[It was hardly pity that drove Lorenz, but a cold and clear rationality that bit like the winter's wind that had swept the city's streets. Drink and grief had ways of clouding even the most rational of minds, and jumping to accept Hubert's offer would have been nothing short of predatory. Though in many ways a wolf among the deer, Lorenz would have rendered the same terms upon anyone-- even if the act seemed harsh.
Times like this made even remote gestures of kindness seem akin to cruelty.
Keeping one ear alert on the wizard's progression, he wordlessly made for the cabinet per the muttered directions and set about the task of making coffee. While tea was a skill he had mastered to an artform, coffee yet eluded him. Either through lack of reason or lack of interest, Lorenz had simply never bothered to learn more than out of an idle interest in being a pest to Hubert. Current interests had spurred him into borrowing books on the matter from the library and, though mimicry and written word were his only teachers at this juncture, it wasn't long before the heady aroma of coffee started to waft through the kitchen.]
You take it black, yes?
[He called, fishing for a pair of mugs in the kitchen. Coffee demanded a sturdier set of equipment just due to the culture surrounding the drink.]
Correct, [was all that dully answered Lorenz. In the meantime, Hubert had tucked away the potion to somewhere safer, and resumed the slow, steady progress of sifting through his legal papers. At some point he'd emptied the rest of his meager whiskey glass, setting it aside.]
[Mugs located, Lorenz poured them both off a healthy portion and brought them back to the work space. After finding a coaster to ensure the paperwork's safety, he set a mug down before Hubert.]
Here. Now sit and take a break for yourself. The paperwork isn't going anywhere.
[Peering dubiously into his mug, he added:]
And apologies if this isn't to your taste. I don't yet have much experience with coffee.
I doubt I will notice, presently. [Just as drink and grief clouded a person's mind, so too it dulled the senses. Since losing both his Bonds, deriving joy from even simple things has been... difficult. There's been little comfort in even his own brews, aside as something that kept him going.]
[Hubert frowns at the cup, reluctantly taking it up and leaning back in his chair. He hated being idle, even without a crisis of grief.] "Not going anywhere" does not make it any less necessary.
What's necessary right now is that you take care of yourself. And Leslie, of course.
[It was the first time he had mentioned the young lady that evening, but surely she would have remained in the massive, barren home with Hubert. Though nothing if not loyal and dutiful, the sheer responsibility of sundry pets was liable to be too heavy for the wizard in that moment.
The paperwork certainly was.
Taking a sip, Lorenz briefly scowled at the drink before wordlessy getting up to seach for sugar in the kitchen. The bracing bitterness was deeper and darker than even the strongest, smokiest tea he could name. It still bore no candle to the mystery of that peculiar blend in DiplomaTea that seemed to be everything tea was not in the most unpleasant of ways.]
Besides, you were ready to offer me the same proposition you turned down months ago when our positions were reversed. [He called from the kitchen-- after making a small, satisfied sound upon finding a small sugar pot and a spoon. Making his way back, he continued.] The paperwork can stand to wait a few days until you've rested some.
How bold of you to assume I will be able to, [Hubert drawled back misanthropically. Rest hadn't come easily to Hubert at the best of times in the last several years. The seemingly permanent dark circles under his eyes were testament to that.]
It is a proposition I now stand to benefit from. Even if it did not provide relief from these severances, it does not change the fact that I require a Bond. I am not content to tempt the forces of this world as so many Mirrorbound are.
[Even if he was among the safest Bondless witches, with two familiars.]
[Given his own history, Lorenz harbored no doubts that he was included that statement. Bonds were not a contract to be drawn into lightly, and knowing the nature of a possible partner was far preferable than knowing a stranger. But the ties of convenience among the nobility that were reinforced by the nature of shared histories and the territorial life within the Leicester Alliance had ill prepared him for the single act of trust.
Perhaps he truly was more like the Adrestrian nobles than he realized. The thought tightened in his chest.]
If you cannot rest your mind, then at least rest your body. No one can function under such duress forever.
And, if the paperwork truly must be completed before you can do so, then allow me to help. We can get it done more quickly that way.
[It was that exact same realization about duress that led Hubert to his offer. As much as he liked to try and make himself a creature of stone, the mage still remained very much flesh and blood. He sighed.]
I will make an attempt.
[One hand listlessly waved at the paper.] They pertain to Lady Edelgard's assets. This city has admirably adapted to the existence of the Mirrorbound in many ways, but financially is not one of them. Proving that she and I are Mirrorbound and that these assets are to passed on upon the conditions of our disappearance from this world is difficult to prove, and requires involving the Coven. One set to confirm my inheritance of her assets, and another to make Leslie the benefactor the same arrangement in event of my departure.
[Lorenz nodded, accepting that as enough of a response on the matter regarding Hubert's welfare. With his own difficulty in facing his vulnerabilities and accepting help, asking for anymore was hypocritical.]
Financials, hm? That is not a difficult matter.
...Do you happen to have a sample of your handwriting I can borrow?
[The sigh Hubert heaved this time was a more drawn out thing of exasperation. His incredulity came less from what Lorenz was getting at, but more that the faun was this persistent to help.]
On the third page is a statement about being Mirrorbound, as well as my signature. That should suffice.
[A beat of silence passed before Hubert shook his head.] Why are you doing this? I require time, not a caretaker. I've done you no such charity during our time here.
[Lorenz said, already sifting through the papers and locating the statement on page three. Lips pursed, he studied the loops and ridges of Hubert's tidy handwriting. Satisfied for the moment, he set it beside the pile that still needed attending to and faced the wraith of a man.]
The fact of the matter is that I am very accustomed to working alone, while you have always had others around... by my understanding.
[His information was dated, but there was no doubt of what he had seen during their shared memory encounters, nor in what he understood of Hubert's relationship with Edelgard.]
Yes, yes. I know that sounds absurd, [He added with a seemingly nonchalant wave of his hands.] But despite House Gloucester's reputation for cozying up to those with power and showing off, I am neither as dependent upon others as my father nor as vibrantly sociable as Hilda.
...Just who do you think manages the financials and oversees the flow of supplies to the agricultural holdings while Count Gloucester is currying favor in both Derdriu and across the Adrestrian border, hm?
This is a simple matter, and the least that I can do to repay both you and Lady Edelgard for what you have done in your history in Fodlan.
[For, with all that he understood of the way the timelines flowed, Edelgard's victory over the oppressive church was surely the way that history was supposed to move.]
Tend to yourself and young Leslie, Hubert. This isn't the first time I've run the paperwork for someone grieving a loss due to events they had no hand in.
[Whether Lorenz' understanding was or was not correct, Hubert didn't say. He hardly had the energy to debate, let alone care about the other man's assumptions.]
[And yet, despite that weariness, Hubert doubted sleep would find him if he tried at this very moment. He only now drank from his mug—and just as he'd expected, he couldn't particularly care about the taste one way or another, either. Troublesome, Bonds. Hubert glanced at the fire.]
We've done nothing, yet. We might have severed Seiros' head, but our last day in Fódlan was only the very eve of the monumental tasks to come. To fell a monster is simple. To change the rotted bones of our culture is not.
[Because if Hubert wasn't doing work, he had to be talking of it.]
[A blank sheet of paper was procured while Hubert spoke, and Lorenz studied the filled pages with the discerning eye of an appraiser. Taking a pen, he set to work-- slowly and meticulously drawing out the lines and curves that made out the signature of one Hubert von Vestra.]
And you have brought forth the idea of change. Even in the rotting core of the Alliance, I had scarce hoped to believe that instilling any change was impossible.
[It was why he kept his eyes on Claude, for the man's greatest strength was not in the words strung together by his silver tongue, but the actions carried out by those deceptively strong shoulders that similarly instilled the idea of change. Where Claude sought to break Fodlan open and bring change from without, Edelgard sought to change from within.
The latter was the pivotal task that would change the look of their world.
With a brief flourish, Lorenz cast a smile upon studying his completed work. Picking up the page, he held passed it to Hubert for final examination.]
...Forgery is but a simple skill. I am a writer, after all.
[Hubert only hummed a polite acknowledgement, falling to silence and turning to tiredly watch the fire.]
[He did not get back to the faun about his proposal the day after, or the next. It was several before Hubert brought himself over to Lorenz' dwelling in the evening, thick-cloaked against the new barrage of winter, knocking on the door.]
[Hubert... didn't look better, exactly; his eyes were still uncharacteristically dark even by his normal standards and his features joylessly dour, but he did at least look put together. That might be the best one could ask for, given the circumstances.]
[Lorenz looked nothing short of surprised when he opened the door, already starting to settle in to his comfortable house clothes after spending the blustery day working the counters at DiplomaTea. The Camellias he had chosen for that day, bright and festive, still adorned his antlers even though his hair was loose and unbound.]
Please, do come in. [He said quickly, ushering the wizard inside.] The weather's terrible. If you had warned me, I would have put on something warm for when you arrived.
[The black cat, no longer a kitten, appeared from the shadows and quickly approached Hubert. It weaved itself between Hubert's legs before Lorenz caught on, with a quick!]
Oh Claude! Can't you let him inside before you give your greeting?
Impeccable hospitality as always, but quite unnecessary.
[Hubert glanced down at the approaching cat, and his mouth would have quirked downward if it weren't perpetually halfway to a scowl after Edelgard's departure. Honestly, he didn't understand everyone's obsession with naming their animals after their acquaintances—even if Edelgard's selection for the Aegir hound was apt.]
I will never understand why the cats of this world are so drawn to me. [The mage doesn't greet him, but he neither shoos the cat await, either. He only goes about unfastening his cloak and hanging it.]
Your terms, [Hubert answered plainly with the dull cadence his tone had taken in the last couple weeks. He sat as indicated, facing the fawn and his young cat wiggling for attention.]
A term I have treated with utmost gravity, which is why I did not answer you sooner. As I said, rest does not come easily to me.
[It hadn't for a very long time, even before this world.]
[Lorenz said, running his long fingers in tight motions around the cat's ears while they spoke. The black cat leaned into the touch, eyes closed in apparent enjoyment.]
I do. It's the most practical option. There is no Monster in these lands that I am currently better acquainted with, and Bonding with a Witch would be self-sabotage at this stage. The fact is that I cannot carry on under these conditions without burdening Leslie.
[Unflinching, unhesitant. Even if Hubert didn't necessarily like the circumstances he was forced under, he was above all a practical man. Results mattered, not his personal sentiments.]
I cannot pretend this hasn't been hard on her, but she is resilient. Lady Edelgard arranged to leave her with parting words in this precise scenario.
As for a Bond... I cannot say for certain. I was under the impression she had a recurring temporary arrangement with a man called Hector, and she does have a familiar. We haven't broached the subject recently.
That's quite a gesture from Lady Edelgard. Surely, she's been a fine guardian for this troubled young woman.
A recurring arrangement is better than none, and that is a relief to hear. Had Lady Edelgard not been returned to your timeline and Leslie was still unbonded, I would have sought Lady Edelgard's and your own permission to ask if she would consent to my Bonding with her until a better one was found. She... deserves quite a bit better than her own world has allowed her, and it's good that she is finding it here.
[Lorenz sighed.]
So the only one with troubling affairs in this matter are the both of us. There's no denying your analysis so I'll be succinct:
I accept the arrangement of whatever you deem comfortable for yourself, Hubert. This is business, and we need not cause each other unnecessary trouble over it.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2020-12-10 04:56 am (UTC)Times like this made even remote gestures of kindness seem akin to cruelty.
Keeping one ear alert on the wizard's progression, he wordlessly made for the cabinet per the muttered directions and set about the task of making coffee. While tea was a skill he had mastered to an artform, coffee yet eluded him. Either through lack of reason or lack of interest, Lorenz had simply never bothered to learn more than out of an idle interest in being a pest to Hubert. Current interests had spurred him into borrowing books on the matter from the library and, though mimicry and written word were his only teachers at this juncture, it wasn't long before the heady aroma of coffee started to waft through the kitchen.]
You take it black, yes?
[He called, fishing for a pair of mugs in the kitchen. Coffee demanded a sturdier set of equipment just due to the culture surrounding the drink.]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-10 05:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-12-10 05:39 am (UTC)[Mugs located, Lorenz poured them both off a healthy portion and brought them back to the work space. After finding a coaster to ensure the paperwork's safety, he set a mug down before Hubert.]
Here. Now sit and take a break for yourself. The paperwork isn't going anywhere.
[Peering dubiously into his mug, he added:]
And apologies if this isn't to your taste. I don't yet have much experience with coffee.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-10 02:07 pm (UTC)[Hubert frowns at the cup, reluctantly taking it up and leaning back in his chair. He hated being idle, even without a crisis of grief.] "Not going anywhere" does not make it any less necessary.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-10 09:10 pm (UTC)[It was the first time he had mentioned the young lady that evening, but surely she would have remained in the massive, barren home with Hubert. Though nothing if not loyal and dutiful, the sheer responsibility of sundry pets was liable to be too heavy for the wizard in that moment.
The paperwork certainly was.
Taking a sip, Lorenz briefly scowled at the drink before wordlessy getting up to seach for sugar in the kitchen. The bracing bitterness was deeper and darker than even the strongest, smokiest tea he could name. It still bore no candle to the mystery of that peculiar blend in DiplomaTea that seemed to be everything tea was not in the most unpleasant of ways.]
Besides, you were ready to offer me the same proposition you turned down months ago when our positions were reversed. [He called from the kitchen-- after making a small, satisfied sound upon finding a small sugar pot and a spoon. Making his way back, he continued.] The paperwork can stand to wait a few days until you've rested some.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-11 04:05 am (UTC)It is a proposition I now stand to benefit from. Even if it did not provide relief from these severances, it does not change the fact that I require a Bond. I am not content to tempt the forces of this world as so many Mirrorbound are.
[Even if he was among the safest Bondless witches, with two familiars.]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-11 04:25 am (UTC)Perhaps he truly was more like the Adrestrian nobles than he realized. The thought tightened in his chest.]
If you cannot rest your mind, then at least rest your body. No one can function under such duress forever.
And, if the paperwork truly must be completed before you can do so, then allow me to help. We can get it done more quickly that way.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-12 04:53 pm (UTC)I will make an attempt.
[One hand listlessly waved at the paper.] They pertain to Lady Edelgard's assets. This city has admirably adapted to the existence of the Mirrorbound in many ways, but financially is not one of them. Proving that she and I are Mirrorbound and that these assets are to passed on upon the conditions of our disappearance from this world is difficult to prove, and requires involving the Coven. One set to confirm my inheritance of her assets, and another to make Leslie the benefactor the same arrangement in event of my departure.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-13 04:51 am (UTC)Financials, hm? That is not a difficult matter.
...Do you happen to have a sample of your handwriting I can borrow?
no subject
Date: 2020-12-14 02:56 am (UTC)On the third page is a statement about being Mirrorbound, as well as my signature. That should suffice.
[A beat of silence passed before Hubert shook his head.] Why are you doing this? I require time, not a caretaker. I've done you no such charity during our time here.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-14 04:48 am (UTC)[Lorenz said, already sifting through the papers and locating the statement on page three. Lips pursed, he studied the loops and ridges of Hubert's tidy handwriting. Satisfied for the moment, he set it beside the pile that still needed attending to and faced the wraith of a man.]
The fact of the matter is that I am very accustomed to working alone, while you have always had others around... by my understanding.
[His information was dated, but there was no doubt of what he had seen during their shared memory encounters, nor in what he understood of Hubert's relationship with Edelgard.]
Yes, yes. I know that sounds absurd, [He added with a seemingly nonchalant wave of his hands.] But despite House Gloucester's reputation for cozying up to those with power and showing off, I am neither as dependent upon others as my father nor as vibrantly sociable as Hilda.
...Just who do you think manages the financials and oversees the flow of supplies to the agricultural holdings while Count Gloucester is currying favor in both Derdriu and across the Adrestrian border, hm?
This is a simple matter, and the least that I can do to repay both you and Lady Edelgard for what you have done in your history in Fodlan.
[For, with all that he understood of the way the timelines flowed, Edelgard's victory over the oppressive church was surely the way that history was supposed to move.]
Tend to yourself and young Leslie, Hubert. This isn't the first time I've run the paperwork for someone grieving a loss due to events they had no hand in.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-14 05:12 am (UTC)[And yet, despite that weariness, Hubert doubted sleep would find him if he tried at this very moment. He only now drank from his mug—and just as he'd expected, he couldn't particularly care about the taste one way or another, either. Troublesome, Bonds. Hubert glanced at the fire.]
We've done nothing, yet. We might have severed Seiros' head, but our last day in Fódlan was only the very eve of the monumental tasks to come. To fell a monster is simple. To change the rotted bones of our culture is not.
[Because if Hubert wasn't doing work, he had to be talking of it.]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-14 06:12 pm (UTC)[A blank sheet of paper was procured while Hubert spoke, and Lorenz studied the filled pages with the discerning eye of an appraiser. Taking a pen, he set to work-- slowly and meticulously drawing out the lines and curves that made out the signature of one Hubert von Vestra.]
And you have brought forth the idea of change. Even in the rotting core of the Alliance, I had scarce hoped to believe that instilling any change was impossible.
[It was why he kept his eyes on Claude, for the man's greatest strength was not in the words strung together by his silver tongue, but the actions carried out by those deceptively strong shoulders that similarly instilled the idea of change. Where Claude sought to break Fodlan open and bring change from without, Edelgard sought to change from within.
The latter was the pivotal task that would change the look of their world.
With a brief flourish, Lorenz cast a smile upon studying his completed work. Picking up the page, he held passed it to Hubert for final examination.]
...Forgery is but a simple skill. I am a writer, after all.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-14 07:54 pm (UTC)[he said, as if he hadn't been forging Edelgard's hand for years. Hubert's glance was brief before he passed it back. ]
It will do. It will not come under scrutiny unless I contest it.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-16 04:31 am (UTC)[He asked, setting the page down and diving straight into work. There were several legal documents to review, pages to authorize...]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-16 06:05 am (UTC)[He did not get back to the faun about his proposal the day after, or the next. It was several before Hubert brought himself over to Lorenz' dwelling in the evening, thick-cloaked against the new barrage of winter, knocking on the door.]
[Hubert... didn't look better, exactly; his eyes were still uncharacteristically dark even by his normal standards and his features joylessly dour, but he did at least look put together. That might be the best one could ask for, given the circumstances.]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-17 03:26 am (UTC)[Lorenz looked nothing short of surprised when he opened the door, already starting to settle in to his comfortable house clothes after spending the blustery day working the counters at DiplomaTea. The Camellias he had chosen for that day, bright and festive, still adorned his antlers even though his hair was loose and unbound.]
Please, do come in. [He said quickly, ushering the wizard inside.] The weather's terrible. If you had warned me, I would have put on something warm for when you arrived.
[The black cat, no longer a kitten, appeared from the shadows and quickly approached Hubert. It weaved itself between Hubert's legs before Lorenz caught on, with a quick!]
Oh Claude! Can't you let him inside before you give your greeting?
no subject
Date: 2020-12-17 04:44 am (UTC)[Hubert glanced down at the approaching cat, and his mouth would have quirked downward if it weren't perpetually halfway to a scowl after Edelgard's departure. Honestly, he didn't understand everyone's obsession with naming their animals after their acquaintances—even if Edelgard's selection for the Aegir hound was apt.]
I will never understand why the cats of this world are so drawn to me. [The mage doesn't greet him, but he neither shoos the cat await, either. He only goes about unfastening his cloak and hanging it.]
Have I imposed?
no subject
Date: 2020-12-18 04:33 am (UTC)[Lorenz said with a chuckle, scooping up the squirming feline before taking Hubert toward the kitchen.]
Familiar company is hardly an imposition. Since Lapis went back to... wherever she was before she arrived, it's been quite quiet in here.
[Drawing a seat for himself at the modest table, Lorenz offered for Hubert to do the same.]
What brings you here this evening?
no subject
Date: 2020-12-19 01:47 am (UTC)A term I have treated with utmost gravity, which is why I did not answer you sooner. As I said, rest does not come easily to me.
[It hadn't for a very long time, even before this world.]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-19 05:16 am (UTC)[Lorenz said, running his long fingers in tight motions around the cat's ears while they spoke. The black cat leaned into the touch, eyes closed in apparent enjoyment.]
And your efforts are admirable Hubert.
Now, tell me: do you still feel the same?
no subject
Date: 2020-12-19 06:24 pm (UTC)[Unflinching, unhesitant. Even if Hubert didn't necessarily like the circumstances he was forced under, he was above all a practical man. Results mattered, not his personal sentiments.]
no subject
Date: 2020-12-20 04:39 am (UTC)[Lorenz asked quietly, partly to assuage his own guilt over not checking up on her more frequently.]
She's been here for some time... has she found herself a Bond?
no subject
Date: 2020-12-20 04:53 am (UTC)As for a Bond... I cannot say for certain. I was under the impression she had a recurring temporary arrangement with a man called Hector, and she does have a familiar. We haven't broached the subject recently.
no subject
Date: 2020-12-20 05:07 am (UTC)A recurring arrangement is better than none, and that is a relief to hear. Had Lady Edelgard not been returned to your timeline and Leslie was still unbonded, I would have sought Lady Edelgard's and your own permission to ask if she would consent to my Bonding with her until a better one was found. She... deserves quite a bit better than her own world has allowed her, and it's good that she is finding it here.
[Lorenz sighed.]
So the only one with troubling affairs in this matter are the both of us. There's no denying your analysis so I'll be succinct:
I accept the arrangement of whatever you deem comfortable for yourself, Hubert. This is business, and we need not cause each other unnecessary trouble over it.
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