#astralescent

“Well, uh... probably a lot of people, honestly. I’ve done stupid stuff for all one thousand, six hundred and some years I’ve been alive. It’s hard not to hurt anyone at all just by livin’ as you want to, especially when you’re an immature kid.”

“I guess I’ve got regrets, but they only last a decade or so. After that, stuff starts to blur together. Right now I don’t think I have any major ones, I mean... I bother Tiki some, and Gotoh’s probably disappointed in me, but I’m pretty sure I haven’t hurt anyone recently. Disappointin’ people, now, that’s where it’s at.”

4. What’s personality trait you hate in one of your close friends.

“Lemme just start by sayin’ that I don’t think I could actually be close friends with someone who I also secretly hate. That’s... really not how it works.”

“But the one thing I can sort of tolerate, even though I really do hate it, is when humans still manage to pull some racist nonsense just because they don’t know better. It’s so disheartenin’, watchin’ some of these people fight right next to Tiki, who’s riskin’ her life despite bein’ the last divine dragon... only for them to turn around and make some offhanded comment that they don’t realize is real rude. And somehow I rarely even hear it from the common folk, it’s just...”

“...Well, never mind. I don’t like hearin’ it, but I know why humans don’t like dragons. It’s just... gonna take some time.”

7. Talk about one of your worst memories involving someone you love.

“The worst thing I can remember, or that’s been recent at least, was probably realizin’ that I care about some of these stupid humans. I thought I was so ready to just leave after the war was over, and I actually did -- left ‘em all behind ‘n’ started wanderin’ around, lookin’ for whatever caught my interest. But... it was silly, but I couldn’t keep it up. It just made me really sad, thinkin’ about how I wasn’t ever gonna meet anyone like those humans I got used to again. I didn’t want to go back to bein’ all by myself... but I knew if I did go find them, in a few decades I’d just be feelin’ this all over again. Worse, even. Tryin’ to pick between the two was... really, really awful.”

“I ended up goin’ back to Altea. Thinkin’ about it all still keeps me up at night sometimes, but... it’s not as bad as it could be. At least my only regret left is how everyone probably still doesn’t know what I think of them.”

13. Name a time you failed something and disappointed many people and/or embarrassed yourself.

“That’s a difficult one, since first off, I make it a rule not to take too much responsibility for anythin’. And secondly, I try not to take myself so seriously that I can really get too embarrassed. But...”

“Well, kids do stupid stuff. There was one village, I really liked it there ‘cause it was kinda in the middle of nowhere, and the humans there herded sheep. Once they knew I was a manakete, I thought maybe it’d be nice of me to actually pay ‘em back for not mindin’ me hangin’ around.”

“It took them a while to get used to the idea of someone who looks like a ten-year-old doin’ anything important, of course. But I reaaaally wanted to watch the sheep. And they did let me! Which was nice of them. Except I... fell asleep... and... the sheep might’ve gotten out.”

“Even when those guys were old ‘n’ grey they never let me forget it. It was so embarrassin’.”

15. What’s one of your worst childhood memories?

“I used to get real mad at Gotoh sometimes, just for all sorts of stuff. It wasn’t always anythin’ sensible, y’know, just how it is growin’ up in a temple in the middle of nowhere with nobody else around. And usually I’d go hide somewhere around the temple when I got angry, but this time I was just so, so frustrated--”

“...I snuck out of the temple and hid somewhere outside. It was summer, at least, so it wasn’t as cold as it could have been, but I was out there for hours just... poutin’ about whatever happened. It wasn’t that bad by itself, it was just that... nobody ever came lookin’ for me. Gotoh is a real patient guy, so I guess he figured I’d just come back when I wanted to, but... it sure felt like I’d been forgotten.”