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Dec. 14th, 2020 02:58 am
vrdantwind: (If I'm right here with you)
[personal profile] vrdantwind


"Hey, this is Claude! Pretty sure I'm doing this correctly. You can leave me a message here, and I'll get to it as soon as I can. Talk to you soon~."

Date: 2021-06-10 09:32 am (UTC)
blackironspur: (smirk)
From: [personal profile] blackironspur
Glenn tilts his head to study Claude a bit in return. "Riegan, huh? You're awfully young to be leading the Alliance. Something happened, I take it?" It's not that uncommon, of course, for heirs to end up inheriting titles far earlier than they expected. Plagues, bandits, border skirmishes, assassins, pure accidents - Fodlan's a dangerous place. And this guy is wearing the Leicester coat of arms, so there's no reason to doubt him.

Fortunately for Claude, Glenn shares with his brother a disinterest in asking too many questions when he doesn't feel like he needs the answers. So he doesn't bother prying into exactly what 'recently' might mean.

He turns his eyes back out to the horizon. "And I think I have a decent handle on most things, yes. The important things, anyway. I know that Felix and the others are much older than they are where I'm from. Or when, I suppose. I know that Felix and Sylvain are still 'close.'" He smirks briefly, but his expression is neutral when he goes on. "I know that something happens between Dimitri and my brother to drive them apart, though I honestly can't imagine anything bad enough to do that. You might not realize it, but as children they're inseparable, the two of them. Trying to go home when we visit Fhirdiad is always a ridiculous ordeal. Felix throws a fit, every time."

"And I know that I don't live to see this part of their lives. That's really what you're asking, isn't it? Do I know I'll die young? Leave Ingrid a widow before I even marry her? Save my prince's life in exchange for my own? Yes. I've heard. It was Dimitri who told me, in fact."

Of course, if that's not what Claude was asking and what he wanted to know was something like 'do you know what Pokemon are,' he's going to feel a little silly. Ah well.

Date: 2021-06-30 11:24 am (UTC)
blackironspur: (Default)
From: [personal profile] blackironspur
"I don't mind." Glenn barks a brief laugh as Claude sits. "'Well after my time?' Flames, you're making me sound like just some name in a history book with all that."

He listens, though, without interruption. By the time Claude finishes, Glenn's looking at him with an arched brow.

"Deserved better than what, exactly? I died protecting my prince, and he survived. What else could I have wanted out of my own death? If I hadn't given everything I had to ensure his safety, I would be disgusted with myself."

He shrugs. It is a lot, and having to piece it all together from the perspectives of a bunch of people who know Felix and his friends but were unwilling to tell him everything has truly tested his patience. But wallowing over bad news never helped anyone, and the news absolutely could have been much worse.

"It is what it is. Although people have been awfully cagey about catching me up on things. Our old man didn't mention a single word of it. Tch, did he really think I couldn't handle it?" Glenn shakes his head. "And everyone's been glad to tell me all the wonderful things they like about my brother, but no one has told me what's changed. All I know is that he was inexplicably never knighted, he had an unthinkable falling out with Dimitri, and he's never mentioned me to anyone who didn't already know who I was."

He turns to pin Claude with a level gaze--blue and steady, like Rodrigue's, rather than Felix's piercing amber. "I know Felix. Everything that happened in Duscur would have devastated him beyond coping. He's the most sensitive soul I've ever known, and he deals poorly with separation and loss. Very poorly."

"So tell me, Claude von Riegan. You seem to know more than most. Are you going to walk on eggshells with me, too, or are you going to do me the courtesy of a real answer?"

Date: 2021-07-14 09:03 pm (UTC)
blackironspur: (Default)
From: [personal profile] blackironspur
Fortunately for both of them, Glenn has a lot more patience than Felix does. He listens quietly with no interruptions. Certain details make his brow furrow, particularly hearing about Felix's problems with Rodrigue and Dimitri's unchecked violence and hallucinations.

Once Claude's finally finished, Glenn nods. "And I appreciate it. I asked for all that talking from you, I'd be a hypocrite to complain about it." He sighs heavily. "It's hard to imagine Felix the way you're describing him. Angry and defensive, sure--he's always been that way. A little kettle just boiling over with every emotion you could name. But sharp? Goddess. If you could have seen the Felix I know. He's like an adorable, fluffy kitten."

Then he shakes his head and groans. "I can't believe the old man left him alone. He absolutely should have known better. Leaving my brother alone is just about the fastest way to get him crying. Things really must have been dire for our father to resort to that. But you know?" Glenn looks up at the sky. "For all that this tale is disheartening to hear, I'm proud of Felix for thinking for himself. Forming his own beliefs and sticking to them, no matter what. That's how I've always hoped he'd grow up. What I tried to teach him. So I'm glad he took the lesson to heart, even if it had to be tested in blood and fire."

He frowns. "As for the little prince, I can't say I blame Felix for a reaction like that. Thinking of Dimitri that way is impossible. The Dimitri I know is the sweetest child Fodlan's ever seen. Don't get me wrong, he's a true Faerghan warrior down to his core; no one would ever fault him for lacking in bravery or honor. But we're talking about a child who's afraid to pet the hunting hounds for fear he'll accidentally hurt them. Bends over backwards to cheer Felix up when he's upset."

His face relaxes into a smile, then. "It's good to hear they reconciled. Felix must have been heartbroken, all that time. You should see the way he practically worships the ground Dimitri walks on. I'd have put even odds on him falling for either him or Sylvain when he was old enough. And from what Sylvain accidentally told me when I ran into him back at their house, he ended up the lucky fellow."

Glenn turns back to look at Claude. "But Sylvain's always been good at pretending everything's fine even if it isn't. It's why it took us so long to figure out--well, that's his business to tell, not mine. The point is, I could tell he wasn't exactly the same boy I remember. Do you happen to know anything about that? Or about Ingrid...mm. Wish she were here so I could see for myself."

Then his eyes narrow slightly, in a way very reminiscent of the way Felix's do when he's wary or suspicious. "And how exactly do you know so much about my brother, anyway?"

Date: 2021-07-23 09:04 am (UTC)
blackironspur: (cool)
From: [personal profile] blackironspur
"You've got a point." He shakes his head. "Dammit, Felix...I keep telling him he's got to learn to be more independent. Accept that nothing lasts forever. He knows how dangerous the world is, and he knows that I've pledged to protect the royal family at any cost. Still, from what I've seen here, he's managed to make quite a few friends who think highly of him, so he can't be too far gone."

His brows lift, and then he smirks. "Won him over, did you? That's impressive, you must really have made an impression. Usually he's wary of strangers, although once he decides he likes you, good luck ever getting rid of him."

He sobers again as he listens to Claude talk about Sylvain. He makes a quiet, disgusted noise at the recounting of the events at Conand Tower. "Miklan, that bastard. He's always been a disaster waiting to happen. I'd love to have run him through myself if I'd had the chance. But Sylvain...poor kid."

He looks more and more disbelieving the more Claude says about the war. "The Empire declared war on the church?" He waves a hand. "You know what, I don't need to know the details of why. But Cornelia? Tried to have the crown prince executed? Goddess, Dimitri...it's just one thing after another. I should have been there for him. I met him at about 17, yesterday, that's how I learned about Duscur. And even then he already didn't seem like he was altogether there. How could so much have gone so wrong?"

It seems like more of a rhetorical question than a real one, though, as he thinks over the rest. "At least we were able to mount a resistance. But no, Sylvain has never been nearly so fond of battle as the rest of us, despite his clear talent for it."

When Claude starts talking about more personal things, Glenn eyes him with that same wariness as before, particularly at the comment about how Claude would stick to being honest 'for now.' The rest of it has him staring as he just...processes that for a minute, before he turns fully to look at Claude.

"I see. No, it's not a shock that Felix could end up with more than one person, although I didn't think people did that sort of thing. But Felix is my baby brother and the other two are practically the same, so I think you know what I'm going to say, Claude. Give me a reason to trust you with their feelings. I need to know that all three of them are in good hands. And do make sure that you continue to stick with being honest."

He doesn't seem angry, nor threatening, per se. But he is quite serious.
Edited Date: 2021-07-23 09:06 am (UTC)

Date: 2021-07-26 06:34 am (UTC)
blackironspur: (serious)
From: [personal profile] blackironspur
Huh.

Glenn watches Claude mostly impassively throughout all of this, though he's clearly listening, not zoning out or just waiting for Claude to finish. It's not until the question is posed that his expression really changes - his brows lift, his gaze becomes a little more knowing.

"No, not at all. Though I know why you ask. Most of Faerghus would say yes."

He shakes his head. "You were the one who told me you'd decided to be honest 'for now.' That didn't fill me with confidence, though I didn't assume you'd be bad for them any more than I assumed you'd be good for them."

He shifts position in the sand to turn and face Claude more directly. "But you've made several good points. Among them that I ought to trust Felix's judgment, and that I ought to be pleased that he's found someone else he wants to be with. Like I said, the Felix I know is slow to warm up to people, and it sure doesn't sound like that much has changed. So if you've gotten close enough to him since coming here that he wanted to court you, you must be doing something right."

He offers Claude a hand for shaking. "So I hope you'll accept my apology for grilling you. And my thanks, for making my brother and the others happy and looking after them. Since, as you pointed out, I can't."
Edited Date: 2021-07-26 06:35 am (UTC)

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Claude von Riegan

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