Retrace 10 || [Voice]
[At first, there is nothing but the sound of voracious chewing. OMNOMNOM. Then a swallow. Then more chewing. Then a slurping of some sort of beverage. And then, finally, Break speaks.]
Good eeeeeevening, Anatole! I hope you all are well. Particularly after these last few trying weeks! Heehee.I would like to ask you a question. Or take a poll, if ( Read more... )
Good eeeeeevening, Anatole! I hope you all are well. Particularly after these last few trying weeks! Heehee.I would like to ask you a question. Or take a poll, if ( Read more... )
Comments 175
[ A smile that fades a little. ]
I do believe, however, that our wants can change. It is natural for human beings.
Reply
[And his own jovial tone fades a little, as well. He crunches hard on a piece of candy.]
Perhaps you're right.
[Or, well. Yes, he knows this to be true, in a very brutal fashion. The problem is, he doesn't believe he's allowed to want anything else anymore; he proved so reckless with his desires in the past.]
Reply
[ He's very daring! He's the exasperation of his sister.
A pause. ]
May I ask what it is you want now?
Reply
[That question, though. Break pauses too.]
... I'll let you know when I figure it out myself.
Who are you again?
[The voice is familiar, but he can't place it.]
Reply
[In fact, she was just in pursuit of some herself. Everyone is so distracted, she's managed to get her hands on a whole bag of chocolate cookies, upon which she munches happily while she speaks.]
But there are lots of other important things too. What do you want besides sweets, Xerbie?
[Just in case the crumbs on her mouth seemed to say she's just a silly child, the spark in her eyes says she understands more than she lets on.]
Reply
[And oh yes, he knows by now she's much more perceptive than most adults would give her credit for. He laughs a bit sadly.]
Welll... once it was to have a pink-haired little girl around to share sweets with, but I think I'm covered on that front now.
Reply
[Her words make her sound like she speaks from the idealism of youth, but she has lived enough and been told more often than she can count that she couldn't or wouldn't be able to do a thing, and had always made sure to prove everyone wrong. It is from experience that she says what she says.]
That's a silly thing to want!
[She giggles. And when she stops, she still keeps some lightness to her voice, despite the serious turn of her words.]
You broke a promise to somebody, right? Was it your friend that you talk about sometimes, the girl?
Reply
[Yes, he knows full well Yachiru knows the weight of her words. Which is, perhaps, why he can't bring himself to lie to her.]
Ahh... no. I would never break a promise to Lady Sharon.
[Saying Sharon's name hurts more than he expects, as if saying her name aloud just accentuates her absence.]
This is someone else entirely. Someone I only met once.
[Or someone Kevin Regnard met, technically. Without that mysteriously cruel young mistress, Xerxes Break would not exist at all.]
Reply
Reply
Follow what?
Reply
Reply
[A pause to chew and swallow.]
When all else fails, at least there's always something, no matter how small, that can bring you joy.
... Or perhaaaaps Snow-san always gets what he wants, and so he does not understand the wisdom presented to him here!
Reply
[There's plenty of other things that can be bad for them to like. Like....oh, hurting people. Fighting. Getting shot up...]
[Cigarettes, too, but they are worse than candy. Lung cancer and cavities are not quite on the same field.]
Reply
Why thank you for saying so! Are you in the male contingent as well?
[Speaker-san is a man's voice by default, but that doesn't mean the person he's talking to is. Break tries to remember this.]
Reply
[Okay, she doesn't know how to spell that, but she can sort of guess what it is he meant.]
[Laymen's terms would be "are you a boy", which was such a silly question. Nill didn't think she sounded like a boy when she wrote, and she didn't look like a boy, even if this wasn't a video feed. Still, the question was funny enough to make her smile a little.]
no , i am a girl .
Reply
Are you so shy that you cannot show yourself over the network, miss?
Reply
I am about fifteen human years old. I do not know if this kwal, qua-lih-fie-zuh as grown, oh, own, to you, but I like sweets very much.
[It seems to Ax that there is something not quite right about this human's behavior or logic, but he could not say exactly what if asked, and so he does not comment on that. There is still much about how humans act that does not make sense to him. He nevertheless feels obligated to provide his input. For science.]
Reply
Fifteen! Yes, you are indeed a grown man. In my world, if you were a member of nobility, you'd be prreeesented to society in a coming-of-age ceremony at this age.
[Which, hey, only serves to remind him of a bunch of stuff that he's been trying to forget since it's currently not relevant. Bummer. A bit of a pause, and then the jocular tone returns in full force.]
Anyway. I shall mark you down, then!
Reply
What does this poll have to do with sci, science?
Reply
It... well...
[...He's not really a man of science, truth be told.]
I'm sure I can make it fit in somehow!
Reply
Leave a comment