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[hauntedking]

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[hauntedking]

I suppose we don't. I... still don't enjoy the thought of it. But... you know me. I'm willing to kill, if need be.

[ He just doesn't enjoy it. ]

[wolfish]

I know... I'd rather you didn't have to, either.

[ He knows that for all his superhuman strength, Dimitri is a kind man. ]

While we've got time, we can look into alternatives.

[ There are various methods of incapacitation, after all. ]

[hauntedking]

It might be a little late for that... but... yes. We'll have to see what we can figure out.

[ He clears his throat. ]

We should try to talk about something a little more pleasant, shouldn't we?

[wolfish]

There are three more Oracles, after all.

[ Unless they're in for a surprise.

But Dimitri is right; it isn't much of a teatime conversation. ]

What shall we discuss instead? You might regret letting me choose the topic.

[ Punctuated by a sly smile, and thus the suggestion of humor. ]

[hauntedking]

[ Dimitri laughs. ]

I'd have to think of what to discuss. The season, perhaps? The way the city has changed? How your everyday life is going? I can think of a few things.

[wolfish]

[ That is certainly a list. Yuri laces his fingers together as he leans over, arms resting against his legs. Terrible posture for an erstwhile adopted noble, but he doubts Dimitri will mind. ]

Which one first?

[hauntedking]

Well, let me hear about you, first. How is your life, from day to day?

[wolfish]

Ah.

[ Day to day. He needs to think about that. ]

Typically, I fix meals... Head to Alenroux to train and forage, run errands in town if there are any. This last while, Byleth's been recovering so I've stayed in more. Not terribly exciting, yeah? But preferable to a gauntlet of death traps.

[hauntedking]

Oh, are you and Byleth living together?

[ He hadn't realized. ]

[wolfish]

Have been since I got here, actually. He didn't want me to feel pressured to harmonize...and I suspect he needed the company.

[ Byleth always had Jeralt and his mercenaries back home, to say nothing of the army they're now part of for the time being. Where Yuri's accustomed to being alone, the same likely couldn't be said of Byleth.

Or perhaps it was simply reassuring to have someone remember home the same way. Yuri never has directly asked. ]

[hauntedking]

Oh, that's nice of him. I hadn't realized.

[ He supposes it does make sense, though - they do remember things happening the same way... ]

How is he holding up?

[wolfish]

He suggested I cook in exchange, so that's what I do, among other things.

[ Byleth knew well enough to offer a trade. Wise move, really. ]

I'd say he's doing better than he was. Wouldn't leave him unattended otherwise, sick as he'd been after reviving. It's why I wondered how typical that experience might or might not be.

[hauntedking]

Ah, I see. I've spoken to him briefly... after what happened to him, he seems in surprisingly decent spirits.

[ Although they did talk about guilt. ]

[wolfish]

He's doing better... I hope you are, too.

[ It seems to him that most struggled more than he did.

Most of all, his failure to protect them is what lingers with him. ]

[hauntedking]

I'm managing, being honest. I can't truly complain. There are others who are dealing with worse at the moment...

[wolfish]

Well, I know how that is.

[ It doesn't stop him from worrying about Dimitri, but still. ]

If you do decide to complain at some point, I hope you know I wouldn't mind it.

[hauntedking]

Well, I know you wouldn't... but I still hate to burden your mind.

[ It is what it is. But he's a little hesitant, all the same. ]

[wolfish]

Dimitri... You'd have to make a concerted effort to burden me. I'm not convinced you're physically capable of it, for that matter.

[ Now, at last, he'll pick up his teacup and have a sip of his tea. Dimitri has only tried to ease his burdens. ]

[hauntedking]

...I'll try to remember that.

[ He smiles wryly. ]

Learning to lean on others is... not difficult. Strange.

[wolfish]

[ For a moment, he apparently weighs that thought. ]

For what it's worth, I know how that is.

[ Yuri may have people he leads, but he's always been independent. Anything he can do on his own, even if ill-advised, he'll try to do alone as a matter of instinct. ]

In a place like this, we just may have to adjust.

[hauntedking]

That's all I've been doing since I arrived, it feels like. But that's the reality of life - we must adjust as best we can and come out the other side a better person. Or at least that's the ideal...

[ He smiles thinly. So far life has been one long string of challenges. But... well. He's better. ]

[wolfish]

If nothing else, I like to think what we weather makes us stronger. What kind of strength depends, but even so.

[ He takes another sip of his tea. ]

I've not been here as long as you, and I didn't know you as you are before this place, but I think you've done that. Gotten stronger.

[hauntedking]

...I like to think so. Although it's not been an easy road for me. But I am better than I used to be.

[ He sounds thoughtful. ]

I don't know what you would have thought of me if you had met me when I was... so much more lost.

[wolfish]

I'd probably have tried to find a way to work with it.

[ It's frank, perhaps bracingly so, but it is the truth. ]

But I expect that would've been much more challenging.

[hauntedking]

That's one way of putting it, yes. I'm fortunate that the Byleth I knew was willing to keep trying...

[ He sighs, lost in thought. ]

And everyone else, too. They were willing to try and dig me out. Even when I wasn't willing to do it for myself.