[ His request isn't too surprising. After all - Claude is pretty smart, and of course he'd want to make sure to pay attention to what's going on here to see if he can find the Gnosia before they end up killing them all. The only reason Ange hasn't written any of her information down is because she's smart enough to remember it for herself, and because she kind of felt like most other people wouldn't be interested in it anyway, given how disinterested they usually are in anything remotely logical or intelligent..
.. but of course she forgot Claude in that equation. So she nods a little, indicating she can make that list for him. He's already asking that other question though, and-- ]
Just crew.
[ She doesn't hesitate to tell the truth. If she's already decided to trust Claude, then why lie to him, after all.
The girl pulls her shoulders up into a little shrug, twirling a strand of red hair around her finger as she seems to think. ]
Not exactly the most useful, if the information on the network was accurate. I guess they might as well have called it 'cannon fodder,' given what will likely happen to me sooner or later. [ Well, at least Ange seems to be on a similar level of belief that she'll be killed as Claude feels about her..
Even if she sounds terribly nonchalant about it. Or rather - she's using that same flat tone she usually uses, even with this topic of all things. ]
Okay, let's ease off of the cannon fodder talk, Ange. For my sake, if not your own.
[ It's concerning, how little she's reacting to all of this, to any of this. He knows that she can keep her cool under pressure, and it's a trait he's always valued in her, a trait that he likes to think he shares with her. But there's keeping your cool under pressure, and there's being entirely too flippant about the prospect of dying.
In a way, he can't blame her. If there's one thing they've learned during their time here, it's that death is cheap, and that return sometimes seems nigh-inevitable. But he knows, too, that Ange is too canny and too cynical to believe that that will work one-hundred percent of the time, that she knows damn well that if they die here, that could be it. He rubs at his forehead, feeling a little like Ange is going to give him an aneurysm one of these days. ]
It's not going to happen, for one. [ One reason being what Claude is about to do -- but he doesn't want to do it just yet. He wants to hear more from her first. He wants to make sure that she'll be careful, even with the gift he's choosing to bestow upon her. ] Because you're going to be careful, and you're going to stick with people you have a good feeling you're safe with. That's the game plan, right?
[ A part of her wants to protect that she's just saying what's factually accurate here, but something about Claude seems to stop her. Maybe it's the way he insists, which is.. weird. Yeah, sure, Claude is nice enough that he probably doesn't want to be seeing people all over the place here even though it's inevitable, but this seems weirdly more insisting than that.
(Which may have something to do with Ange's utter inability to process the fact that anyone might care for her on a personal level that easily.)
It leaves her staring at him for a moment, almost like she's trying to determine what he's getting at. She comes up with nothing due to the above mentioned inability though, so she opens her mouth to reply first. ]
I mean, I'm not sure that's enough to keep us safe, Claude. I don't think anything is.
[ That message on the network had sounded rather ominous, after all. ]
I won't put it past this place to just want to kill all of us off. Even if we're careful [ - Ange, honey, that's a little bit too much emphasis on the if when Claude really would like it to be a when - ] there's a high chance of death.
[ A slight pause, and then she adds, almost a little awkwardly: ]
That's why I said the cannon fodder thing in the first place. I'm not stupid. I know my chances, and I'm definitely not likely to make it out of this alive. Not even if I'd just sit around inside and twiddle my thumbs all day. [ Sorry, Claude. She knows you don't want talk of it, but Ange feels like it's stupid to ignore something like this when it feels so obvious and inevitable to her.
Hell, she's only bothering to clarify because she actually cares about Claude's opinion and feelings in the first place. Hence the slight awkwardness to it. Ange isn't used to going out of her way like that, but she's doing it here, staring at him. ]
Nothing will ever be enough underneath circumstances like these. But it doesn't mean that it hurts to practice a little extra caution. I just don't want you doing anything... reckless.
[ He crosses his arms, leaning back against the table with a frown.
Claude is a fine warrior. He knows this to be true. He was trained in bowmanship since he was old enough to hold a bow, hard work and perseverence in the field drilled into him as a core belief even more important than diplomacy and intelligence (and boy, if that doesn't say more about Almyra than he cares to admit), and when it comes to his skill with the bow and arrow, he's nigh unmatched. He's athletic, valiant, bold.
Or at least he would be all of those things with ordinary company. Thrust into the heart of Fodlan, he's quickly learned that no amount of training will get him to be as strong as the people around him, blessed or cursed as they are by their Crests. Instead of being stronger than the others, he has to be quicker, cleverer, more strategic than the rest. He's realized the same here, surrounded by warriors far stronger than him, magicians more gifted than him, people imbued with the sort of skills that he could only dream of.
But even so, he still has to rely on his brute strength. And Ange? Ange is smart, sure. That's why he's asking her to use her smarts to stay out of trouble. He just doesn't think that she will, too motivated by her own curiosity and, though she'd never admit it, her own altruism. She's not the sort just to sit back and watch others die. She's done that enough in her life, as Claude understands it. But none of that will save her, especially knowing that her own physical strength is...
Well. He's a little annoyed that he feels like more people aren't looking out for her, is all. That she'd come here alone at all. People should know who among them are in most need of protection, whether they know it or not. ]
So I'm telling you now: don't do anything reckless. I know I'm certainly not planning on it. I value my own skin. But it just so happens that I value yours too.
[ He reaches out and flicks her forehead, every inch an irritating older sibling. But it does something more. She'll feel magic fill her, shooting through her veins like a cool breeze, suffusing her limbs with a sense of being buoyed, supported, a lick of wind lingering reassuringly along her palms. ]
There. You're immune. They can't get you with this Gnosia magic this way -- so you make sure not to die the normal way, all right?
[ Ange is absolutely silenced. Any thoughts about his - entirely valid and accurate - assumption that Ange would do anything reckless all the way to him saying that he values her life fly out of her head right away when she's flicked in the forehead.
And not because he's flicking hard enough to let her forget. Let's be real, that's not the case. It's certainly not hard enough for it.
No, it's just that she can feel that strange sensation coming over her, and that is definitely enough to make her shut up, especially in combination with what Claude says only a moment after. Ange stares at the other with wide eyes, needing a moment before she manages to find her words once more. ]
Wait-- What did you just do?!
[ Claude already said what he just did.
But it's almost as if Ange can't believe that's what just happened. Immune? People can be immune?
At least the baffled expression on her face makes it obvious that the use of his special power did work, or else Ange would have given him a look that was way more judgmental or skeptical. The current look says she definitely felt something, she just doesn't know how to place it. ]
[ Despite the serious circumstances, Claude can't help but laugh at Ange's spirited reaction, the absolute look of bafflement on her face. It's not often that he can take her off-guard, and he'll relish whatever opportunity he gets. ]
I just told you! C'mon, Ange, put on your listening ears, [ he teases her. He crosses his feet at the ankles as he leans against the wall, already feeling a little more at ease now that he knows that Ange will be saved from at least one evil. This was a good choice. He'd made up his mind about it long before her arrival, but hearing the way she was talking... that only cements it in his mind as the only right decision to make. There are several people he cares about here, who he'd love to protect if he could, but he's certain they all have combat experience under their belt and other people who are looking after them properly. Ange might have some people looking after her, like her housemates or her peers, but Claude isn't willing to put his faith in them.
He had considered, too, granting himself such a blessing, but had decided against it. Odd, for someone like him, who has always valued his own neck over anyone else's. He chalks it up to the fact that he's capable of taking care of himself, that surviving is the one thing that he's best at. He can pass on a blessing, just this once. ]
I've been dubbed a guardian angel. I can grant people immunity. Not from being killed altogether, but from whatever tricks these people have to kill us on sight. Pretty handy, right?
[ She is still looking at Claude as if he grew a second head on the spot.
Her hands move up, rubbing at her forehead, like she might be able to feel something at the spot he flicked her at - but of course she doesn't. All she has to go off to know that he's telling the truth - aside from her general trust in him, even in the middle of this situation - is that feeling that went through her earlier. So if he's telling the truth, then she really is immune now from whatever power the Gnosia were given. And he can give that to people. And he gave it to her.
Ange's brain needs a moment, her mouth opening and closing, but then it finally manages to at least settle on one thought. The rest can come later. ]
What do you mean, I'm immune?!
[ She sounds almost offended. But in that typical Ange sort of way, where it instantly seems like the offense is just there to try and cover up some other emotion. ]
There's no way they would just let you go around and give everyone immunity! [ Because it would break the entire purpose of this. Why even have Gnosia around when people like Claude can just make everyone immune to what they do? Ange doesn't believe this place would ever be so kind to them. ]
He hadn't been planning on telling her that he can only use it on one person a day. And if she's caught onto the fact that he can't possibly have an unlimited supply of the power, she'll probably catch onto the fact that he could be using it on himself too. Ah, well. He can hope that she doesn't. ]
I mean you're immune, Ange! Keep up!
[ Despite the grim situation, he grins at her like a cat who had stumbled their way into a carafe of cream. She's always been immune to his charms, but he's hoping they'll work at least a little to keep her a little distracted from the grim pathways he's almost certain she'll go down; that he shouldn't be wasting this power on her, that she's liable to die anyhow, that he should cast it on himself or someone here whose services will be essential to ridding them of the Gnosia, the dozens upon dozens of tactical maneuvers and wise strategies he'd spent considering himself. He'd thought about it. He really had.
But damn it all, sometimes you have to go with your gut. Since when did strategy work in a place like this, anyway? All he does all day is watch people go with their gut and seemingly live a richer life for it.
He clears his throat. ]
...I get one a day. Silly restriction if you ask me, but it is what it is.
[ Ange's surprise slowly changes into something else. Or perhaps it multiplies, because the girl definitely still looks surprised - but with another mixed into it at this point. There's something more sneaking into her expression, something that looks much more like offense, despite his noble deed. ]
Wait-- one?!
[ And Claude's expectations of her are apparently very rooted in reality, because Ange does exactly what he expects her to do.
.. though with a twist. ]
Claude, you idiot! Why didn't you use it on yourself then?! [ Sure, Ange knows that tactically it would have been better for him to use it on someone with a more useful role. Or someone who can actually do something about the Gnosia.
But-- screw that. Because Ange is way more worried about him than she is about most other people involved in this situation. What if the Gnosia even target him if they find out about this power? Why even use it on someone else when he can't even be 100% sure he can trust her? He could have shielded a Gnosia, for all he knows. ]
Some guardian angel I'd be if all I did was use it on myself, [ Claude huffs. He knows he's dodging the question. He's dodging it because he doesn't know how to answer. He could answer it with the most obvious conclusion, the most earnest one: because I care about you, and I fear for your life. That's it. That's all he has to say. That's the only reason behind it, even if he's vaguely befuddled that her first answer is that he should have used it on himself instead of one of the more strategically sound decisions; Ange is usually the first to act logically, and if he were to use it on himself, his role would be utterly wasted.
She's not thinking about that, though. She's thinking about him. ]
I can take care of myself, [ he says instead. ] I've survived plenty of scrapes, and I'll try to keep my distance from the Gnosia as much as I can. Don't forget -- back home, I've been fighting in a war. I don't intend to lose a battle of all things.
[ He casts his gaze out his window, onto the deserted streets below. ]
And this will just be a battle. It'll pass. It always does, up until the next round of horror begins.
[ There are a lot of arguments she can make. Sure, Ange also thinks Claude is highly competent - she got to witness as much for herself when he's made attempts at teaching her archery, not to mention the time they went together to try and help solve the mystery of that weird stuff going on in town. Claude can defend himself better than most people here.
But he's not invincible. No one is invincible. It's a lesson Ange had to learn so young, and it was such a painful one. She doesn't want to have to face it again.
Indeed, Claude is right.
Ange is not being strategic. She's just.. worried.
It's a fact that shines through even in her expression when he says that last part, and when she speaks up to ask him about it: ]
.. How do you know for sure?
[ There's no pretense here. No huffiness, no emotionlessness. Ange isn't putting on any sort of mask. It's just her asking it to him, face to face, her tone both tired and worried at the same time. ]
Well... we never know anything for sure. I could disappear tomorrow, and that would be that. I couldn't make those promises anywhere.
[ Thanks, Claude! How reassuring!!
He cocks one hip, planting his hand on it, wondering how best to reassure Ange as he glances out the window and down to the deserted streets below. Everyone is frightened, nervous, cloistered away inside if they're not roaming the streets looking for more targets. ]
But what I can tell you is that I'm a professional survivor. There have been attempts on my life since I was just a little kid, and I never let them get the upper-hand. Valuing my own neck is what I'm best at.
[ He smiles at her. As much as he's just trying to reassure her, he's also speaking with the utmost confidence -- and why wouldn't he? There hasn't been a year of his life where nobody has tried to kill him in all sorts of ways, and he's always prided himself on his ability to wriggle out of more or less anything. ]
I'm not too proud or too noble to run. Maybe you can't count on this place to be consistent. But you can at least count on me to do the smart thing.
[ It's clear the story doesn't fully reassure her. Maybe it's because he just had to start out with that - watch it, Claude, you're hitting her right in the abandonment complex that's only gotten worse by being stuck in a place where people indeed disappear on the regular! - or maybe it's just because there's no guarantee he could give her. No guarantee anyone could give her, and Ange knows it.
But even though she still looks a little troubled, the girl biting her lower lip in worried thought for a moment, she then slowly nods.
This is the best reassurance she's going to get when it comes to this, probably. Especially since she doubts that she could convince Claude to use the power for himself after all. Stubborn idiot, so sure of himself. ]
Well.. Make sure you do that then. The smart thing. [ The complicated expression on her face is reflected in her tone. It makes her sound kind of pouty, like a kid that's sulking but also giving in at the same time. ] I really value your neck, you know? And the rest of you. I'm never going to forgive you if anything happens to you.
Okay, okay, I get it. I'll be careful, I promise. I happen to value your neck too, you know. My protection will only guard you from the Gnosia's special powers -- I'm still going to need you to be careful for the rest of it.
[ He smiles sunnily at her, all easy confidence and reassurance, as though he can convince her through attitude alone that they'll both get through this in the end. They will. They always have before, no matter what perils they've faced.
He claps her on the shoulder, giving her a fond little shake. ]
And I'll be holding you to it too! Don't make me face down this place without you. I'll never survive, surrounded by the rest of them.
[ Yes, he has Ethlyn, and Jim and Spock, and Marianne, and Caitlyn and Vi -- but none of them seem to feel the idiocy of this place as keenly as Ange does. He needs her on his side! And if he feels as fond of her as he thinks he'd feel of a little sister, if he'd ever been blessed with one, well, he doesn't need to say that part out loud. ]
You know, in Almyra, they say that your most important possession is your life. Whatever you have to do to keep it is well worth doing, even if you have to flee to do it. That's just what we'll do.
[ .. not that that is the reason Claude is so worried about her. And it's not even like Ange doesn't know about her own recklessness either - look, you can only jump off so many buildings before realizing that you may be a little less careless with your own life than most people - but she's not taking it into consideration here right now.
Likely because she won't start thinking of reckless actions until she's shoved in the situation itself, and thankfully it seems like the Gnosia have been staying away from her until this point.
But in this moment? Well, if Claude says he wants her around, then she'll do her best to stick around.
.. even though he's just joking about that, surely. Look at the way he's saying it. Look at the smile on his face. It's clearly got to be some joke, or some exaggeration, right. Ange isn't sure how to explain it in any other way. ]
This doesn't mean you're going to try to babysit me or something like that, right?
Trying to babysit you would be a surefire way of getting you in more trouble. I imagine you'd stop at nothing to get out of my overbearing grasp if I even tried to do that, [ Claude says with a chuckle, shaking his head. He won't say that it's not tempting just to lock the girl away so she can stay well out of trouble, but it's not in her nature, the same as it's not in his own nature. ]
Instead, I'll just have to put my trust that you'll keep your word. [ His smile softens. ] But... if you want to take shelter here, there's a place for you. What d'you say?
[ Claude somehow managed to stumble across the most valid of call outs. Indeed, the more someone tries to keep Ange there, the wilder her escape attempts get.. It wouldn't be the first time she would have jumped from two stories up just to get away.
Not that she's validating him by pointing out that he's right about that. Claude's ego is big enough - surely it doesn't need yet another push. ]
...
[ There's no immediate answer to his question either, though it doesn't take too long before Ange, half-pouting, says: ]
I guess I should accept that offer. If not just because you're probably going to stupidly worry if I don't stay here, word or no word.
[ N-Not like she wants to stay here or anything, baka!!
I'd be such a thorn in your side you'll wonder why you were ever stupid enough to leave me to my own devices, [ Claude says with a laugh, reaching out to ruffle Ange's hair which he's almost certain is going to get his hand bitten off, but he's going to go on ahead and do it anyway. How could he possibly resist if she's going to be so cute about it?
He's the youngest sibling himself, and that's something he'd always been grateful for. He didn't want to have to deal with having to take care of another, and no other children should be brought into the absolute mess that is Almyra's royal family. Still. He has to wonder if this is how Holst feels about Hilda, sometimes. ]
Besides, what more could you want? I've got plenty of food, plenty of drink, and the finest company in all of Aldrip. [ A beat. ] Even if she's big, fanged, and covered in scales.
Oh, and I'm here too. [ He winks at her, all seriousness apparently fleeing from his countenance. ] C'mon, I'll get you all set up. Just don't drink anything that looks funny, all right?
[ Indeed, it seems that ruffling her hair is getting him into trouble.
.. if you can call Ange batting at his hands like a huffy cat 'trouble', anyway. It's not even like she's got the claws to be at the same level of threat as a cat.. The strength she's doing it with doesn't even make it hurt.. It's more like some desperate attempt to get his hands away from her head before she gets even more flustered. ]
Maybe I should be asking you to not do anything weird!
[ But even as she huffs those words out, she's following him anyway - ready to let him actually help her settle in, if she's going to be staying here. ]
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expiationlogs2024-07-15 08:13 am
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.. but of course she forgot Claude in that equation. So she nods a little, indicating she can make that list for him. He's already asking that other question though, and-- ]
Just crew.
[ She doesn't hesitate to tell the truth. If she's already decided to trust Claude, then why lie to him, after all.
The girl pulls her shoulders up into a little shrug, twirling a strand of red hair around her finger as she seems to think. ]
Not exactly the most useful, if the information on the network was accurate. I guess they might as well have called it 'cannon fodder,' given what will likely happen to me sooner or later. [ Well, at least Ange seems to be on a similar level of belief that she'll be killed as Claude feels about her..
Even if she sounds terribly nonchalant about it. Or rather - she's using that same flat tone she usually uses, even with this topic of all things. ]
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[ It's concerning, how little she's reacting to all of this, to any of this. He knows that she can keep her cool under pressure, and it's a trait he's always valued in her, a trait that he likes to think he shares with her. But there's keeping your cool under pressure, and there's being entirely too flippant about the prospect of dying.
In a way, he can't blame her. If there's one thing they've learned during their time here, it's that death is cheap, and that return sometimes seems nigh-inevitable. But he knows, too, that Ange is too canny and too cynical to believe that that will work one-hundred percent of the time, that she knows damn well that if they die here, that could be it. He rubs at his forehead, feeling a little like Ange is going to give him an aneurysm one of these days. ]
It's not going to happen, for one. [ One reason being what Claude is about to do -- but he doesn't want to do it just yet. He wants to hear more from her first. He wants to make sure that she'll be careful, even with the gift he's choosing to bestow upon her. ] Because you're going to be careful, and you're going to stick with people you have a good feeling you're safe with. That's the game plan, right?
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(Which may have something to do with Ange's utter inability to process the fact that anyone might care for her on a personal level that easily.)
It leaves her staring at him for a moment, almost like she's trying to determine what he's getting at. She comes up with nothing due to the above mentioned inability though, so she opens her mouth to reply first. ]
I mean, I'm not sure that's enough to keep us safe, Claude. I don't think anything is.
[ That message on the network had sounded rather ominous, after all. ]
I won't put it past this place to just want to kill all of us off. Even if we're careful [ - Ange, honey, that's a little bit too much emphasis on the if when Claude really would like it to be a when - ] there's a high chance of death.
[ A slight pause, and then she adds, almost a little awkwardly: ]
That's why I said the cannon fodder thing in the first place. I'm not stupid. I know my chances, and I'm definitely not likely to make it out of this alive. Not even if I'd just sit around inside and twiddle my thumbs all day. [ Sorry, Claude. She knows you don't want talk of it, but Ange feels like it's stupid to ignore something like this when it feels so obvious and inevitable to her.
Hell, she's only bothering to clarify because she actually cares about Claude's opinion and feelings in the first place. Hence the slight awkwardness to it. Ange isn't used to going out of her way like that, but she's doing it here, staring at him. ]
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[ He crosses his arms, leaning back against the table with a frown.
Claude is a fine warrior. He knows this to be true. He was trained in bowmanship since he was old enough to hold a bow, hard work and perseverence in the field drilled into him as a core belief even more important than diplomacy and intelligence (and boy, if that doesn't say more about Almyra than he cares to admit), and when it comes to his skill with the bow and arrow, he's nigh unmatched. He's athletic, valiant, bold.
Or at least he would be all of those things with ordinary company. Thrust into the heart of Fodlan, he's quickly learned that no amount of training will get him to be as strong as the people around him, blessed or cursed as they are by their Crests. Instead of being stronger than the others, he has to be quicker, cleverer, more strategic than the rest. He's realized the same here, surrounded by warriors far stronger than him, magicians more gifted than him, people imbued with the sort of skills that he could only dream of.
But even so, he still has to rely on his brute strength. And Ange? Ange is smart, sure. That's why he's asking her to use her smarts to stay out of trouble. He just doesn't think that she will, too motivated by her own curiosity and, though she'd never admit it, her own altruism. She's not the sort just to sit back and watch others die. She's done that enough in her life, as Claude understands it. But none of that will save her, especially knowing that her own physical strength is...
Well. He's a little annoyed that he feels like more people aren't looking out for her, is all. That she'd come here alone at all. People should know who among them are in most need of protection, whether they know it or not. ]
So I'm telling you now: don't do anything reckless. I know I'm certainly not planning on it. I value my own skin. But it just so happens that I value yours too.
[ He reaches out and flicks her forehead, every inch an irritating older sibling. But it does something more. She'll feel magic fill her, shooting through her veins like a cool breeze, suffusing her limbs with a sense of being buoyed, supported, a lick of wind lingering reassuringly along her palms. ]
There. You're immune. They can't get you with this Gnosia magic this way -- so you make sure not to die the normal way, all right?
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And not because he's flicking hard enough to let her forget. Let's be real, that's not the case. It's certainly not hard enough for it.
No, it's just that she can feel that strange sensation coming over her, and that is definitely enough to make her shut up, especially in combination with what Claude says only a moment after. Ange stares at the other with wide eyes, needing a moment before she manages to find her words once more. ]
Wait-- What did you just do?!
[ Claude already said what he just did.
But it's almost as if Ange can't believe that's what just happened. Immune? People can be immune?
At least the baffled expression on her face makes it obvious that the use of his special power did work, or else Ange would have given him a look that was way more judgmental or skeptical. The current look says she definitely felt something, she just doesn't know how to place it. ]
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I just told you! C'mon, Ange, put on your listening ears, [ he teases her. He crosses his feet at the ankles as he leans against the wall, already feeling a little more at ease now that he knows that Ange will be saved from at least one evil. This was a good choice. He'd made up his mind about it long before her arrival, but hearing the way she was talking... that only cements it in his mind as the only right decision to make. There are several people he cares about here, who he'd love to protect if he could, but he's certain they all have combat experience under their belt and other people who are looking after them properly. Ange might have some people looking after her, like her housemates or her peers, but Claude isn't willing to put his faith in them.
He had considered, too, granting himself such a blessing, but had decided against it. Odd, for someone like him, who has always valued his own neck over anyone else's. He chalks it up to the fact that he's capable of taking care of himself, that surviving is the one thing that he's best at. He can pass on a blessing, just this once. ]
I've been dubbed a guardian angel. I can grant people immunity. Not from being killed altogether, but from whatever tricks these people have to kill us on sight. Pretty handy, right?
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Her hands move up, rubbing at her forehead, like she might be able to feel something at the spot he flicked her at - but of course she doesn't. All she has to go off to know that he's telling the truth - aside from her general trust in him, even in the middle of this situation - is that feeling that went through her earlier. So if he's telling the truth, then she really is immune now from whatever power the Gnosia were given. And he can give that to people. And he gave it to her.
Ange's brain needs a moment, her mouth opening and closing, but then it finally manages to at least settle on one thought. The rest can come later. ]
What do you mean, I'm immune?!
[ She sounds almost offended. But in that typical Ange sort of way, where it instantly seems like the offense is just there to try and cover up some other emotion. ]
There's no way they would just let you go around and give everyone immunity! [ Because it would break the entire purpose of this. Why even have Gnosia around when people like Claude can just make everyone immune to what they do? Ange doesn't believe this place would ever be so kind to them. ]
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He hadn't been planning on telling her that he can only use it on one person a day. And if she's caught onto the fact that he can't possibly have an unlimited supply of the power, she'll probably catch onto the fact that he could be using it on himself too. Ah, well. He can hope that she doesn't. ]
I mean you're immune, Ange! Keep up!
[ Despite the grim situation, he grins at her like a cat who had stumbled their way into a carafe of cream. She's always been immune to his charms, but he's hoping they'll work at least a little to keep her a little distracted from the grim pathways he's almost certain she'll go down; that he shouldn't be wasting this power on her, that she's liable to die anyhow, that he should cast it on himself or someone here whose services will be essential to ridding them of the Gnosia, the dozens upon dozens of tactical maneuvers and wise strategies he'd spent considering himself. He'd thought about it. He really had.
But damn it all, sometimes you have to go with your gut. Since when did strategy work in a place like this, anyway? All he does all day is watch people go with their gut and seemingly live a richer life for it.
He clears his throat. ]
...I get one a day. Silly restriction if you ask me, but it is what it is.
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Wait-- one?!
[ And Claude's expectations of her are apparently very rooted in reality, because Ange does exactly what he expects her to do.
.. though with a twist. ]
Claude, you idiot! Why didn't you use it on yourself then?! [ Sure, Ange knows that tactically it would have been better for him to use it on someone with a more useful role. Or someone who can actually do something about the Gnosia.
But-- screw that. Because Ange is way more worried about him than she is about most other people involved in this situation. What if the Gnosia even target him if they find out about this power? Why even use it on someone else when he can't even be 100% sure he can trust her? He could have shielded a Gnosia, for all he knows. ]
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She's not thinking about that, though. She's thinking about him. ]
I can take care of myself, [ he says instead. ] I've survived plenty of scrapes, and I'll try to keep my distance from the Gnosia as much as I can. Don't forget -- back home, I've been fighting in a war. I don't intend to lose a battle of all things.
[ He casts his gaze out his window, onto the deserted streets below. ]
And this will just be a battle. It'll pass. It always does, up until the next round of horror begins.
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But he's not invincible. No one is invincible. It's a lesson Ange had to learn so young, and it was such a painful one. She doesn't want to have to face it again.
Indeed, Claude is right.
Ange is not being strategic. She's just.. worried.
It's a fact that shines through even in her expression when he says that last part, and when she speaks up to ask him about it: ]
.. How do you know for sure?
[ There's no pretense here. No huffiness, no emotionlessness. Ange isn't putting on any sort of mask. It's just her asking it to him, face to face, her tone both tired and worried at the same time. ]
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[ Thanks, Claude! How reassuring!!
He cocks one hip, planting his hand on it, wondering how best to reassure Ange as he glances out the window and down to the deserted streets below. Everyone is frightened, nervous, cloistered away inside if they're not roaming the streets looking for more targets. ]
But what I can tell you is that I'm a professional survivor. There have been attempts on my life since I was just a little kid, and I never let them get the upper-hand. Valuing my own neck is what I'm best at.
[ He smiles at her. As much as he's just trying to reassure her, he's also speaking with the utmost confidence -- and why wouldn't he? There hasn't been a year of his life where nobody has tried to kill him in all sorts of ways, and he's always prided himself on his ability to wriggle out of more or less anything. ]
I'm not too proud or too noble to run. Maybe you can't count on this place to be consistent. But you can at least count on me to do the smart thing.
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But even though she still looks a little troubled, the girl biting her lower lip in worried thought for a moment, she then slowly nods.
This is the best reassurance she's going to get when it comes to this, probably. Especially since she doubts that she could convince Claude to use the power for himself after all. Stubborn idiot, so sure of himself. ]
Well.. Make sure you do that then. The smart thing. [ The complicated expression on her face is reflected in her tone. It makes her sound kind of pouty, like a kid that's sulking but also giving in at the same time. ] I really value your neck, you know? And the rest of you. I'm never going to forgive you if anything happens to you.
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[ He smiles sunnily at her, all easy confidence and reassurance, as though he can convince her through attitude alone that they'll both get through this in the end. They will. They always have before, no matter what perils they've faced.
He claps her on the shoulder, giving her a fond little shake. ]
And I'll be holding you to it too! Don't make me face down this place without you. I'll never survive, surrounded by the rest of them.
[ Yes, he has Ethlyn, and Jim and Spock, and Marianne, and Caitlyn and Vi -- but none of them seem to feel the idiocy of this place as keenly as Ange does. He needs her on his side! And if he feels as fond of her as he thinks he'd feel of a little sister, if he'd ever been blessed with one, well, he doesn't need to say that part out loud. ]
You know, in Almyra, they say that your most important possession is your life. Whatever you have to do to keep it is well worth doing, even if you have to flee to do it. That's just what we'll do.
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[ .. not that that is the reason Claude is so worried about her. And it's not even like Ange doesn't know about her own recklessness either - look, you can only jump off so many buildings before realizing that you may be a little less careless with your own life than most people - but she's not taking it into consideration here right now.
Likely because she won't start thinking of reckless actions until she's shoved in the situation itself, and thankfully it seems like the Gnosia have been staying away from her until this point.
But in this moment? Well, if Claude says he wants her around, then she'll do her best to stick around.
.. even though he's just joking about that, surely. Look at the way he's saying it. Look at the smile on his face. It's clearly got to be some joke, or some exaggeration, right. Ange isn't sure how to explain it in any other way. ]
This doesn't mean you're going to try to babysit me or something like that, right?
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Instead, I'll just have to put my trust that you'll keep your word. [ His smile softens. ] But... if you want to take shelter here, there's a place for you. What d'you say?
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Not that she's validating him by pointing out that he's right about that. Claude's ego is big enough - surely it doesn't need yet another push. ]
...
[ There's no immediate answer to his question either, though it doesn't take too long before Ange, half-pouting, says: ]
I guess I should accept that offer. If not just because you're probably going to stupidly worry if I don't stay here, word or no word.
[ N-Not like she wants to stay here or anything, baka!!
It's just for this reason! Nothing else! ]
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He's the youngest sibling himself, and that's something he'd always been grateful for. He didn't want to have to deal with having to take care of another, and no other children should be brought into the absolute mess that is Almyra's royal family. Still. He has to wonder if this is how Holst feels about Hilda, sometimes. ]
Besides, what more could you want? I've got plenty of food, plenty of drink, and the finest company in all of Aldrip. [ A beat. ] Even if she's big, fanged, and covered in scales.
Oh, and I'm here too. [ He winks at her, all seriousness apparently fleeing from his countenance. ] C'mon, I'll get you all set up. Just don't drink anything that looks funny, all right?
probably a good wrapping point for this one! c:
.. if you can call Ange batting at his hands like a huffy cat 'trouble', anyway. It's not even like she's got the claws to be at the same level of threat as a cat.. The strength she's doing it with doesn't even make it hurt.. It's more like some desperate attempt to get his hands away from her head before she gets even more flustered. ]
Maybe I should be asking you to not do anything weird!
[ But even as she huffs those words out, she's following him anyway - ready to let him actually help her settle in, if she's going to be staying here. ]