[ There's the briefest pause, as if Claude might've gotten distracted by considering what Steve might actually answer to that if given the chance to consider it, and so the next part is hurried right along. ]
Let's see. There's some lotions and scrubs - not half bad for when it's so dry here - and a couple of facial masks. But if you ask me, the eyebrow treatment is the real star in there after it follows all the rest, of course.
No, of course they aren't! I wouldn't say bad enters anywhere into the picture. Just think of it as another way to spoil yourself like getting a massage or whatever else! It's never a bad thing to treat yourself to something new now and then, right?
All the more reason to embrace it, really! And not that I know of, just that we both thought maybe our friends might be the best ones to receive some spoiling first. That's what we're here for, right?
[ Raphael as a segue is perfect. He's sending out a silent thanks to Hilda to be followed by a much better one later. ]
Oh, yes. He's a good friend of ours also from the academy days and... well, everything that followed after since he's also from the Alliance. He also never said no to any of Hilda's treatments and always enjoyed them. Actually, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure he also took some back home to spoil his little sister since he said she and the rest of their village just had to try them, too.
He did. Raphael's possibly the most genuine person I've ever met, though it took me far too long to appreciate that at first. He never does anything less than 100% and with great enthusiasm, including overdoing it on training now and then.
[ It's that last part which makes something tangential click. It's unfortunate Steve can't hear him chuckling in genuine amusement, though maybe it'll come through anyway. ]
Wait a minute. Hilda said you remind her of Raphael, didn't she?
I guess so, yeah. Which, now that you've brought up the training part, makes even more sense because Hilda thinks every aspect of our sessions is "overdoing it."
Oh, yeah, she tends to do that. She won't tell you this part, but Raphael wouldn't let her get out of training either so you can just remind her you have that in common, too.
[ Sorry, Hilda! ]
Unless you're going to do what Raphael once did by trying to emulate the training routine of someone else we once knew and start running laps in heavy armor, in which case I'll have to side with Hilda on that one.
[ On second thought: maybe it's really Dimitri they should be comparing Steve to when it comes to training. ]
I'm not sure that will make her feel any better about it, but at this point I don't know what would.
[ The fact that Steve will put up with certain aspects of Hilda's interests in return, maybe, like letting her bedazzle him or... potentially tint his eyebrows. ]
In heavy armor, huh? I can see how that might add a level of difficulty, but armor isn't really my style. Too hard to move around in.
Nothing, probably, but if it makes you feel better you're not actually tormenting her. Plus that really just goes back to the whole finding ways to relax afterwards, including with all the spa things she's been working on.
[ Just in case it'd been too long since the last mention of Eyebrow Treatments. ]
Well, it would've been difficult for me to try to run around in armor, though I'm not so sure it was anything but like wearing a shirt to Dimitri given how strong he was. Raphael also told me there was something about lifting a wagon in there as part of the training, but this was after he asked me to carry a desk for him so I might've just tuned out the rest.
Well, you didn't hear it from me, but that'd be a pretty good idea. Nothing more motivating than something to look forward to afterwards whenever there's a task to be done, right?
[ He'll never tell on if he's also done this before. (He has.) ]
I'm pretty sure it had to do with his Crest. Since they all grant different abilities, his was strength like I've never seen before or since then. There were times that I knew if I wanted to go to the training grounds back at the academy, I'd better get there first before Dimitri picked up the weapon I wanted to use and accidentally snapped it in half because he sneezed. Or exhaled too hard. Or blinked. You get the idea.
Yeah, I probably should have thought about something like this before. Thanks for the advice, Claude, which definitely didn't come from you.
[ wink wink nudge nudge ]
I get the idea. It reminds me of how it was for me right after I got the serum. You and Sylvain have mentioned these crests before, but are they basically just magical enhancements that you're born with, or do you earn them?
Someone would be born with one since they pass down through bloodlines. For generations, at that, since they originated from supposed blessings from the goddess and Fodlan's nobility used that to keep their control and select heirs. The same system which I used to accomplish what I did, it's worth mentioning, and something hopefully to be a thing of the past soon.
[ That's barely touching upon what Steve's likely already heard from Sylvain considering House Gautier's one time heir would have shared his thoughts on those crests openly. Claude also considers mentioning the Agarthans, but - that part might be best for a conversation another time. ]
But the experience of growing up with one varies, and not just because each Crest does something different.
And to make sure that they stayed in power, since it also benefitted the Church to make sure they had others to do their bidding. That part being a cause of Fodlan's war was something I could hardly argue with if it meant allowing for changes to be made.
[ But - Steve's question following is a logical thing to ask, and yet it gives Claude some pause while he considers how to answer it and to not share things which aren't his to if that assumption Sylvain or even Hilda has talked about their experiences. Or Lysithea's when she's not here, but she's been on his mind so often since the pit and then even more since returning to the island. ]
Not much of one, really. My Crest made itself known when I was young since it offers some healing when it feels like it which was helpful a few important times, but besides that it mostly factored in my grandfather naming me heir since it made me part of House Riegan.
Others' experiences are often far bleaker, what with Crests having so much power and becoming weaker and weaker over generations. Some of the things done were... detestable, though even that's far too light of a word for it.
[ Neither Sylvain nor Hilda have gone too deeply into it, to be honest, so it's fair for Claude to be cautious with what he speaks about, referring mainly to himself but also making it clear that his experience wasn't necessarily the norm. ]
Healing, huh?
Does that mean you used it when we were fighting that monster on the beach?
[ When Steve had barely been in his right mind? ]
I wish I was surprised that these Crests were used to mistreat people, even the people who had them. At least you're all free of that for now, though I know the way we Summoned are treated might not be so different at times.
Ah, I'd forgotten about that. What I used on you was the healing spells I'd learned, but there was probably a chance my Crest activated in our little scuffle. It works when it feels like it in comparison to the magic I can call so long as I remember the sigils.
[ A description he genuinely means involving any injuries and all the attention he's going to call to that given they've already discussed it, and all the more reason to breeze right on past. ]
Honestly, one of my first thoughts about being given that Arcana sign was that it was some form of Crests coming back to loom over everything here, too. There's much I don't understand about those signs, but none of us having to worry about that is a good thing.
So a Crest will just activate without your permission sometimes? I guess it's probably to help you out though, right?
[ Either way, it had to be kind of frustrating. ]
It feels like there's a lot we still don't understand about the arcana, or how we were assigned them. Even just the fact that we resonated with the monsters in that way, with that mental link.
[ Looks like Steve is going to address that so-called elephant in the room whether Claude likes it or not. ]
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[ Probably. Still feels like a good qualifier to put in there despite all the other... vagueness. ]
She's pretty excited about them! What do you think?
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I don't know too much yet. All she's talked about is tinting my eyebrows. What else does she have cooking?
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[ There's the briefest pause, as if Claude might've gotten distracted by considering what Steve might actually answer to that if given the chance to consider it, and so the next part is hurried right along. ]
Let's see. There's some lotions and scrubs - not half bad for when it's so dry here - and a couple of facial masks. But if you ask me, the eyebrow treatment is the real star in there after it follows all the rest, of course.
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Why do you think it's the real star? Are my current eyebrows that bad?
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[ Which is why he's being difficult. Well, that and the lingering feeling that the two of them are up to something. ]
Is there a reason she's decided I'm the one she'd like to test this out on?
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She mentioned something about a Raphael, too?
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Oh, yes. He's a good friend of ours also from the academy days and... well, everything that followed after since he's also from the Alliance. He also never said no to any of Hilda's treatments and always enjoyed them. Actually, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure he also took some back home to spoil his little sister since he said she and the rest of their village just had to try them, too.
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Nonetheless, it's kind of interesting to hear about another friend of theirs from home. ]
Did he also fight alongside you, then? During the war?
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[ It's that last part which makes something tangential click. It's unfortunate Steve can't hear him chuckling in genuine amusement, though maybe it'll come through anyway. ]
Wait a minute. Hilda said you remind her of Raphael, didn't she?
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[ s i g h ]
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[ Sorry, Hilda! ]
Unless you're going to do what Raphael once did by trying to emulate the training routine of someone else we once knew and start running laps in heavy armor, in which case I'll have to side with Hilda on that one.
[ On second thought: maybe it's really Dimitri they should be comparing Steve to when it comes to training. ]
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[ The fact that Steve will put up with certain aspects of Hilda's interests in return, maybe, like letting her bedazzle him or... potentially tint his eyebrows. ]
In heavy armor, huh? I can see how that might add a level of difficulty, but armor isn't really my style. Too hard to move around in.
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[ Just in case it'd been too long since the last mention of Eyebrow Treatments. ]
Well, it would've been difficult for me to try to run around in armor, though I'm not so sure it was anything but like wearing a shirt to Dimitri given how strong he was. Raphael also told me there was something about lifting a wagon in there as part of the training, but this was after he asked me to carry a desk for him so I might've just tuned out the rest.
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[ It's not the worst idea, frankly, even if Steve has never been one to pamper himself. ]
How was this Dimitri so strong? It doesn't sound like that's the sort of thing even a regular, highly-trained soldier could do.
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[ He'll never tell on if he's also done this before. (He has.) ]
I'm pretty sure it had to do with his Crest. Since they all grant different abilities, his was strength like I've never seen before or since then. There were times that I knew if I wanted to go to the training grounds back at the academy, I'd better get there first before Dimitri picked up the weapon I wanted to use and accidentally snapped it in half because he sneezed. Or exhaled too hard. Or blinked. You get the idea.
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[ wink wink nudge nudge ]
I get the idea. It reminds me of how it was for me right after I got the serum.
You and Sylvain have mentioned these crests before, but are they basically just magical enhancements that you're born with, or do you earn them?
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[ That's barely touching upon what Steve's likely already heard from Sylvain considering House Gautier's one time heir would have shared his thoughts on those crests openly. Claude also considers mentioning the Agarthans, but - that part might be best for a conversation another time. ]
But the experience of growing up with one varies, and not just because each Crest does something different.
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What was your experience like?
[ Steve doesn't know for a fact that Claude has one, he's just assuming based on what he knows of his background. ]
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[ But - Steve's question following is a logical thing to ask, and yet it gives Claude some pause while he considers how to answer it and to not share things which aren't his to if that assumption Sylvain or even Hilda has talked about their experiences. Or Lysithea's when she's not here, but she's been on his mind so often since the pit and then even more since returning to the island. ]
Not much of one, really. My Crest made itself known when I was young since it offers some healing when it feels like it which was helpful a few important times, but besides that it mostly factored in my grandfather naming me heir since it made me part of House Riegan.
Others' experiences are often far bleaker, what with Crests having so much power and becoming weaker and weaker over generations. Some of the things done were... detestable, though even that's far too light of a word for it.
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Healing, huh?
Does that mean you used it when we were fighting that monster on the beach?
[ When Steve had barely been in his right mind? ]
I wish I was surprised that these Crests were used to mistreat people, even the people who had them. At least you're all free of that for now, though I know the way we Summoned are treated might not be so different at times.
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[ A description he genuinely means involving any injuries and all the attention he's going to call to that given they've already discussed it, and all the more reason to breeze right on past. ]
Honestly, one of my first thoughts about being given that Arcana sign was that it was some form of Crests coming back to loom over everything here, too. There's much I don't understand about those signs, but none of us having to worry about that is a good thing.
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[ Either way, it had to be kind of frustrating. ]
It feels like there's a lot we still don't understand about the arcana, or how we were assigned them. Even just the fact that we resonated with the monsters in that way, with that mental link.
[ Looks like Steve is going to address that so-called elephant in the room whether Claude likes it or not. ]
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