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[mostsplendid]

Remember that if you're ever lost you will always have a home here.

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[mostsplendid]

Duplicity Text continued from here

Nero

[mostsplendid]

Continued from here

Ah... Well. I am well aware the sacrifice that may come from putting all others before yourself. I have paid that price.

I think it's still worth it.

[Maybe... He has come to be not so sure as of late.]

[ambitionburns]

I believe there are others here that would prefer you not pay that price again.

[He can listen to rumors, and read between the lines.
Even if it's really none of his business.]

Though thus far, the stakes here are lower... if all you do is pull a few muscles, there'll be a line around the block of those who'd like to massage them all better, eh?

Jyushimatsu

[mostsplendid]

Continued from...

You and I are going to get along splendidly. You're speaking exactly my language. You would have loved my camp. I had these young men, shirtless of course, training in a corner at all hours. It was too cold to have them do it outside, you see, and plenty of room in the main room of our fort. And they just did squats for hours and hours.

I miss them dearly.

[He would love to see their rippling muscles just once more.]

Yes and that is the jist of it! If there's ever a way to procure them in this city I will happily teach you how to be an excellent rider. You'll be able to race with the best of them!

[yakyuuman]

im so happy to hear that, dude! i love it when i talk with someone and we just click like that! it happens ruper rarely to me! and wow i wish i was there to witness the beauty of muscle hustling! id let them bench press me in a heartbeat! ive got a WEAKNESS for STRONG people... somehow that sounds very funny in my head!

i will wait for the day chocobos will arrive in the city and i will take dibs on the fastest one! i wanna be the fastest man and i wont ask for anything cheaper!

Vane

[mostsplendid]

Continued from here.

Mayhaps so... I am certain I could come around to them with the right convincing.

Not so much dragon themed... but Dragons are a great part of our history. So... things get named after them, as they do, when things are so deeply connected. But you're right. I have not heard of your homeland. I have come to learn quite quickly that we are all from different stars. But, I would love to hear about your home. Over hot chocolate or tea sometime soon.

[The feeling is quite mutual, to be sure.]

What a knightly crew you have! I do... I have a man named Estinien. He used to be a Temple Knight but now he is the one and only Azure Dragoon. A skilled slayer of dragon. And then, there are couple people that know me but I fear I am not overly familiar with them on a personal level. They're great heroes of the land they're from. Warriors of Light! Cehd'ra is the one and Felih is the other.

They're quite splendid.

[loewenbien]

ohhh i see !!! that sounds amazing actually..

you like hot chcolaete too its my fvae!!! i make it for lancelot and i like floral tea

maybe i can maek you dsome too!!

wow maybe your friend estinien can meet sir siegfried and they can be friends!!!

warriors of light??? that sounds really bright and warm!! are they maed of light too?!

THAT WDOULD BE EVEN MORE AMAZING IF THEY WERE

Estinien

[mostsplendid]

From here...

Oh, Estinien... that offer is generous and kind. And I promise that if I can find naught else I will take you up on it.

But for now, I will spare you that burden. I fear I would only drive you up the walls. And we've only just become better friends. I'd hate to ruin that.

We could make one of those pacts if you like. Did you ever do that as a boy? If either of us are ever in need we can count on the other. But, I have the utmost confidence in you that you'll find someone to make a contract with. If not... well, I am here for you, of course.

[dragonfall]

I understand your concerns. They align with my own.

[ Friends or not, he is very aware of their disparate personalities. And the fact that Haurchefant was only spared being choked by Estinien not knowing his location. ]

Very well. If we've need, we will come to each other's aid.

You will admit when you need aid, won't you?

[ Because he is beginning to suspect... ]

[text] handle: revolutionary

[chief_of_staff]

Hey Hatchfont!

Did you want to check out my hat? I'm available whenever!

[Sabo really tried with that name there, believe it or not.]

[text] handle: Silverfuller

[mostsplendid]

[Oh... well. He did try and Haurchefant isn't going to correct him. Seems rude... even if it is his name.]

Most certainly. Let's make a date of it. Where would you like to go?

[chief_of_staff]

A date? Well, that'll be kind of difficult since most stores and restaurants are missing their employees! Unless you just wanted to meet up at your place?

action, early December

[omnicrafter]

[One morning, Haurchefant will wake to find a letter addressed to him slid under his door, sealed with a glittery snowflake sticker. The handwriting is painstakingly neat, almost a bit too formal considering the contents, but grows progressively more rushed as the author goes on.]

To my dearest Haurchefant,

I'm sorry.

I suspect even for you, with your boundless compassion for others, that isn't enough to make amends, but I wanted to apologize nonetheless. For all that I tried to convince you what a wretched creature I am, it's not really true. In the moment, it was cathartic, but the second I was alone again, I wanted so much to keel over and die for what I did to you.

Alas, life does not work that way... and so I am here, yet living and breathing, worthiness be damned. I had thought at first that in being cruel to you, I could escape the pain of losing everything again when my time ran out and we had to part once more, but it only enkindled a different and far more powerful pain, one that I had completely forgotten could ever exist. To have turned right around and done it to the one person who might have been able to absolve me of that feeling, who should never have been subject to that kind of cruelty, is indefensible.

I'm certain you have a bad taste in your mouth over this, over me, just as I intended in my infinite stupidity, and I've no right to convince you otherwise. But I still wanted to tell you how sorry I am for taking the love a distant man much like you once had for me and weaponizing it, when all you sought to do was preserve something you held dear even over your own life. That is just what a knight does, isn't it? Truly, that is why you will be known as a hero for generations to come, and why I will be the one forgotten by time. Those of us who experienced that are only here because of that sacrifice, because of you and how you loved us all in spite of our many differences. I don't know when I lost sight of that, but it is probably the greatest insult to you of all.

If there is naught else I can do in this shard, then when I meet you anew, I promise I'll do things right next time. I hope when things come full circle again, I can greet you properly and hold you tight right from the beginning like you always deserved. And later, I'll tell you all the things your family never told you, all the reasons why so many world-weary Warriors of Light returned your feelings... perhaps it would even be worth letting my heart run free for a change and trying harder to make you happy, even if I lose it all again later.

You will not remember me, not now or in the next world or maybe ever again, but let this be among the deeds I'll carve unto my own soul crystal, so that I may never make the same mistake again. I am no Warrior of Light anymore if the man I loved so much, who once saw so clearly through my tainted form as though it were glass, finds an empty, unlit corridor of hatred instead.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I hurt you. I wasted this chance. I'm sorry, truly.

-- Irhya Pendhula

[The last letter trails off into an unsteady line that extends past the edge of the page, a result of the uncertain lingering of the point of her pen.]

gift; (dec 21st)

[terraria]

[ With how occupied Aspen is with his production, Aspen can't deliver his gift to Haurchefant himself. That's not something he'd usually do - he prefers to see people's faces when they get his presents - but it's the unfortunate fate of being a Dominant. He has Submissives now, and that means he has to support them. He feels like Haurchefant would understand.

What the Elezen will get, however, is an ornate violet and green wrapped box - the green bow has a tag that hangs from it.

Merry Solstice! Aspen's messy script greets, bright and cheery. I... hope this is alright. I'm not entirely sure if it is. I will understand if you return this gift, I may have overstepped - but if you will not, I hope it gives you some comfort here. I only mean to supply that. I realize that the clothes here may not be very inclusive to either of us, so - I thought this would be nice.

A slight, rectangular box lies in the box - a silver locket is inside on a small chain. If he peers inside... Aspen has sketched a vibrant watercolor picture of his hero - what he remembers from the memory. The lilies are in her hair, her smile is radiant... but the locket itself is a dainty thing, easily hid inside a shirt. Aspen is no fool - he understands that this love of his may be something that is best kept under wraps.

Other than that, there's a cloak (with appropriate room for his ears) inside, a muted blue-violet trailing into black at the end like night coming to cloudy, snowy wonderland. It's soft, incredibly soft, and very warm.

There's also a pack of no-bake cookies - peanut butter balls rolled in white powdered sugar to make it look like snow, chocolate-hazelnut truffles, and dipped pretzels studded with peppermint candy. They're not the neatest... Aspen clearly had some trouble making them, but they're quite tasty. ]

» A Starlight Delivery! «

[menphina]

You have a delivery!! ... Left for Haurchefant wherever they may be, with a loving little card, is a [ present that plays a melody ] - "Sometimes, it's best to look at things with a simpler gaze, because we're always so burdened regardless. May you always remember only the happiest times. Merry Starlight!" -

« Some Holiday Cheer! »

[loewenbien]

Here comes a delivery for Haurchefant!! Sent to wherever he may be, this set of presents will have been made their way to him - a lovely diary and a homemade banana milk chocolate mousse!

"I wanted to give you something to make you think of happy things! The chocolate and the warm sweetness you give is the kind of niceness I'd like to see from more knights! Keep your smile beautiful, and don't ever fake it! Happy Starlight Holidays! That's what your world calls it, right? :D Hehe!"

-

Starlight Delivery

[stabbersinyerfambles]

[ Shortly after Haurchefant's gifts are given he receives one in return in warm yellow wrapping. Just underneath the ribbon a hastily written note has been tucked: ]

I swear I got these for you before knowing what you'd given me

[ Which might make more sense after opening the gift to reveal a selection of books.

There's also another note written with much more care and obviously before the first. ]

I would be glad to read these to you whenever you would like. They seem suitably challenging.

Happy Starlight.

-Cehd'ra

Misfire; handle: cehdra

[stabbersinyerfambles]

Sending file...
Loading...
Loaded!

[mostsplendid]

[Curious, to be sure, why such a picture was sent to him but Haurchefant can appreciate a good bird.]

How cute! What's his name? :^0

[stabbersinyerfambles]

I hadn't thought of one I only saw him one day and got lucky when I went to take a picture. He looks very soft.

Perhaps I've taken too many of such pictures and now the excess are being sent out to make room?

misfire;

[gerechtigkeit]

[This actually is a text that's cutoff midway and inserted into Haurchefant's inbox, perhaps out of sheer amusement or perhaps the hacker knew how much the other loves stories of heroes.]

...Yes, I was terrified. He was a legendary creature, capable of destroying villages and laying waste to cities with all his hate. How could I not be? He'd killed countless knights as if they were nothing, regardless of all they knew or had experienced.

But I knew I needed to try. If not me, then who else would be able to stop him?

So I found him within the cavern he'd come to call his lair, and we fought. It was a long and enduring battle- I'd never thought a dragon would have so many different areas in one place, but his home was much larger than I could have ever thought. Were it not for Balmung or my skills, I don't think I would have done nearly as well.

In the end, I barely survived, but Fafnir perished by my blade. The dragon who's hatred of humanity outweighed his greed was no more. That was how I received the title of "dragonslayer."

[mostsplendid]

[This story is clearly not meant for him but it is so utterly fascinating and the knight drinks in every word. A dragon slayer and a heroic one at that! It's too early to call it love but...]

Such an utterly riveting tale! Tell me, hero, what is your name? A champion's name should be known!

1/2

[gerechtigkeit]

[AHHHHHH THIS WASN’T SENT TO VIETNAM???? Oh this is embarrassing please help he feels so utterly undeserving of Haurchefant’s response.]

Misfire; Jakob; handle: butlesbest

[tea_and_murder]

Please do hurry back here. I have spent the morning even making the macaroons.

[mostsplendid]

That looks delicious! Which one is the macaroon?

[Doesn't matter too much as it all looks mouth watering good to him!]