Potentially going to that pony game. You know which one.

[cursed_prince]

Need I remind you that my duties come first? I cannot simply run off at a moment's distraction to fulfill whatever impulse you get in your head at any given time. I have an Empire to run and my people to protect; I implore you to reconsider.

The least of your concerns at this juncture is what variety of miniature horse I should become.



-Imperial Prince Baldur

Comments

Don't lie; you were expecting me.

[chatterboxing]

At this point, y'highness, I'm pretty sure she don' care much right now 'bout the consequences o' these little ideas o' hers, an' 'scuse my language, but it pisses me right the 'ell off.

She can go an' retribution this an' retribution that all she wants, but it ain't gonna change the fact that draggin' you off for all o' this nonsense is gonna hurt a lot more'n jus' yer pride. [Or what's left of it, considering. But really, Baldur's right, he's still needed back home.] So I'm gonna repeat my offer from th'last time we spoke: y'want any help slappin' that sense back into her?

Always.

[cursed_prince]

At this point, the offer has become tempting, I will admit.

[chatterboxing]

Well, 's up t'you. I won't be able to slap her 'round as hard as some other people might, but we wouldn't be aimin' to actually hurt her, would we? [The idea would be just to get the message across.

Alternatively, Litania could just start talking her head off; her unspoken status of Official Motormouth has proven surprisingly effective with her guildmates before, why not these mundanes, too?]

[cursed_prince]

[It might work.]

I fear bringing actual harm to my mundane whilst I am still linked to her might also negatively affect myself.

At the very least, she seems to have given up the notion of my remaining cursed.

[chatterboxing]

[His first statement makes enough sense and she's about to express this, but then that second statement happens.]

Oh, thank the gods. [Yes, that is actual relief; she's among those that think he's suffered enough. Yes, what he tried to do before was questionable as all hell, but he was really just doing what he thought he had to. At least, that's how she sees it.] Keepin' the curse even with everything else bein' over an' done didn't make a single lick o' sense anyway, so I dunno how she even expected t'explain that one.

[cursed_prince]

It... probably stemmed from how mundanes tend to enjoy making us suffer for the sake of drama. [Not that that makes a whole lot of sense either.]

That said, I am beginning to wonder which is worse; remaining cursed or being forcibly transformed into a beast. [How is he supposed to wield a drive blade without thumbs?]

[chatterboxing]

[She pauses for a moment.] That— Tha's a good question.

On one side o' the whole thing, drive blades. [Because drive blades. She has a hard time imagining Baldur or Logre without one. And if they didn't rival her in the weight department, she'd probably try learning to use one herself.]

On the other, ew. [Yeah, that's all you're getting in response to the image of the curse once again taking hold. "Ew".]

[cursed_prince]

[He doesn't like the idea of being unable to wield his blade, either. What is an Imperial without a drive blade?]

No, the curse is something I never wish to experience again, nor would I wish it upon anyone else.

However, I don't think becoming a... pony is a reasonable exchange, either.

[It's a lose-lose situation, this.]

[chatterboxing]

While it might spare you th' torture o' what was happening to you before, it really jus' sounds needlessly embarrassin' t'me. [Which seems all too common around here.] If she's absolutely gotta do somethin' with you and ain't changin' her mind on that, why can't she lookit some place where you can be normal?

[A brief, awkward pause.] Ah, no 'ffense meant by that. You know what I was gettin' at. [You know, normal as in not cursed and still having thumbs.]

[cursed_prince]

[He nods; no offense taken.]

She did. I resided in a place called Midgard for a time... but it's gone now.

Truthfully, I am more concerned about my inability to help my people than about what shape I assume. If I could save my country in the form of a horse, I could be content with that.

[The mun's leaning toward pegasus.]

[chatterboxing]

Gone? [Litania's questioning tone makes it obvious that she suspects that this may be a sensitive subject. He'd been sent off to another dying land? Given what she knows, she can only assume that he hadn't taken too well to it, and it quite possibly only served to further drive in the idea that he needed to do something about the Empire's situation.]

I'm assumin' they've got some plans for how t'handle things in your absence, an' if you're gonna be sent anywhere else at all, maybe you'll find summat that gives you some new ideas for back home an' such. [She's still really not liking the idea of him being forced away during an obvious time of need, but if there ends up being no way around it, best to look for any good there would be had from it.

And hey, having wings might sweeten that deal, even if it's just a little bit. Flying without a skyship? That would actually be pretty cool.

But still.

Drive blades.]

[cursed_prince]

Deleted.

[It's not a particularly sensitive subject; just a thing that happened, really. The game's activity was slow and it eventually died and closed. That's all there is to it.

The prince sighs, his eyebrows knitted in thought.]

After my previous absence, I informed Logre that, should I vanish again, I leave everything to himself and the Outland Count. I trust them both enough to know they would act with my people's best interests at heart. I also gave them explicit instructions not to allow anyone to know of my disappearance. That's about all I can do in this circumstance.

[Don't remind him about the drive blades! He's already broken up about it as it is!]

[chatterboxing]

[Using the word "deleted" when talking about a place—game or not—briefly throws the dancer all kinds of off. It's awkward enough that she decides to simply leave that subject at that.]

Yeah, it'd prolly cause a pretty big panic if the news went an' got out. [Any such panic would probably not only be harmful to the Empire, but also to Tharsis and all of the places in between.] Y'don' have t'worry 'bout me, either; I might talk way more'n I should sometimes, but I'm not stupid.

[cursed_prince]

[He would feel worse about it if for the apparent fact that everyone who had been spirited away to there was sent home upon its deletion. He had, at the very least.]

Thank you, it puts me at ease knowing you'd keep this secret. The last thing either of our countries need is another crisis.