claude von riegan. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
godshattering) wrote2025-01-01 12:30 am
godshattering) wrote2025-01-01 12:30 amabraxas inbox + horizon contact
action + prose (nsfw marked) / horizon / network
godshattering) wrote2025-01-01 12:30 am
here works! i went ahead since you got the last one, lmk if anything needs changed!
I suppose that's something to consider, that maybe with so much noticeable destruction it might actually get others talking about what occurred and where. If there's anything to be shared between all of us then perhaps that can also narrow down some of the remaining questions.
I have to confess I'm not the biggest fan of sweets, but if I could request it then I'd like you to bring what you had in mind all the same. All the better to keep sharing things from where we're both from since I'd still like to try whatever you have in mind nonetheless. When you're ready, I'll be there.
Oh, and you didn't alter anything about the surroundings, that I promise.
[ True to his word, Claude will be waiting in his domain. This time around the front doors will be open rather than sealed shut and ready to be walked through by his visitor. Belatedly he realizes he's unsure if Hythlodaeus will need permission to take another form again, that maybe he should've offered that along with the invitation, but this time he's ready to offer that right away.
In another statement of honesty: his domain remains largely unchanged even after all of the Horizon's mishaps beyond visitors dropping in. Some of the plants have been replaced with even brighter flowers in more varieties than before, perhaps suggesting their owner is going for something cheerful not only for himself but for others visiting, but still arranged around as casually as ever. The ambiance weather-wise is as pleasant as ever in those better memories of a now distance place. All in all - and as promised - things look largely the same.
Right down to Claude sitting in one of the chairs with a book propped open in his lap, though this time if someone looks closely they might find he's studying signs related to magic from someone else's realm entirely. Pure curiosity at work, though at the sound of someone entering he looks up with a smile. ]
I'm glad to see you were able to find me hopefully as easily as before and even without the Horizon very helpfully sending us to other places. [ A bookmark's placed in between the pages, and the book's set aside to offer Hythlodaeus a seat should he like it. ] Hopefully being here's provided some reassurance there were no changes made that were unintended as well?
Thank you!
The fact that Claude's domain seems quite the same in both form and feel (save for a few new floral displays) cannot help but have him smile as he refinds himself at this particular balcony in this particular city, on this particular afternoon. And he cannot help but show the pleasure he takes in that small fact. Not really. If anything, such a little thing helps him think starting over was for more plausible than he had previously.
To that end, he takes a seat. And as he settles himself-]
I am glad. I have the suspicion that these places are just as much a reflection upon ourselves as what we intend for it. Which is to say...
[A tilt of his head, and the steepling of his fingers upon the table, his gaze falling to each of the ends of his fingers.]
Before that experience, there was something else that occurred. An equally harrowing event to many. ...To some, perhaps more so. Regrettably, someone who is quite important to me was affected adversely by what happened some months before what happened to us, here. ...And the strain such an event placed upon his soul, even now, is made manifest within his Horizon as he attempts to come to terms.
[Terrible, really. Truly so- and such is reflected with a (somewhat rueful) quirk of the corners of his mouth upward, his concern only showing with the fact his smile seems a little terse- and very quick to disappear.]
So, yes! Should my little theory about these spaces hold some semblance of truth, I am rather impressed- and delighted to see, I'll have you know- that you're rather resilient.
[Which was not to say that the unnamed friend was not. But he is impressed.]
of course! <3
By the end, his brow's furrowed slightly in thought over the information he's been readily given, even as rightfully redacted as it is to protect the privacy of who it might be about. That's something he'll respect even despite the never ending urge to pry into it a little further. There's certainly more than one way of doing that, though. ]
I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your friend. [ With gravity befitting that sentiment, and nothing else concealed behind it. ] I've come to think of this as a respite of sorts even despite none of it being real past our own creation, so to have something so agonizing happen to someone here... is unnerving, to say the very least. Was it related to the nightmares which happened some time ago?
[ Now Claude does reach for the tea set to place it at their end of the tea table between their seats, and after thinking about it for a moment, conjures up a second teapot of hot water ready to be steeped. They had promised to share tea, after all, so why limit it to one choice? Rather than reaching for the teas from Fodlan stashed in a wooden box nearby, he looks up with a slight grimace first. ]
I ask because said nightmares were my welcoming present to being here not long after I arrived. The ones I had were... well, not unlike what happened here between us in that they were based on something I'd experienced before. But what is it they say, something about all those experiences only serving to make us stronger? Or something close to that, but I suppose that added to my resiliency.
[ There's a slight smile to go with that since, well. It's one way of putting it, though he hopes Hythlodaeus's friend might have the same outlook with any luck. ]
no subject
[That confirmation does not come without a quirk of his head to the side, and one of his hands to rise, the backs of his fingers lightly touching the tip of his chin in thought.]
What happened in said friend's nightmare was a mixture of a recollection of an event long past- as well as something which most certainly did not and could not have happened thrown in for good measure. While the laws of this star are certainly capable- and fond, seemingly- of throwing harrowing scenarios our way... I think that the most terrible of all possible things does have the tendency to come from our own minds.
[His hand lowers, crossing itself with the other upon his lap once more, and he turns his gaze toward every boxed component of the tea. Of course, there is something else on his mind. Both Claude's mention of negative experience having one become stronger, as well as his own theory of real, internal, lived trauma being far worse than what could be manufactured has his mind move to something else.
Namely, the way Claude acted when poisoned. He hardly needed his power of sight to see what was in Claude's eyes when it happened. Confusion, yes. Fear, yes. All very much the hallmarks of someone experiencing their end suddenly, painfully, and violently. Yet something was missing. Shock.
...The complete absence of shock, of denial, of blind panic couldn't help but strike him as strange. Almost as if he had expected...
No. That, he felt, was a conversation for another day- a day when they perhaps were friends and the mere thought of asking it wouldn't be such a disconcerting one. So. For the moment...]
Ah! I had almost forgot.
[Something else appears on the table. Compared to the craftsmanship of Claude's teaboxes, it is rough and somewhat quaint- a miniature crate if anything else, wrapped in a cloth that shows a distinctively hand-made weave, as well as a dye job that seems both rustic and charming. A mark of goods produced in Solvunn, given to the general cheeriness of the package.
And as for what was inside...
There are a number of small strips of a hard form of biscuit. Clearly handmade. And while long strips, of not uniform length or width, with a number of almonds and smaller nuts poking precariously out of them. Very handmade, yet fortunately for Claude, not by Hythlodaeus' own hands. More someone in Solvunn with experience of this recipe, as shown by the fact that they appear perfectly cooked.]
You did mention that you are not overly fond of sweet things, so I made a bargain with an elder within the commune for the least sweet sort of accompaniment to tea that could be managed.
[Food and drink consumed here could not sustain, of course. And really, Hythlodaeus actually striking a bargain with one of the bakers of the First settlement was a little extra. Yet to him, it seemed worth it simply for the reference, in order to recreate it here.]
Oh, and given the fact that you seemed quite fond of pine tea, [Since he had made mention that he took it quite strong, of course...] I harvested some pine nuts to be included. Truth be told, I've little experience with baking. Or cooking, for that matter! ...Yet, I thought such would counteract a little of the sweetness.
no subject
Perhaps something he should ruminate on a bit longer before sharing, though he looks up from dropping a tea sachet into one teapot when Hythlodaeus changes the topic by announcing something else nearly forgotten. That's enough to catch Claude's attention as a box is produced from within cloth that reminds him of something from the outer reaches of the Alliance, and at first he blinks at the contents inside while studying them.
The instruction for Hythlodaeus to bring something the other would enjoy, he quickly discovers, was still done with a large amount of consideration. By the end of the explanation Claude can't help a (genuine) grin. The sheer thoughtfulness put into the gesture is not at all lost on him. ]
It sounds like you and I share a lack of baking finesse in common. Or, well - I can't really say that my cooking's any better, so it's a good thing the inn where we stay in Cadens provides a meal for us. [ And with a gesture to the gracious gift, ] You've guessed well on the pine nuts considering I've had them in a few things and they do take some of the sweetness out. Compared to sweets made solely with sugar, that is, and that's closer to what I'd prefer so I have to thank you for that and the amount of thought you've put into bringing these. May I take one?
[ They're meant to share, clearly, but sometimes for as much as Claude likes to claim nobility didn't rub off on him: some bit of formality in manners pops up now and again. Perhaps it also shows in reaching to tap the box of teas next should Hythlodaeus wish for something besides pine tea, something Claude would understand because of their last meeting even with the outside influences causing the reaction. ]
You'll have to tell me a bit about what your favorite tea's like so I can make sure to have it on hand for the future as that's something I request of everyone who visits. In the meantime, there are several here from Fodlan you might like to try and they vary from more traditional herbs to ones with fruits to floral varieties. Of the ones I've gained from others' visits there's also some other flower-based kinds and all are more pleasant memories created by our minds, much like the biscuits.
[ A brief pause, and then - ] Though I'm also familiar with less enjoyable experiences here at the Singularity's whims, including what once happened but... now far worse.