#princeofopenness

To feathers with ye

is this what you ask every woman you meet?

[TXT]: In front of my little sister.

[TXT]: At her birthday celebration.

[TXT]: Do you have anything to say for yourself?

[ TXT ] : sure

"I have an update on our-- on Garreg Mach's attackers," he explained, "but... I am not the only one who knows. I had to inform a few others about... well, the adversaries we suspected to be behind it. Unfortunately, I may have, er... mentioned that you were also aware of them. Know that I only did it to ensure I would be believed. If I had just professed knowledge of individuals that absolutely nobody else possessed, I don't think I would have been believed..."

It hadn't mattered in the end. The information they uncovered had supported his word much better than namedropping Edelgard would ever have managed to. When he had brought it up, Alfonse had anticipated bringing the whole group back to speak with her and discuss their findings. That, suffice to say, was not how it had played out at all.

"Know that I did not say you were involved with them in any capacity, only that you were aware of them, and that it was not right for me to speak to your experiences in your place. That being said, I think it's only fair I keep you in the loop with who else has this knowledge."

"Hm. Are you saying you would run the risk of ruining my namesake so you yourself could be believed?"

Annoyance gleaned on the princess's face, showing as much with lips tightened and a foot tapping on the loud ground beneath them. "Even if you did inform them I wasn't involved, would it not raise suspicion by encouraging the idea that I happen to be conscious of their existence?" She would do anything to learn the truth; to shed light onto this sullied world. She would not bring herself down before that began.

"I don't know what you said exactly, but yes. My experiences are mine alone to tell. Speaking in my stead is unpermitted." A beat. She did want an update, but could she believe what she was told? She refused to break eye contact, even as her mind turned to ask what was next.

She wasn't there— Edelgard didn't know the context nor atmosphere, but she failed to see a proper reason. She already knew of at least one person that caught glimpse of Alfonse's words, but she kept Yunaka's name to herself. It was better that way.

When he saw Dorothea, Alfonse usually failed to meet her gaze. It was hard to think of anything to say after what they had been through together. Now, though, that the two of them had a moment alone, Alfonse needed to bring up what they had witnessed. He needed to know if she, too, was haunted by what they had encountered together.

"...The person we saw when we arrived in Enbarr," Alfonse murmured, eyes gazing towards the horizon instead of at Dorothea, "the one who begged us to... you know. Do you think they found help? Or... do you think they passed on after we lost sight of them?"

post-epiphany reunions

they died.

there was no question about it. such was life on enbarr's streets, a reality that'd been seared into her memories and left behind scorched earth. she'd seen it happen to her own mother — the coughing fits, the shivering, the gradual incoherence that set in until one day, she lay still and could not explain what was happening to the scared child at her side.

dorothea had begged to save another like them in leicester, taking to her knees and wrapping her arms around that miserable, skeletal frame — and had that not been a lesson in of itself?

"set her down. you'll... understand this grace someday, i guess," selena said. "i know you want to hold out on hope, but... she's in pain. she's DYING, for gods sake. let her have this one last request."

there comes a shaky exhale, long and drawn-out, before dorothea addresses her companion. "i think they've passed on," she supplies cautiously. "i'd like to hope they were found and nursed back to health, but...i'm not so optimistic. that's not the city i know."

that mournful, verdant gaze follows his to the horizon, scanning the clouds for something she does not know she seeks. "we prolonged their suffering...."

"...but i couldn't kill them, alfonse. i suppose that makes me selfish, doesn't it? i couldn't heal them, refused to do what they asked, and in the end, i wound up doing nothing at all. a mark of a bad person, i guess."

and they, like so many of enbarr's nameless souls, likely passed on knowing they did not matter. poor and unassuming, little more than another speck on those well-traveled roads. a fate she had narrowly avoided herself, by a mere sliver, had she not been scooped up by mittelfrank.

○○○○○ | ATTRACTION ○○○○○ | AFFECTION ●●●○○ | INTEREST ○○○○○ | LOYALTY ○○○○○ | TRUST

"He has been very transparent with me. It's almost surprising. We don't know each other well. Either way, I'd rather that than be fed lies. In some cases, the stories feel almost unbelievable. I don't get the impression any of it is false.. If it was, why bother telling me in the first place? It would waste both of our times."

come see what the lich thinks of you | still accepting

●●●●○ | ATTRACTION ●●●●● | AFFECTION ●●●●● | INTEREST ●●●●○ | LOYALTY ●●●●● | TRUST

"Líf and I... we gave up saving our world for Alfonse and Veronica. Our younger selves... they deserved a future. They deserved... to live. I do not regret my choice. There is an ache in my chest where my heart used to be, knowing that I have abandoned the souls of my people.... but I cannot regret my choice, seeing how they thrive having never known the tragedy."

. . . . .

"He has a terrible habit of saying too much or saying the wrong thing without intending to. It amuses me, he reacts most well when I tease him. I..... cherish Alfonse. He reminds me of Líf, but... who Líf should have been, without Hel's interference. I understand that my affection for him is because of who he is as his own person, not because of Líf. He is a good friend."

. . . . .

thots? | accepting!

○○○○○ | ATTRACTION ○○○○○ | AFFECTION ●●○○○ | INTEREST ○○○○○ | LOYALTY ○○○○○ | TRUST