[ It helps to have her voice to focus on, even if what she tells him is something he wishes she didn't have to live through. The uncertainty that went with that must have been unbearable. To be able to change times to prevent something for yourself but not for everyone, and not for someone so deeply cared for: even though others have described it to him from their own times, the cruelties with how time can move so swiftly seem so deeply unfair.
All the more reason to give a shake of his head once he's clawed his mind back from reeling and tucked the distress away to examine later, because the last thing he wants is for Claire to feel any guilt about any of this. ]
Please, don't apologize. If there's anything I've learned from being here, it's that many of the Summoned have lived through awful things none of us should have ever had to deal with so for whatever it may be worth, there are others besides us who understand. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to have to go so long without knowing what happened as you did.
[ Not meant to minimize, but to share even if their varieties of grief from their own lives likely all differ in meaningful ways. Claude's quiet for another small stretch of time, again to weigh his words carefully. Not because there's a chance of any of this getting back to Hilda nor because he minds if it does, but because - what's the best way to sum up what he's learned in both what happened in his time and didn't? ]
The war in Fodlan I mentioned. It ended decisively in the Alliance's favor - where Hilda and I are from - as much as war ends in anyone's favor, but since coming here I've learned that isn't always the case. Two others we know, or three if you count someone who was here and then departed, have lived something else with enough similarities that it could overlap but doesn't due to some very distinct differences.
[ There's the simplest way he can put it even if it's no less confusing, but it does bring him closer to the point he's actually trying to make as he offers Claire a subdued smile. ]
The losses were great in what I lived through, and there was always the chance of someone falling on our side just as much as the others. I know of my fate in my timeline and another, but not in the third one. There's just as much chance I'm no longer alive there, either.
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All the more reason to give a shake of his head once he's clawed his mind back from reeling and tucked the distress away to examine later, because the last thing he wants is for Claire to feel any guilt about any of this. ]
Please, don't apologize. If there's anything I've learned from being here, it's that many of the Summoned have lived through awful things none of us should have ever had to deal with so for whatever it may be worth, there are others besides us who understand. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to have to go so long without knowing what happened as you did.
[ Not meant to minimize, but to share even if their varieties of grief from their own lives likely all differ in meaningful ways. Claude's quiet for another small stretch of time, again to weigh his words carefully. Not because there's a chance of any of this getting back to Hilda nor because he minds if it does, but because - what's the best way to sum up what he's learned in both what happened in his time and didn't? ]
The war in Fodlan I mentioned. It ended decisively in the Alliance's favor - where Hilda and I are from - as much as war ends in anyone's favor, but since coming here I've learned that isn't always the case. Two others we know, or three if you count someone who was here and then departed, have lived something else with enough similarities that it could overlap but doesn't due to some very distinct differences.
[ There's the simplest way he can put it even if it's no less confusing, but it does bring him closer to the point he's actually trying to make as he offers Claire a subdued smile. ]
The losses were great in what I lived through, and there was always the chance of someone falling on our side just as much as the others. I know of my fate in my timeline and another, but not in the third one. There's just as much chance I'm no longer alive there, either.