.:G'raha and Blade Private Conversations:.

[baebladie]

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week 1, wednesday

[baebladie]

[ ...It wasn't just something half-crazed. He told G'raha to meet him in the observatory later that day.

Regardless if he flipped his shit or whatnot, he seems to be somewhat calmer now.

How long does he have to wait for the cat boy to show up? ]

[allrounder]

[ Not very long at all! G'raha is punctual and he doesn't dillydally, showing up shortly after Blade arrives.

He looks much more... composed now, it seems. ]

Are you feeling all right?

[ It's the first thing that leaves his mouth, because it's his first concern above everything else. G'raha does consider them to be friends, whether Blade would admit to it or not. ]

[baebladie]

No.

[ Blade says simply. He is never feeling alright except the one day in this week where he was. ]

You saw what happened.

...Still curious, aren't you?

[ The display hardly answered many questions and Blade doesn't particularly care to reply to them, but since Dan Heng confessed, he has an interest in setting the record straight at least somewhere. ]

[allrounder]

I will not lie and say that I am not.

[ He very much is, and he'd readily blame his scholarly side on that. What is more fascinating than the unknown, especially after grasping bits and pieces of it and nothing more? ]

Surely there is more to the story than what I overheard.

[baebladie]

[ ... ]

A long time ago...that man and I conspired to break one of the Xianzhou's laws. Recalling all of the details is a fool's errand.

[ And unwise, because of other matters. Not like he could entirely even if he did his best, though. ]

It all went wrong.

[ There's a start, at least. Even if Blade is the world's shittiest storyteller, at times. ]

week 1, post-execution

[allrounder]

[ After the ordeal of a death, investigation, midnight trial and morning execution, the last thing G’raha can do is sleep. The thought of laying in bed makes him restless, enough so that he makes his way out to the gardens. Perhaps some flowers can distract him from the horror of it all, even if only for a moment.

Blade must have had the same idea, because G’raha manages to spot him in the gardens too, and he finds himself surprised.

But only for a moment. ]

It seems as if we had the same idea, my friend.

[baebladie]

[ Sleep...it is something that is farthest away from Blade himself; has no desire to entertain it himself, even if it is something that he should.

Maybe he too is feeling restless, but he would deny it. Why should he? None of it really concerns him at the end of the day - who died, that is.

A cruel thought, but Blade never considered himself a kind person. ]

...friend...

No one dares call me that anymore.

[ Reaping the consequences of letting G'raha call him such at this very moment. There's a moment of silence, but it ends when he comments again. ]

...It troubles you. What happened.

[allrounder]

Yet you did not ask me not to.

[ Not back when they were playing cards, and not just now. Will he let G’raha do as he pleases, then, and consider him a friend?

But Blade doesn’t linger on the subject, so neither does G’raha. His attention turns back to the rosebush next to him, reaching out to touch one of the soft petals of a particularly pink rose. ]

Indeed it does. Am I so easy to read?

[ He doesn’t wait for Blade to answer that. ]

I have seen my fair share of death and destruction. I have seen it as a result of spell work and war. And yet this… this angers me in a way I haven’t felt in a long time.

[baebladie]

[ Blade doesn't bother asking him not to. He assumes it's useless, like how it is in telling certain members of the Stellaron Hunters not to give him certain nicknames.

Or...like...dragging him into video games, or...shopping sprees (don't ask)

He just assumes that G'raha is cut from the same cloth in regards to such kind of persistent behavior. ]

Very easy.

[ He answers anyway.

There's a long moment of silence, and then, he says something familiar— ]

Intent carries its own weight.

[allrounder]

[ Wow, he needs to get back into being difficult to read, this isn't fair—

He laughs softly at those words, exhaustion layered underneath it. He's tired in a way he hasn't felt in a long while. ]

Mm, that it does. This is meant to horrify us, to turn us against one another.

[ His fingers let go of that rose petal. ]

And it's meant to complete a spell, too. The tension that brews between everyone is only a benefit, I'm certain.

week 2, wednesday

[baebladie]

[ Blade is out and about, strolling with his wagasa and blade.

...look, this is how he is when he has items!! Anyway, it is later in the night, and he will be heading into the library for some peace and quiet.

Does anyone join him on the way there, or will he encounter someone else...? ]

[allrounder]

[ He will encounter someone...!

G'raha Tia, in fact! Hearing the sound of someone entering the library, he looks up... and is surprised to see that it's Blade. ]

Ah, I did not expect to see you in here, my friend.

[ is he saying blade doesn't read— ]

[baebladie]

[ G'raha do you wanna fight him? He's ready to go. He'll 1v1 you any time, let's go!

Blade crosses his arms in hearing this, though, even if he doesn't raise a brow. ]

...And why is that?

[ He'll ask gruffly, but go to plops himself down at a desk as if to make a statement that says 'I am a regular occupant of this space'...sometimes, anyway. ]

[allrounder]

[ And G'raha will move over to sit at that same desk across from him, looking Blade up and down to analyze his body language. Yeah, definitely the kind of guy who fits right in at a library. ]

I don't picture you as the sort to sit down and read a tale or two.

[baebladie]

[ Totally the kind of person who would be perfect at the library...

Okay, not really. He was never really much of a scholar, even if he doesn't remember much of his past. ]

...And here I am.

Did you come in here to read?

[ He asks, even when G'raha has seated himself. The funniest thing is that neither of them so happen to have a book with them, however. ]

week 2, post-exe

[baebladie]

[ Blade is now in a shitty mood and wants to kill things that are Ish-shaped - it was high when he arrived and went to a low-key sort of feels, but now it is somewhere above-average once again.

...Instead, though, he goes to the observatory, and happens to spot G'raha.

Ah, he remembers this place. It's...the first night he spent with Siffrin. Alongside Dan Heng and Andrew.

...

It's not going to be easy, going forward, is it? ]

...G'raha.

[ He says his name first this time, to get his attention. ]

[allrounder]

[ G'raha himself is buried deep in a few of the scrolls, studying the observations made about the sky like it'll point to anything of meaning.

Naturally, it doesn't.

But he lifts his head when Blade says his name... which, really, is a surprise. ]

Raha. I would prefer Raha, if you will.

[ They're friends, and after the hell they've been through these last two weeks, he feels Blade has earned dropping the "G". ]

[baebladie]

[ He figures the studying must be a way to simply keep busy; in the face of everything, it isn't unexpected. ]

...Raha.

[ Blade repeats the name just so after that, testing its weight, the novelty of speaking it. He understands the significance - in Xianzhou culture there are more familiar ways to address people, depending. And although much of his memory as his time on the Xianzhou has faded, he is vaguely aware of this.

Who knew two weeks could cause such great change? But, he certainly feels that so happens to be the case here. ]

Keeping busy?

[allrounder]

[ That's much better. For a moment, he feels like he's being addressed by Krile back home, one of the only fellow scholars in the School of Baldesion that calls him Raha. ]

Making an attempt.

[ But focusing is hard between the subject of the execution and the events during. His thoughts race and his mind can barely keep up, to the point that the numbers and words on the scrolls turn into nothing meaningful. ]

I presume that you are as well?

[baebladie]

[ Just looked up this person and was super amused to see how small she is. Blade has no idea he is being compared to a tiny scholar. But, it's fine.

He gestures instead towards the telescope. ]

Taking a look towards the sky might distract better than scrolls.

[ Blade is...actually for once trying to lend a hand. He doesn't think it'll work, but there is something to be said for making an attempt. Even if it will amount to nothing.

Such to that point, he answers G'raha's question just fine. ]

I was restless. Keeping busy is the only way to try to reach something like the illusion of satisfaction. Even if it will be far from my reach.

week 3, post-exec

[baebladie]

[ Whenever G'raha happens to have time, Blade is more or less making sure to corner him when he's in the library. Looming in all of his 6'2 glory. ]

Raha. We have unfinished business to speak on.

[ ...why can't this man start a conversation normally? We just never know. ]

[allrounder]

[ G'raha is deep in a book regarding art history when he can hear Blade approach him.

It's too bad he's in one of the corners of the library and he is, very literally, cornered. It takes a moment or two for him to be pulled out of his book, but Blade speaking and announcing his presence at all is enough to do that. ]

...Pray tell, what might that be?

[baebladie]

[ Art history. Is it studying for his time in bonding in arts with a certain bae whose name begins with S and ends with N?

Alright, jokes aside, the irony about this being a literal thing is not lost in the slightest. ]

...The photo from before.

I wanted to know more about why you hid it. The history.

[ He doesn't know how else to ask; he will just wait to see G'raha's reaction from him starting into it. ]

[allrounder]

[ GASP.................

Seems like going right for it is the right method, because even though G'raha's tail flicks in a way that betrays his hesitance, he eventually sighs and looks up at Blade. ]

Ah. I should have predicted you would consult me over it.

[ He smiles, sheepish and yet amused all the same, as he shuts his book. ]

'Tis recent history. That photo was from last Saturday.

[baebladie]

[ Sometimes being oneself is a good sign.

G'raha...Blade's expression is curious as he watches his reactions, but he doesn't really intend to hold back, crossing his arms. ]

I don't like not knowing, when I could understand more from you.

[ It's a simple conveying of words, but the message is clear. ]

Recent history involving what?