scawwy | pc catchall | damn daaaniel

[flameguard]

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[flameguard]

I've always adored books. [ (zia voice) rondo is literate? ] I grew up around a lot of them - but compared to this, even the Royal Library looks small.

[ beyond that, though, his gaze flicks down and then up, looking at the crutches - expression softening into concern. ] How are you feeling today, Mr. Daan?

[recession]

Fine. Yesterday's paranoia is gone, thank Sylvian, and the pain just comes and goes. Probably have about half a day left before the worst of it's gone and then I'll just have to deal with the normal amount of pain.

[ Yaaay. ]

[flameguard]

The swamp's as much of a curse as it is a blessing... I'm glad to hear it.

[ Terrible. he immediately gets up and pulls out a chair at his table and turns it towards daan. ]

Here - come sit, rest for a little while.

[recession]

[ He didn't get to be on fire like some other cool kids. He considers it a moment, and then sure. He'll sit. Crossing his legs and leaning on the backrest, glancing at the book pile. ]

Find anything interesting in the walls?

[flameguard]

[ (daan voice) i am just a guy. his cool guy sit...

he pushes his chair in for him afterwards like a nice boy and then trots over to his side of the table again, putting his hands on the pile of books. ]

There's a lot of amazing things here - I feel like I could discover endlessly in this whole academy. Though, there are definitely a lot of traps, too! It reminds me of home.

[recession]

Traps?

[ Just picking one up and looking at the back cover for a synopsis. What the hell are you reading. ]

[flameguard]

Mhm! Things like - if you push on a panel, you end up transported to another part of the castle. There were things like that all over the Kingdom of Hornburg.

[ daan can pick up a book that appears to be in that same runic language! however for rp reasons he can read the back synopsis.

The Legend of Saint Odypus is the tale of a former criminal who became a Saint under the guidance of the Sacred Flame.

the ribbon bookmark of the book is also stuck into it, somewhere near the end. ]

[recession]

Oh, you meant it in the literal sense.

[ He thought Rondo was being metaphorical. ]

Is this a book from your world...?

[flameguard]

Nope! As a general rule, all castles usually have traps. Well, at least the well guarded ones. At least they mostly seem harmless, for now.

[ mostly.

anyway!!! he nods when daan asks, brightening a little. ]

Mm! There's a whole section of them. There are books from all kinds of places here. It's a scholar's paradise. [ he taps the top of the book! ] I've actually read this one before, but I wanted to see if this place had the full series, since... there were four, and the library was missing two. We managed to find one, The Accursed Night, but the last one had been missing for fifteen years.

[ he points to a couple books in that same stack - The Three Flames, The Accursed Night and then... the fifteen years missing book, From the Far Reaches of Hell. ] And they did!

[recession]

Haven't been enough to tell, but the only castles I'd step foot in are ones open to the public anyway.

[ Instead of a castle his canon is just an entire city full of traps. Mostly bear traps and spike pits. Very not-fun. ]

Now you can finish all the remaining reading you've been missing all this time.

You seem pretty happy now.

[ Everything considered. ]

[flameguard]

[ save daan from his canon. please. im begging. me.

ah... well. some of his usual megawatt smile softens, and he looks down. ]

...I think... I have to be. [ that's one of his strengths, after all. rondo the flameguard, purehearted enough to feel emotions and loss as large and scary as he can, but ready to bounce back when everything falls apart. a light that never, ever goes out. ] I know that Sir Iwatooshi and Cloud and Miss Aerith - I know none of them would want me to stop moving forward. Part of being strong is being able to find the light.

Besides... they're with me, still. [ with a very gentle touch to his heart. ] And I think they always will be. And as long as I don't lose sight of that, either, I can move forward.

[recession]

[ Whistles... ]

I'm not saying it's a bad thing... need a bit of light in all this dim. We've lost some bright stars and suns. Even a small campfire can bring warmth and solace in a cold night.

[flameguard]

[ heh. ]

If that's what I can be, then... that's what I want to be. A Flame that might be able to bring people hope. So long as I'm here, I won't let it be extinguished.

[ ... ] That ... when we were gone, that's what we were told by the woman we rescued. "Hope is the thing that kills you, but it's the thing that keeps you alive." I think she's right.

[recession]

Then let's hope you stay to keep carrying that torch.

It's a pretty heavy weight for Karlach alone, but it's a bit better with the both of you still.

[ The other fire. ]

[flameguard]

[ a nod. ]

Yes, she's... Karlach is really amazing, isn't she? [ ahh... ] I find myself looking to her so often. I want to be able to support her the way that she helps me, too.

[recession]

I'm sure you can. She's not that hard to please. Have a good heart and listen... and make sure she's not pushing herself too hard to make everyone else happy.

[ A problem he's noticed with Ms. Acts Of Service over there. ]

Feels like things you inherently do already.

[flameguard]

I've noticed that, too... [ MS. ACTS OF SERVICE ] We're pretty alike sometimes.

[ fire coded but also big loving babies. karlach is everything rondo wants to be when he grows up. ] But - that's part of why it's nice to be around people like you, too, Mr. Daan. I feel like you help me stay grounded, and I can't ever thank you enough for it.

[recession]

[ Sir you are an adult. Not 30-adult, but you are an adult. ]

...

Pragmatists, the natural enemy of optimists in most cases. Not that I'm actively trying to bring anyone down...

[flameguard]

[ irrelevant ]

I wouldn't say enemy. I'd say balance.

[recession]

What did I just tell you? Optimism.

[ And the framing of things, the most subtle shift of the tide. ]

[flameguard]

[ help. he laughs a little. ]

Fair enough! [ framing, indeed. ] I don't think you bring anyone down. In fact, it's kind of the opposite. A lot of us really rely on you, Mr. Daan.

...Especially now, after this last weekend. [ our devastated cabin ]

[recession]

[ Considering that a moment, putting the book back down. ]

Beats me why or how that'd happen. Because I'm a doctor?... I'm really nothing special, you know. Not really someone to rely on outside of stitching you back up or whatever else in that realm.

[flameguard]

Mm... it's your presence, not just that.

[ there's a small smile, and he meets daan's gaze. ]

For me... you remind me a lot of my old captain, before I was working with Sir Sazantos. You're wise and levelheaded, and kind, and mature. You're the kind of person that thinks things through, which...is something I'm not. [ rondo YOU'RE WIDE OPEN ravus ] And... I think a lot about - when Miss Erin was transforming, when your first instinct was to try to calm her down, instead of to try and immediately take her out, or even to try and run away from it.

I think that says a lot about you, whether you're a combatant or not.

[recession]

You're only saying that because you're 21. Anyway... you're giving me too much credit. I'm not that wise about anything.

[ You'll be an old old 28 year old one day too... He will take levelheaded though. He could split hairs that maybe in part it's less being calm and more just being jaded about a lot of things, but that's a whole another thing. ]

... It wasn't anything altruistic or anything. I know that in a fight against a monster, I'm likely to lose than not.

But she seemed... sane, still. Like you could still reach her if you tried.

I guess a part of me kind of just hoped that'd be the case, after Prehevil.

[flameguard]

Sir Iwatooshi was over a thousand, and I bet he would've said the same thing.

[ then again iwatooshi and rondo are the same (dog)(excited) so is that necessarily proving his point. probably not.

but that's just a little aside, and he lets it go after that. it wasn't anything altruistic - he said the same thing about cutting off his own arm, and the feeling is still the same. that it might not have been altruistic, but it was brave. and bravery means something.

and the idea that you could still reach erin rings true with him, too. (it's staring down sazantos, desperately hoping that it was all a nightmare - that maybe with the right words, with the right determination, he could bring him back. that wasn't the case, but... not everyone would have thought the same way about that, either.)

rondo is quiet, for a moment, thinking about that same memory. about the one he shared with marina, too. ]

...Prehevil? [ asked gently. ]