hotel: flayn

[shaft]

Comments

[fishingforcompliments]

I am merely stating facts!

[shaft]

You're going to break his heart if you keep talking like that, you know.

[fishingforcompliments]

Will I?

[she looks away casually and laces her fingers together to rest her hands against her stomach.]

He is already well aware that he is older than you. There is nothing heartbreaking about it.

[shaft]

... That's true. Seteth was many things, but insecure about his age was never one of them.

[ He sounds fond. ]

[fishingforcompliments]

["was"...

she glances briefly at claude, noting the past tense]

That is true. I cannot think of a single time when he has been insecure about that.

[shaft]

Is he ever insecure about anything?

[ hm! ]

[fishingforcompliments]

[looking away again.]

I am not baring all of my brother's secrets to you, Claude! That would make me a terrible little sister.

[shaft]

I suppose. But it sounds to me like you'd rather keep that ammunition for yourself...

[fishingforcompliments]

[she smiles]

I will neither confirm nor deny that.

[shaft]

That's devious.

[ He sighs, surrendering. ]

Though I don't doubt he would be happy. Even if your intentions aren't noble.

[fishingforcompliments]

I look forward to finding out how happy or unhappy he may be with my intentions which may or may not be noble, once we're out of this mess.

[shaft]

Did you tell him about your first adventure?

[fishingforcompliments]

Are you kidding?! If I told him that, he would never have let me out of my room again!

[shaft]

Well, if you can survive weeks and weeks of murder, you can certainly reason with Seteth.

[fishingforcompliments]

Unfortunately, in this particular case I believe it would have been much easier said than done. But in any event, I did not tell him, and I do not intend to, ever.

[shaft]

[ That sounds pretty final. ]

I suppose it would just cause him pain to know.

[fishingforcompliments]

[she nods]

He tended to worry himself into a tizzy even over imagined dangers I might face. I do think it would hurt him very much to know that I - or any student from Garreg Mach - went through such a thing and that there was nothing that could be done to prevent it.

[shaft]

[ He shakes his head. ]

Quite caring, that Seteth... I regret being such a brat to him as a student.

[fishingforcompliments]

He is much more caring than he likes to let on. I am sure he would not hold it against you; he has seen his fair share of... brats... in his time.

[a beat.]

And in any case I do not believe you were that bad.

[shaft]

[ Looks at her... Brat? ]

I imagine so, being at Garreg Mach for so many years. And I guess I didn't harass him as much as the librarians...

[fishingforcompliments]

I think perhaps some of the librarians felt more harassed by him. He was forever trying to get them to take certain books off the shelves...

[shaft]

Oh yes, Seteth's censorship...

I wonder where all those bawdy texts ended up.

[fishingforcompliments]

I do not know. I was not ever able to find them.

[shaft]

You looked?

[ He seems surprised. ]

[fishingforcompliments]

I wanted to see what he was so intent on hiding!