ohmyarceus | March - April Test Drive

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March - April Test Drive

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[When Hubert sees Claude on the screen his viable eye widens just the tiniest bit. So little of a reaction most people wouldn't notice it- but a reaction none the less. Surprise... but not the level that would suggest seeing a dead man.]

That is largely superstition. Pegasi find the smell of men distasteful but it can be trained out of them if started young enough. How else could they stand fighting alongside men in battle? The effort is rarely worth the cost when wyvern are an easier option, so tradition maintains.

...

I didn't expect to see you again, Claude von Riegan.

Edited 2022-04-08 14:24 (UTC)

[It's a tiny reaction, but Claude is going out of his way to gauge Hubert's reaction to him here, and he's highly observant in any case. He notes the surprise, and wonders at it a little. It might just be seeing a familiar face in this world, of course...but at the same time, Claude doubts it. Hubert isn't fumbling with the new technology that the Gear comprises; he seems to have gained some sort of understanding of pokéballs already; he's already in the midst of training his starter, and has a grasp of its capabilities and intelligence. In other words, Hubert took the time to orient himself to this world, probably did some research and reconnaissance. And even if no one had mentioned people just randomly turn up here to him in all that, surely Hubert's own arrival would suggest to him that it might happen to other people...so why the shock?

He sets it aside for now; not enough data, and gods know asking Hubert for insight will almost certainly get him stonewalled. He'll just keep his eyes peeled for further hints.] Okay, so maybe a very carefully trained pegasi could stand having a male rider. But are you asking me to believe that rider would be you? No offense, but that doesn't really seem to fit your style. [His eyes are glittering with amusement. Honestly, the thought of Lord Grimdark himself, Hubert the sinister, sitting on top of a pretty white pegasus is a source of entertainment all on its own.] Oh, but let me guess - you'd make sure to get one of the rare black ones, right?

[He tilts his head at Hubert's remark.] Oh? Don't tell me you missed me once I left. [Because, of course, for Claude, that's what had happened. He'd handed the Alliance over to Dimitri and headed back to Almyra. Naturally news would have reached Edelgard and Hubert sooner or later.]

Of course not, but using a flying animal training tecnique seemed logical.

[His eye flicks away from the screen, and while his expression doesn't shift otherwise it says a lot. He's lying, or not telling the whole truth. In fact he seems almost eager to change the subject]

And hardly. I assumed you would be smart enough to keep your head down after Lady Edelgard's benevolence. If we met again in person... you would not get a second chance to plead for mercy.

[or maybe he would, if what Hubert suspects about him is true. Another war was not what they needed right now]

Discounting current circumstances, of course.

Edited 2022-04-08 14:51 (UTC)

[Claude notes that sudden subject change, too, and he grins openly. He has a feeling he just called Hubert out, and that's infinitely amusing.

But his entertainment is quickly sidelined by Hubert...revealing something that's clearly not from the same timeline as Claude, and he sits up with immediate interest. (And, maybe, a bit of an inward wince. Apparently, some other version of himself had messed things up pretty badly if he got brought before Edelgard and had to ask for mercy...)]

I guess that means I lost in your version of events. [He says this lightly, as though that's not a whole story begging to be told.] I'm touched you guys would leave me alive, honestly; I wouldn't have expected it of either of you.

But here's where I tell you that while we might come from the same world, actual timelines of events between people from the same worlds appear to be...flexible here. [He rests his chin on his hand, with a rather satisfied smile.] The last I heard of Edelgard, the Kingdom and Alliance had joined forces and crushed the Imperial army when I baited her into attacking Derdriu, and we even knocked Lord Arundel off the board in the process. She was licking her wounds back in Enbarr last I heard...but then I hadn't paid her much attention recently when I ended up getting hauled to this place.

[Claude's not usually one to offer information for free, especially to a potential enemy, but there's absolutely no strategic disadvantage to telling Hubert this. In fact, it offers him a distinct psychological edge. Hubert has to process a whole lot of information very quickly, and question just how much of it might be true and what Claude could stand to gain by lying to him. And if it hints that even if whatever Claude Hubert was familiar with might have screwed things up, this Claude is perhaps even more formidable than Edelgard...well, that's to his advantage too.

Also, it's just plain satisfying. He'd hate to have Hubert underestimate him. He likes to keep the man nervous.]

[when Claude so cavalierly offers this sudden information Hubert's expression closes off completely. He had done everything right- researched and listened and taken his time. Read the instructions for the gear and listened to others fumble with it, picking up how this place worked without ever exposing himself before he was ready. Realizing that he missed something so vital? It's a blow to his pride as a Vestra. And the fact that his face and body give nothing away, even the tinist thought... well that actually gives it all away.

His Murkrow, sensing the change, starts trying to preen his cowlicks.

Claude had to be lying, but why would he make up such an outrageous tale? It fits with the logic of this place as he's seen it, and worse is close enough to the "truth" to be scary. His smug expression is of a man with no fear of retaliation.

Whatever happened is safely past, Hubert has nothing on him.]

... so. There's others from Fodlan here as well then?

[His voice is a purr, the same tone he's used on prisoners given over to his "special" care. A tone that suggests he's learned something he can twist in the open wound.

It's a bluff- one he's sure he's right about, but a bluff all the same. If Claude's allies are here maybe Hubert's reputation alone can disarm him. An unspoken threat that there are people here he can find and hurt if he wants to]

Edited 2022-04-08 15:48 (UTC)

[It's a nice play, and Claude admires the confidence with which Hubert bluffs with the zero cards in his hand. Of course he'll find out about the others soon enough. Claude half expects they'll come to Hubert, possibly with weapons out. Claude has no expectations of being able to hide this fact - that Hubert seems to think is advantageous - from him.

Well, if Hubert thinks he's starting to find his footing, that's exactly the time to pull the rug out from under him.]

Oh, yeah, there's actually a lot of us. [He says this far too cheerfully, casually dismantling the idea that Hubert's uncovered some valuable intel by tossing it off without a care. Or, at least, without a visible care. When will Hubert learn that choosing your expressions is so much better than simply trying to hide them?] I have to say, though, the Kingdom's way over-represented. Not a single Imperial citizen yet - excepting yourself, of course. In fact, it's just about every Faerghan with a grudge against the Empire who's good to hand-to-hand combat that's here. So, uh, speaking of lying low, you might want to do a little of it. I don't know if you've noticed, but you don't have magic here. But, well, muscles are muscles, y'know? You might get a pretty rough welcome if you're not careful.

[In other words: you have no allies and a whole lot of enemies, and you're unarmed.

Claude actually would prefer to keep relations between Hubert and the other people from their world from getting violent. Partly because he just thinks it'd be bad for everyone involved, but partly because he feels like this is a golden opportunity. There's so much he doesn't understand about Edelgard's actions, so much he feels like could be avoided or fixed if people just sat down and talked things out, but back home...well, events had possessed their own momentum, and had washed away any number of chances. Maybe here, there's some kind of chance to understand each other - a chance for them all to stop having to fight and kill old friends.

But either way...if Hubert might unbalance Dimitri's mental state again, encouraging the man to keep a safe distance could go a long way in preserving stability, to say nothing of peace. And in the meantime...if anyone is inclined to violence, maybe Claude can talk them down to mere verbal hostilities. Framing it as being for Hubert's own safety isn't even inaccurate to the possibilities; it just frames the situation in a way that incentivizes the man to do what he wants. And, incidentally...Claude's offering Hubert a little bit of advice, what one might even call help, free of charge in the form of this warning. He knows the man won't miss that, and whether it keeps him guessing or renders him grateful, Claude still comes out ahead.]

[The obvious threat with the cheer of an idiot- if there was any doubt this was Claude von Riegan it's gone now. Just pleasant enough that no one could call it a threat to his face without looking paranoid, but still exactly that.

Hubert hates it. He couldn't have the decency of at least being direct. It's genius in the exact way Hubert could never pull off. Not with his personality and... everything else. he leaned into his own strengths and he supposes Claude was doing the same.]

... I'll take it under consideration.

[For all that Claude may be more adept at pulling off this kind of implicit threat than Hubert, the fact is that he's not nearly as interested as Hubert would be in doing so. He truly would rather get along with Hubert - and Edelgard, and everyone he can. He'd had enough hatred and people trying to kill each other before he'd ever even arrived in Fodlan. There's better ways to explore, better ways to be than that.

So when his threat clearly lands, and Hubert has no response to it...he can't help but feel a little bad about it. Strategically, the move was impeccable - it's why he chose to make it - but in terms of compassion, it's not great. Claude was the only Deer in this world for a long time, and it's not a great feeling being isolated even if the only people you know aren't necessarily hostile to you. He's not thrilled weaponizing that. And Hubert just got here. It's harsh hitting someone like this under these conditions...especially when what Claude ultimately wants is to not engage in aggressions with them.

So he tries softening his tone. Not in pity, because he thinks Hubert would have some kind of violent allergic reaction, but something a little more friendly, a little more welcoming.] It's a warning for your own good, y'know. Dimitri's here, and I can't say for sure that he's not still convinced Edelgard was somehow behind the Tragedy of Duscur. At the very least, he knows she was working with the people who were, and you get why that'd enrage anybody in his position. I honestly don't know how he'll react to you being here, but it probably won't be good for either of you until - unless - he understands some things better. With a little more nuance. That might be possible now in a way that wouldn't have been before, but it's gonna take some delicacy to get there. I wouldn't just spring yourself on him without warning. The other people in from the Kingdom who are here...well, they've got their own resentments regarding the Empire that they can hardly be blamed for, but how reasonable they will or won't be is a little harder for me to predict. Discretion's definitely not gonna hurt anybody here, though.

I'm willing to work with you here, Hubert. Not against anyone else, but with you all the same. I don't think there needs to be an 'against' anyone else, especially here. And I don't think the disconnect between us and Edelgard - and you - is as big as people have made it out to be. But everyone - Edelgard especially - has been pushing too hard, not explaining themselves, doubling down on the things they already think without letting any new thoughts in, and nobody's on the same page anymore. There's so much I'd like to know about where her head's been at, why she decided it was necessary to do the things she did. Obviously you aren't her, but you've got to know her and her reasoning better than anyone. There's a lot you could tell me, and a lot of good that understanding could do. Even for Edelgard herself.

[He grins a little.] And if you're worried about telling me things somehow betraying Edelgard, or giving me or anyone else an edge over her, you don't need to be. What happens here will only affect here - whether you consider that fortunate or not. But if she shows up here...well, for the reasons I already mentioned, it'd be to her benefit as much as anyone's to establish some diplomatic groundwork.

An exchange then? You want information in return for holding the Kingdom hounds at bay? How magnanimous of you, Claude.

[He knows that's not the truth. or at least not all of it. But he's... well, he's hurting. Seeing Byleth tore at something in him he didn't realize until now was exposed, and he wants to cause hurt in return. He doesn't need Claude's so called kindness or to get along with any of them. The Empire has already won- all he needs to do is maintain until he can return to his people. The real ones who truly matter to him.]

Edited 2022-04-08 23:20 (UTC)

No. I'll encourage them to try for diplomacy with you no matter what you do.

[This is uncharacteristically direct and honest for Claude, but that's the whole point - putting his cards on the table so that Hubert can see he's got nothing up his sleeves. He wants to keep the peace here; whether or not Hubert cooperates isn't really a factor in his own actions.

He's not hurt by the suspicion, or the accusation. Honestly, he'd have been more surprised if Hubert had immediately taken him at face value. But he is committed to convincing the man regardless of those suspicions, and the best way to do that is to give him truths he can't poke holes in.]

I want to learn more, and I'd like you to work with me - maybe help us all reach a level of understanding we've been missing this whole time - but I'm not holding anything for ransom to get it. I don't believe that's the only way left for us to cooperate.

Yet you said yourself: things that happen here only matter here. Is it memory loss if and when we return? Or something more insidious? Regardless, why bother with any so called 'peace' that won't matter where it truly counts?

And what, you don't think the here and now counts for anything? Because I do. We have opportunities here we never had at home, and it'd be ridiculous to waste them no matter how temporary they might be. After all, what did any of us want back home? A bright future for Fodlan? Peace? To rid the country of the problems we saw with it? Those are all noble goals, and we threw everything into them, didn't we? But no matter what we achieved, it wouldn't last forever. New wars, new problems...they're all inevitable. Even if we win everything we could ever want in our lifetimes, it won't last forever. But that doesn't make whatever we can accomplish to make the world better in the time we have, with the power we have, meaningless.

That said...maybe it won't last. Maybe everything we do here, everything we learn and do and find here, will be lost when we return home. As you say, maybe it's memory loss, or maybe we're rewound to before it all happened, or something else. [Having learned certain things from Byleth, the idea of rewinding time isn't so strange.] But who knows? Maybe not. If it's a loss of memories...we may not consciously remember any of this, but maybe there will be lingering subconscious effects that will cling to us. Maybe those memories can be recovered. I'd like to think that if something matters here and now...it can never truly be erased. Not completely. But we'll never know what effect it could have in the long run if we don't bother doing anything important now because we're convinced it won't matter later.

Besides, are you really going to waste your time here just twiddling your thumbs, not bothering to do anything worthwhile, not trying to sell or explain Edelgard's ideals and motivations to anyone, waiting to go home to where doing those things will matter again? Sounds pretty boring. Even if none of it matters in the end, don't you want to see for yourself what you can accomplish here when you've got the chance to find out?

[Hubert listens to this without interruption, not even with his expression. He simply sits, his hands lacing together in front of his chin like he's watching Claude make a move in chess, not discussing the ramifications of their strange circumstances.

When he finishes Hubert still doesn't say anything or move, maybe still thinking. Maybe wanting to make him squirm. Eventually, just after it's been long enough to be uncomfortable:]

Very well. While I can't say I'm convinced by your arguement, you do have a point that I am not a man to sit idle. If you wish to hear what I say I suppose I'll answer your questions for now. But not over this device. In person, or not at all.

A without your new northern hounds as well.

[Claude grins, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. 'Not convinced by his argument', huh? As though Hubert would go along with this, tell him anything at all, unless Claude's arguments had swayed him fairly significantly. As though Hubert has to indulge Claude's requests just to 'not sit idle'. Maybe the man's clinging to the plausible deniability of having some lingering doubts, but he's obviously more than convinced enough.

But Claude's getting what he wants from a notoriously prickly individual, and as tempting as it is to tease him, he's well aware that one wrong move could snap Hubert shut like a clam. He wouldn't put it past the man to get huffy about his bluff being called and change his mind just to prove how not convinced he is...or maybe just out of petty spite. Not worth risking just to have a laugh at Hubert's expense.]

Hey, c'mon, do you think I'm totally classless? Of course this is too important a conversation to have over the network. So how about tea? Just like the old days. We can even play a little chess, if you feel like it. I won't say I haven't missed our games.

Pretty flattering for you to call the Lions mine, though. I'm an outlier here, just like you. If anyone's adopted anyone else, it's probably the other way around. But I wasn't planning on bringing any of them along, don't worry.

[the corner of his mouth curls up a bit at the idea of chess]

I'd be agreeable to that. I've been lacking in passable rivals since the war started.

[he pauses, thinking]

As for if they are "yours" or not, we will see.

[is his opinion of Claude that high or of the Lions that low?]

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March - April Test Drive

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