Audience: Yuri Leclerc

[probe]

Comments

[aubins]

Then I will remain silent and no one can accuse me of anything.

[ ha. ]

Lots of things for entertainment, I see. [ nail time nail time. ] That sounds nice. We get some down time but a lot of it isn't spent playing games or stuff like that.

[probe]

Considering what's happening in your world? That doesn't surprise me. [just casually.] But we have whole districts for entertainment purposes. It's a pretty big industry.

[aubins]

Imagine if we were all reading books all the time instead of training and planning battle tactics.

[ we'll say he's done doing base coats and is onto colour. ]

I know an opera singer or two, but it's not really the same thing as the computers and videos your entertainment industry seems to do.

[probe]

At least you'd be educated. That's important, too.

[she tilts her head though.] You mean like that lady I saw in your memory?

[aubins]

It does help.

Yeah, that's one of them. She was all the rage in the Empire before she up and left for the academy.

[probe]

Did she ever say why she left?

[aubins]

Not specifically to me, but I know she used her connections from the opera house to get to the Academy. There were plenty of rumours of her dating habits while she was there, so she was probably looking for a ticket to guarantee herself a stable life.

[ ... ] Don't blame her if that's what it was. There's a lot of nobles at the academy at one time, and she's a very pretty lady.

[probe]

I don't think I could ever blame someone for wanting something stable, even if the means are a little shady. That's what it was like for Date, too. [as she recently, like, very recently, found out.]

Do you blame her at all? [the implication is he doesn't, but she's checking.]

[aubins]

Technically speaking, I don't think it is shady. Not really. People arrange marriages for far more nefarious reasons than "I want financial security and support in my life". Although most of the time people are more blunt about what they're after.


Not for that not. And not really, overall. [ ... ] We had a misunderstanding once, but that was more my fault than anything.

[probe]

...people have misunderstandings all the time. [first and foremost, but she thinks this over.]

You haven't thought about an arranged marriage, have you?

[aubins]

Yup. I dragged this one out a big longer than I should've though. I just didn't want to talk about it, until she cornered me.

Nah. I kept my Crest as much of a secret as I could, so it's not like House Rowe knew they had anything worth bargaining with before I ran away.

[probe]

At least it's out in the open with her now. So it's fine.

[hm?] ...what does your crest do for you?

[aubins]

Mine specifically? Makes me more aware of when someone's going to counter attack me, so I can prevent it. It's difficult to explain: it's more like an extra sense, or some kind of magic you can't make a conscious choice to use.

[probe]

So it's just always on? That has to be really helpful in battle at least. Even if it's not turned on here.

[aubins]

Something like that? It's not like a light, it's just... there. And sometimes it kicks in. Crests are a sing of links to ancient bloodlines, powerful ones, first and foremost. And then they give you an edge in battle.

I understand why things revolve so closely around them, even if I don't care for it exactly.

[rainbowings]

Can you ever, like, remove it? Or are there people without crests? What happens to them?

[aubins]

... You know, I'm not sure. I wasn't born with one, like people normally are. It just appeared one day when I was still pretty young. More people are born without them than not, though. Crests are just a sign of prestige people have latched on to.

Houses will arrange marriages based on the likelihood of children born to that family receiving a Crest or not. So houses without many prominent Crests in the bloodline are always at a disadvantage.

[rainbowings]

[...]

That seems weird that it showed up out of nowhere. If it's something you're born with, wouldn't it be one or the other?

That seems stupid though. Just marry for love like the rest of us.

[aubins]

It should be. [ ... ] I have some suspicions. My crest is one that is long, long lost to time, so it's kinda weird that it suddenly popped up in some poor little prostitute's son in some backend town in Faerghus, right?

[ he laughs at that. ] Nobility don't seem to have that luxury. Or, not all of them do. It's all about power and titles and what you'll get out a marriage rather than whether the people involved like each other.

[rainbowings]

I get the idea of arranged marriages, but those aren't so common now where I'm from. I'm sure they still happen but not the way they do where you're from.

...what're your suspicions though?

[aubins]

I got really ill when I was a kid. Like... closing in on death's door ill. There was an old man my mom had helped in the past -- he was ill, and needed shelter, so we took care of him until he was better. When I was ill he came back and he... did something? Whatever he did it healed me. And after that, I had a crest.

[rainbowings]

[whoa...]

Do you think...like he passed the crest on to you from himself or something? Can people take other people's crests?

[aubins]

I have no idea. He died not long after, so it's not like I can go and ask him or anything.

[rainbowings]

Weird...as long as it's not doing anything to hurt you or anything, then I guess it's okay.

[aubins]

No, it's fine. It helps? It's a Major crest, so it's nice and powerful. And no one who could force me into an arranged marriage to preserve it knows I have it.