[Edelgard shook her head, still smiling, though this one faltered...just a bit. She was still uncertain if she returned his feelings in that specific regard, but that was also something that she knew that time would provide an answer for. So, the bond remains as it was, with just a twinge of something like confusion, but less actually confused.]
I don't mind. As...I said, I do not know if I feel the same, but I do trust you above all others. And I do find you handsome. So, have no fear of that.
[Tilting her head to the side, she considers saying something else, and decides to just say it after only a moment's pause.]
I know that time will make me more certain, one way or another. Does that bother you, Hubert?
[She's hopeful that it won't, but she doesn't want to commit. She can't. And neither can he, obviously.]
[And her twinge of confusion was met by a whole flood of raw bewilderment.]
[Handsome?]
[Hubert's brow knits together. He isn't put off by the statement—nor even a little flattered. Just wholly, entirely, blindsided. He's heard gaunt, pallid, unsettling, broody, weasel-faced, and all manner of other descriptors. And quite frankly, had no issue with that.]
I'm... sorry, do we have the same definition of the word?
[Out of all the reactions Edelgard had prepared for, his bewilderment was the one she thought least likely. She blinked, mouth working to hide a laugh, but it was plain as day that she was somewhat tickled.]
We do, we do! I assure you. I think you quite handsome, and I am not alone in that, I am certain.
[She's so, so positive. She's gossiped about him, even. Just a little.]
[Her expression might (somewhat) hide her amusement, but the Bond doesn't. This bloody link of theirs was going to be the death of him. What did she mean, she's certain?]
[He glances aside with a quietly grumbling hrrm, the faintest flicker of displeasure joining the mess of his other emotions. To be laughed at, on top of everything else... no matter. Edelgard had asked him something. Hubert softly clears his throat before answering.]
Time nor certainty is no matter. I was never concerned with reciprocity.
[It might seem a disparaging statement, but... the Bond only carries a plain honesty in his words, completely barren of disappointment or hope. Hubert had never imagined it—never thought it possible—before coming to this world.]
[But in this world... there's that sense of conflict again, the desire of two different things.]
...Perhaps I would even advise against it. [He wanted to. He didn't want to. To hell with it all, this used to be so much simpler mere months ago.]
[That others find him handsome, of course. She's hardly a gossipy hen, but she had discussed him a few times. And he'd certainly drawn some eyes...
Edelgard, pleased with the outcome, squeezes his hand one last time before letting her fingers drop. It's not good for anyone to overwhelm him with affection. He doesn't deserve that level of teasing.]
Time will tell, Hubert. For now, I am...very content.
[Looking up at him, eyes and bond brimming with the sparks of real delight, she bobs her head in a respectful nod.]
Thank you, for talking with me. And for indulging me. I am glad of the opportunity, even if it is brief, to come to understand this side of you. You, who I owe a debt words cannot describe.
[His fingers involuntarily twitch in a slight curl—not enough to catch Edelgard's fingers, but just enough that the contact lingers as she pulls away. Immediately, there's a shadow of embarrassment, but... Hubert doesn't retreat or pull away this time.]
Words aren't needed to.
[For a moment, Hubert merely watches her face.]
I... cannot promise you anything. I have much to think about. [He'll likely be reeling from this for a while. Hubert would not decide to descend that precipice lightly, but... he wouldn't easily decide to remain, either.]
[There's a flicker of confusion, but vaguely muted once more as his emotions typically were. Shortly after, Hubert chuckles, and his voice is a little softer.]
You say that as if I haven't been, Lady Edelgard.
[Well, barring recent events and turbulence, obviously. But as a whole, and in the long run...]
[Hubert doesn't really respond to the nudge, standing there awkwardly. Still, considering everything they've just discussed, a lack of an averse reaction was good progress, for him.]
Ah. Perhaps later, if you find that acceptable. I would... like to take my leave, for a short while.
[His words are uncertain, but not out of any sort of anxiety, and there's no sense of flight in the Bond. He had been serious about having much to think about; Edelgard was asking him to consider uprooting much of the foundation of his world, and this whole conversation, and the emotions in their link, have left him utterly unbalanced.]
Midnight, perhaps?
[Just a little time to process it all. That was all he was asking.]
Again, and again. Time goes on, but it becomes a kind of nightly ritual. Even with Bernadetta and Leslie pattering around the house, midnight is a time for tea and coffee in their private study.
Tonight as always, Edelgard makes her way up, carrying a tea tray with his cup on it alongside her own and a vial of the blood from their ice box. Pushing the door open and finding him there makes her smile warmly, the room made cozy by the fire in the hearth.]
[Hubert's usual ghost of a smile answered Edelgard's warm one in kind, and he sets aside the diagram he's been doggedly working on the last week to make room for the tray.]
Good evening. You look well, tonight. [Ever since her bloodthirst fully developed, he's been watching her health much closer, a distant worry in the back of his mind.]
It has. A little eventfully, even.
[Hubert waves his hand idly, the fire stirring and stoking a little higher.]
To my surprise, Bernadetta asked me to Bond with her earlier.
[More than quite, honestly. It's been an eventful few days. As she settles into her seat and sets the tray out, Heidi scampers up and snuggles up around her foot, ensuring that Edelgard won't be able to get up without tripping. Cats.
The news makes her blink.]
Did she now? That's good news. She can definitely use someone to ground her.
[Hubert just barely breathes a sigh, frowning slightly.]
Yes... I'm sure such might be needed often.
[Save him. He's happy to help her, but Hubert's aware of the many challenges. It will be trying, so very trying, at times. Even if Bernadetta would no doubt be more manageable than Caspar would have. He accepts his mug.]
Everything considered, she's adapting to this world better than I thought, at least. [Which. Low bar, but.]
She does. I think, perhaps, war has done her good.
[She's grown into a functional adult woman, mostly. There's a way to go yet before Edelgard would consider her such, but that day is coming nearer and nearer with each little victory like this.]
On a related note, I have temporarily bonded with Azura, a princess from Corrin's world. She was one of those taken, and her injuries were grievous. I agreed to a one month term, to help her stabilize herself.
[Taking her own cup, she settles it in her fingers, not drinking for a moment.]
She's a good deal calmer than Bernadetta, but we've spent time together, and seeing her so shaken rattled me more than I expected.
[That does sober his mood a little, and his heart twists with sympathy. Even steeled as she was, the horrors down in that dungeon... If it was enough to quietly rattle even Hubert, to think how it difficult it was for Edelgard, especially with those she knew down there...]
[He could almost thank the Goddess he'd renounced that Edelgard herself wasn't taken.]
I understand. She's endured a great deal; few people are suited for guiding her through that. Your presence will surely do her good.
[She had thanked whatever power was out there that she wasn't, as well. She would have gladly even accepted protection from Sothis herself, if it kept her from another dungeon like that. It would have destroyed her, utterly.]
I hope so. She's very kind, usually very collected, and like us was held under the claw of a dragon posing as some great deity. I feared something like this might snap her, and that would pain me greatly.
[Truly, she liked Azura. And obviously her link to Corrin was important as well.]
I'll see you get an introduction soon, if you have not met her.
I believe I've seen her, but I haven't formally met her, no.
[...Look he may have surveilled Corrin and her associates from a distance shortly after she Bonded with Edelgard, alright. Spymaster gonna spy. It's just how he is. But Hubert's not going to mention that.]
Perhaps at a later time, after she's had more time to recover. I know I'm hardly a comforting figure.
[Well, a few things were different. Hubert had to keep several extra things in mind, like Leslie's strong aversion to fire, and Bernadetta's... everything, but no longer needing to cook has been a relief.]
They've yet to trespass anywhere I've declared off-limits, nor have they gotten into anything I've told them not to. [Mostly the sealed containers of blood in the icebox, but that was easy enough to avoid.]
So long as they respect the limitations I've set, I do not foresee a problem. Though... this world is prone to complicating things. We'll see if my assessment survives another lunar cycle or two.
Her being a Witch poses its own challenges. Less volatile, perhaps... but just as dangerous if she isn't vigilant in her studies.
[Hubert shakes his head, and a tiny flicker of concern passes through the Bond as he sips his coffee.]
Given how wildly Monsters can vary, and even between individual experiences, there's no telling what awaits Bernadetta. It could just as easily do her nature as much good as it might harm.
[Help them all were she to become one of the more skittish Monsters, like Puca.]
But, at the very least, our two new additions seem to be getting along well.
[She won't claim all the credit. Leslie and Bernadetta both also seemed fond of him.]
...and I don't know. Your familiar is decidedly lethargic, most of the time. It's also fairly easy to deal with. Heidi hasn't been upset by it, so why would they?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2020-02-05 02:12 am (UTC)I don't mind. As...I said, I do not know if I feel the same, but I do trust you above all others. And I do find you handsome. So, have no fear of that.
[Tilting her head to the side, she considers saying something else, and decides to just say it after only a moment's pause.]
I know that time will make me more certain, one way or another. Does that bother you, Hubert?
[She's hopeful that it won't, but she doesn't want to commit. She can't. And neither can he, obviously.]
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Date: 2020-02-05 04:50 am (UTC)[Handsome?]
[Hubert's brow knits together. He isn't put off by the statement—nor even a little flattered. Just wholly, entirely, blindsided. He's heard gaunt, pallid, unsettling, broody, weasel-faced, and all manner of other descriptors. And quite frankly, had no issue with that.]
I'm... sorry, do we have the same definition of the word?
[Handsome is a first.]
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Date: 2020-02-05 05:31 am (UTC)We do, we do! I assure you. I think you quite handsome, and I am not alone in that, I am certain.
[She's so, so positive. She's gossiped about him, even. Just a little.]
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Date: 2020-02-05 06:22 am (UTC)[He glances aside with a quietly grumbling hrrm, the faintest flicker of displeasure joining the mess of his other emotions. To be laughed at, on top of everything else... no matter. Edelgard had asked him something. Hubert softly clears his throat before answering.]
Time nor certainty is no matter. I was never concerned with reciprocity.
[It might seem a disparaging statement, but... the Bond only carries a plain honesty in his words, completely barren of disappointment or hope. Hubert had never imagined it—never thought it possible—before coming to this world.]
[But in this world... there's that sense of conflict again, the desire of two different things.]
...Perhaps I would even advise against it. [He wanted to. He didn't want to. To hell with it all, this used to be so much simpler mere months ago.]
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Date: 2020-02-05 03:43 pm (UTC)Edelgard, pleased with the outcome, squeezes his hand one last time before letting her fingers drop. It's not good for anyone to overwhelm him with affection. He doesn't deserve that level of teasing.]
Time will tell, Hubert. For now, I am...very content.
[Looking up at him, eyes and bond brimming with the sparks of real delight, she bobs her head in a respectful nod.]
Thank you, for talking with me. And for indulging me. I am glad of the opportunity, even if it is brief, to come to understand this side of you. You, who I owe a debt words cannot describe.
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Date: 2020-02-06 03:21 am (UTC)Words aren't needed to.
[For a moment, Hubert merely watches her face.]
I... cannot promise you anything. I have much to think about. [He'll likely be reeling from this for a while. Hubert would not decide to descend that precipice lightly, but... he wouldn't easily decide to remain, either.]
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Date: 2020-02-06 04:56 am (UTC)I can accept that, Hubert. You know I can, and will.
[She shifts her weight, turning to the side, looking into the firelight and watching the embers snap and crackle.]
Here, in this place, I want nothing so much as to feel you become happy.
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Date: 2020-02-06 05:18 am (UTC)You say that as if I haven't been, Lady Edelgard.
[Well, barring recent events and turbulence, obviously. But as a whole, and in the long run...]
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Date: 2020-02-06 05:21 am (UTC)[She nudges him with a shoulder.]
Now. We've settled that, I think. Perhaps it's time for tea? And your nightly dose of coffee, of course.
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Date: 2020-02-10 12:29 am (UTC)Ah. Perhaps later, if you find that acceptable. I would... like to take my leave, for a short while.
[His words are uncertain, but not out of any sort of anxiety, and there's no sense of flight in the Bond. He had been serious about having much to think about; Edelgard was asking him to consider uprooting much of the foundation of his world, and this whole conversation, and the emotions in their link, have left him utterly unbalanced.]
Midnight, perhaps?
[Just a little time to process it all. That was all he was asking.]
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Date: 2020-02-10 02:55 am (UTC)[And they do.
Again, and again. Time goes on, but it becomes a kind of nightly ritual. Even with Bernadetta and Leslie pattering around the house, midnight is a time for tea and coffee in their private study.
Tonight as always, Edelgard makes her way up, carrying a tea tray with his cup on it alongside her own and a vial of the blood from their ice box. Pushing the door open and finding him there makes her smile warmly, the room made cozy by the fire in the hearth.]
Good evening. Has your day been well?
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Date: 2020-02-10 04:34 am (UTC)Good evening. You look well, tonight. [Ever since her bloodthirst fully developed, he's been watching her health much closer, a distant worry in the back of his mind.]
It has. A little eventfully, even.
[Hubert waves his hand idly, the fire stirring and stoking a little higher.]
To my surprise, Bernadetta asked me to Bond with her earlier.
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Date: 2020-02-10 06:10 am (UTC)[More than quite, honestly. It's been an eventful few days. As she settles into her seat and sets the tray out, Heidi scampers up and snuggles up around her foot, ensuring that Edelgard won't be able to get up without tripping. Cats.
The news makes her blink.]
Did she now? That's good news. She can definitely use someone to ground her.
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Date: 2020-02-10 02:25 pm (UTC)Yes... I'm sure such might be needed often.
[Save him. He's happy to help her, but Hubert's aware of the many challenges. It will be trying, so very trying, at times. Even if Bernadetta would no doubt be more manageable than Caspar would have. He accepts his mug.]
Everything considered, she's adapting to this world better than I thought, at least. [Which. Low bar, but.]
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Date: 2020-02-10 03:43 pm (UTC)[She's grown into a functional adult woman, mostly. There's a way to go yet before Edelgard would consider her such, but that day is coming nearer and nearer with each little victory like this.]
On a related note, I have temporarily bonded with Azura, a princess from Corrin's world. She was one of those taken, and her injuries were grievous. I agreed to a one month term, to help her stabilize herself.
[Taking her own cup, she settles it in her fingers, not drinking for a moment.]
She's a good deal calmer than Bernadetta, but we've spent time together, and seeing her so shaken rattled me more than I expected.
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Date: 2020-02-11 03:04 am (UTC)[He could almost thank the Goddess he'd renounced that Edelgard herself wasn't taken.]
I understand. She's endured a great deal; few people are suited for guiding her through that. Your presence will surely do her good.
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Date: 2020-02-11 03:56 am (UTC)I hope so. She's very kind, usually very collected, and like us was held under the claw of a dragon posing as some great deity. I feared something like this might snap her, and that would pain me greatly.
[Truly, she liked Azura. And obviously her link to Corrin was important as well.]
I'll see you get an introduction soon, if you have not met her.
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Date: 2020-02-11 05:23 am (UTC)[...Look he may have surveilled Corrin and her associates from a distance shortly after she Bonded with Edelgard, alright. Spymaster gonna spy. It's just how he is. But Hubert's not going to mention that.]
Perhaps at a later time, after she's had more time to recover. I know I'm hardly a comforting figure.
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Date: 2020-02-11 05:39 am (UTC)[She won't fight him on that, not right now.]
And...how have you found life with Bernadetta and Leslie? The latter seems very eager to please.
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Date: 2020-02-11 06:18 am (UTC)[Well, a few things were different. Hubert had to keep several extra things in mind, like Leslie's strong aversion to fire, and Bernadetta's... everything, but no longer needing to cook has been a relief.]
They've yet to trespass anywhere I've declared off-limits, nor have they gotten into anything I've told them not to. [Mostly the sealed containers of blood in the icebox, but that was easy enough to avoid.]
So long as they respect the limitations I've set, I do not foresee a problem. Though... this world is prone to complicating things. We'll see if my assessment survives another lunar cycle or two.
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Date: 2020-02-11 03:23 pm (UTC)Leslie, at least, is a witch, so less prone to changes and wild outbursts. I don't even know what Bernadetta's final transformation may bring.
[She's not encountered any Fae yet.]
I've rather high hopes that the arrangement will work out, I admit.
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Date: 2020-02-13 05:00 am (UTC)[Hubert shakes his head, and a tiny flicker of concern passes through the Bond as he sips his coffee.]
Given how wildly Monsters can vary, and even between individual experiences, there's no telling what awaits Bernadetta. It could just as easily do her nature as much good as it might harm.
[Help them all were she to become one of the more skittish Monsters, like Puca.]
But, at the very least, our two new additions seem to be getting along well.
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Date: 2020-02-13 05:13 am (UTC)[Though he's right. There is a potential problem there. Still, it's a manageable one.]
And I suppose so. Bernadetta was warned in advance, and I told Leslie how skittish she could be before they moved in. That seems to have helped.
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Date: 2020-02-13 05:28 am (UTC)[Curiosity rises in him in response to a stray thought, plucking the vial of blood from the tray to idly examine it.]
I'm almost more impressed my familiar hasn't yet caused an issue for them.
[Though knowing Bernadetta, she probably thought the cobra was cute, or something.]
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Date: 2020-02-13 05:32 am (UTC)[She won't claim all the credit. Leslie and Bernadetta both also seemed fond of him.]
...and I don't know. Your familiar is decidedly lethargic, most of the time. It's also fairly easy to deal with. Heidi hasn't been upset by it, so why would they?
[...it's a snake...]
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