Yeah, Dimitri's mental state has been healing slowly, as opposed to him being rather roughly snapped out of whatever violent fugue he was in by Duke Fraldarius' death. As a result, he's way better than he was before the battle at Gronder, but...not exactly what you'd call fully reformed yet, either. He still lapses into at least overblown threats of violence, say, when someone he cares about is being threatened, or someone infuriates him. And I'm just glad Edelgard's not here, because I've got no idea how he'd handle that. I don't think he's ready for that much of a strain yet.
He hasn't really learned the costs vengeance and violence can carry in the same brutally direct way, and actively chosen against them. It's been a more gradual change due to persuasion - persuasion that might not have worked if he hadn't been removed from his chance to keep pursuing his vengeance anyway. So it's a more fragile thing. But I know that your understanding how it stands will be more than enough for you to know how to handle him. You're one of his oldest friends, after all; the only thing you're missing is some recent context.
[Claude's...more than a little flattered, to be told that getting to know him is something Sylvain's excited about. It really highlights how much of a different place Sylvain himself was in mentally between the beginning of the war - being on edge, thinking one of his oldest friends had been executed, not having seen Claude in years or knowing where he (or his kingdom) stood in relation to Claude and the Alliance - and after the battle of Derdriu. And Claude's heart, aching for Sylvain, can't not warm at the feeling that, on some level, even this Sylvain with no memories wants to be with him.]
I have to say, that's a way warmer reception than I got from you the last time you were here. But you were from a very different period of time back then...and definitely had more reason to be depressed and suspicious and jaded about the war, and about a guy who hadn't proven to be an ally yet. So this is definitely a better reception than I got last time.
But yeah, I don't think Hilda was wrong. Ingrid's comparisons were, shall we say, less flattering. But I can confirm that we got along great last time. For instance, without you, there's been so many jokes that, even if I'd been in the mood to make them or anyone else had been in the mood to laugh at them, no one else would truly understand or appreciate...and there's been no one to play chess with except Gremlin. Who is a rat. And who's still way better at chess than Dimitri or Felix.
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He hasn't really learned the costs vengeance and violence can carry in the same brutally direct way, and actively chosen against them. It's been a more gradual change due to persuasion - persuasion that might not have worked if he hadn't been removed from his chance to keep pursuing his vengeance anyway. So it's a more fragile thing. But I know that your understanding how it stands will be more than enough for you to know how to handle him. You're one of his oldest friends, after all; the only thing you're missing is some recent context.
[Claude's...more than a little flattered, to be told that getting to know him is something Sylvain's excited about. It really highlights how much of a different place Sylvain himself was in mentally between the beginning of the war - being on edge, thinking one of his oldest friends had been executed, not having seen Claude in years or knowing where he (or his kingdom) stood in relation to Claude and the Alliance - and after the battle of Derdriu. And Claude's heart, aching for Sylvain, can't not warm at the feeling that, on some level, even this Sylvain with no memories wants to be with him.]
I have to say, that's a way warmer reception than I got from you the last time you were here. But you were from a very different period of time back then...and definitely had more reason to be depressed and suspicious and jaded about the war, and about a guy who hadn't proven to be an ally yet. So this is definitely a better reception than I got last time.
But yeah, I don't think Hilda was wrong. Ingrid's comparisons were, shall we say, less flattering. But I can confirm that we got along great last time. For instance, without you, there's been so many jokes that, even if I'd been in the mood to make them or anyone else had been in the mood to laugh at them, no one else would truly understand or appreciate...and there's been no one to play chess with except Gremlin. Who is a rat. And who's still way better at chess than Dimitri or Felix.