daemonized | RECOLLE IC CONTACT.

[This is starting to feel like a repeat of what happened to Prompto; an officer says something shockingly unkind, without regard to how the young man might feel about it afterwards, when the conversation is long finished.

It's this lack of basic decency that really gets under his skin, second only to feeling offended for his student's sake.]

Do you wish to talk about it? Or would you prefer to push it from your mind for now?

Choose whichever you're most comfortable with. Let's not give that man the satisfaction of getting you down, otherwise.

[On his end, Dante stares at the screen for a long moment before typing back.]

you remember how i told you i knew jamie before?

a few years ago when i was still with my parents i met up with some people i'd met online. we were just going to hang out, smoke, drink, the usual stuff idiots that age get up to

to make a long story really short, they were trafficking art and got busted that night and since i was there i got caught up in it. i hadn't known anything about it so i didn't get in any trouble, but

after that they decided i'd be better off back at my amma's place instead of with them

and on tonight's news at 11 dante rantanen's a master of dumbass ideas

it's whatever by this point. it was years ago

[He's just... going to stop talking. Adding more text probably isn't doing anything to help his case.]

[This is a private conversation. Ardyn will set aside all judgment, and merely be supportive, as he should be.]

The only thing you're guilty of is, perhaps, being a bad judge of character. Or thinking well enough of people to not believe yourself in bad company.

[Which isn't a failing. Many people lose that way of thinking very quickly, in a world such as theirs.]

Do you think your parents were only trying to protect you from bad influences?

[Ardyn's wrong--he'd known he was in bad company, and he'd delighted in it. It just happened that the company that night was bad in different ways than most of the other company he'd kept over the years.]

i know they were

but it's a two way street. they were trying to make sure i couldn't make bad decisions either, at least not where it would reflect on them

[Because it's not like he couldn't get into the same sorts of trouble where his grandmother had lived--it was just more removed from the public eye, was all.]

[That, at least, he can understand on a more personal level.]

Such is the plight of being the son of figures very much in the public eye. I know the feeling quite well.

[Commiseration and all that, again. However, Ardyn was never sent away -- he had played the part of the good son, for as long as he was able. And when he did decide to stray from expectations, he was old enough to truly thrive on independency.]

Though I suppose we should step away for a moment and consider this: regardless of what's true and what isn't, that man had no right to say such a thing to you. If he is so sensitive about his private affairs, he shouldn't talk about them on a public post.

[it's errybody talk shit about isa day]

either that or he shouldn't try to lord shit over people that have dirt on him like that

i probably wouldn't have commented at all if he hadn't been a jackass at the police station a few days ago

coming by the cell to gloat at me, taking forever with the release paperwork, then he gets pissy when i fire back at him

seems to me he can dish it out but he can't take it himself

[If only he knew how far back the bad blood between them really went...]

[Alas, such ignorance is bliss for now. This could be applied to Ardyn as wel.]

He came by to gloat? What an arrogant man. Likely prideful, too, and the reason why he reacted the way he did.

Needless to say, this is the second individual at the police department which I won't think very highly of from now on.

[Ardyn's not wrong. But there's something more important that's caught Dante's attention...]

the second individual?

[He probably shouldn't be so open about his feelings on the matter, but they're already here, so--]

Detective Gabranth. He said something quite unkind to Prompto over the public network once. He apologized later, but this has admittedly tainted my perception of the man.

[Who's a bit protective over his not!son? This guy.]

[Gabranth? Hmm. He could definitely see that--Gabranth is a very... short man, in spite of his stature.]

no surprise there the guy's got a stick up his ass the size of a redwood in california

have you seen the way he gets bent out of shape if you dare call him "officer"

[And even though he knows better, he can't help but wonder again if his fight with Prompto has tainted Ardyn's perception of him. After all, punching him is much worse than saying something rude on the network...

But the moment passes quickly, and Dante rolls his eyes at himself for even considering it. It doesn't matter one way or the other if it did or didn't, right? If it didn't, great, if it did, well... it goes right back to what he's always known anyways. So no surprise there either.]

if these are the types the department touts as their best i'd hate to see how bad their worst are

[That's different to Ardyn. Yes, the nose-breaking fiasco could have been handled differently, but Dante was a young man struggling with the revelations of an influx of memories. He was young, and a consequence of youthfulness was sometimes an unbridled impulse. Acting without thinking.

Gabranth is represents the RPD. He's a blasted detective. There's a different standard there, a responsibility to appear to care for the citizens of Recolle that he failed to shoulder.]

Let's hope we never find out, shall we?

I daresay even Fynn would have been more sensitive, despite his own temper.

hope all you want, i expect it

probably at the worst possible time too

[Are they talking about Fynn dealing with him or Prompto now? He's not entirely sure--but does it make a difference, either?]

your brother gets pissed and insults what's observable

i haven't seen him go for the cheap shots yet

[Both, likely.]

Fynn is never unkind on purpose. But his temper, easy to manipulate as it is, is his failing.

no arguments here

though i don't think i've ever seen him when he wasn't already in a bad mood

[Dante kind of ruined his day off, after all.]

Well. To be fair, it was certainly no thanks to you.

THAT time

the other time i'm pretty sure you were giving him crap first about the names the network gave all of us

anyways how was i supposed to know they'd call someone in off-duty?

I'm an older sibling. I'm practically /required/ to annoy him just on principle.

And you should know that if you kick the hornet's nest, eventually all of them will swarm to you.

what do you mean if my folks had decided to have more kids i'd have an actual excuse to be an ass? obviously this past me had a bunch of younger siblings so i'm just taking my chances where i get them

making up for lost time

[Obviously this is much more important than admitting to his own fault.]

You can't make up for lost time when you never had a younger sibling to begin with.

Sounds as if you're reaching.

[calling him out, as Ardyn is prone to do.]

[Oh, Ardyn chose the wrong thing to call him out on. Can you hear the smirk in his text?]

how quickly you forget

i DO have a sibling

[Yeah, yeah, he's still reaching. But if that's his reason why...!]

Edited 2017-05-26 19:45 (UTC)

[Ah, blast. What an easy thing for him ~~and the player~~ to forget.]

Ah, how it's slipped my mind.

Yet, my point still stands. You're looking for excuses to be difficult, when the truth is that it's simply you being stubborn half of the time.

[Honestly, Dante can't blame him for forgetting--it's not like he'd be able to pick his brother out of a crowd even if he wanted to. He knows so little about the other boy that he honestly couldn't tell Ardyn which one of them were born first. It's never been that important, never been pertinent information.]

no, i'm definitely an asshole and i egged people on long before we started discussing my apparent past family and need to make up for what i've been missing out on

joking about it now doesn't mean i wouldn't keep doing it anyways even if that isn't the case

once a douche always a douche

you know how it is

So you're telling me that you don't believe people can change with time and experience?

[DON'T USE THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PSYCHOANALYZE HIM????]

what come on that wasn't what i meant and you know it

i'm just saying i don't need an excuse to be an asshole, i'd do it with or without the excuse

what am i supposed to pretend like i don't know who i am and what people think about me

[This certainly took a turn he wasn't expecting? Let him make self-disparaging jokes, it's no big deal...]

[Ardyn is the sort of man who believes that jokes, especially about oneself, often belie a modicum of truth buried within. Sorry, Dante.]

I'm just saying that what people think of you shouldn't always dictate how you act on the surface. Often times that leads to more trouble than it's worth, as you saw.

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