coastal | voicemail.

[ . . . . ah. Definitely doesn't like it then. Hm.]

That's a shame.

[Boats are really cool, Leon.... like. so long as they're not smuggling drugs into her country or anything.]

What is your land like then if it doesn't rain often or have a prevalence of boats?

[Boats suck okay.]

It is temperate, for the most part.

[She wasn't necessarily asking for climate, but climate is all he offers here.... oh ok.]

Though it is necessary to travel by sea occasionally, I do not live particularly near the ocean.

[Gotta travel to take a boat, at least a bit.]

[ . . . ah. Okay. That doesn't... tell her much of anything, though she can't help but wonder--]

Are you not fond of where you're from?

[It's such a clinical explanation....]

[He's fond of... parts of it. He's fond of Marian's garden and the dining room where he could eat her sweets and have her tea...

... But other than that, no, he can't say he's particularly attached, not in the way Lili seems to be to her own home.]

It isn't that I dislike it, but... [He's not fond of it, either.] It is simply the country where I live.

[ . . . She's not sure what she expected except perhaps.... more than that?]

No attachment to your hometown at all?

[????? even she thinks that's a little odd....]

...Are you going to make me repeat myself?

[... So yeah no. He's got a lot of attachments, but the place he was born and lived in has very little meaning to him. It was just a matter of circumstance. It's an important city--geographically and politically. It's a reasonably large city. It has its importance to a lot of people.

Leon just isn't one of them.]

Your hometown and your country aren't inherently the same thing, you know.

[Which is just her snappy retort. Really, his insistence on trying to make her feel dumb is so annoying...!!

. . . . though now she's pausing to consider where they are. It... is still bright and blinding and definitely doesn't appear to have any signs of green? So not the park.]

.... Are you certain we should've continued on this way?

[They may as well be, to Leon. But he doesn't bother to say that, instead focusing his attention on their... path....

... ... .... shit.

... ... ........ he has no idea where they are.

The pause just...drags....as he looks around...]

[ . . . . . . . .

good god]

How long have you lived here exactly?

Shut up! It has only been a few weeks, but it isn't as though I am lost!

[Mostly.

Chal help.]

Which way from here-- [.... .... .... thanks Chal.] --we must have missed a turn a short ways back.

[ . . . . ugh.]

So we are lost.

[Leon?! Ah, she really should stop trusting people....]

It isn't my fault, Chal--

[Wait. She doesn't know about Chal. Too many people can hear him here, Leon's starting to get used to it, but he bites his tongue at that.

AH...EM...]

... It should be this way.

[ . . . . .

Why do you keep getting stranger and stranger, Leon.]

Who is.... Chal?

His name is Chaltier.

[Get it right!!

... .... ........ ugh. Now what. He fucked up. Having sword spirits and Shepherds and Seraphim who can hear the Swordians is throwing him off!!]

... He is my...[sword] ...companion.

[ . . . . . . okay but now you're scaring her a little bit, Leon. She stiffens up and immediately does a 360 turn? Because???]

Is he here...?! Have I been ignoring him this entire time?!

[WHAT POOR MANNERS.]

[It almost would've been worth it just to see Lili so flummoxed but... no.... no it's still kind of ????

After all of the times he scolded Stahn for talking to Dymlos in public, he messes it up himself because he's a big baby who doesn't want to take responsibility for being lost. Amazing, Leon.

So after a moment, he just sighs and draws his sword.]

... This is Chaltier.

[...Yeah.]

[You know.

If these were normal circumstances, Lili would've had trouble believing him. Except given the fact that Lili has not only talked to swords but even been picked up and carried around by them.... she's actually rather embarrassed even still. Should she start talking to every sword like it probably has a spirit now?!

Regardless, she's just going to BOW SUDDENLY.]

Forgive me, Chaltier... I-I hadn't meant to be rude....!

[She feels a bit like an idiot.

But she really feels bad too?! Help.]

[... Ah. Hm.

If she could hear him, Chal would be flustered and flummoxed right now, exclaiming that it's really not her fault and it's fine that she hadn't noticed him and really, it's fine, please don't bow to him...!!!

... Leon just arches an eyebrow.]

You cannot hear him, so it would be ridiculous to assume you would be aware of him.

[And it's... kind of a relief to him that she can't hear him, which is dickish but Leon has self-worth issues so he doesn't want everyone to be able to hear Chal............... things are okay.

...And, after some nagging from Chal, he sighs.]

He says that he isn't offended.

[ . . . hm. She frowns a little bit at that, straightening as she does. At least she has the mind to be gracious--]

Ah... I'm relieved then. Thank you for your patience, Chaltier.

[Look.... politeness.... but when it comes to Leon, she's tilting her head curiously at that.]

It still seems quite rude of me to ignore him though.... Is there a reason why I can't hear him? I've met a few swords now and they've all had their own voices and bodies, even....

[Why are you polite to his sword and not to him....what is that supposed to even mean!!]

... Chal is not the same as those swords. [Though he does know what she's talking about, at least.]

He is a Swordian, and while he has a voice, only certain people can hear him.

[It... used to just be the Swordian Masters but then the Seraphim and sword spirits and Sorey kind of fucked that up.]

It is rare to be able to hear them. [So don't...worry about it??? Something like that, he's not sure.]

[ . . . . well then. She relaxes a little bit then, brows furrowing together in thought.]

What normally constitutes being able to hear him then....?

There are those few who have the potential, and the rest do not. It is as simple as that.

[Well. It's really not, but it's about the only explanation Leon seems to want to give, and it's accurate enough. Ish.]

... Though the sword spirits here are able to hear him, presumably because they are also swords.

[ . . . hm. And Lili tilts her head curiously at that--]

Were you the only one who could hear him before you came here....?

No. There are other Swordian Masters, naturally.

[all like.

6 of them.]

They are able to hear his voice as well. Otherwise, it is rare if someone else can hear them.

[So it's... normal. Lili's just normal.]

Naturally.....

[Though she repeats it in a bit of a deadpan.

That's not very natural, Leon.]

What an odd world you live in.

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