abraxaslogs | [ OPEN ] hide your love, don't be shy

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[ OPEN ] hide your love, don't be shy

Who: Claude and you!
When: all throughout August and September
Where: Cadens (pre-Nocwich), the Horizon (any time), and Libertas (post-Nocwich)
What: Catch all for both months
Warnings: For anything referencing Libertas: death, violence, and war

( Open and closed starters in the comments! Also good with prose or brackets and if you'd like to plot something more specific, you can find me at

indech, arboria#1862, or by PM at any time. )

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[It's part shyness, part guarded secrecy that keeps his answers short and shallow. One is his nature, and the other he's learned from life in an unwanted spotlight. His time here has, in many ways, been a break from reality — and from himself. He's perfectly content with being nobody in particular.

When Claude dives into a dissertation on the difference between wyverns and dragons, Wilhelm starts wondering if there's going to be a test at the conclusion of his visit. He's mostly listening, though his attention floats upward to where the dragon — uh, wyvern — makes circles in the sky. At Claude's invitation, he takes a seat on the couch, posture perfectly upright, hands folding and fidgeting in his lap.]

No, only in books and movies and stuff like that. They're not real.

[ Not real is an assessment (fact) that seems rather unfortunate in Claude's book, though Wilhelm's far from the first Summoned to inform him any of those animals don't exist where they're from. In lieu of commenting further on that, though, he studies Wilhelm's posture.

First with a slight smile to acknowledge he heard what was said, and then far more subtly as he draws upon that oh-so-handy Horizon magic to summon forth a tea tray in front of them. It's complete with cups, a box of different loose teas, and a teapot of hot water, though as he pours some first into a cup for Wilhelm Claude's quick to add: ] Tea's a favorite where I'm from so it's what I tend to default to serving. If you don't enjoy it, feel free to have something else of your choice as my knowledge of what's served elsewhere is rather limited. No hurt feelings here, I promise.

[ He drops a sachet of pine needle tea into his own cup, a favorite of his from Fodlan and farther away, though the box contains other types more known: ginger, different berry blends, chamomile, and so forth. While it steeps Claude lets the cup and saucer rest in his lap, partially in hopes it might convince Wilhelm to also relax. Just a little. ]

You remind me a bit of someone I used to know. He was a prince of a kingdom that neighbored where I lived, and... very formal. Great posture, impeccable manners, all that. [ A slight smile that's rueful at the edges appears on Claude's face. ] Especially for the age we were, which was just teenagers ourselves.

[He accepts the cup automatically.]

Tea's fine, thanks.

[Studying the tea chest, Wilhelm settles on something that's just a small step away from basic black — it's supposed to taste like cinnamon. He's just plopped the bag into the steaming water when Claude compares him to an old friend, and the word prince causes him to wobble his saucer involuntarily. His attempt to steady the cup results in some of the soon-to-be-tea splashing out. Smooth.]

Oh, really? [What the hell is he supposed to say to that? He scratches at his temple, idly twisting a strand of hair.] My mom was always big on manners. I guess I just do it without really thinking about it sometimes.

[Anyway. Now that Claude's pointed it out, he does try to relax his posture a notch.]

So how did you meet? Your friend.

[ If Wilhelm was hoping Claude wouldn't note that rattle of the tea and saucer - well. That catches his attention though he's still projecting the illusion of being busy with his own tea, and it takes only a second to connect it to being timed with the mention of a prince. Interesting. ]

I've found nobility tends to pride itself on sticking to manners, etiquette, whatever you want to call it. Seems to be a cornerstone of high society, if you will.

[ Absolutely some subtext of his own, though Claude hides a smile in his cup as he takes a sip. Still more brewing time needed, so he sets it back in his lap while shrugging one shoulder. What he's alluded to won't remain a mystery for long since even if he's stepped back from asking direct questions, sharing his own experiences may accomplish the same thing. ]

I never was very good at sticking to all of those rules myself. Life's more interesting when you break away from them or what you know.

[ With that trail of clues (or truths) dispersed, all that's left to see is whether Wilhelm chooses to follow them. Or if he doesn't, which would also answer his question. The relaxing gets another half-smile from him before it's on to slightly more somber topics. ]

As for the prince, I met him when I attended an academy meant for what you could say was leadership training. There were plenty of nobles, myself included, but there were also just as many commoners attending. It was meant to encourage us all to work together and succeeded, for the most part.

[After all those hints Claude has tossed out like breadcrumbs, Wilhelm's not surprised by the confirmation of his noble status. Slowly, he's starting to see the outline of this man's life. Although he was born into the wealth and privilege granted by a title, he seems to shrug off the pomp and circumstance that marks his social stratum. As someone who has always thought there's too much fuss surrounding his general existence, Wilhelm respects that. So he makes sure to clarify:]

Trust me, my parents wish I was better at sticking to the rules.

[His laugh takes on the edge of a scoff, while his smile tilts a degree guilty. He eyes his tea, but it's still too hot to drink.]

I think that's a great idea for a school. It's nice, bringing people together regardless of their background.

[Hillerska is free for anyone to attend — in terms of tuition, anyway. Room and board is another story. The prohibitive cost creates a barrier between non-residential students and boarding students, who naturally end up spending longer hours together.]

Yours and mine both. [ That gets a slight huff of a laugh from Claude to match Wilhelm's scoff, because it's true and it's good to see the other relax even if it's ever so slightly. ] Which, well. I can't say either of them were good role models when it came to following expectations since my father also likes to break them and my mother's always set her own. Really, I don't know what they expected of me.

[ Neither here nor there when in the end he'd chosen his own path, and here they all are in Abraxas all the same. Easier to focus on Garreg Mach, perhaps, where there's marginally less weight attached. ]

It was nice. Attending there opened all of our minds in a lot of ways beyond just the working together aspect. Where I lived - Fodlan - was once separated into three nations. Had I stayed with my grandfather, I probably would've never met others from the Empire or the Kingdom until we were sitting in a meeting or council together. Or on opposite sides of a war, as it turned out.

[ Enough about him, though. Claude idly stirs his tea by swirling the cup lightly while thoroughly ignoring the small spoons meant for that on the tray as he looks back to Wilhelm. ]

Anything like that exist where you're from, then? Someone else told me about the internet, kind of, so if that's something you use then I'd imagine it accomplishes the same.

[ Don't mind him; he's just been thinking about the internet ever since being told it exists. ]

[It's not that he finds Claude uninteresting. The man has a wyvern, after all, and a liveliness to him as he single-handedly keeps the conversation marching forward. It's just that Wilhelm's capacity for this sort of introductory chatter is abysmally low. He's trying so hard to think of something worthwhile to say in response that he forgets to listen and nearly misses his cue. A beat late, he realizes mid-sip that he's been asked a question. With a gulp — and a little bit of a grimace for the still scalding hot tea — he scrambles to nod.]

Oh, uh, yeah— [Off to a good start.] We have the internet where I'm from.

[Then he feels obligated to correct Claude's somewhat naive misconception. (Not his fault, as he's experienced neither the wonders nor the horrors of the internet.)]

It does bring people together from all over the world, but it also creates a ton of drama. People can get pretty nasty when they have a screen to hide behind.

I could see that. It seems people everywhere have the capacity to be quite cruel when only given the chance to take advantage of doing so or when it's something they feel justified about to draw others into doing the same.

[ Claude says this casually despite it being a heavy topic, one admittedly so even without the full context of the internet enabling such behavior that he completely lacks. He thinks briefly of Julie telling him about face book, something he hadn't questioned then but sounded tangentially related, and could be to what Wilhelm says now. ]

Unfortunately, that's something I've dealt with even on just a local scale rather than the whole world being part of it though it felt like the entire world at the time. Rumors will always find a way to fly whether we like it or not.

[ 'We' being yet another partial test, to gauge whether his attempt to read between the lines of what's being said is just merely a warning even if the internet is highly unlikely to come to pass in Fodlan, or if it's from some other kind of personal experience Wilhelm's had. That's driven his decision to share his own experience, a true one though he'd rather it not be, and he follows that up with a sip of his tea. ]

[He's already decided that he likes Claude. The revelation that he's also been the subject of rumors just reinforces that opinion by striking a sympathetic chord in Wilhelm.]

Sorry you've had to go through that. [Sincerity presses into his words, but a sip of tea later, he reaches for some levity.] Just be grateful nobody could turn it into a meme.

[Not that...Claude has any context for what the hell that means. By way of explanation, he offers:]

It's a kind of...joke that gets passed around online.

[He does sense that the man is trying to sift more details out of him — and he has no reason to believe it's anything more than a friendly effort to get to know him. However well-intentioned the reason, though, Wilhelm would rather not — not even in the vaguest way, not even with the longest stick — touch on that mess. That mess being how he was outed via a video of a make out session that was maybe a little more than a make out session... Even months removed from the shitstorm that followed, just thinking about it makes his whole being clench up like a fist.]

[ At the apology - appreciated as it is given it's a rather kind gesture, considering it's not like one needs to be offered at all, really - Claude just shrugs. The specifics are something he's happy to let rest in the past or in reality, far out of reach where they're unlikely to matter here. Not with how many people they have from so many different worlds around Abraxas and more importantly, not now that there's others from Fodlan also here.

At a word he doesn't know, though, and can't begin to find a definition for even based on the context, Claude pauses with his tea partway to his mouth and looks at Wilhelm with a puzzled expression. The explanation soon follows and he blinks while processing that, then finally remembers to take a sip of his tea. ]

That's... a thing that happens?

[ Now he has to consider this for a moment, what with what Julie's told him about how the internet works and what Wilhelm's now explained is a potential of that worldwide connection. It's a successful distraction from his mission to find out more about the person sitting next to him. ]

Huh. That makes the pictures we used to draw on paper as jokes - ones that whoever it was about was in on, for the most part - and pass around the academy seem ridiculously tame in comparison. At least those didn't go outside school grounds and usually ended up in one of the classroom fireplaces before too long. We had some ongoing pranks too that I might've been mostly responsible for, but those were only witnessed by whoever was around.

[This is a position Wilhelm rarely ever gets to occupy — actually knowing more about something than someone else. After what feels like an age of stumbling around in ignorance, he finds that he enjoys the change in role. Claude's distraction from pursuing more personal questions is, of course, a bonus.]

Once something gets posted online, it never goes away. People repost it to other sites and save it on their phones. Basically, there are thousands of copies getting passed around. If not millions. So...

[The fireplaces of the world are no match. Metaphorically speaking? He takes a measured sip.]

And everything gets turned into a meme. Doesn't matter how serious it is, or how personal, or whatever. It's fair game.

Huh. [ A placeholder for a better reaction after he mulls this over and takes another sip of tea while doing it. ] That sounds-- well, I was going to say unpleasant, but I feel like that doesn't really cover it especially with nothing ever disappearing. As much as there's downsides to not having anything resembling the internet where I'm from, unless you want to count when someone's collection of scandalous letters gets published and high society gets all in a tizzy, not having to deal with something existing forever seems like an okay enough tradeoff.

[ Honestly - those rumors he'd mentioned? While them being repeated by mouth and getting more and more warped with each iteration isn't exactly great, there's a chance for them to be corrected and stopped there. Eventually they'll end; in Wilhelm's world, it seems like that isn't the case at all. ]

Just thinking of when I was a teenager, [ followed by a wry smile a second later because he knows How That Sounds, ] which wasn't that long ago for the record, and assuming that we're all the same around that age, I can see how things might escalate quickly. Seems like a good way to become infamous easily or labeled that way whether it's accurate or not.

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[ OPEN ] hide your love, don't be shy

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