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video; un: redwine

A question, if you’d indulge me.

[His tone says that he entirely expects that people will - smooth, charming, in a pleasantly low-pitched voice which can either have the effect of drawing a certain type of attention... or making you want to punch him. Red Wine tucks his hair behind one of his long, pointed ears and idly folds a piece of paper in crisp lines. Anyone passingly familiar with origami would be able to see exactly what he was doing, though perhaps not exactly what he is making.]

I’ve been away from my home for a while now. I’m sure the same can be said for many people here even if they were not already in unfamiliar worlds before this one… [The movement of his hands pauses, and he stares at the paper for a moment before lowering it with a short sigh.

Anyway…]

Travelling in unusual circumstances has a tendency to change people, whether for better or worse. Would you count your experiences here - or even elsewhere - as something of value, or something you would rather forget?

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[Hijikata merely lurks on AOL most of the time, but today he can't sleep like he usually does during the daytime because it's too bright outside (and his tent has no curtains to draw), so he's tuning in to Red Wine's stream. At least he's someone he knows, so he probably won't be trolled or roped into a multi-level marketing scheme here!]

It's been worth it, yes. I was able to develop plenty of new skills, even in areas I never thought I could venture into.

[That's a fairly neutral answer, but all the ways in which he changed on a personal level... he wants to hold those closer to his heart.]

Hm.

[A take he would have expected of this man, even with the brief amount of time they had spent together. In fact he expects that many who would think to answer would answer in the same sort of way, and he isn't sure how much of it he would consider genuine and how much would just be some kind of cognitive dissonance.]

I could say I have as well. Magic isn't something I'm able to do where I come from.

[Some Food Souls can... Red Wine is not one of them.]

And there are certainly enough experiences that I wouldn't want to lose.

It'll honestly suck to go back home and have to make do without magic again. I'll miss it!

[Will he also miss being able to see ghosts? Probably not, but he'll miss "his" ghosts, the ones from the night patrol.]

And as much as the fae's constant tricks and trials also suck, they sure leave you knowing where you stand afterwards.

[Personally he saw his core values reaffirmed and strengthened, which did help him grow as a person, much as he's been bitching about the means and methods.]

What's your best take-away from your time here so far?

[He's sincerely interested. Perhaps Red Wine has been paying attention to aspects of life on Avalon that Hijikata hasn't been minding! But he doesn't expect any huge surprises, given that they are both warriors and likely have broadly similar priorities.]

Mm...

[He thinks about it. His best take-away? Not necessarily from his time here, but his time spent away from Tierra overall... well, that's an easy question to answer and his expression softens just a little. Maybe the tiny smile and warmth in his eyes before he speaks is an easy tell for what he's going to say.]

I've been able to spend some of my life with a person who... completes me in a way I wouldn't have expected.

[Red Wine quiets for a moment, then he lets out a quiet laugh.]

I suppose that the lesson there would be to keep an open mind for new opportunities.

That's something of value alright.

[He knows that expression. He's seen it on the faces of his partners on Prismatica, specifically those who returned to him after the first moon phase (and he doesn't know it, but he looks the same way when he thinks or talks about them).]

Someone from another world?

[Something of value, indeed. Red Wine had not put such value on a mortal since his Master Attendant had passed away, and yet now there they were.]

Yes. A risk in itself, but one I've found to be worth it.

[To say nothing of how utterly miserable he had been in the months when Bailey had been absent from Avalon... perhaps that simply proved the attachment, though.]

I plan to make the most of the time we have while we have it. I have a feeling you understand what I mean.

[It looks like ultimately this treasured experience is the same for both of them, and it's one so unwarriorlike... Hijikata had forsworn any romance back on his homeworld, but getting to experience it after all was so rewarding, he doesn't regret opening himself to it. He only indicates his confirmation of Red Wine's assumption with the tiniest nod.]

Making the most of it is all we can do. These worlds are unpredictable.

[And it's cruel, really, to lose so many important people one after the other, and to never know how much time one has left with those who remain, but lamenting it won't change anything. He can only hope that Red Wine won't be separated from his partner (again!).]

Mm, they are that.

[He had lost Bailey once and had not taken it well. If it happened again... he thinks that he could handle it more easily now, but he still doesn't relish the idea of once again waking up without his partner in bed beside him.

As for the idea of him leaving them behind...

Not something that he enjoys thinking about, either.]

Finding myself falling for someone in such a way was yet another unpredictable thing when I've spent so much of my existence avoiding attachments like that.

Food Souls and samurai are pretty similar in that way.

[The story is always the same, isn't it? A warrior, dedicated to only his cause, who somehow ends up swept up in a romance! Hijikata prefers to scale back from the topic rather than divulge any more about his own experiences, though.]

At least even in our homeworlds we'd have had the chance to meet a special someone, but what element will you miss the most? For me it'll be fire for sure. Nothing like not depending on a lighter than can be boobytrapped!

[Isn't that a weirdly specific concern?! Well, not for nothing.]

[He has to laugh at that, pressing his lips together to restrain his smile afterwards. That is an oddly specific concern, but not one that he chooses to draw too much attention to for the moment.]

Fire has been a useful one, but I think I prefer water and ice as the most useful thing to manipulate. Particularly when it comes to combat.

[There's nothing quite like icing the ground under someone's feet when they least expect it, and having them fall over.]

... Have you come across many boobytrapped lighters in your life?

More than you can imagine.

[Thanks for nothing, Okita! Even if there were nothing else Hijikata liked about Avalon, not having many super sadists around is a definitive perk.]

I get you about water and ice. At first I really sucked at those, but now that I've gotten more practice they've become really versatile! A solid icicle rain takes care of a lot or rabble already, and if an enemy has too thick of a hide or armour to pierce or burn you can always drown them in a water bubble.

[Good, Hijikata, you sound like a brute!]

[That might be a sight he'd like to see. He didn't have Hijitaka pegged as the jumpy type, but maybe he was wrong?]

Hah, you think like a soldier.

[His lips tilt in amusement.]

When the odds are stacked against you, you ought to use anything at your disposal to achieve victory, no?

That's right. In this world - well, this multiverse - you can't always play nice.

[He's so not above getting his hands dirty! And neither is Red Wine, clearly.]

I'd say I'll miss the archaeopteryx as well, but in my world there's no place for creatures like them; our sky is full of air- and spaceships. No space for horses in the streets either, what with all the cars. And we've got crime and the occasional monster, just like Avalon. Honestly, it's neither better nor worse, just different.

[An archaeopteryx isn't something Red Wine is familiar with but he can gather enough from the context and simply nods. They understand one another in a way that doesn't prompt further questions and Red Wine considers Tierra to be much the same - crime, the occasional monster, but overall it is not a terrible place. It certainly can be, and there are some awful people there, but enough of it is good as to be worth saving.]

It's always good to keep that kind of perspective. As for me, I'm used to being looked at to solve problems that other people can't, so being here isn't too strange in that regard.

[Food Souls being made for a specific purpose, and all.]

You'd be a good man to have in the Shinsengumi if you'd been born on my world.

[What else do policemen do than solve problems, after all?]

If I'd been born as a Food Soul, meanwhile... I wonder what I'd be.

[Yeah. Whatever food might Toshirou "Mayo Freak" Hijikata possibly have been?]

Hm, it's hard to say. It could be something as simple as your favourite food, or something else entirely.

[With Tierra being his first example of such things Red Wine can only go on what he knows of existing Food Souls. Imagining humans as one of them is... odd, and it isn't an easy question to answer.]

We have our own individual personalities and traits, so it isn't as easy as being able to say what you might be just by knowing you.

[Yeah, Hijikata, this isn't like taking a 'What food am I?' online quiz!]

That's fair. I guess we'll never find out - unless this place throws us for that kind of loop.

[Again, he wouldn't put anything past Avalon! He may miss the people and the magic when he eventually goes back home, but at least Edo is more predictable. A little.]

I should probably get some sleep before dusk, but it's been good talking to you.

[He feels like he's gotten to know Red Wine a bit better... and it's always reassuring that other warriors, too, fell in love on another world!]

I'm not sure if I'd find it irritating or not, if it did.

[It would be very strange indeed for everyone to suddenly be Food Souls, but then again... he isn't sure if the magic here can even support that kind of idea. They are more akin to these 'Servants' he keeps hearing about than anything else, and it doesn't seem that they fare any better in keeping their original states and purposes either.

But perhaps a conversation for another time. Red Wine nods and gives a small smile.]

Likewise. Sleep well, Hijikata.

[He smiles back before ending the call. It's nice to be sent off to bed like this... he's really been away from the barracks full on other swordsmen for a long time, hasn't he? But a quiet tent has its perks as well (no pranksters barging in, for a start), so he won't complain. As long as some decent people are around there are far worse places than this island.]

[Camus looks to think for a moment before he answers.]

I would say something of value.

Things have happened hear that couldn't happen at home.

I can agree with that much, certainly.

[He's had a wealth of experiences of his own that he could never have had on Tierra. Realised things about himself, as well... and found someone that he holds close to his heart.]

But, for you, do you think that it was enough?

I think it was more than enough.

This has been a strange vacation, of sorts. And I've had some experiences and relationships I couldn't have back at home.

Hah, I've never heard anyone call it a vacation.

[It does make him wonder about just what kind of world this person comes from, but... Ah, Red Wine's expression does visibly soften then.]

Relationships? Yes, I can say the same. There is something to be said of this meeting of realms, no?

[A hmph.]

Well, maybe that is the wrong word, but it is definitely a vacation from all the rules and work of home. [He's enjoyed the break from being an idol 24/7.]

Very much so. I've met some people here I'd never meet back home.

Likewise. Even someone from my own world.

[Not so strange when worlds are so large, but when every Food Soul tended to have at least a passing awareness of all the others, his not knowing who Century Egg was at all had been a startling thing.]

That was unexpected, but not unwelcome. And, hm... a break from certain responsibilities and attitudes has been pleasant in its own way.

I knew the person from my world, worked with them, in fact. But getting to know them better was something I hadn't expected to come from being in Avalon.

[He takes a sip of some tea he had in the background.]

The lack of strict rules too. Would you believe relationships are banned in the profession I'm in back home?

[He huffs out a soft sound of curious amusement.]

Banned? At the risk of your job, I assume. [No way to really ban people from having relationships, but he imagines that if the restriction comes hand in hand with the role that would be difficult to get around.]

I have no such dire problems... though I suppose that my prospects in that regard would be limited.

Exactly. An Idol has to keep a certain image for their fans. And being in a relationship with someone would cause problems with that. [So, none or hide it really, really well.]

Limited? How so?

[An idol, hm? Interesting. But he'll answer the question first.]

I'm sure it's clear I'm not human. [The blood-red eyes, sharp teeth and long, elfin ears make that obvious enough.] I'm also effectively immortal-- not a vampire.

[Just to make that perfectly clear.]

On Tierra, I... try not to involve myself too much with humans, in that way.

I do appreciate that you clarified that you are not a vampire. Even if I believed in such things. [Said with a smirk.]

Oh, and how do you avoid humans?

Things don't need you to believe in them in order to exist. [He is entirely too aware that he could have arrived here a vampire if Avalon had not seen fit to 'fix' the problems that the previous world he had occupied had laid on him.

Ugh, it doesn't even bear thinking about.]

And I don't avoid humans at all. I simply don't engage in romantic relationships with them.

You have a point. [He's not a religious person either, so there's that.]

Ah, I misunderstood. What makes you avoid us in such a way?

Mm... because any human I grow to have such feelings for is one I will inevitably outlive.

[He might be able to watch one, or perhaps two lovers grow old and die, but that isn't the kind of life that he would want for himself in the long term.]

Besides, such relationships aren't entirely accepted even if it was something I wanted.

[ For once, Xingchen is perched on one of the roofs of Camelot, and his familiar (a beautiful black sable) is curled in his lap as he rubs over her ears. His usual white Cultivator robes are a comforting weight, even if they might not fit in the best here. ]

This is my second world away from my home world. For the most part, my experiences have been valuable. I would not wish to forget the lessons I have learned.

Would you agree?

[He notices that the man is on top of a roof immediately, and there is a momentary shift of his expression as he tries to work out just where said roof is. Since he doesn't spend much time on rooftops himself... it isn't an easy task.

Then he considers the question, giving it the thought that it's due.]

I would, I think. Not only in terms of lessons learned. Experiences can have their own innate value regardless of whether or not they teach us something, no?

Every experience has value. Everything, no matter how dark and miserable, is something that forms a part of you from then on. Forgetting experiences is basically forgetting life, and then... well, what's the point?

[Morgan is hardly perfect; in moments like this, he can come off more like he's lecturing than opining.]

That's a lot of words to not answer the question.

[It does come off as lecturing but Red Wine hardly cares save for his mildly unimpressed look, which could could easily be taken as simply his default expression.]

I'm curious for personal opinion, not asking for a philosphical debate.

But my personal opinions are predicated on philosophical debates! [Morgan's grin makes light of his words, though they're deeply and almost uncomfortably true. The price of being able to believe what you will into reality is having what you believe sink into everything.] It's hard to answer, though. I wish we'd never had that disaster with the cities getting destroyed and everything, I'd have been happy never dealing with that, but I wouldn't forget it, y'know?

Mm.

[He's old enough to have seen a lot of things, but the loss of two entire towns like that was certainly something new. Fallen Angels could be terribly destructive but he knows how to beat them. When it comes to dragons and giants made of stone, though..?]

I'm sure I would have rather it hadn't happened, but it doesn't seem that many people actually took anything of value from the experience either.

Hard for us to say without being in their heads, y'know? Some people took things out of it like, 'we need to stop the dragon to make sure it doesn't do this again.' That's certainly a valid lesson, even if it's one I disagree with.

Hmph. I don't know if I would call that a 'lesson'.

[He absolutely would not, though he certainly has his own dissenting opinions about how that entire debacle played out. If nothing else, it reduced his faith that those people here who could hold the most influence were actually capable of consistently doing the right thing to a new low.]

I don't much like it either, but I understand how they got to it. Especially considering I think many people here come from worlds where physical combat was not only useful, but necessary, for protection and survival.

Hmph, fair enough. I can't say I don't come from a world like that. The benefit of years gives a different perspective.

Yeah, it's all well and good for me to talk about pacifism and the sanctity of life when I don't generally have to fear for mine, and have been given every gift to have the luxury of believing in that. But at the same time, things went spectacularly to hell there. Killing isn't ever the right answer, but sometimes it's the least-wrong answer you have available.

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