comes close to paying back my debt. And that's setting aside the fact that we're friends, and friends wouldn't do less than this for each other either, right? No matter how you look at it, this is no more than you deserve from me."

Calling Sylvain a friend comes so easily to his lips. Barely a pang of pain, now that he's warmed to the more distant role he's playing - and, perhaps, just being able to see and talk to Sylvain is healing enough on its own that the ache of what's still lost isn't nearly as sharp. (To say nothing of his own natural resilience to emotional punishment - he's bounced back from a lot of brutal blows to the psyche in his life.) It's something of a relief. He's hitting his stride; he can function like this just fine. More than function, even; if this is how it has to be, he can live with it. Maybe indefinitely.

At least, that's how it feels now. He wonders if he'll feel the same when he sees Felix and Sylvain together again. But that's a problem for future Claude, and Claude's always let that guy look after himself.

"If you ever wanted to live a life without a Crest, or without people treating you differently for having one- Ah, so always. Sylvain does visibly tense for a moment, brows upturned in an expression that isn't quite readable. Not for a lack of emotion, but for too many all once that he's parsing through. A cynical thought strikes him hard with 'too little, too late.' The damage is extensive, a crackling network of shards that embed into his everyday thoughts. Usually with malevolence or self-loathing. Thoughts of how even to his dying breath, Miklan still cursed and spat his name with hatred. All for that damned crest Sylvain never wanted-

But there's always that stronger part of him that wants better for everyone around him. So hearing that Dimitri has taken well to it pulls him from that downward spiral. After a moment, he even smiles fondly. A laugh catches itself in his throat.

"Heh, the big guy must be thrilled. He always looked so sullen every time he'd shatter a teacup or snap a lance in two." Sylvain nods, and takes the news in proper stride. No crests. No expectations. No two-faced pandering from people he'd rather never speak to. That's nice.

"I can't say I'm complaining either. You won't hear any arguments from me on that one." His smile broadens, and he relaxes his shoulders. It's a pretty big comfort amidst the chaos.

"I don't consider Derdiu a debt or a favor. We did what any decent person should do; we helped someone in need. Besides that even, we're knights, it's pretty much our job description to help. Regardless, even if for some reason that wasn't enough, yeah, you're my friend. I'd have done everything to convince Dimitri in the unlikely scenario we hadn't immediately decided to march back to the Alliance. Abandoning you wasn't an option in my book."

Sylvain mirrors the handwave gesture, a more sure smile taking over his expression.

"So I guess what I'm saying is neither of us have a debt of anything. I'm just glad you're back to being my news source again. I did kinda miss that from our Academy days."

"News source, huh?" Claude grins. "That sounds so much more charitable than 'nosy gossip'." Which, admittedly, wasn't too true of Claude back at the academy. Nosy, yes, no one in Fodlan or anywhere else Claude has traveled can beat Claude for curiosity and sticking his nose into places it doesn't belong. But gossip...not so much. For one thing, he'd never been the one to give away something someone else kept secret to others - as a guy with a lot of his own secrets to keep, spreading other people's secrets for them had always felt too nasty for him to do(and too tempting for karma to lash back at him for). Admittedly, there had also been a practical element to that; knowing secrets that others didn't know gave him a huge advantage, was another valuable card in his hand. Giving up strategic advantages for free certainly isn't his style.

What he had done was keep tabs on the rumor mill - and, often, found out the truth behind the rumors, thanks to his constant prying. He'd defused more rumors than he'd ever actually started. And open secrets that other people were already talking about, that Claude personally didn't have any power over...well, discussing those doesn't incur any kind of personal responsibility. Some things are just academy life with teenagers.

"There's a lot of things I miss from our academy days," he says, with a lightness he doesn't actually feel. Sylvain can probably see right through it to the genuine wistfulness and regret, and Claude knows that; the veneer isn't really meant to be fooling him. Rather, it's deliberately leaving a door shut. Sylvain can see the door, and open it if he so chooses, but if not, both of them can walk right by without having to deal with what's in the room beyond.

"Anyway," he says, continuing for the moment, "whether or not there's any actual debt, I'm not going to stop being grateful anytime soon. I wouldn't have asked you guys for help if I didn't think the plan had a decent chance of success, but it was still a gamble I wasn't sure I'd win."

"There's a lot of things I miss from our academy days." Yes, there's a lot to miss when the proceeding events are war and death at every corner, snapping at your heels if you slip up. Mostly, Sylvain misses the peace, no matter how false it was. Other things too, like being further from his father's grasp, like finding friends with new perspectives; friends like Claude. It's hard not to notice when there's a feeling mirrored right back. He doesn't want to be dour about the whole thing though. Going back is impossible, no matter how much he misses it. At least they both got of everything out alive.

"Heh, your words, not mine. I like to think we both knew just enough to get into as much trouble as we could reasonably get out of. It was a good time, or at least, I enjoyed the antics." Mostly. Despite the low point he'd been at then, not everything was at rock bottom.

"Truth be told, I was worried we wouldn't make it in time either. That was probably the hardest march we could have made. I'd say it was a lucky gamble, but you never cared much for luck, did you?"

"I mean, luck never hurts," Claude says with a chuckle. "But I'm a firm believer in making your own luck, by stacking the deck as much in your favor as you can. After all, with the right schemes and preparations, who needs luck?

"But at the same time...there's only so far your own efforts can take you. And after that, well...that's when you're in luck's hands. And I'll admit, I think my gamble at Derdriu had a larger element of luck to it than I'm usually comfortable with. But it was the only play that I could've made that had a chance of victory at that point, so I went with it."

Sylvain thinks stacking things in your favor is a matter of preparation and skill more than anything, but that's semantics. He gets what Claude means. There's only so much one could in such a situation.

"That's true enough, I'd never think to spurn Lady Luck. Regardless, I'm glad for the outcome. Seeing you alive and well is a relief. More than that, really." After so much death, getting to save someone was a welcomed difference.

"More than that, huh?" Claude grins, even as he tries to shove his heart in a box and hold down the lid. Do not read into that, he tells himself firmly. It likely doesn't mean anything, knowing Sylvain - and even if it does, then it likely doesn't mean what Claude wants it to mean. He'd be an idiot to get his hopes up for anything this soon, over something that casual. "Trying to put the moves on me already, Gautier, or was that a rare case of an entirely innocent comment from you?"

"Me? Not innocent?" His lips curl into such a coy grin, voice dipping with faux hurt. "You wound me. I'm the very beacon of it. I'd never."

Except he snorts at how ridiculous he sounds even to himself, and sends a wink Claude's way. The game he thinks they're playing is a shallow one, surface-level teasing at its finest. Not for any lack of attraction- Claude's an incredible catch- but because Sylvain has no idea things once ran deeper. Or that they even could.

"I notice you worded that in a way that could be interpreted as your being a beacon of uninnocence," Claude says with a grin. "Which I don't think was an accident at all."

He folds his arms behind his head - a habit he and Sylvain both share. "That's fine by me, though. Innocence would look weird on you. And I prefer your wicked side. Someone innocent like Ashe could never keep up with me - and even if they could, they wouldn't be half as fun."

He knows this is a bad idea, but he can't stop himself. He's missed exchanges like this. No matter how many people he's dating, there are things he gets from each of them that he can't get anywhere else - and this flirting, this banter, has always come only from Sylvain.

He really needs to rein it in before he gets himself in trouble, though. So he tries to gently deflect. "But c'mon, I can't be your first choice for flirting now that you've ended up here. Or am I flattering myself thinking you haven't already flirted with other people before this, even as freshly arrived as you are?"

Sylvain's grin in unmistakably amused. It's plenty fun to dance around the naïve, make them wonder and blush. But there's a whole other side of fun where he's matched beat for beat.

"I've never worn innocence, and I don't plan to. You got me," he teases. "And hey, you could be. But-" A coy glance off to the side, as if he's debating something, but it's clearly just to play up the act. "It is me we're talking about, so of course I've been properly flirting. Felix and Dimitri as my first recipients." Not victims, he swears. "Oh, and Annie. But only because they were so quick. And easy to ruffle."

Edited 2022-02-22 07:46 (UTC)

"Of course." Claude grins back. "I could hardly expect to beat your fellow Lions to the punch, right? Or in your interests~. Better watch any flirting with Annette, though. Felix might kill you out of jealousy." Out of jealousy over which redhead? Claude deliberately does not specify. Then, just to make sure Sylvain doesn't place too much weight on that comment - what if he doesn't know he and Felix are an item yet? - Claude continues, making it a joke and building in a distraction for good measure. "I've learned in this world that you don't want to mess with avid fans of musicians. Did you know we got mistaken for some musical celebrities once? For a whole month? Their fans chased us around constantly. Felix was fuming."

"I'm always gentle with Annette," he promises. For him, anyway, he is. A few compliments doesn't hurt anybody, right? He also doesn't seem to be worried about apparent jealousy either. Sylvain's been aware of the way Felix seems to be kinder and more patient with Annette. Maybe there's even a little crushing going on. He hasn't ever nettled the exact answer out of Felix, but he has gotten amusing and annoyed retorts to it. Equally entertaining for the redhead.

"Heh, is that so? I'd imagine he was. Did you at least get the adoration of some beautiful girls out of it?"

"I know you are," Claude says with a chuckle. It's not like Claude himself doesn't have a vested interest in Annette, and he'd definitely kept a weather eye on Sylvain around her - but Sylvain had treated her more like a little sister than a romantic interest, even from Claude's limited observations. It had been gratifying to see.

"Adoration, hell." Claude laughs. "They stalked us. Shrieks of delight when they saw us. It was less enjoyable than you'd think, though - a lot of them were about the same ages we were at the academy." He pauses, then grins. "Well, that some of us were at the academy, old man. The point is, they skewed pretty young."

Actually...he's not sure how much age might dissuade Sylvain. He'd been several years older than some of the girls he'd dated at the academy, given that Sylvain had been several years older than most of them at the academy...and, between Claude's tastes never running much towards women of any age, and Faerghus having some pretty strange customs, Claude's really not sure where the line of acceptability is for Sylvain, or for men of Faerghus in general. It hasn't exactly come up much with most of the men of Faerghus he knows.

There's few boundaries Sylvain isn't willing to cross, unfortunately. He doesn't ultimately seem dissuaded by the age comment, but doesn't jump at it either. Considering his own personal experiences, Sylvain has a terrible perspective on the whole thing.

"Can't be helped. If a pretty girl wants you, she wants you." He says it with a flippant sort of half-shrug as if that's merely the day-to-day sort of thing. Which, to be fair, it kind of was for him for awhile.

"Younger me might have actually loved that." 'Loved' being code for despised, and lashing out about it in an emotionally manipulative way. But hey, he didn't say it out loud at least.

"Well, they didn't exactly want us in any case," Claude says, with an enigmatic smile and a shrug of his own. "They wanted the people they kept mistaking us for. And I can't see a Sylvain of any age feeling great about anyone wanting him for anything other than himself."

Ah, he's betraying perhaps too much familiarity with Sylvain's issues here. But then again, not only would it be dishonest to pretend Sylvain is pulling the wool over his eyes with a comment like that, it'd be unflattering. Claude is rarely willing to pretend to be - or be perceived as - less intelligent than he actually is unless it's for an exceptionally good reason. He especially doesn't like the thought of Sylvain thinking Claude is less astute than he actually is. Sylvain's opinion of him matters more than most.

Sylvain feels the tightness in his shoulders just in time to stop himself from freezing up. Ah- hm. That's an interesting thing for someone to say about him. But from Claude, it's telling.

It's not that he's ever had any pretense about fooling somebody like Claude. Or that he's even committed to trying. He simply exists around him as he would, and unlike most people, Claude sees through it. Sylvain's figured it wouldn't be hard to sniff him out if anyone ever bothered to try, but sometimes it still does catch him off-guard when it happens.

There's nothing that hints at anything wrong when he smirks to such a comment. Because there isn't, really. He doesn't think Claude would ever do something malicious with such perception.

"I guess you're not wrong. What I should say instead is younger me would have played it off better. Guess I'm getting rusty in my, as you said, old age." And he winks for good measure.

"I wouldn't say that." Claude smiles at him, and there's a touch of something more genuine in it than they usually tend to allow between them. They both like to keep things superficial, carefully arms-length, nice and removed from any vulnerability or possibility of getting hurt. (Or, rather, it would be more accurate to say that they both liked that back before they'd developed a deeper relationship, and that's the status quo Claude needs to re-adjust to here with a Sylvain that doesn't remember anything different.) But there's a more open warmth there now.

"Rather, I'd say that in your old age you've gotten a little more honest about what you actually like and what you don't. Which isn't a bad thing, in my opinion. Besides, after everything we've all gone through during the war, it's a lot harder to brush off extra unpleasantness, right? Anybody's tolerance would be at a low ebb."

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Arrival; [Video]

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