daemonized | RECOLLE IC CONTACT.

[He's pleased, too, but only because he managed it. He supposes, with a bit of reflection, he should take some pride in how well he's managed to utilize his new powers. But right now, Ardyn is just glad her necklace isn't rattling around in his empty space with no way of returning.]

That, or it suggests I can feel them so I simply don't lose track of what's in there. If we do this, let's find items that are a bit more mundane this time, hm?

. . . you really were worried, weren't you?

[Of course he was. That was the whole point of the experiment. And yet Rosalind looks faintly puzzled, even so.]

Of course I was.

[He laughs, humorlessly.]

A priceless item like that is a lot to be held accountable for. I'd feel quite guilty if I had actually lost it with my magic.

It isn't quite priceless.

[But that's not what's surprising her. Rosalind glances down at her tea, then back up at him.]

. . . you still surprise me, you know. Three years later, and I'm still not used to how much you care about things.

[For once, she isn't avoiding being personal. It's stunning to her how Ardyn can manage to be such a bleeding heart about everything: friends, students, people he barely knows, stray animals . . . god knows she can't do that.]

You made it sound very priceless.

[He lifts a brow in her direction, but- at her concession of still being able to surprise her, he glances away briefly. He doesn't have the protection of text to sound immediately flippant.]

I care because you cared. Empathy is a difficult thing, you know.

[everyone stop callin him out]

Suitable for a man who was once a healer, at any rate.

Suitable for a teacher as well.

[She's smiling faintly, pleased and a touch amused by his glancing away.]

Are you embarrassed?

No, of course not. You know I don't get embarrassed.

[He says, still not looking at her.]

And now you're lying.

[Any other situation, any other day, this would utterly delight her. But today . . . Rosalind uncurls one leg, nudging him lightly with her foot.]

Why on earth would this embarrass you? You're always encouraging me to be emotional; I would think you'd delight in this kind of caring.

[She knows why it would embarrass her, of course, but she and Ardyn are vastly different people.]

My advice to you does not always apply to myself.

[Sounds hypocritical? Well, he means that not all advice should be the same for each individual person. Ardyn does look in her direction when nudged with her foot. It is purposefully schooled, with his usual telltale arch of a brow.]

It isn't something I simply wish to be known for. I'm more than just a "bleeding heart" [YOU CAN HEAR THE SCARE QUOTES] who frets over every little thing.

[He's the flippant professor, infamously strict on his students. (Because he cares too much.) He has an image -- not so much cultivated as it is him. The man who cares too much is, as well, but that is only for his closest to see.

And when it ekes out, so blatantly obvious, well. He doesn't dislike it, but it is embarrassing sometimes. That he's in actuality a bafflingly sentimental man.]

Of course you are.

[She returns his arch look with one of her own, both eyebrows raised.]

I'm not going to go around telling everyone that you were worried for me. But you're treating it as an insult, when it's a trait I admire in you, Ardyn.

[A hand comes up to run through his hair. Of course you are, she says. It's the truth, but you don't have to throw it back at him like that!!! She sounds like Grell. And Dante. God.]

Mmph.

[A very eloquent "mmph" at that, thank you very much.]

A compliment from you is one that I'll hold dear to my heart, so I'll take it as is.

Thank god.

[She waits for a few seconds, letting that settle between them. It really is a trait she admires in him, and she wants it known that it's a good thing, a trait he ought to keep cultivating, not suppressing.

But one can't be sentimental forever. And so:]

Next time I'll simply stick to complimenting your pretty eyes, hm? Would that be better received?

[Straight out of sentimentality, into joking? Ardyn seems to adjust to that well, after letting the previous silence linger for a moment.]

Oh? You think my eyes are pretty?

Fervently. They're the subject of my next painting.

[Ain't no straight face like a Lutece straight face because a Lutece straight face is cultivated from years of having to pretend not to have emotions.]

An oil painting I hope, none of that acrylic nonsense.

[Contrasted with the face of Ardyn Izunia who looks so damn amused now.]

Do be sure to get my good side. The most handsome Izunia requires nothing short of perfection.

I prefer watercolors, but I was trained in oils, if you're so picky.

[Weirdly, this is true.]

You know, speaking of Izunia faces, I finally managed to speak to your brother. Angry sort, isn't he?

Are you really?

[And yet, he can see it. Somehow sitting at an easel, paintbrush in hand, is an image that suits her.]

...Ah, Fynn. Angry, not always, unless Retrospec is involved. But he generally has a very... loud personality. He's always been that way, even when we were much younger.

[Someday, maybe, she'll show him some of the things she's done. They're not really a secret, just not something she advertises all that much.]

Mm. I think I may have made a poor impression on him.

[NOT THAT SHE CARES, HONESTLY, but it's something to talk about.]

The subject was indeed Retrospec. And I was, ah, clinical in my assessment of them. He was not.

I imagine not.

[Oh boy he has to hear about this conversation.]

Do tell.

There isn't all that much to tell. He was incredulous anyone would want to work for Retrospec, I said I could certainly imagine wanting to work there, as what they're doing is a fascinating social experiment. He said it was amoral and horrid, and I said, yes, it is, but that doesn't mean it doesn't provide interesting results.

I imagine he was very stubborn about it, too? Was this over text? There were probably a lot of exclamation points involved.

[Casually dragging Fynn, no biggie.]

Things were bolded as well. He was very emphatic.

[He scoffs a little, but at least it's fond.]

That sounds like him. As you might be able to imagine, we're opposites in many ways. He has a penchant for screaming and I... have a penchant for ignoring him.

[Which is mostly just his way of prodding at Fynn, even if he's not here. Such is the way of brothers.]

This is the brother who lives here? That must make ignoring him rather difficult. I admire your dedication.

It is. And it's not as difficult as you think. When you grow up refining the art of "how to ignore your siblings", it actually becomes quite easy.

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