Looking over this soup and the rest. Well, he does like soups and stews. What blooms out from him is the strange fuzzy warmth of being touched by a kind gesture.]
I'll try it.
[He isn't afraid of the tentacles really. Very well. He will sit.]
I know the team missed you terribly after you were gone if this is the kind of food you made for them.
[CUTE... the way I almost forgot it was emotionshare. Childe's emotions, in response, are pleased, though that's clear enough from his face anyway. He'll sit down too; I forgot to mention there's a bottle of expensive vodka on the table, which is what he reaches for, but there's also some wine that Essek probably recognizes from one of the many bars around.]
Haha, I did try and keep them fed. I was cooking for Alex anyway, so there was no reason not to make the portions larger. I told them to go eat with Jacopo after I died, so it's fortunate they merged with his team.
I meant to thank him for helping the team after the merge.
[The vibe is that he feels bad he kept erasing the sentiment after typing it because he was already being such a weirdo, and that added an extra layer of embarrassment on top of it. AS IF HE CARED ABOUT A TEAM OF HOOLIGANS HE BARELY KNEW OR SOMETHING...
Please ignore how proper he is when organizing his utensils and things. Old habits. ANYWAY.]
[NOT HIS PROPER FORK ARRANGEMENTS... hilariously Childe probably doesn't even notice anything odd about it since he is technically kind of nobility himself and I refuse to believe they don't have fancy balls and things in Snezhnaya. He does, however, grin playfully.]
It's okay to have more than seven friends, you know.
[He gives Childe a Look across the table, but the feelings are this fond sort of exasperation you have for people you don't mind being in the company of.]
I have more than seven friends, thank you.
[Now.
He does now........ But he did not before the village.]
[Ah... some of the humor recedes, shifting into a gentle curiosity. He didn't stick around long enough to see much of what went on with Aventurine's return, but the fact that Essek doesn't even puff up and gripe tells him plenty.
He's curious about the other people from the village too, but--]
[Unfortunately they are not at Zapolyarny Palace so there are no servants... you must feed yourself, Essek. Childe does wait for him to get his food first, though, pushing the bowls and plates over to him in that "fussy mom encourages you to eat" way.]
[This is fine. He does not mind helping himself, and he does not judge Childe for not doing it because this is a dinner not a servitude.
It is mostly as if he is accustomed to being around an air of society which has a lot of rich dinners, and so you wait to be served.]
It affected him in some way, yes.
[Worry trickles up here, though the worry is new and doesn't seem the same as the muddled emotions from before which came and went at the sudden mention of Aventurine's name.]
[Hmm... well, there's still an undercurrent of curiosity, but Childe doesn't pry further. He just nods, taking some of the bread and spreading butter and honey on it.]
He will be. [Maybe not until he's out of here and home, but that's just most of them, he thinks.
[The curiosity earns some disgruntled feelings - not at Childe, it seems to be about the effect of the week.
His emotions aren't easy to hide this way, and now Childe is waiting on him to explain what they're about, exactly like - ]
Lavi?
[He pauses briefly as he dips his spoon in the soup. The feelings are exasperated amusement.]
Not terribly well, but well enough as a host who could see a lot going on. He spent a lot of time with Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto. I believe they became very good friends.
Satoru... [Squints.] I feel like I know that name, but I'm not sure why...
[It's because Gojo was in 7r that's why but Childe doesn't remember that much of his AU memories. Oh well. Reaches over and puts the bread on Essek's plate.]
Oh--because he was in hell with me, too. I think Kate liked hearing that he had friends elsewhere, but I'm sure even Lavi wouldn't show a little girl everything about himself, you know?
[So he wanted another opinion, and also just to smoothly change the subject away from Aventurine specifically.]
[Childe... your AU memories... of Gojo's bi gass. He glances down at the bread. Oh.]
Thank you.
[He will sip some of the soup while Childe explains. His face matches the shift in mood - uncertainty, then mild surprise, then pleasure. It tastes good even with tentacles floating in the metaphor of blood.]
Ah. Yes, Lavi very much seemed the type to smile at you on the surface, but keep everything else locked away. [Maybe a bit pointed at Childe, but still.] Especially to someone young like Kate? Undoubtedly so.
[THEY BANGED AT LEAST ONCE SO IT REALLY WAS BI GASS MEMORIES.
Childe, in turn, is mostly just pleased by his reaction... THE PRAISE KINK RETURNS even for his housewife tendencies. At least he didn't make his (Childe voice) homemade sausage, only tentacles.]
Did his friends tease him? I'm sure you can imagine how he was treated in hell, surrounded by a bunch of insane immortals.
[But the vibes are fond amusement... Lavi was such a chewtoy. Hilarious.]
[NOT THE PRAISE KINKKKK. Well, he can't hide the fact he thinks the soup is good, so whatever. Childe will just have to enjoy some praise kink. He tries a bit of the bread afterward. Palate cleanse.
It is also good.]
Mm. Of course. Everyone teased him a great deal, but especially those two. He probably longed for home more than once.
[LISTEN... IT COULD BE WORSE. At least Childe is just generally in a decent mood most of the time so it's not like this is some wildly gay attitude adjustment.]
You think so? [Hunh.] He actually ended up going home with me, so that's a little surprising.
[He doesn't know what that means but he can guess. I THINK HE ALSO DOESN'T KNOW THIS NAME? SO FUNNY. He hums into his glass, taking a drink before he helps himself to some food as well.]
Attachments have a powerful effect on people. No one from home was there with him, and we'd all already died in our home worlds to get there in the first place, so he probably felt like he didn't have anywhere else to go.
[That and he had a lot of hangups about his duty, but that's not for Childe to share even if Lavi isn't here to hear him.]
I don't think he ever planned to stay forever, though. So maybe even my version of him hoped that that person was still waiting for him.
[It's a little bit of a romantic view, maybe, but... Childe isn't Scaramouche. He doesn't view the world through a lens of bitterness and hatred.]
Hilariously, something about what Childe says draws up conflicted longing out of him. The spoon hovers near his mouth without eating, and his violet eyes are looking thoughtfully through the table for a moment or two.
He swallows and then has the bite of the waiting soup, and his eyes flick up, again focused. He waits until he's finished swallowing before he talks.]
I don't disagree that is a way Lavi would feel about this someone.
[Well, he's mostly courteous enough not to rudely point out emotionshare, even if he isn't above using it to guide the flow of conversation--but this reaction is strong enough to give him pause. He hasn't made much of an effort to keep his own emotions under wraps, since he doesn't have much to hide from Essek, but they fade a little now, even though his tone of voice sounds just as easy as before.]
...We can talk about something else, if I'm upsetting you. [That kind of defeats the purpose of this dinner, after all.]
[Childe is so kind for a man who does not mind the strengthening of bloodshed. He offers a tight, wry smile across the table, looking and feeling apologetic for the stupid week's effect.]
I'm sorry I chose such an awkward time for dinner. That was my mistake.
[He puts his spoon down so he can wipe his mouth politely. The emotions trickling out of him are a melting pot of an attempt to be honest, of closely guarded secrets, of the relief of understanding - or thinking he understands - Childe wouldn't judge him for them.]
You aren't upsetting me. There is... [The hesitation of trying to figure out how to say what he wants.] Well, you've seen a little of him. Back home... Caleb. He became like... a student of mine; he was interested in dunamancy. Anyhow... We have grown a little closer. There isn't anything between us, but... there could be, in the future, I suppose. Not much different than some here.
I feel incredibly foolish doing a lot of this knowing... it takes a lot of time for me. Knowing I perhaps may not see anyone here ever again, depending. Knowing I may likely be dead not long after I return home. Knowing Caleb... Well, I understand his interest is there. I'm not looking to hurt or humiliate him, or Anders, or you.
--Not that this is meant to be anything more necessarily. I mean--anyway. I just feel I should be more upfront is all.
[LISTEN... SOMETIMES THESE THINGS COEXIST OKAY!!! Sometimes you're just a fairly normal guy who is also insane. Anyway he instantly judges Essek for seducing his student and goes to tumblr to cancel him.
IMAGINE. No--to the first, he simply shakes his head slightly; for all they know, next week's effect could be even worse. Though maybe that's his bias, since he's not the one with his complicated feelings laid bare right now.]
You shouldn't feel foolish for doing what you want. [He smiles a little, and for once, there's a flicker in his own emotions, though it's gone very quickly.] Not with me, at least. I'm dead, remember? Even if I say I don't plan on staying in hell forever, there's no telling when I'll find a way out. ...Honestly, I wondered if you forgot about that, and you'd change your mind about our plans once you remembered.
[To say nothing of after--because even if, by some fluke, Childe had the choice between tracking down Essek or going home, he'd make the same decision every time. More than Alex, more than the Tsaritsa, his loyalty is to his family. A couple of years of death can't change that.]
I can't speak for the others, obviously. I don't know your friend, and I think Anders would rather go through a year of these games than talk about his feelings with me. [There's a little humor, there, because he is always so violently himself,,, but at least it's not too mocking.] But you were clear with me about what this is. And... trust is something that takes time for me too, but even if it wasn't, I never expected anything more than a chance to enjoy some time with you before this is over.
[He does not say that he isn't sure why he even admitted his interest in the first place--HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT ALPHA WEEK IS, he just knows it was out-of-character for him. But it would've been stupid and pointless to try and take it back, so... here they are. It's not out of any sense of low self-esteem, just... an awareness, maybe. Of who he is, and what it means to be with him. Of the fact that very few people, if any, would truly be happy at his side.
He reaches for his glass again, though he doesn't take another drink, just holds it loosely.]
But I don't think you should hold yourself back--whether that's here, or at home. You don't know what will happen--so isn't that all the more reason to live your life to the fullest? [Pauses. Amends, with a small smile--] In a manner of speaking.
[Okay, well. There is some relief that slowly eases in. The jumble of anxiety which most people never see a whole lot of lessens.]
I didn't forget.
[He also had his own issues to worry about, as Childe now sees. Being dead, perhaps being dead in the future of a timeline. Who knows what will happen to any of them here? Maybe the dead will be stuck dead and in this airport forever. What then?
Regardless, he lives for a very long time. And yet, everyone here has their own desired lives. Their own duties.]
Thank you. For understanding. I don't think I can convey how appreciative I am.
[He manages a small smile, half wry. Childe can probably tell. The relief settles into something that is fond in a certain type of way--not love necessarily, but a kind of deep-rooted camaraderie. Of course Childe would say something like this to him.]
And for dinner, of course. It's very good for a supposed dead man.
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Looking over this soup and the rest. Well, he does like soups and stews. What blooms out from him is the strange fuzzy warmth of being touched by a kind gesture.]
I'll try it.
[He isn't afraid of the tentacles really. Very well. He will sit.]
I know the team missed you terribly after you were gone if this is the kind of food you made for them.
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Haha, I did try and keep them fed. I was cooking for Alex anyway, so there was no reason not to make the portions larger. I told them to go eat with Jacopo after I died, so it's fortunate they merged with his team.
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I meant to thank him for helping the team after the merge.
[The vibe is that he feels bad he kept erasing the sentiment after typing it because he was already being such a weirdo, and that added an extra layer of embarrassment on top of it. AS IF HE CARED ABOUT A TEAM OF HOOLIGANS HE BARELY KNEW OR SOMETHING...
Please ignore how proper he is when organizing his utensils and things. Old habits. ANYWAY.]
Thank you. For the food.
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It's okay to have more than seven friends, you know.
[HE ALREADY KNOWS YOU'RE A DUMB TSUN]
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I have more than seven friends, thank you.
[Now.
He does now........ But he did not before the village.]
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[Stop this]
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He huffs a sigh.]
More than Aventurine. Most of it was against my will.
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He's curious about the other people from the village too, but--]
Are the effects that bad?
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Soup first, of course.
But he glances up at Childe in the middle, though.]
What do you mean?
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After the trip. He's not quite himself, right?
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It is mostly as if he is accustomed to being around an air of society which has a lot of rich dinners, and so you wait to be served.]
It affected him in some way, yes.
[Worry trickles up here, though the worry is new and doesn't seem the same as the muddled emotions from before which came and went at the sudden mention of Aventurine's name.]
He will be alright after a while, I imagine.
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He will be. [Maybe not until he's out of here and home, but that's just most of them, he thinks.
But, moving on.] How well did you know Lavi?
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His emotions aren't easy to hide this way, and now Childe is waiting on him to explain what they're about, exactly like - ]
Lavi?
[He pauses briefly as he dips his spoon in the soup. The feelings are exasperated amusement.]
Not terribly well, but well enough as a host who could see a lot going on. He spent a lot of time with Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto. I believe they became very good friends.
[He was their ship pet.]
Why do you ask?
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[It's because Gojo was in 7r that's why but Childe doesn't remember that much of his AU memories. Oh well. Reaches over and puts the bread on Essek's plate.]
Oh--because he was in hell with me, too. I think Kate liked hearing that he had friends elsewhere, but I'm sure even Lavi wouldn't show a little girl everything about himself, you know?
[So he wanted another opinion, and also just to smoothly change the subject away from Aventurine specifically.]
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Thank you.
[He will sip some of the soup while Childe explains. His face matches the shift in mood - uncertainty, then mild surprise, then pleasure. It tastes good even with tentacles floating in the metaphor of blood.]
Ah. Yes, Lavi very much seemed the type to smile at you on the surface, but keep everything else locked away. [Maybe a bit pointed at Childe, but still.] Especially to someone young like Kate? Undoubtedly so.
He did make friends, though, yes.
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Childe, in turn, is mostly just pleased by his reaction... THE PRAISE KINK RETURNS even for his housewife tendencies. At least he didn't make his (Childe voice) homemade sausage, only tentacles.]
Did his friends tease him? I'm sure you can imagine how he was treated in hell, surrounded by a bunch of insane immortals.
[But the vibes are fond amusement... Lavi was such a chewtoy. Hilarious.]
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It is also good.]
Mm. Of course. Everyone teased him a great deal, but especially those two. He probably longed for home more than once.
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You think so? [Hunh.] He actually ended up going home with me, so that's a little surprising.
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Essek's look of surprise matches his emotional ping of surprise. He pauses and glances up at Childe.]
Is that so? I believe he may have had a thing near the end for his friend from home... Kanda Yuu.
[Saying this to you is hilarious.]
...It's interesting how very differently things go in other realities.
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[He doesn't know what that means but he can guess. I THINK HE ALSO DOESN'T KNOW THIS NAME? SO FUNNY. He hums into his glass, taking a drink before he helps himself to some food as well.]
Attachments have a powerful effect on people. No one from home was there with him, and we'd all already died in our home worlds to get there in the first place, so he probably felt like he didn't have anywhere else to go.
[That and he had a lot of hangups about his duty, but that's not for Childe to share even if Lavi isn't here to hear him.]
I don't think he ever planned to stay forever, though. So maybe even my version of him hoped that that person was still waiting for him.
[It's a little bit of a romantic view, maybe, but... Childe isn't Scaramouche. He doesn't view the world through a lens of bitterness and hatred.]
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Hilariously, something about what Childe says draws up conflicted longing out of him. The spoon hovers near his mouth without eating, and his violet eyes are looking thoughtfully through the table for a moment or two.
He swallows and then has the bite of the waiting soup, and his eyes flick up, again focused. He waits until he's finished swallowing before he talks.]
I don't disagree that is a way Lavi would feel about this someone.
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...We can talk about something else, if I'm upsetting you. [That kind of defeats the purpose of this dinner, after all.]
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I'm sorry I chose such an awkward time for dinner. That was my mistake.
[He puts his spoon down so he can wipe his mouth politely. The emotions trickling out of him are a melting pot of an attempt to be honest, of closely guarded secrets, of the relief of understanding - or thinking he understands - Childe wouldn't judge him for them.]
You aren't upsetting me. There is... [The hesitation of trying to figure out how to say what he wants.] Well, you've seen a little of him. Back home... Caleb. He became like... a student of mine; he was interested in dunamancy. Anyhow... We have grown a little closer. There isn't anything between us, but... there could be, in the future, I suppose. Not much different than some here.
I feel incredibly foolish doing a lot of this knowing... it takes a lot of time for me. Knowing I perhaps may not see anyone here ever again, depending. Knowing I may likely be dead not long after I return home. Knowing Caleb... Well, I understand his interest is there. I'm not looking to hurt or humiliate him, or Anders, or you.
--Not that this is meant to be anything more necessarily. I mean--anyway. I just feel I should be more upfront is all.
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IMAGINE. No--to the first, he simply shakes his head slightly; for all they know, next week's effect could be even worse. Though maybe that's his bias, since he's not the one with his complicated feelings laid bare right now.]
You shouldn't feel foolish for doing what you want. [He smiles a little, and for once, there's a flicker in his own emotions, though it's gone very quickly.] Not with me, at least. I'm dead, remember? Even if I say I don't plan on staying in hell forever, there's no telling when I'll find a way out. ...Honestly, I wondered if you forgot about that, and you'd change your mind about our plans once you remembered.
[To say nothing of after--because even if, by some fluke, Childe had the choice between tracking down Essek or going home, he'd make the same decision every time. More than Alex, more than the Tsaritsa, his loyalty is to his family. A couple of years of death can't change that.]
I can't speak for the others, obviously. I don't know your friend, and I think Anders would rather go through a year of these games than talk about his feelings with me. [There's a little humor, there, because he is always so violently himself,,, but at least it's not too mocking.] But you were clear with me about what this is. And... trust is something that takes time for me too, but even if it wasn't, I never expected anything more than a chance to enjoy some time with you before this is over.
[He does not say that he isn't sure why he even admitted his interest in the first place--HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT ALPHA WEEK IS, he just knows it was out-of-character for him. But it would've been stupid and pointless to try and take it back, so... here they are. It's not out of any sense of low self-esteem, just... an awareness, maybe. Of who he is, and what it means to be with him. Of the fact that very few people, if any, would truly be happy at his side.
He reaches for his glass again, though he doesn't take another drink, just holds it loosely.]
But I don't think you should hold yourself back--whether that's here, or at home. You don't know what will happen--so isn't that all the more reason to live your life to the fullest? [Pauses. Amends, with a small smile--] In a manner of speaking.
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I didn't forget.
[He also had his own issues to worry about, as Childe now sees. Being dead, perhaps being dead in the future of a timeline. Who knows what will happen to any of them here? Maybe the dead will be stuck dead and in this airport forever. What then?
Regardless, he lives for a very long time. And yet, everyone here has their own desired lives. Their own duties.]
Thank you. For understanding. I don't think I can convey how appreciative I am.
[He manages a small smile, half wry. Childe can probably tell. The relief settles into something that is fond in a certain type of way--not love necessarily, but a kind of deep-rooted camaraderie. Of course Childe would say something like this to him.]
And for dinner, of course. It's very good for a supposed dead man.
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