Dix-Sept † brighter skies

[expiatrice]

[Action - Taylor Road, morning]

[Hello Mayfield! Gorgeous day, isn't it? For whatever reason you're walking on Taylor Road when suddenly

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3. Around town on a walk

[lunawolves10th]

[ Garviel is out front of L'Deplaisant, serving some people al Fresco as Ciel walks by. He looks up, in his waiter clothes, and tenses for a moment. Trying to decide if he'll say anything. If he should say anything. He will settle on a simple nod, while he tries to decide what he does think, after all the things he has seen since their last meeting here. There is a slightly more feral aspect to his movement now, something a little wild. As if the Wolf he is called has been set on a longer chain. He will finally manage her name, speaking rather quietly. ] Ciel.

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[Oh he's at work. ...Man it still seems weird to see him dressed like that, it just looks... out of place and rather unnatural. Not bad, but it's not... fitting. He can't cosplay at all--

ER THAT IS.

But yes she does notice something different. ...Did something happen? Then again, it has been two weeks, but this change...

Maybe it's just her intuition, or maybe it's real. Either way, there's one sure way to find out. He may look hesitant, but that's no reason for her to act any differently than she always had.

Smiling, she approaches, her demeanor light and casual.]

Bon après-midi, Garviel. How are you? [Small talk, yes, but those are the usual conversation openers.]

[lunawolves10th]

I endure. [ His most common answer, and a true one. ]

Many people were concerned about you, Ciel... it has been some time. [ Still no smile, no puppy-like happiness upon seeing her. There's a new reserve, a new conflict. ]

I know Mamzel Tohsaka will be pleased, in particular.

[ He is quiet, weighing his words, then decides to risk the question. ] I take it you went home then.... were things proceeding smoothly there?

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[She'll just quietly file those observations away for herself, but otherwise her demeanor stays the same.]

Two weeks, I know. Ah... I'm not sure about that, but I did still have unfinished business, so of course I couldn't just leave.

[She shakes her head.] No, not at all. I simply lost consciousness and then regained it again two weeks later. ...Hm, did that happen to you, or someone you know?

[lunawolves10th]

Yes. It did. [ As for who it happened to, well, that answer is fairly obvious to someone as skilled at reading people as Ciel. ]

Ah... [ He seems to remember something ] This is your first time seeing me at work, is it not?

[expiatrice]

[Oh so that might explain it. Yeah, she'll wonder if he witnessed his own death, or found something more beyond after all?

Either way, she won't pry. Not just yet, at least.

Nods.]

Am I disturbing you? You can't get in trouble at work because of me. [Shakes head] If you'd like to talk a bit, maybe I should come back during your break?

[lunawolves10th]

I think that would be advisable, yes. I have some questions to ask you, certainly. And perhaps some answers for you, as well.

[ As for whether she is disturbing him, he lets that lie. She always disturbed his equilibrium, a bit. That's part of why he finds her so damn interesting. ] If you can give me about 30 minutes I will be able to get some time to talk, is that acceptable?

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That's fine. [She nods.] Would you like to meet here, or somewhere else?

[lunawolves10th]

Here would be fine. I'll meet you out back. If you'll excuse me then.

[ Garviel heads in to make his arrangements, heading out back in the prescribed 30 minutes, waiting for her. He still isn't smiling. He's just waiting for her, watching her for a long time, weighing how much he should say. Weighing how he feels. Most of all, weighing what is the right thing to do. ]

I do not know where to start, in truth. I am not sure what bears telling, and what does not. I am at a loss. There are important things which I should probably say but... I haven't the words. [ Something very unusual for him. If nothing else he's normally a storyteller, and honest. His shoulder muscles bunch up, as though bearing a weight of some kind, and slowly relax, the changing tension in his posture quite visible. ]

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[Nodding, she'll wave him off before meeting back with him at the assigned time.

She can feel the weight of his gaze. She maintains a neutral posture, but what happened, what happened, hmm...]

That sounds like it may take a while. Why don't you start with what you're comfortable in saying? Small talk is fine, too. How have things been in town, while I was gone?

[lunawolves10th]

They were difficult for some. Many people were quite concerned that you weren't around.

Arcuied was angry, and ah... Merem murdered you a few times, or your drone, rather. I was furious with him but I was constrained by my oath not to act.

Some other people disappeared for good. Good men and women. Abel, for one.

My resolve to find the proper people to solve this town's mysteries, and defeat them so that we can return to where we need to be has been hardened by this. As well as... other events.

[ And perhaps it is those that give him a slightly haunted look. He was already a blade of war, an instrument of the Emperor's justice. But now he has been through another tempering fire, another test. There is little of him but hard edges now ]

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...Is... that so? ...I see, I'll take care of things on my end, thank you for informing me. [It's like she's almost surprised, but in the end, not really.]

I'm sorry to hear that. I've never gotten to know him very well, but may God watch over him. [She takes a short silence, before looking back up again.]

It sounds like a lot has happened to you. Are you okay, Garviel? I know that you don't really need sleep, but... You do look a bit tired.

[lunawolves10th]

I endure....

[ He hesitates, then finally nods. ] My return home gave me some insight into my fate, after what I thought was my final battle.

I survived. [ He halts here, looking down the alley, towards the City Hall for a moment. ]

Death rejected me.

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["Death rejected me."

...Aah, she'll set personal triggers aside and nod quietly.]

So that's what you found out. How are things, if you're comfortable talking about them? [Then she'll stay patient, as she always had.]

over typed have a better tag on consideration

[lunawolves10th]

They remain much the same here, though I am now much more resolved to get us all home. This is.... not where we need to be. If there is any comfort here, it is illusory.

I will confess to some personal relief in seeing you here and aware. You have been a good ally.

And how are things for you?

np I've been super slow anyway o\;

[expiatrice]

Ah, of course. Has there ever been an ounce of doubt to that? Understandably, some people may prefer here because they have nothing else left back at where they originally come from, but this is still an unnatural distortion of the common Laws that should have never occurred in the first place.

[She'll show a faint and sheepish smile at that.] ...Thank you. I do appreciate the sentiments, but I've only been doing what little I can, the same as anyone else. I just felt a bit stiff when I first woke up, like I'm not wholly used to be in my own body, so I've been moving around to fix that. It hasn't even been half a day yet, but the feeling is already going away, so I've been okay, yes. ...I don't remember much from those two weeks, however, so I'm afraid that I have nothing more to tell. But being a drone though, I'm sure that there would have been nothing of interest, anyway. [Well aside from getting killed apparently, but he already told her about that, so good enough.]