[ Ange blinks a little bit when she hears him speak up.
There's perhaps just a touch of a side eye in her expression. Mostly because she doesn't know Claude - or rather, she knows of him, sure, but she doesn't know him personally, there's no way her brother would let her hang around with people who practice that sort of lifestyle too much without throwing a fit about it - and that just makes his current behaviour even more weird. A stranger suddenly speaking up like that?
Yeah, that really does sound like he's going crazy.
The redhead looks like she's considering whether or not she should just straight up leave and not get involved in this, but then she does slowly speak up. ]
Why? What's so important about a banner with a deer?
[ Apparently she's just a little bit too curious to do the right thing of walking away.. ]
[ It felt important. But why would it have been? Claude likes the finer things in life as much as the next guy, but some sort of archaic banner like that isn't his style. He likes nice clothes, good food, expensive booze, comfortable furniture, plush rugs beneath his toes and fine silks against his skin. Some gaudy piece of fabric isn't something he'd even dream of hanging in his home.
Thinking that it's related to whatever hallucination he'd just experienced is stupid. Isn't it? He looks over at Ange, recognizing her as one of the many town's youths, most of which wisely steer well clear of him. He doesn't mind. He has no reason to talk to them anyway.
But right now? He's happy to talk to anyone who will listen. ]
But it was right here. And now it isn't. You've noticed things going missing around town too, haven't you?
Is it that strange for things to go missing? [ She can't help but point out.
Maybe she's being a little bit of a smartass here, but Ange can't help it. She is a teenager, after all. There's not even anything really deadpan about it, it's definitely leaning way more towards being a smartass on purpose. ]
People misplace stuff. People steal stuff. It happens. [ A slight pause, and then she adds: ] Sometimes people get old and they forget stuff.
[ Ange.. Please, Claude isn't even that much older than you?! Don't talk about the poor guy like he's in his 70s.. ]
What, do you think it's some sort of big conspiracy instead? That the entire town is in on?
Jumping from things going missing to a giant conspiracy that the entire town is in on is a little presumptuous, don't you think, little miss? That's not at all what I'm implying. After all, if the entire town was in on it, I would know.
[ Everything gets through to him, one way or another. For all that people say that he's not to be trusted, at the end of the day, they all seem to pour their hearts out to him anyway. They don't actually want someone to talk back. They just need an empty vessel. ]
Things going missing is commonplace. Things going missing as I'm holding them? Less so. And I can guarantee you, Ange Ushiromiya, that I very seldom forget anything.
Granted, it's not like this place is that big. And considering how long she's been living here with her brother, it isn't all that strange for people to know her name. Hell, she often runs into people who seem to know her from when she was just a little girl, and who she doesn't remember because of her young age back then.
Maybe it's because Claude is pulling out her name in the middle of a conversation about this topic that makes it a little more startling. The surprise does fade after a moment, but when it fades, Ange is definitely left pouting instead. ]
Why are you suddenly pulling out my name like that, huh? Are you trying to prove a point by being a creep who remembers random girls' names? [ Ange, girl.. Please.. It's okay to be vulnerable in a way that doesn't involve immediately trying to turn something back on another person, I promise..
At least she doesn't seem genuinely angry. Just huffy in that typical teenage way. ]
So if you think I've lost something, I'm senile, and if I remember something, I'm a creep, [ Claude drawls. It's easier trading barbs like this than it is to consider the memory that had so suddenly flashed into his mind. If he were to think about it for much longer, he knows he'd have an existential crisis. But this? Being accused of being a ne'er-do-well? He can do that. ]
I really can't win, can I? [ He plants a hand on his hip, his free hand tossing back his loose curls. ]
Don't you worry about me knowing your name. I know everyone's names around here. It's a small town. But do you know my name?
[ She's mostly addressing that part, because.. well, Claude is right about the other part, really. He truly would have been judged here no matter what, it's true.
Not even because of his reputation. More just because Ange is naturally judgy. But still! ]
My big brother says that I shouldn't talk to you, you know.
So people keep saying. I'm not all that bad, you know. I don't go out there and make others misbehave -- they come to me to do it all on their own.
[ That, at least, is the truth. For all he's maligned, he's never the one to make the first move to drag people down into debauchery. They come into his bar, they flirt with him, they smoke and drink and gamble, and then they run off and blame him for it, as though he's ever had that power over anyone at all. ]
Did your brother bother saying why you shouldn't talk to me? I'd love to hear it.
[ Claude, does that really make you sound better, my dude. Does that really make you sound better!
Granted, Ange might not fully realise that it's not necessarily his intention in the first place here to make himself sound good, or even slightly better. It's just the natural suspicion instilled in her by her brother warning her to be careful around a certain kind of people so much..
It's why she doesn't even seem to need too long to think about his question. She arrives at an answer relatively quickly. ]
He said guys like you take away people's innocence.
[ Said so straightforwardly, like it isn't the cheesiest possible thing to say.. But surely nothing her big brother says could be wrong or cheesy or bad to say in any way!! Of course she'll easily repeat it. ]
Wow, that would be quite the power, if that were within the realm of my control, [ Claude quips, tucking his hands behind his head. This isn't the sort of conversation he was expecting to have right after... whatever it is he just saw, but he welcomes it. This, at least, is comfortable. Familiar.
He'd rather be accused of thieving people's innocence than whatever that vision was up to -- what, killing people? Him? Ludicrous. ]
[ It's kind of snappy, but it's snappy in the sort of way where Ange is obviously being both flustered and - as a result of that - defensive about this thing. She doesn't want to think about what it could mean, or how it would work in practice, because it just feels like it'd lead to things she finds far too embarrassing to think about.
So she just doesn't. Shutting down her own mind on that one. ]
But I know that my big brother would never lie to me. He's just trying to keep me safe.
[ Isn't it.. great, Claude.. Aren't you so happy to be dealing with this rather than with weird hallucinations and disappearing items.. ]
Now, now, sweetheart, no need to get all worked up. I'm not disparaging your brother. It's just that if such rumours are being spread about me, I'd like to know the exact nature of what they believe that I'm doing. I won't contest them if they're true -- I am, at my heart, an honest man. [ Claude plants his hand on his hip, tossing his head just so to make his curls catch the shine of the sun overhead. He knows exactly what he's doing, exactly what he looks like. Why not play it up? ]
Although not everyone is always in full possession of the truth. After all, I didn't believe my dearest Father could lie to me until it fell in my lap. Sometimes that's just how it goes.
[ It's too late, Claude. She's already all worked up. Though thankfully it doesn't come with any outward fits - instead it looks like the girl is struggling with a whole lot of awkward cropped up energy right now, unsure of what to do with all of it.
It means she doesn't reply right away. Not even when it seems like he's done talking for the moment. Ange stares at him, but it's the sort of stare that indicates she's trying to think of what to say here in the face of.. well, in the face of all of this.
It's a lot, after all. ]
What exactly are you trying to say? If you're such an honest man, then why don't you just tell me what you are?
What am I. That's a loaded question, isn't it? If you stopped anyone in the middle of the street and demanded to know the answer to that, I doubt you'd get very satisfying answers. I find that most people don't have a proper estimation of themselves.
[ He crosses his arms, a little charmed by how utterly flustered she seems to be. ]
But okay. I'll tell you what I am. I'm a guy who got fucked over by the same high society I'm sure you're part of, through no fault of my own, thanks to the transgressions that happened well before my birth. Now? I'm just a man. I drink a little. I gamble a little. And I spend time with people who wish to spend time with me. I break no laws, I break no rules, and I have very little interest in dragging anyone down with me. Anyone who does, comes willingly, but people would much rather have someone to blame.
It's not an angry frown. Maybe some of the fluster from before is still lingering, so that might be part of it, but the frown makes her look much more like she's really just thinking about what he's saying until she slowly speaks up. ]
You're wrong about me.
[ If he says she is wrong about him - on some levels, anyway - then she should point out the same thing. Even if it sounded more like an assumption on his end, it's a wrong assumption. So wrong, in fact, that it confuses her a little bit. ]
I'm not part of high society at all. My parents died when I was really young, and my big brother has been raising me since then. We don't have much money. [ .. but that's what makes the assumption interesting, right?
Does she seems like she could be from high society here, like some of the rich girls she's seen around? Ange has never really thought about it.
(And of course she simply hasn't considered whatsoever that the impression she gives off with her usual memories is still part of her even in this new life, where her background no longer has anything to do with high society. Something sticking to her that doesn't belong anymore.) ]
[ Claude's many things. But he's not an absolute monster. He's not going to antagonize a young girl, still not yet of age, who's telling him about the young and tragic deaths of her parents. For all of Claude's difficulties with his own parents - for all that he has neither seen nor spoken to them in years, save for awkward run-ins in public space - they are still alive, after all. It's true that Ange has the bearing of someone much higher class, that her reservations are things that the lower class generally don't bear, aware of Claude's status as a bartender as a necessary evil in an increasingly exhausting world, but that doesn't mean she has to be rich. Perhaps they're religious. Conservative. They've never liked Claude much either. ]
Now we're even, I'd say. You had misconceptions about me, and I had misconceptions about you. [ He raises a brow at her. ] Do you think you can admit that much?
[ Most people could probably agree to some extent. And it's not that Ange doesn't agree - factually speaking Claude is correct, even though Ange could argue him on some technicalities of this if she wanted to. But she doesn't really care for those semantics right now. No, the way she's still frowning isn't about that.
It's about that question. Because Claude is definitely hitting a nail on the head here.
Ange is notoriously bad at admitting she's wrong. Apparently it's a trait that carries over regardless of memories, and it's as if the redhead teen in front of Claude looks kind of physically uncomfortable at the very idea of having to admit she got something wrong.
It takes a few moments before she can even say: ]
I.. guess I've been talking to you for a little while now, and I haven't died yet.
[ Definitely the most indirect way of admitting it, but.. apparently this is the best she can do, Claude. Even just saying this makes the girl look like she might just be about to spontaneously combust on the spot. ]
It may shock you to learn that most people don't, [ Claude says with a wink. He'll take it. It's as close to an admission as he's going to get and, well -- she's just a kid. He remembers being particularly obstinate at that age too, especially around those he didn't particularly wish to spend time around. And most people here don't want to spend time with him. He doesn't take it personally; he's tricky company, after all. ]
Anyway, if you take any piece of advice from me, which I'm sure you won't, try to keep an open mind about people. They might surprise you. In ways good and bad. [ He pauses, glancing back over at the stall where he'd had that vision... though a nice combative conversation did wonders to keep his busy mind occupied. ]
Hopefully good, probably bad. That's just the way of the world.
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expiationlogs2024-03-09 08:37 am
ii
There's perhaps just a touch of a side eye in her expression. Mostly because she doesn't know Claude - or rather, she knows of him, sure, but she doesn't know him personally, there's no way her brother would let her hang around with people who practice that sort of lifestyle too much without throwing a fit about it - and that just makes his current behaviour even more weird. A stranger suddenly speaking up like that?
Yeah, that really does sound like he's going crazy.
The redhead looks like she's considering whether or not she should just straight up leave and not get involved in this, but then she does slowly speak up. ]
Why? What's so important about a banner with a deer?
[ Apparently she's just a little bit too curious to do the right thing of walking away.. ]
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[ It felt important. But why would it have been? Claude likes the finer things in life as much as the next guy, but some sort of archaic banner like that isn't his style. He likes nice clothes, good food, expensive booze, comfortable furniture, plush rugs beneath his toes and fine silks against his skin. Some gaudy piece of fabric isn't something he'd even dream of hanging in his home.
Thinking that it's related to whatever hallucination he'd just experienced is stupid. Isn't it? He looks over at Ange, recognizing her as one of the many town's youths, most of which wisely steer well clear of him. He doesn't mind. He has no reason to talk to them anyway.
But right now? He's happy to talk to anyone who will listen. ]
But it was right here. And now it isn't. You've noticed things going missing around town too, haven't you?
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Maybe she's being a little bit of a smartass here, but Ange can't help it. She is a teenager, after all. There's not even anything really deadpan about it, it's definitely leaning way more towards being a smartass on purpose. ]
People misplace stuff. People steal stuff. It happens. [ A slight pause, and then she adds: ] Sometimes people get old and they forget stuff.
[ Ange.. Please, Claude isn't even that much older than you?! Don't talk about the poor guy like he's in his 70s.. ]
What, do you think it's some sort of big conspiracy instead? That the entire town is in on?
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[ Everything gets through to him, one way or another. For all that people say that he's not to be trusted, at the end of the day, they all seem to pour their hearts out to him anyway. They don't actually want someone to talk back. They just need an empty vessel. ]
Things going missing is commonplace. Things going missing as I'm holding them? Less so. And I can guarantee you, Ange Ushiromiya, that I very seldom forget anything.
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Granted, it's not like this place is that big. And considering how long she's been living here with her brother, it isn't all that strange for people to know her name. Hell, she often runs into people who seem to know her from when she was just a little girl, and who she doesn't remember because of her young age back then.
Maybe it's because Claude is pulling out her name in the middle of a conversation about this topic that makes it a little more startling. The surprise does fade after a moment, but when it fades, Ange is definitely left pouting instead. ]
Why are you suddenly pulling out my name like that, huh? Are you trying to prove a point by being a creep who remembers random girls' names? [ Ange, girl.. Please.. It's okay to be vulnerable in a way that doesn't involve immediately trying to turn something back on another person, I promise..
At least she doesn't seem genuinely angry. Just huffy in that typical teenage way. ]
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I really can't win, can I? [ He plants a hand on his hip, his free hand tossing back his loose curls. ]
Don't you worry about me knowing your name. I know everyone's names around here. It's a small town. But do you know my name?
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[ She's mostly addressing that part, because.. well, Claude is right about the other part, really. He truly would have been judged here no matter what, it's true.
Not even because of his reputation. More just because Ange is naturally judgy. But still! ]
My big brother says that I shouldn't talk to you, you know.
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[ That, at least, is the truth. For all he's maligned, he's never the one to make the first move to drag people down into debauchery. They come into his bar, they flirt with him, they smoke and drink and gamble, and then they run off and blame him for it, as though he's ever had that power over anyone at all. ]
Did your brother bother saying why you shouldn't talk to me? I'd love to hear it.
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Granted, Ange might not fully realise that it's not necessarily his intention in the first place here to make himself sound good, or even slightly better. It's just the natural suspicion instilled in her by her brother warning her to be careful around a certain kind of people so much..
It's why she doesn't even seem to need too long to think about his question. She arrives at an answer relatively quickly. ]
He said guys like you take away people's innocence.
[ Said so straightforwardly, like it isn't the cheesiest possible thing to say.. But surely nothing her big brother says could be wrong or cheesy or bad to say in any way!! Of course she'll easily repeat it. ]
no subject
He'd rather be accused of thieving people's innocence than whatever that vision was up to -- what, killing people? Him? Ludicrous. ]
And how do you think I manage to do that?
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[ It's kind of snappy, but it's snappy in the sort of way where Ange is obviously being both flustered and - as a result of that - defensive about this thing. She doesn't want to think about what it could mean, or how it would work in practice, because it just feels like it'd lead to things she finds far too embarrassing to think about.
So she just doesn't. Shutting down her own mind on that one. ]
But I know that my big brother would never lie to me. He's just trying to keep me safe.
[ Isn't it.. great, Claude.. Aren't you so happy to be dealing with this rather than with weird hallucinations and disappearing items.. ]
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Although not everyone is always in full possession of the truth. After all, I didn't believe my dearest Father could lie to me until it fell in my lap. Sometimes that's just how it goes.
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It means she doesn't reply right away. Not even when it seems like he's done talking for the moment. Ange stares at him, but it's the sort of stare that indicates she's trying to think of what to say here in the face of.. well, in the face of all of this.
It's a lot, after all. ]
What exactly are you trying to say? If you're such an honest man, then why don't you just tell me what you are?
no subject
[ He crosses his arms, a little charmed by how utterly flustered she seems to be. ]
But okay. I'll tell you what I am. I'm a guy who got fucked over by the same high society I'm sure you're part of, through no fault of my own, thanks to the transgressions that happened well before my birth. Now? I'm just a man. I drink a little. I gamble a little. And I spend time with people who wish to spend time with me. I break no laws, I break no rules, and I have very little interest in dragging anyone down with me. Anyone who does, comes willingly, but people would much rather have someone to blame.
And you, little miss? What are you?
no subject
[ Ange frowns.
It's not an angry frown. Maybe some of the fluster from before is still lingering, so that might be part of it, but the frown makes her look much more like she's really just thinking about what he's saying until she slowly speaks up. ]
You're wrong about me.
[ If he says she is wrong about him - on some levels, anyway - then she should point out the same thing. Even if it sounded more like an assumption on his end, it's a wrong assumption. So wrong, in fact, that it confuses her a little bit. ]
I'm not part of high society at all. My parents died when I was really young, and my big brother has been raising me since then. We don't have much money. [ .. but that's what makes the assumption interesting, right?
Does she seems like she could be from high society here, like some of the rich girls she's seen around? Ange has never really thought about it.
(And of course she simply hasn't considered whatsoever that the impression she gives off with her usual memories is still part of her even in this new life, where her background no longer has anything to do with high society. Something sticking to her that doesn't belong anymore.) ]
no subject
[ Claude's many things. But he's not an absolute monster. He's not going to antagonize a young girl, still not yet of age, who's telling him about the young and tragic deaths of her parents. For all of Claude's difficulties with his own parents - for all that he has neither seen nor spoken to them in years, save for awkward run-ins in public space - they are still alive, after all. It's true that Ange has the bearing of someone much higher class, that her reservations are things that the lower class generally don't bear, aware of Claude's status as a bartender as a necessary evil in an increasingly exhausting world, but that doesn't mean she has to be rich. Perhaps they're religious. Conservative. They've never liked Claude much either. ]
Now we're even, I'd say. You had misconceptions about me, and I had misconceptions about you. [ He raises a brow at her. ] Do you think you can admit that much?
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It's about that question. Because Claude is definitely hitting a nail on the head here.
Ange is notoriously bad at admitting she's wrong. Apparently it's a trait that carries over regardless of memories, and it's as if the redhead teen in front of Claude looks kind of physically uncomfortable at the very idea of having to admit she got something wrong.
It takes a few moments before she can even say: ]
I.. guess I've been talking to you for a little while now, and I haven't died yet.
[ Definitely the most indirect way of admitting it, but.. apparently this is the best she can do, Claude. Even just saying this makes the girl look like she might just be about to spontaneously combust on the spot. ]
no subject
Anyway, if you take any piece of advice from me, which I'm sure you won't, try to keep an open mind about people. They might surprise you. In ways good and bad. [ He pauses, glancing back over at the stall where he'd had that vision... though a nice combative conversation did wonders to keep his busy mind occupied. ]
Hopefully good, probably bad. That's just the way of the world.