daemonized | RECOLLE IC CONTACT.

[automatically, she nods.]

My parents never showed any desire for another, and so I've remained blissfully unaware of the trials and tribulations of having any siblings. I think I was enough of a handful for them.

[one was more than they needed, after all.]

The closest I get is stories like this.

I'm envious. [It's what every brother says, without fail. But if put to interrogation, Ardyn would eventually reveal that he does not regret ever having a younger sibling. (The rest, though? He's not so generous.)]

Though you don't exactly strike me as the kind of child that would have been a "handful" for any parent. Apparently I'm wrong.

Maybe I didn't throw remotes into the TV, but I was curious. Endlessly so, wanting to know how the world worked. Always trying to read and touch and listen and really attempting to not ask "why" so much that I'd run the risk of not getting an answer.

[she wanted to know, and when she didn't find the answers one place, she'd look another. all of this is surface level, not far enough into the past that she feels like she needs to divert the line of questioning. talking a little about the past was better than none at all.]

I still am, I'm only old enough to know the proper timing of questions and that maybe one shouldn't try to reach out and touch everything one wants to.

Well, one should never stifle curiosity. [Wasn't that the boon of being a child? Being able to ask freely all the why's in the world, without any real care of consequence? Doing so as an adult was exceedingly more difficult.]

Even as an adult, it's good to know that you still possess it in equal measure. But it would be remiss of me to not suggest that you be bold enough to reach out and touch what you like, on occasion. Don't let maturity take the fun out of everything.

Of course. When opportunity allows, I don't hold back - being mature means I get to exercise the wholehearted choice to reach and touch. Metaphorically and physically both.

[and that's fun enough to make up for the loss of all questions indulged.]

We're trusted to make our own choices without someone hovering behind, ready to push our hands away if we reach for something that isn't supposedly good for us. It's dare I say easier to be curious now than as a child, if you know how to go about it. Or that might simply be the freedom to pull all nighters in search of answers.

[What an opportunity this would be, for Ardyn to make several flirtatious comments about reaching out for physical touch, but. Well. Maybe he'd be so bold if this were more than just a second date, but as it stands, the professor is reasonable enough to make the executive decision to leash his tongue.

Maybe some other time.

And so, he opts for a far more innocent question, albeit still teasing.]

And are you the sort to pull all-nighters to satiate your curiosity? If I recall correctly, you seem to be fast asleep at 3 AM.

[At least, according to the few times he's texted her at that ungodly hour.]

And yet I wake up for you.

[she smiles, and if he's going to tease, then she can take it. it's true that she requires more sleep than the days of flying by on varied numbers of hours, she'll admit that much freely.]

They're less frequent than I used to take them. Now it's only if the question is so compelling that I lose track of time - after a certain point, it feels ridiculous to go to the whole effort of sleeping. I'm not like some people, completely lucid at three in the morning for their own nebulous reasons.

[And yet I wake up for you, she says. Heavens, the teasing has just bounced right back in his direction, and he's rather glad she's not taking his pulse once more. He strategically raises his glass of wine to his lips, drinking, before setting it down again to respond.]

My reasons are less nebulous than you think. It's a bad habit of mine, nothing more. My mind feels more active at night, more awake than it should be. Perhaps those years at law school twisted my sleeping schedule into a mockery of what it once was, or maybe that's the sort of person I've always been. Or both.

[In his younger years, he had always felt so tired -- what with trying to live up to horrendously high expectations, taking care of a little brother who wanted nothing more than to stay at his side, and studying. The irony isn't lost on him now that, at night, he almost never feels tired until a truly ungodly hour.]

Your school may certainly have contributed. But I think it's something you're born with, the same as how some people are what one'd refer to in polite company as "morning people" and less so as "impossible to deal with."

[those strange sorts that can be cheery and energized in the morning with no motivation at all. a behavior both fascinating and utterly alien to her.]

But if it's merely habit keeping you awake, then so be it. I'm only sorry I can't join you in unveiling the mysteries of the dark hours.

[or whatever else one does at 3 AM.]

["Impossible to deal with". Well. She's obviously not much of a morning person, and Ardyn makes a mental note of this -- idle information to be filed away for later, for no real reason other than he's interested in knowing.]

And why can't you? You should sometime. Three in the morning is best reserved for self-reflection and other things you can't be bothered with in the daylight. There's something utterly isolating, yet calming, about the dead of night.

[Or ungodly morning.]

Things you can't be bothered with in daylight? I'd argue that there are spaces between moments in the day that serve the same purpose. Between one task and the next, five minutes of time that become a way to touch on what lurks beneath.

[the point in time when you're savoring your coffee and don't feel quite so weighed down, going to open a window for fresh air, when getting home and being able to sink in the comfort of the couch. existing, and then briefly glimpsing thoughts that come to the surface before sinking back under.]

And yet. I'll be the first in admitting my fault in never paying enough attention to the night to see if there truly is such a difference to be found in it. If I end up feeling like being isolated or calm, I might try it, but I've always thought the night was best for dreaming.

[metaphorically and literally.]

Five minutes, only to have that peace shattered by the buzzing of your phone, or someone coming into your office needing something, or any number of other things that only the daylight will provide a person with.

[Moments of serenity throughout the day are all well and good, but only provide disappointment when unduly interrupted. That much was inevitable.]

Regardless, I won’t be one to talk you out of getting a good night’s rest. I’m just an anomaly where sleep is concerned — so please, continue your dreaming as you like.

See, but now I must end up wide awake in the middle of the night at a point, if only to see, lost in contemplation and whatever else should take the the place of the dreams I like. So sorry, I positively have to be contrary.

[if she could make it that far one night without falling asleep. but if she got woken up in the night again, then it would be definitely doable. all the thoughts are idle, ridiculous really, but it isn't like Ardyn didn't already know about her ridiculous tendencies, superhero teamup and all.]

[Don't joke about things, because Ardyn will joke(??) in return about making this happen. See below:]

Then I'll be sure to text you multiple times at 3 AM again, just to make sure you're awake and ready to be contrary. Does that sound agreeable to you?

[oh, but she's not one to back down from such a challenge, even if it is a joke. it's more entertaining to continue such a thing.]

Perfectly so. I'll be waiting for such times to occur.

[this will backfire into her sleep schedule, but the sacrifices one makes to sustain the proper scene...it can't be that bad.]

[How entertaining do you think it'll actually be, once he texts you multiple times in the dead of night just to see this through, Grell?]

Then I won't forget.

[And Ardyn Izunia certainly doesn't forget.]

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