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⚔ // once upon a dream
[You all know the drill by now. Ignis and Camilla have taken over the nearest kitchen, and there's going to be food in the Pokemon Center soon enough; a warm and comforting vegetable curry. Highwind's even out now, welcoming any and all who might need a large cloud bird to hug after everything that was.]
[It's been a long night. Everyone needs a good meal and a long rest, and luckily one of those things is being seen to immediately.]
[It's been a long night. Everyone needs a good meal and a long rest, and luckily one of those things is being seen to immediately.]
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[He's midway through making another one! Not consulting any visible recipe, it's all in his head, but he sure looks to be measuring out those ingredients really precisely. As if this were as much a science experiment as anything else to him.]
Well, some of my past research indicated that these are a really popular human comfort food. I thought it would be...a useful skill to develop. [Michael's pretty shit at comforting people with words but at least he's aware?] I drew up a plan, this is the testing phase. All the different platters represent variations on the recipe.
[They're all pretty slight variations that you can't distinguish, because Michael's looking at this like there's some kind of objective Correct Cookie Recipe and doesn't totally understand that you mostly can't taste whether there were two or three milligrams of whatever]
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[LET'S. NOT BE TRYING TO DO THAT AFTER THE NIGHTMARE-O-PALOOZA--but anyway, Camilla actually smiles a bit once she listens to Michael? Like, holy shit. That's sweet? Literally and figuratively???]
Well, your research would be quite correct; they're one of the best ways to comfort anything that ails you. They're quite the versatile little snack...I don't suppose you would mind if I tried one, do you? I have a little experience with baking, and I would love to have a taste of what you've done...
[Let's put this research into practice!!]
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[He'll have some too, when he's finished, but he's not really sure how his own tastes would align with theirs on this. Anyway, it isn't for him.]
Yeah, sometimes I'd make oatmeal raisin cookies that looked like chocolate chip for the humans, and pretend I didn't understand the difference. Just a tiny bit of disappointment on top of the pile.
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[She's just gonna go grab a glass of milk before she starts to try any of those cookies--that second remark, however, gets a bit of a recoil and a smirk out of Camilla.]
Oh, that's just hideous. Truly, the ultimate form of betrayal for those who love sweets...honestly, who outside of the elderly even like those kinds of cookies anyway? They're awful.
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Right! And then I would just go - [Suddenly, Everyone's Lovable Grandpa Michael is here] - "Oh, Eleanor! I just felt so terrible about everything that happened, so I made you some cookies! Feel better, okay?"
And then they'd feel bad, so they had to eat all the cookies and pretend to be happy while I watched!
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Oh, that's dreadful! Using their own kindness against them to force them into such a thing...really, I could hardly imagine a fate more dire than being forced to eat such terrible lies.
[It'd certainly go a long way in making a bad day worse, which she imagines was the point. Once she pours out a nice glass of milk, she's gonna grab a cookie from the A pile and give it a try, though...]
Hmm... [She gives it some careful consideration while she eats, before washing the first bite down.] Hmm! These are quite good...
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Oh, damn. It would have been funny if those were oatmeal raisin now. [But they aren't! Congrats, Camilla, you have a delicious chocolate chip cookie.] Well, thank you! Let me know if you like any of those better than the others.
[Gesturing between the different batches. And then he just dumps like, half a bag of chocolate chips into his current one. These are gonna be very chocolate.]
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Oh, I would have given you an earful if that was the case! How very cruel to even suggest that...
[She'll definitely try one of the second batch once she's done with this one, but as she watches him put those chocolate chips into the next batch, she can't help but chuckle.]
Careful now! Too much chocolate and you'll wind up making it so sweet that only the children would want to eat them. Gods know Elise would want to try one of those...
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[He considers the batter, then shrugs.] They can be Aya's. She had a rough day anyway. Who's Elise, relative of yours?
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[On one hand, getting into a prank war with a demon doesn't sound like a good idea.
On the other, she's just not about to let that stand.
...Of course, him mentioning Aya does get her look to shift less toward joking and more toward worry.]
My youngest sister, actually--quite like Aya, if I might be frank. [...] Is she going to be alright?
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[His grin's sharp, but it does fade a little as the conversation moves to Aya.]
Oh, I'm sure she'll be alright. She was very upset when she first came out of it. You heard about how it started with our friends replacing us with somebody else? [His voice is quite even when he brings it up, though his back's turned as he goes to put the cookies in.] The dream people dissolved into nothingness wherever we touched them. I think that was probably more upsetting for her than the first part.
But, you know - we all know it wasn't real now.
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...We do, but I can scarcely imagine that such a thing wouldn't leave some sort of hideous impression. [Like, it's obvious, but she can only imagine that it was really traumatizing. Hell, Camilla could see why the whole situation would be upsetting.] I suppose there is a bit of solace in such a thing, however, knowing that it won't come to pass. Her friends will be fine, and she'll be able to look past it. I'm certain.
Those dreams...they truly were hideous things, weren't they?
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[He turns back around, folding his arms and leaning back against the countertop.]
I didn't mind this one as much as the first time. But that's the difference between a tailor-made torture and something off the proverbial rack. Using the same dream for groups of us was...clumsy, if he were really trying to hurt us.
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That creature does seem powerful enough to give us our own individual hells to dream up. Perhaps it was simply too lazy to go into such depth; I wouldn't put it past them to think that it was a waste of their time.
Rather strange, after some of the observations it made.
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[...it's been long enough that he shouldn't still be so unwilling to talk about that. Maybe he's just embarrassed? Is that what this is?]
I mean, I can't say that I've ever particularly worried about my friends replacing me. Demons aren't exactly lining up for a chance to hang out with humans. So this one wasn't entirely applicable.
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[Mmm. Camilla doesn't really want to talk about it, and it's clear in how she bristles up, but...]
Our dream was that of Cyrus's reach extending to our own homes. Seeing those we care about in such a state of soullessness. I like to think that it lends some credibility for such a thing...
[...]
You're certain it wouldn't sting even slightly, however, Michael?
[That's...kind of a contrast in how he talks about those people. Sort of? Kind of.]
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It wouldn't happen to begin with. Like any of those other scrubs could fill my place. They can't even imagine torturing people in a slightly different way.
[read: it would sting a whole fucking lot so we aren't going to acknowledge it as a valid scenario, thanks]
I'd say your group got the much shittier deal.
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[...Yeah, she's going to just nod her head at that. Michael, sometimes she wonders about you, she swears.
Still...]
I would agree, if only because seeing my brother without any life in his eyes...it's an experience I'd like to try and forget. The others didn't seem all that keen, either.
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[He doesn't want to dwell on this subject, either.]
What's your brother's name?
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[Camilla sighs a bit, her look seeming at least a tiny bit distant.]
He's the distant older brother to my supportive big sister, to our little siblings. That's simply the way it's always been, but even he has great spirit within him. Passion, for making Nohr a better place.
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[nohr sounds super shitty!]
You have a lot of siblings?
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[Truer words have never been spoken, jesus christ.]
I have three others, as a matter of fact. All younger; my dear Leo, my darling Elise, and my sweet Corrin.
[Beat.]
...I suppose there were the others, but only the gods know what's become of them now. They're the ones I truly consider family, at any rate, however.
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...why?
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I don't wager that it's an answer you'll like very much. It's something I only briefly touched upon with Mesprit for a reason.
[She knows he's a demon, and all, but the stuff that happened there is...kind of a Lot? Nohrian court-life is really a Lot.]
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["Like" is a relative word, but he can't imagine it's anything he'd find disturbing. Beside the point, though.]
We don't have families. But surely anyone you're related to is part of that...?
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