"Then sit wherever you'd like, just please move the parchment first." Linhardt doesn't care. Felix can eat standing on his head by the door if he wants. He himself takes up a place at the eating table, smiling and thanking the man who comes in to deliver their food (who gives Felix a look as he does so).
Linhardt inhales, savoring the smell of the meat pie. Goddess, that smells delicious. He eats a few bites, relishing the taste, and takes a couple of drinks before he turns his attention to Felix.
Before he says anything, Linhardt closes his eyes and feels outward with his magical senses, casting about to see if there are any people in the immediate area. There don't seem to be. Nothing can ever be guaranteed, of course, but it's as good of an assurance as he'll get.
"I do apologize for not letting you leave earlier," He says, "But if there's somewhere you'd like to go, I need to know which Crest you have."
Because things are complicated. They're always complicated. Ugh.
"Certain territories are dangerous to cross for someone with a Crest- there have been Crest-related disappearances in Arundel and Ordelia." Or so he believes.
"On the other hand," Linhardt continues, "There are some Crests that the Church does not want to acknowledge, and there have been disappearances in their territories as well. There's also the fact that there's a possibility, albeit slim, that you're a noble, in which case you'd have to consider the possibility of being attacked for that as well."
"Letting you run away with no weapon or money would just have ended up with you dead."
Dead people's Crests don't do anything. They're not very useful. So please don't do that.
The food really does smell delicious, and Felix is apparently even hungrier than he thought he was. So for once, he doesn't bother to be contrary about choosing a seat, just sitting down across from Linhardt after shuffling a few pages of notes to the side. He ignores the look he gets from the staff member, other than to very deliberately cross one leg over the other in a way that exposes as much leg as possible.
He's ravenous but too well-trained to forgo table manners in front of a client, so he eats as quickly as he can while maintaining a poised elegance. At the apology, he stares at Linhardt flatly for just a second before he fills his mouth with a large bite of meat pie to give himself an excuse not to reply. The jailer apologizing to his prisoner - there's one he's never heard before. What a fucking joke.
He keeps eating and drinking as the noble explains himself, and then he looks the man directly in the eye and deadpans, "My hero. But I don't have a Crest."
Linhardt, in his usual straight-forward fashion, takes the opportunity to let his eyes wander over the exposed skin, but he doesn't make any gesture towards Felix, and his gaze moves quickly back to Felix's face, not flinching from the eye contact.
Being stared at doesn't bother him. Linhardt is used to it.
"I can't study Crests if everyone else with one dies." Linhardt points out. He doesn't expect Felix to believe that he cares whether the man lives or dies. It's dangerous to assume goodwill towards anyone too quickly; Linhardt isn't going to get on Felix's case about behaving in his own interests, so instead he supplies Felix with a self-interested reason for caring.
It's not even false: Linhardt can be concerned about what Felix's death would mean for future Crest research and think that he deserves to live.
"We're at an impasse then." Linhardt muses, "What do you suggest we do?"
Felix does not give a single shit about whether or not Linhardt can study Crests. Crest "scholarship" can die an ignominious death for all he cares.
What he wants to say is, I suggest you tell me the real reason you want to know and it's sickening that you expect me to believe it's all for my benefit.
What he actually says is, "I don't see any impasse here. You want something you can't have. So I suggest you deal with it."
Which...probably isn't that much better, and if this were happening back at the House with a regular client, he'd probably be punished for it. But whatever.
Linhardt laughs; it's an honest sound from deep within his chest. Straight-forward answer, "Fair enough. That is the heart of the matter." Still something to consider, though. He tilts his head to side and looks at Felix. Or rather, over his shoulder. Hmm. Maybe other ways? There's the device at Garreg Mach, and Crests have observable effects. He could narrow it down.
"I'll figure it out eventually. It will be nice to have something to think about that isn't politics."
Just Dealing With It isn't an option for Linhardt von Hevring when it comes to research. There is always more to learn, how could he just... deal with that? Just accept there's an important question and walk away?
That thought makes him give Felix a look, "Do you lack curiosity?"
Huh. Felix wasn't expecting laughter, but Linhardt has rarely done anything so far that he did expect. It's a good thing, in some ways, but he hates being caught off-guard or surprised.
He narrows his eyes, but anything he could say about being a distraction from politics - which is to say, a pet project - would be too harsh to shoot back at a client.
He fixes Linhardt with a flat look. "Curiosity gets people like me in trouble. So the answer I'll give you is: yes."
What kind of answer is that? Linhardt raises an eyebrow at him, returning Felix's unemotional look with one of his own. Linhardt is slightly more emotional, showing a hint of amusement.
"You know, I appreciate your letting me know that's a stupid question." He means it. Thinking about it for more than forty-five seconds would tell him that the man wouldn't have any reason to answer the question honestly, "I just meant it in the sense of being able to leave things be, but you're right that you wouldn't have much of a choice."
He frowns. That doesn't make much sense, though, "Really? People don't like it when their companions ask questions? How else are you going to know what your clients like?" It seems ridiculous to him from an economic standpoint, "Or are things run more akin to everybody having a...uh... specialty? And people being matched accordingly?"
Linhardt hasn't really considered how brothels actually run before. His main interest in them is their healers. He stabs a bit of meat and takes a bite, chewing slowly and thoughtfully before speaking.
"Are you going to train regularly?" Most Crests activated in combat, so maybe he could find time to come and watch.
Felix arches a brow at this talk of appreciation, but doesn't bother responding to it. Who knows, maybe Linhardt means it. But whether or not he appreciates it has no bearing on whether or not Felix will continue to do it.
With a carefully controlled tone, he says, "Most clients are content to tell me what they want without being prompted. If they don't, I ask. It's not out of curiosity, I assure you." Curiosity, to him, means asking questions about something he's actually interested in. Which does not include his clients' sexual proclivities; that's a necessity, not an interest.
And 'content to tell me without being prompted' is an extremely polite way to put it, if he does say so himself. He's had to practice that.
Felix eats in silence for a minute or two, but glances up at Linhardt with only his eyes at the question. Wary.
Hm. Most people tell the man. Why might that be? Linhardt isn't in a hurry to resume the conversation, instead pondering this question while his eyes focus on the air behind Felix's shoulder.
"I suppose that makes sense: Most people who are the type to go to a brothel are also likely to be both forward about such things and egoistic enough to not care that you don't want to be there." Which was Linhardt's main objection to brothels: Why would you want to engage with someone who doesn't want you back? It's disgusting.
He's far more interested in Felix's definition of curiosity, his eyes lighting up a bit, "It is, though, isn't it? You're curious because you need to know in order to survive, but that's still curiosity. Or do you think that curiosity requires only internal motivation?"
Linhardt is more than happy to sit quietly until Felix answers, and he blinks again in surprise, "No. It just means if I need to find you, I'll check the training yard instead of wasting my time walking all over the estate."
And that he can observe Felix's Crest, but there's no point in bringing that up again. It would just restart the circular argument: Felix is lying, Linhardt knows he's lying, but Felix has no incentive to tell the truth, so it's not worth being angry about.
Felix clearly knows what he's doing in the training yard, so he's not going to ruin the equipment or antagonize the Hevring troops or any of the guests.
"Oh, and we'll need to outfit you properly. You can't fight in the same clothes you use for being a prostitute: They serve entirely different purposes. You'll need proper equipment so you can do things like practice falling and movement."
"Mm. You get the idea." It's still just a more polite way of saying they make demands, but there's no reason to turn the subtext into text.
Does that mean Linhardt cares that he doesn't want to be here? Clearly not enough, or he wouldn't have stopped Felix from leaving. For 'his own safety,' sure.
"Internal motivation." And unlike you, I don't have that motivation for everything under the sun.
He does think the noble is legitimately surprised by his question, so he accepts the response with a nod and finishes off the meat pie he's been working on.
"I could fight in the same clothes," he argues. "But proper equipment would certainly help."
"No wonder you're so quiet; what's the point of speaking if nobody is going to listen?" Linhardt says, shaking his head slightly with a disapproving look on his face. It's a waste; the man is obviously intelligent, why try and turn him into one of the floozies that exist only to inflate egos?
Internal motivation alone, then. Linhardt hovers a fork over his food, thinking that over, "In that case, curiosity would be a privilege." Linhardt speaks slowly, his words exploratory. A new idea. What does it mean?
"Curiosity would only truly be possible if people were safe, warm, and fed." Is that why Fodlan seems to have no curiosity to speak of? Why nobody seems to care about joy and discovery?
"That can't be... my peers don't have any sense of curiosity... so perhaps necessary but not sufficient..." Linhardt mutters to himself, blue eyes fixed on a painting in the distance.
Felix is speaking. What is he saying?
Clothes. Yes. Logistics.
"Of course. Spend as much time in the sparring yard as you like. Actually..." He blinks, suddenly returning from his mental wanderings, "I can't imagine you were allowed much practice because otherwise you'd kill your clients, but you're not from Adrestia, so that means you must have learned what you do know from elsewhere."
"Could you spar with some of the newer troops? I find that the more styles people are exposed to early on, the more adaptable they tend to be."
Linhardt has no interest in participating in training Hevring's troops. That doesn't mean he doesn't care about them at all.
It's not the only reason Felix is generally quiet, but it certainly is one of them. Clients at the House weren't paying to hear his opinions, and he was enough of a problem for the matron and her employees that none of them particularly wanted to hear anything he had to say, either. Not that he really had much anyway, after they confined him to the House.
Linhardt's tone seems to suggest that he would be interested in listening if Felix had anything in particular to say. He has to admit that the noble's behavior so far seems to support that, but he has no intention of getting lulled into complacency. Nobles are often fickle; if some opportunity arose for Linhardt that would necessitate using something he'd said against him, Felix has no doubt he'd take it. So he just shrugs.
He has no opinion to offer on the subject of curiosity as a privilege, either, and Linhardt doesn't seem to be talking to him anyway, so he assumes his usual pose for when clients aren't paying him any attention but he's still in the room: he folds his hands in his lap and sits up straight with an elegant poise, focusing his gaze on nothing in particular. Just something pretty to look at and no more, for the moment.
His eyes snap back to the noble when he's addressed again. "I wouldn't kill my clients," he says mildly, and he means it. If he were going to kill anyone, it would be the matron and her goons.
Then he blinks, slightly startled. How the hell did Linhardt know he's not from Adrestia? Out of habit, though, he doesn't ask. His brows lift in surprise at the request - or at least, what sounds like a request. In his experience, even things that sound like requests aren't actually.
...still, sparring with actual soldiers again would help a lot. There's only so much he can improve if he only trains alone.
"Very well. Is there anything else you require right now? If not, I'm going to bathe."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
Everything's on fire and I'm the only one with tech skills but this is fine
Date: 2021-10-08 11:07 pm (UTC)Linhardt inhales, savoring the smell of the meat pie. Goddess, that smells delicious. He eats a few bites, relishing the taste, and takes a couple of drinks before he turns his attention to Felix.
Before he says anything, Linhardt closes his eyes and feels outward with his magical senses, casting about to see if there are any people in the immediate area. There don't seem to be. Nothing can ever be guaranteed, of course, but it's as good of an assurance as he'll get.
"I do apologize for not letting you leave earlier," He says, "But if there's somewhere you'd like to go, I need to know which Crest you have."
Because things are complicated. They're always complicated. Ugh.
"Certain territories are dangerous to cross for someone with a Crest- there have been Crest-related disappearances in Arundel and Ordelia." Or so he believes.
"On the other hand," Linhardt continues, "There are some Crests that the Church does not want to acknowledge, and there have been disappearances in their territories as well. There's also the fact that there's a possibility, albeit slim, that you're a noble, in which case you'd have to consider the possibility of being attacked for that as well."
"Letting you run away with no weapon or money would just have ended up with you dead."
Dead people's Crests don't do anything. They're not very useful. So please don't do that.
wagh, good luck!
Date: 2021-10-08 11:50 pm (UTC)He's ravenous but too well-trained to forgo table manners in front of a client, so he eats as quickly as he can while maintaining a poised elegance. At the apology, he stares at Linhardt flatly for just a second before he fills his mouth with a large bite of meat pie to give himself an excuse not to reply. The jailer apologizing to his prisoner - there's one he's never heard before. What a fucking joke.
He keeps eating and drinking as the noble explains himself, and then he looks the man directly in the eye and deadpans, "My hero. But I don't have a Crest."
Right? RIP me
Date: 2021-10-09 12:50 am (UTC)Being stared at doesn't bother him. Linhardt is used to it.
"I can't study Crests if everyone else with one dies." Linhardt points out. He doesn't expect Felix to believe that he cares whether the man lives or dies. It's dangerous to assume goodwill towards anyone too quickly; Linhardt isn't going to get on Felix's case about behaving in his own interests, so instead he supplies Felix with a self-interested reason for caring.
It's not even false: Linhardt can be concerned about what Felix's death would mean for future Crest research and think that he deserves to live.
"We're at an impasse then." Linhardt muses, "What do you suggest we do?"
no subject
Date: 2021-10-09 01:35 am (UTC)What he wants to say is, I suggest you tell me the real reason you want to know and it's sickening that you expect me to believe it's all for my benefit.
What he actually says is, "I don't see any impasse here. You want something you can't have. So I suggest you deal with it."
Which...probably isn't that much better, and if this were happening back at the House with a regular client, he'd probably be punished for it. But whatever.
no subject
Date: 2021-10-09 02:34 am (UTC)"I'll figure it out eventually. It will be nice to have something to think about that isn't politics."
Just Dealing With It isn't an option for Linhardt von Hevring when it comes to research. There is always more to learn, how could he just... deal with that? Just accept there's an important question and walk away?
That thought makes him give Felix a look, "Do you lack curiosity?"
no subject
Date: 2021-10-16 07:04 am (UTC)He narrows his eyes, but anything he could say about being a distraction from politics - which is to say, a pet project - would be too harsh to shoot back at a client.
He fixes Linhardt with a flat look. "Curiosity gets people like me in trouble. So the answer I'll give you is: yes."
no subject
Date: 2021-10-19 11:41 pm (UTC)"You know, I appreciate your letting me know that's a stupid question." He means it. Thinking about it for more than forty-five seconds would tell him that the man wouldn't have any reason to answer the question honestly, "I just meant it in the sense of being able to leave things be, but you're right that you wouldn't have much of a choice."
He frowns. That doesn't make much sense, though, "Really? People don't like it when their companions ask questions? How else are you going to know what your clients like?" It seems ridiculous to him from an economic standpoint, "Or are things run more akin to everybody having a...uh... specialty? And people being matched accordingly?"
Linhardt hasn't really considered how brothels actually run before. His main interest in them is their healers. He stabs a bit of meat and takes a bite, chewing slowly and thoughtfully before speaking.
"Are you going to train regularly?" Most Crests activated in combat, so maybe he could find time to come and watch.
no subject
Date: 2021-11-01 08:24 pm (UTC)With a carefully controlled tone, he says, "Most clients are content to tell me what they want without being prompted. If they don't, I ask. It's not out of curiosity, I assure you." Curiosity, to him, means asking questions about something he's actually interested in. Which does not include his clients' sexual proclivities; that's a necessity, not an interest.
And 'content to tell me without being prompted' is an extremely polite way to put it, if he does say so himself. He's had to practice that.
Felix eats in silence for a minute or two, but glances up at Linhardt with only his eyes at the question. Wary.
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"
no subject
Date: 2021-11-01 11:43 pm (UTC)"I suppose that makes sense: Most people who are the type to go to a brothel are also likely to be both forward about such things and egoistic enough to not care that you don't want to be there." Which was Linhardt's main objection to brothels: Why would you want to engage with someone who doesn't want you back? It's disgusting.
He's far more interested in Felix's definition of curiosity, his eyes lighting up a bit, "It is, though, isn't it? You're curious because you need to know in order to survive, but that's still curiosity. Or do you think that curiosity requires only internal motivation?"
Linhardt is more than happy to sit quietly until Felix answers, and he blinks again in surprise, "No. It just means if I need to find you, I'll check the training yard instead of wasting my time walking all over the estate."
And that he can observe Felix's Crest, but there's no point in bringing that up again. It would just restart the circular argument: Felix is lying, Linhardt knows he's lying, but Felix has no incentive to tell the truth, so it's not worth being angry about.
Felix clearly knows what he's doing in the training yard, so he's not going to ruin the equipment or antagonize the Hevring troops or any of the guests.
"Oh, and we'll need to outfit you properly. You can't fight in the same clothes you use for being a prostitute: They serve entirely different purposes. You'll need proper equipment so you can do things like practice falling and movement."
no subject
Date: 2021-11-09 04:38 am (UTC)Does that mean Linhardt cares that he doesn't want to be here? Clearly not enough, or he wouldn't have stopped Felix from leaving. For 'his own safety,' sure.
"Internal motivation." And unlike you, I don't have that motivation for everything under the sun.
He does think the noble is legitimately surprised by his question, so he accepts the response with a nod and finishes off the meat pie he's been working on.
"I could fight in the same clothes," he argues. "But proper equipment would certainly help."
no subject
Date: 2021-12-09 05:49 pm (UTC)Internal motivation alone, then. Linhardt hovers a fork over his food, thinking that over, "In that case, curiosity would be a privilege." Linhardt speaks slowly, his words exploratory. A new idea. What does it mean?
"Curiosity would only truly be possible if people were safe, warm, and fed." Is that why Fodlan seems to have no curiosity to speak of? Why nobody seems to care about joy and discovery?
"That can't be... my peers don't have any sense of curiosity... so perhaps necessary but not sufficient..." Linhardt mutters to himself, blue eyes fixed on a painting in the distance.
Felix is speaking. What is he saying?
Clothes. Yes. Logistics.
"Of course. Spend as much time in the sparring yard as you like. Actually..." He blinks, suddenly returning from his mental wanderings, "I can't imagine you were allowed much practice because otherwise you'd kill your clients, but you're not from Adrestia, so that means you must have learned what you do know from elsewhere."
"Could you spar with some of the newer troops? I find that the more styles people are exposed to early on, the more adaptable they tend to be."
Linhardt has no interest in participating in training Hevring's troops. That doesn't mean he doesn't care about them at all.
no subject
Date: 2021-12-23 07:47 am (UTC)Linhardt's tone seems to suggest that he would be interested in listening if Felix had anything in particular to say. He has to admit that the noble's behavior so far seems to support that, but he has no intention of getting lulled into complacency. Nobles are often fickle; if some opportunity arose for Linhardt that would necessitate using something he'd said against him, Felix has no doubt he'd take it. So he just shrugs.
He has no opinion to offer on the subject of curiosity as a privilege, either, and Linhardt doesn't seem to be talking to him anyway, so he assumes his usual pose for when clients aren't paying him any attention but he's still in the room: he folds his hands in his lap and sits up straight with an elegant poise, focusing his gaze on nothing in particular. Just something pretty to look at and no more, for the moment.
His eyes snap back to the noble when he's addressed again. "I wouldn't kill my clients," he says mildly, and he means it. If he were going to kill anyone, it would be the matron and her goons.
Then he blinks, slightly startled. How the hell did Linhardt know he's not from Adrestia? Out of habit, though, he doesn't ask. His brows lift in surprise at the request - or at least, what sounds like a request. In his experience, even things that sound like requests aren't actually.
...still, sparring with actual soldiers again would help a lot. There's only so much he can improve if he only trains alone.
"Very well. Is there anything else you require right now? If not, I'm going to bathe."