coastal | voicemail.

[??? Huh.

It's...strange. He's never had a conversation like this before, so he's not quite sure... how to have it in general. But, well... he does like science...]

I don't intend to be a textbook for you.

[He says, to preface him being a textbook for her.]

I suppose my preference is in learning about the world and how it functions, though naturally understanding technology is equally important... [Heir to the Oberon Corp, he'd be a disgrace if he couldn't keep up with that.] The study of lens and its properties, or monsters and their existence all falls under the sciences as well.

[He moves into his explanation so quickly that she doesn't.... really have time to be huffy about his previous statement. She wasn't asking him to though?!

Still though - one bit manages to earn her surprise.]

Monsters? Actual monsters?

[Like - the ones that were in the virtual world? But that was entirely made out of fantasy and fabrication, right?]

Of course.

[Monsters are a way of life for him; it's strange for him to think of worlds that don't have them.]

Monsters have existed for years.

["Of course"...... Her brow furrows at that. The only monsters she knows are the ones who accompany Yona... and even then, they do appear to be more aligned with men.

So on a different course of conversation, she presses on with her questions-]

Is that why you had to learn how to fight? To protect yourself?

[Would it be a norm for everyone in that world?]

No.

[That answer comes immediately, but...well, he can see why she would think so. So he follows that up with:]

Some people learn to protect themselves for that reason, though, yes. As for me...

[... Wasn't it really just that he was given a sword when he was six, and told to learn? There'd never been any other option, because:]

I am a knight. [was. was. Somehow, he fights off a grimace, though there is a brief pause.] Naturally, I must be able to fight to serve my king.

[That, at least, was something he'd been able to be proud of, before he'd thrown it away.]

[ . . . . she blinks. Once. Twice. Then she can't help but ask a little incredulously:]

Really?

[She emits a soft hum then, thoughtful. Though now that she thinks about it, isn't the newly appointed Wind Tribe General rather young as well? Hak is about her age - even though she dislikes even thinking of herself in relation to him in any way.

Then she nods once.]

An admirable cause. [After all, the Water Tribe's soldiers are very well-trained. She has no reason to feel distaste for them.] Though....

[Oh. She realizes that she's asking a lot of questions and pauses.]

Ah -- am I keeping you from going somewhere?

[Even though she's still obviously curious and has more to ask....]

[He was ready for her incredulity--it escapes her, and he responds immediately and sharply:]

Don't look down on me.

[He knows. It happens all the time--for his age, for his size, for his appearance. HE'S A KNIGHT, DAMMIT. Or. Was. Well, shit.

Uh.

Y...es? Yes, she's keeping him from getting home. But also, he's lost, so she's really not. Uh.....]

Yes, you are. I was on my way [some...where??? somewhere....] ...elsewhere. [Nailed it, yeah.]

[Just as immediately and sharply as she'll slam head on into this:]

Stop putting words in my mouth. I'm not looking down on you.

[She doesn't even have the right to??? God, Leon, shut up.

But...... ok. Cool. She blinks once.]

.... Are you in a rush to get there?

[What kind of a question is that.]

Not as such, no. It isn't as though I am running late, naturally. [HE'S ON TIME ALWAYS DUH.] ...Why do you ask?

[They're both such naturally suspicious people...]

[Tsuns dancing around each other..... The awkward is real.

And then, because she's terribly honest-]

I have more questions... but only if you have time. They're not pressing, and it's not like I expect you to -- be a textbook for me?

[Is that what he said....

Oh and also she's lost and you've been here longer. She'll get to that.]

[She's...being so polite, it almost makes him uncomfortable. He's used to her being snappish, but now she's really, clearly trying.

... ... ... A sigh.]

Where are you going?

[Maybe he can... at least figure out a bit where he is based off of where she's going, and he can answer her questions at the same time if they're actually moving towards a destination. It'd be less of a waste of time, and also it might get him unlost. Win-win!]

[Y'know, it's kinda hard when you accidentally call someone pathetic because you're being careless and you actually don't.... mind that person.... and he obviously takes offense.....

Listen, she just doesn't know if she can handle being yelled at today. (That's a lie, she can totally take it and will probably throw it back but sometimes she doesn't want to deal with that.)

. . . . that said.

They're both definitely suspicious people because she's blinking.]

Why do you care?

[like.... you said earlier that it didn't matter...... ????? leon?]

[Shut up, he was tsunning.]

If you are going in the same direction as me, then you may ask your questions. It won't be wasting either of our time then.

[There. That's his compromise. (But Leon, you'll be going in her direction no matter what because you're lost shut up nobody needs to know.)]

[When isn't he tsunning.

But. That manages to get her to blink as she opens up her CereVice and tries to navigate her phone away from cat videos and more toward the map with directions that Kashuu sent her.]

..... the end destination is unclear [which she doesn't like] but I'm to meet Kashuu here.....

[And the map says that it's somewhere by the park.

They're def not by the park.]

[Right.... by the park. Which is definitely nowhere near where they are.

Uh.]

Where is the park...

[It almost sounds like he's talking to himself, but really he's asking Chaltier--there's a pause as he listens to the answer, nodding to himself.]

This way, then.

[Imagine Chal sighing in exasperation because now Leon is listening.]

[ . . . . . she watches and is confused.

Did he have a sudden epiphany.]

....

[Right. Anyway. She follows after easily enough.]

Were.... you headed toward the park?

[Sorta.]

...Past it.

[Maybe.]

Regardless, if you really insist on asking your questions, now would be the time.

[Since now they're back on track.... and admittedly he's kind of curious, though he'll probably just shut down anything he doesn't want to talk about.

Tsuns.]

[Maybe.

But well, that seems like a free pass if Lili ever got one and so she doesn't... really waste time, diving back into the question that would've followed her previous 'Though....']

As a knight, would you say your dedication is oriented more toward your king or your country?

[ . . . sorry for the probably detailed question.

But.

It's something she wonders. She's commanded armies before - but only because she had the family seal. People don't listen to her just because she's the General's daughter and it's also why she couldn't ask her own soldiers.... what were they going to say? No, they 're not allied entirely with her and her father?

It's not like she got to meet many other knights, after all.]

[That's...actually a good question, and entirely nothing that he expected from her. Admittedly, the reasons he became a knight are... nothing so glorious as that. He wanted to establish himself, to stand on his own, to separate himself from Hugo, to make Marian believe that he could stand on his own.

King and country came after... and in the end, the person whose orders he ended up following most was--

There's a bit of a bitter twist to his mouth then, but he just responds with the best answer he can give.]

... My king. [Maybe. Sort of. He doesn't really care, but he also doesn't really care that much about his country. itt: Leon is the worst knight.]

It was his orders I followed. [Sort of.

Mostly.

Once upon a time.]

[ . . . . Well.

Lili's not some sort of magician when it comes to reading people's emotions. She's actually quite bad at it most of the time but when his expression manages to change like that after a question that she's very curious to hear the answer for..... She blinks once. Twice.]

Was he a bad king?

[She clearly can't tell what makes him unhappy to think about the topic - knights are happy to serve, aren't they? - so she just goes for a random shot.

Yeah.]

...No.

[Not as such. He had his flaws, as all humans do. He made mistakes. He trusted Hugo too, just as everyone who was blind to the way Hugo truly was did. But when things went wrong, he tried to make things right. That makes him... not a bad king.

But when Lili is asking questions like this, and treating him like a proper knight, the guilt eats at him. He's not a knight anymore. He's a traitor. He has no right to claim his knighthood, despite how hard he'd worked to have it.]

Rather, I--

[...was a bad knight.]

... Never mind. I'm not interested in discussing it. [BAGGAGE.]

Oh.

[ . . . . she tripped over something there, didn't she?

It makes her feel guilty again, unsure what could've caused that kind of reaction. And in truth, a lot of her questions were... admittedly in the same line. What makes someone a good or bad king? How do knights truly feel about their orders? All things that she can't ask her own men.

. . . .

So she's quietly then, puzzling over what to say?

Oh god, the conversation has stalled already.]

.... I see.

[fuck.]

[Oops.

The conversation has properly stalled, but Leon is more than willing to allow the silence to stretch. It's uncomfortable, but he's got enough to think about anyway. It's an issue he's not certain how to handle yet. Should he give up on his knighthood? It's undoubtedly been stripped from him. It's all his own fault, after all, and it's all he deserves.

... It's a little bitter, though.]

...Why did you ask?

[It's clear she had a purpose behind it.]

[ . . . . well. There's a lot of reasons. Her status is one thing - she thinks that she should know how people feel, even if it's just a General Knight thing.... even though she's yet to realize that she has asked the worst possible person about his views on it.

And then there's also some recent events and she'll just admit it--]

I've been both abused and saved by knights.

[ . . . and she hates that she has to pause after saying so, collecting herself. But it's better than getting too emotional, even if she fusses with her hair for a moment.]

... I never got to ask if they were doing it because they thought it would protect their country... or if the need to follow orders overrode personal interest... or if there's... well, something else that I haven't considered.

[There.

Make it less personal.

That'll make it easier too, right?]

[Abused...and saved. Knights should save people. Civilians are not supposed to be in the midst of battle in any way. They're supposed to be out of the way of danger, because they can't protect themselves.

Even Leon knows that a knight that abuses a civilian is lower than dirt.

Leon knows this, because he's lower than dirt, abusing his position for one single person, betraying his king and country solely for Marian.]

Knights, too, are simply human. Humans are not altruistic creatures. [He crosses his arms, frowning, even as they walk.] For their own interests, or for what interests humans believe in.... they will do anything.

That is what I believe.

[That is what he did.]

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