daemonized | RECOLLE IC CONTACT.

[Well, he'll keep going then!]

Very well. The shirt I mentioned before, it was long and crept out from under the vest. The pants were olive and pinstripe, and the shoes were-- Well, I believe they were boots. I can't be certain.

[Okay I will link the picture for the sake of the shoes because who the hell knows what those are? He describes them in detail, plus anything else I missed.]

Oh, and I had a wing. [He stops brushing, briefly, as if he's just remembered. He sounds amused.] Not a real wing, mind you. But something the shape of it, long and black and made to resemble having feathers. It attached at the left shoulder, like a pauldron of some sort.

It all sounds very...elaborate. Ornate, even, with all these details involved. Back then you were even more of a careful dresser, wing and all.

[this is her trying to be nice about the whole thing. this is trying to be careful about not saying what she really feels about it all.]

[Very "elaborate" she says. His smile turns a little knowing, and hardly offended.]

You don't have to mince words, Grell. You think it's all very hideous, don't you?

If you appeared before my eyes wearing that, I would strip you out of it completely so that we could start again from the absolute foundation in hopes of finding a better outfit, which is the simplest task in the world given how much better anything else would be.

[there's the truth.]

[wow rude!! (Again, he's hardly offended. More entertained by her reaction, than anything.)

There are a few avenues in which he can respond. He can pretend to be offended, be more sincere in the show of his amusement, or... Or.]

My, that just sounds like you're looking for reasons to remove my clothes.

[for a second, she almost protests, and then, crossing her arms.]

I did leave myself defenseless for that one, didn't I.

[sometimes you have to give props where props are due.]

[He actually laughs, low and amused.]

You did.

[He gives her something of a mischievous look now. ]

Do you know what this means, though?

No. What does it mean?

[how much is she going to regret asking this.]

It means you've no reason to complain about the hat from now on. Why? Because it could always be worse.

You wouldn't want me to take inspiration from my past self, would you?

Ugliness in the past doesn't prevent me from commenting on ugliness in the present day. Besides, if you start taking so-called inspiration from the mess you described, I'm afraid I most certainly will have to intervene.

[one of these days, she'll be able to dress him entirely again, and it will be a benefit to the world.]

Intervene? That sounds ominous.

[He's grinning.]

Still, I'll do it. Each time the hat is called ugly, the inclination to find a facsimile of my past clothing will rise. You'll find me wearing a wing before you know it.

Then I'll need to find many more words than simply ugly. For it is the letter of the word, and not the spirit, that I'm bound to if I'm determined to keep you away from wings and too elaborate pants.

You think the pants were too elaborate? I own a similar pair already, you know.

[Tragic fashion choices. They're black, though, and not olive.]

Of course you do. And the next time I see you you'll no doubt be wearing them.

[black, at least, is bearable. black hides many a fashion sin.]

You know me too well. Because yes, I will.

Just for you, Grell.

Then I'm going to say nothing. Deprive you of the amusement you seek to garner from my reaction. You will go along, as unremarked upon as if you weren't wearing anything other than your usual clothing.

[even as she says it, she knows it's a lie. she'd say something, she really would.]

Now, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't believe for a second that your willpower is quite that strong.

You'll say something. You see the pinstripe pants and have to say something.

Well certainly I will if you go parading around in them deliberately trying to get me to make some comment. I'll have to remark on how well they fit or don't fit you, or that you're trying stripes today. Pants like that are begging to be commented on.

[and it means she'll have lost. from the start. but the benefit is that both of their moods seem to have lifted some.]

But a wing? Seriously? Not even a matched set, a singular wing? What purpose does such a thing serve?

[He looks satisfied, because it's true. She would lose, quite thoroughly.]

I don't know if there was truly any practical use to it. To be honest, it felt a bit unwieldy.

Perhaps it's symbolic? Some sort of status symbol? If you were to wear a wing, for what reason would it be?

I'd want to wear two wings and be balanced, but if I had to wear one...I'd wear it to prove a point, or to indicate some type of position. Something worth the weight and attention of me wearing a wing. A celebration...or a warning in the shape of an accessory.

Of course, I could always have been asked to wear it.

[A celebration or a warning. Ardyn wonders which it might've been, truly. But at the same time, there's something that he's almost certain of, though he can't quite say exactly why.]

I don't think anyone... asked me to wear it.

[~~no one but yourself would want you to wear any of that, ardyn~~]

Everything, I believe, was worn of my own choice. Unfortunately, that means you cannot shift the blame of my "terrible fashion choices" onto someone else.

It also means that you know something you and your past self share - the tendency to dress for none but yourself. Only it takes form of a black wing in that life and being stubborn about layers in this one.

[or both.]

Tenaciously careless about society's perceptions, in that regard.

[He actually gives a shrug.]

Why waste time worrying about what others think of you? There's already too much in life to concern yourself with, than to lose sleep over the opinion of sheep... as the saying may go.

[Ardyn does care what others may think, of course -- to say that he 100 percent does not would be a lie. He just tends to care exponentially less than most, and when he does, it's only about very specific, hard-to-pin things.]

Sheep they may be, but I want the sheep to be impressed with me rather than scornful. Is that such a waste of time? It makes me pleased when they are.

[if they must cast judgement, let them look and be respectful. she cares more than she wants people to know - cloaking it in saying it was all for her own comfort is an excuse half of the time.]

But a wolf cares not. [-for the opinion of sheep, he means, if he's going to finish his reference in the most backwards way possible.]

As someone very obscure and not at all famous once wrote, "To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."

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