sranks | we are the cursed we came from fire and ice

[Honestly, she could have lived with that first point alone. That Lord Lorenz was willing to trust her with more work should have been good enough, and it would allow Camilla to prove herself and her mettle as a servant. She'd continue to work, and that would simply be that. It's all she could have ever asked for.

But then there's that second portion, and perhaps she can understand that--she would be most useless if she got sick or her injuries became permanent, but...

Well.]

Your...friend?

[The words escape Camilla in an almost awed tone, as if she couldn't believe what she just heard. Really, every last bit of those words that Lorenz said felt strange in a way she couldn't place, but those words right there gave the most confusion. How could a lord and a servant be friends? That's not only improper (from all Camilla knows), but it feels as if they've gone beyond their roles here, and...

...

Honestly, Camilla can't say she minds entirely, even if she honestly sounds dumbfounded. She's certainly teased people about being her friends, or friendly towards her, but to hear it so brazenly and boldly from her lord is something else. She's glad the door is still between them, because she's not sure what the hell her face is doing but it's certainly doing something.]

I--yes, Lord Lorenz. That is...all of that is acceptable, yes.

[Hang on, Camilla is still hard-rebooting from the sheer magnitude of all of that--]

I shall...heed your requests, and I thank you for your kind words. I shall endeavor to excel...

[...]

My lord...and my dear friend.

[That comes...only somewhat easily, really, but Camilla does find herself smiling. Moreso when she hears that door click, and she seems so happy and more than willing to push her malfunctioning feelings back into place--]

Ah, most excellent! Not that I would expect any less from you!

[The hesitance in her words and the long pause afterwards is certainly a bit concerning. Lorenz doesn't interrupt though, hard at work on getting the last of this mess fixed. He's very close, after all, and he should let Camilla take her time to sort through all of that.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't relieved when she returns that, and his exhale is admittedly a bit closer to a sigh than he'd like.]

Thank you, Camilla. I'm pleased to hear it.

[And with a final click the door starts to move and there's a sound of a chair scraping against the floor as it's pushed away.]

There we go! I knew I could figure it out eventually! You have my apologies for it taking so long, I'm not sure what Claude did to get it secured quite like that...

[Lorenz stands and gets the door. He's smiling, and the expression is bright and open.]

[Camilla chuckles a bit, honestly. She's...still trying, honestly, to not be so thrown off by these things, but it's still very difficult. She's glad that Lorenz is understanding, at any rate.

When he manages to open the door, he'll hear Camilla clapping from the other side before he opens the door, and Camilla steps out with her own bright smile on her face. For once, it's unrestrained; she doesn't think to restrain it, because she's incredibly pleased to both be saved and to be able to call Lorenz her friend...

Friend. That's still going to be an odd word to get used to.]

I would expect nothing less of you, Lord Lorenz. Not even our most crafty of individuals could possibly stand up to your superior intellect.

[Camilla bows easily, her hands folded in front of her in a respectful motion, before she comes back up and chuckles.]

I couldn't be more thankful to you, for freeing me from such a predicament. Truly, you needn't apologize. [As far as she's concerned, he's gone above and beyond for her.] All be told, I owe you a debt of gratitude, my lord. Shall I prepare something for you?

I will concede that Claude's rather bizarre design was extremely effective, but of course I was able to defeat it eventually!

[oh my god

Anyway, he nods at that, somehow even looking more pleased after seeing Camilla's bright expression.]

I would appreciate it if you could prepare us some tea. Would you like me to accompany you, or would you prefer to meet me in my room?

[He doesn't want to insist on going with her in case she'd like a moment to herself, but he offers it anyway.]

Nothing could ever prove too troublesome for you, my lord. But I truly ought to make good on that threat to throw Claude into the pond...

[...Camilla is only slightly joking. She still kind of wants to because Claude is a shithead and she's gonna kick his ass, but not unless Lorenz gives the order.

But Camilla does think for a moment, before deciding on a course of action.]

Of course, consider it done. I shall meet you in your room, then, my lord. [...She does kind of want a moment to compose herself, but she doesn't want to say anything--Lorenz hasn't done anything wrong, Camilla just. Needs to get her malfunctioning feelings in order.] I do trust that you have eaten already? If not, I can prepare something for both you and I--I am feeling quite famished, after all.

[because some asshole didn't consider that maybe she'd need to eat!!!]

...I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that he didn't bring you anything to eat...

[Huff!!!]

Please feel free to throw him in the pond the next chance you get. It's precisely what he deserves.

[rip in fuck claude]

But of course, please take your time. I will see you whenever you've prepared the tea.

[He's glad that Camilla's doing okay, but he's sure she'll be feeling better once she's had time to decompress from... all of that, really. That was sort of a lot. With that, and a nod, Lorenz takes his leave.]

[...Lorenz you just said the magic words.]

Oh, thank you, my lord! I shall do so gladly!

[REST IN FUCKING PIECES, CLAUDE]

Ehem--ah, yes, my lord. I shall do so gladly. Do allow me a little bit of time.

[And with that she is...absolutely off, holy shit. Camilla absolutely has some business to take care of, and she will take at least a half hour or so to ensure that business is taken care of! Perfectly legitimate business, nothing wrong here, absolutely nothing--

By the time she knocks her usual knock on Lorenz's door again with the tea, Camilla has an all too vindicated smile on her face, and her clothing is...well, a little wrinkly and a tiny bit damp, like she's just finished wringing it out a little bit. But she can assure her lord it was worth it!]

Lord Lorenz, I've brought your tea!

[...Even from her voice at the door, she sounds entirely too pleased.]

[He's not surprised that it takes her a bit, and he's definitely not surprised by the vindicated look as he opens the door and lets her in.]

I do hope he didn't put up too much of a fight. Though I suppose it wouldn't be as satisfying if he went willingly...

[He gestures to the small table and takes his usual seat, trying to suppress the smirk he wants to give.]

Please, tell me all about it!

[Camilla will gladly come in, then, setting the tray on the table all nice and neat; she's got some Meat Pie because she is nothing if not ravenous, and she looks at him with a small, budding smirk on her own face.]

You'll be quite pleased to know that he did put up a bit of a fight. Really, when he saw me coming to the dock, he seemed utterly shocked...I don't think he was expecting you to be able to free me, at least for a while! I'm quite certain he knew he was in trouble the very second he saw me walking down towards him. He didn't try to greet me, or do anything but run when it was clear I was coming after him.

But, I did manage to catch him. Without any...well, awake witnesses, at any rate. You should have heard him trying to barter with me--as if I could truly be stopped. It was simply a matter of, at that point, ensuring he didn't wriggle free...but he didn't. And I got to chuck him into that pond with no one being the wiser for it.

[Camilla's all finished pouring out her lord's tea by the time she's done with the story, but she is all too pleased, practically smirking herself.]

I told him to take a nice, long soak, and reflect on what he's done to deserve this. And I'm sure he won't forget that anytime soon.

[Lorenz allows her to work and speak without interrupting, though his smirk grows with each passing word. It's unbecoming of a noble to laugh at something like that, but Lorenz does anyway because Claude absolutely deserves it.]

I've no doubts that that will teach him a lesson! He should know better than to come between us.

[It's also unbecoming of a noble to openly gloat, but he figures he can get away with that for just a moment before settling again.]

You have my thanks for the tea, of course. Ah, it smells delightful...

[Camilla is more than happy to laugh with her lord, more than here for his gloating and his utterly unbecoming behavior. She can absolutely keep it a secret for sure!]

Oh, he should. And if he didn't before, he's certainly learned that now, my lord.

[...It's probably even more unbecoming for Camilla to be so pleased with this but listen, she's been wanting to do that for months.]

It's no trouble, my lord. I'm always happy to provide. [She's just going to start getting into her lunch, honestly, she is starving--] Other than that little...adventure, shall we say, may I ask how my lord fares on this fine day? I do hope nothing is amiss.

[honestly fair, who hasn't wanted to toss claude into the pond??]

Oh. Ah...

[He pauses, teacup raised halfway to his lips before he sets it back down. Primly. This would probably be better if he wasn't looking everywhere but at Camilla.]

My day was... mostly fine. Until that incident with the door - I'm still not really sure how Claude managed to rig all that up...

[...Camilla isn't going to let him get away with that and he knows it, so he sighs and presses on. It's unbecoming of him to avoid the problem, after all.]

Earlier I had a... discussion with Linhardt, about his insistence on pestering you. While I do believe we have come to an understanding of sorts, I must admit it was not... my finest hour.

[...]

I may have punched him.

[...It's not like her lord to get so nervous talking about his day. Really, if Camilla's mouth were not full (she's hungry, delicate bites are out of the question at this point--), she'd have interrupted him but her look is still very attentive, as though she is listening.

And she's certainly giving him a look when he mentions that it was mostly fine. She's more than ready to ask who exactly made his day not fine, but he moves quickly to the actual problem and...

...Well, that's--okay, let her get everything down first, but while Camilla isn't surprised that he confronted Linhardt on her behalf--]

Punched him? You punched him?

[...SHE'LL APOLOGIZE FOR BEING SO INCREDULOUS IN A BIT, BUT WHAT. Hang on, hang on, she remembers seeing him asleep face down in his pillow at the docks but--]

...You made sure there were no witnesses, I hope? [PRIORITIES??? Camilla does seem concerned--] Goodness. I'm sure it will be fine--that man doesn't seem to care about much, at any rate, and I doubt he would dare speak of this against you...

It wasn't as though I intended to punch him! I am not some uncouth street brawler!

[good thing too, given how badly you suck at it]

Our conversation got... rather heated and I lost my composure for a moment. It was dreadfully embarrassing.

[He's turning bright red at the mere memory of it, okay...]

I do believe we reached an understanding, however. Should he continue to pester you, do let me know and I will take the matter to Seteth.

[Gods, Camilla is actively trying to make sure she doesn't choke here?]

I'm hardly judging for such a thing, my lord. If someone needs to be punched, then they ought to be; it's as simple as that. You could never be uncouth, my lord.

[camilla you fight people for fun, you don't get to talk like that

Still, Camilla listens and...well, quite frankly she looks quite like she wants to go out there and throw Linhardt in the pond. Her voice goes gentle, though.]

Of course, my lord. I will do such a thing gladly; I will not allow some dreadful man like him to attempt to ruin your family's good name.

[She'd kill him, really, and the thought of that should disgust her more than it does. It's not like he'd be missed; he's just a lazy brat of a noble who needs a wake up call, as far as she's concerned.]

What did he say to you?

[...Yeah, her tone is serious as hell at that. Does she need to pound him?]

[...Sometimes, Camilla is truly terrifying...]

He was adamant that a crest you may or may not possess would be worth researching and refused to back off on such a notion. It was highly rude - he was more than willing to get involved in affairs that are not his to insist on studying.

...I believe what made me... lose my temper in such an undignified way was how he was treating it. It was as though he thought you were nothing more than an experiment, something he should study and research and not a person. He had no care for your feelings or thoughts on the matter, only interested in what he could possibly learn.

I'm a bit surprised he's a noble, given just how unbecoming his pursuit of that knowledge was.

[He huffs a bit, but then settles.]

As I said, I do believe we've reached an understanding. I am still irritated with him, certainly, but I see no reason to pursue this any further. Should he continue to pester you, I will seek more drastic measures.

[maybe you can throw him in the pond then!!]

[She really is.........

Camilla absolutely listens, though, and even if she has a smile on her face...it's a tight smile. Needless to say, he's even worse than she thought, and that he could provoke her lord into hostilities by simply being aggressively himself--disregarding her like she was some sort of thing, and disregarding Lord Lorenz's feelings on the matter? Unforgivable.]

What a cur. That boy is nothing but a poor example to nobility everywhere, and a rude brat at that. He doesn't know the first thing about caring for anyone, much less treating people like human beings...

[Camilla takes a sip of tea to calm herself, before nodding her head at last.]

...Thank you, Lord Lorenz. For standing up for me so. I know such actions were not proper by any means, and as your servant, I should scold you, but...as your friend, it means very much to me that you would go beyond measure to do such a thing.

I do hope he has learned his lesson, however.

That is my hope as well.

And you needn't worry about scolding me, I doubt it possible for me to be more ashamed of my actions... Truly, I will need to spend quite some time reflecting on my position and duties as a noble. One should not let their emotions get the best of them and lash out in anger! Such a mistake is unthinkable...

[He sighs and takes a sip of tea, as if to steady himself.]

With that said, though, I cannot find fault in being supremely annoyed by his words. Though my actions were wrong, it isn't as though he was in the right for insulting you in such a way. I know you worry for me, but I promise you, I will not make any missteps like this again. I will learn to better control my temper.

[He doesn't usually have that much of one, anyway...]

[...It's good that he has the decency to be ashamed, but Camilla does worry that he's taking that far too much to heart. Then again, she knows better than anyone that Lord Lorenz is a perfectionist; he expects nothing less than that from himself. Nobility always does that...]

You shouldn't find fault in that. Linhardt could truly stand to learn some empathy for the people around him, instead of single-mindedly pursuing his own interests. Really, I fear what sort of things he could say to many of our other alumni, if he knew about them...

[Marianne, for starters. She doesn't have a crest as far as Camilla knows, but that girl hides herself away so much that she's likely gained some interest. To say nothing of Lysithea, who Camilla does worry over--white hair like that doesn't come naturally...

Deplorable. He's utterly deplorable.]

I know you will make no such mistakes again, my lord. You're not one who's temper runs very hot, to begin with; you have mastered keeping your head cool, in any situation.

So please...do not lose heart, my lord. Reflect upon it, but do not let it consume you.

[Camilla almost wants to reach out and pat his head again, in response to that--she's thankful that she doesn't, because she's occupied with her food and drink, but...this isn't so bad, really.]

Let us not focus on such...dreadful subjects, any longer. I think we've had enough doom and gloom to last us quite some time--would you not agree?

[He nods at her words, and his smile is relaxed as she offers to move on.]

Yes, I am in complete agreement. I can only hope things will get better from here - both in terms of our monthly missions as well as with our fellow classmates.

As I said, I will speak to Claude about today's incident, though I believe a dip in the pond is more than enough to get him to consider his actions. Aside from that, things haven't been all that dreadful, have they?

[He looks to her to confirm; no one else is giving her trouble, are they?]

Now that is something I can get behind.

[Camilla smiles easily, though she shakes her head when Lorenz asks that question.]

Oh no, not at all. No one else has been causing me any trouble in the slightest, really. If anything, I'm finding that I've been gaining some rather positive relations throughout my time here...within this house, and outside of it.

I assume it has been the same for you, my lord?

[Give her the deets!! Who have you been supporting!!]

I'm very pleased to hear it!

[And he is, it's really nice that Camilla's making friends... However, at that, Lorenz nods.]

I have. While my attempts to find a suitable partner have proved... rather unfortunate, I have at the very least made significant progress in befriending our fellow classmates.

[must you put it like that???]

Ferdinand and I have tea frequently, and he's been insistent on giving me riding lessons. I will admit that I haven't had nearly as much time for riding as I would like... so I intend to take him up on that.

Just the other day, Marianne agreed to share a cup of tea with me. You can imagine my surprise when she accepted! She was exceptionally quiet as usual, but she makes for a wonderful partner for such things; her taste in tea is also exquisite. I also happened across Ignatz at the market, and we spent quite some time discussing the variations of hues in paint and the proper application for oil paintings - though I will admit, I am woefully uneducated in such matters compared to him! And there's Hilda, who asked for my help with reorganizing a portion of the library - she gifted me roses in thanks! It was quite lovely...

And... [A frown.] Well, I suppose Claude hasn't been quite as much of a pain lately, with the exception of this stunt today, of course. We had a discussion about the state of the Alliance and though he was as aggravating as ever about it, he did have some good points regarding the border in Goneril territory... I must admit, for as idle as he may seem, he has a sharp mind. His tactics could very well earn him victories, were he ever required to implement them. It's been... interesting to get to know him a bit better over time.

[It's a bit reluctant, but it is praise, which is far better than he usually gets with regards to Claude. Honestly, he looks like he's not really sure what to do with that, so he quickly tries to move on.]

And what of yourself, Camilla?

[Camilla is more than happy to listen while she eats, ever attentive to the information from her lord--it's good to know both who can be trusted and who to look out for, after all. And it is interesting to hear what he thinks of these people; she hasn't had many interactions with Ferdinand, but she knows that he's someone who takes his noble birth very seriously. But to hear him speak of Marianne so highly, of Ignatz's interests, and of Hilda's generous gift...

And even hearing about Claude--which gets a bit of a surprised expression from Camilla--all of it gets her to smile, waiting until she's swallowed her current bite of food before speaking up.]

...You really have been opening up so well, my lord. It's so very wonderful to hear that you have been forging such wonderful friendships here. To know that Lord Ferdinand has been keeping you company and providing lessons for you is wonderful. And hearing that you've managed to get Lady Marianne to come out of her shell--and Ignatz as well? Even more so.

I may even have to concede that Claude being tolerable can only mean good things. I'm surprised that he was able to provide such insight to you, but...that is good. I'm glad that one day, you may be able to call such an aggravating man an acquaintance...perhaps, at least.

[Camilla gladly smiles when it's her turn, though.]

Well, Raphael has proven to be a rather lovely training partner for me, to start with! He has asked me to help him learn how to better cook as well, for the sake of his little sister...and really, how could I possibly say no? I must admit that it's been an interesting experience, but he's a fine young man. Caspar is another lovely training partner of mine, though he certainly has energy to spare in a fight...I'm almost saddened that I can't keep up with him in such a state.

I feel much the same about Felix, all be told, but we can at least talk while he trains. He's been staunchly refusing to fight me ever since we talked during the feast, but I do admit...his dedication to his craft is admirable. [Camilla's smile softens some.] I like hearing him talk about it...even if I want to go back to seeing him put it into action against me. I miss it.

And...I suppose most surprisingly, I've found Lord Hubert's company preferable. He certainly understands what being a servant entails, and just what sort of devotion must go into it. I wouldn't go as far as to say we're friends, or anything of the like, but...I do not mind him.

[He nods at her words, looking pleased. Even though Claude is... well, difficult is putting it lightly - even though he's a pain, they are getting to know one another better. He would call Claude an acquaintance at this point, not that he'll come right out and admit it, of course.

Camilla speaks of her interactions with the others as he sips his tea, his expression remaining as poised as it should be, but calm and open as well. It's really nice to hear that she's finding others with common ground, even if that common ground is typically sparring...]

I'm very pleased that you've found so many able training partners! As long as you're careful with it - and I'm sure you are - then it can only be beneficial.

[That last one, though...]

To be honest, I wasn't sure Hubert spoke to anyone who isn't Edelgard. I'm a bit surprised the two of you get along. Not that it's a bad thing, of course!

[He relaxes a bit and takes another sip of tea.]

...It truly is wonderful to see you pursuing your passions here, Camilla. I'm very happy that you've found friends here.

[He knows better than to think he can provide everything Camilla needs and wants, so knowing that others can fill those gaps really does make him happy.]

Oh, it is. Incredibly so, which is why I truly can't wait to be all nice and healed...

[Fighting is life, okay. It's easier to find common ground with people who solve their problems with their fists, rather than their words!!

...Of course, Lorenz's comment about Hubert gets a bit of a chuckle from Camilla, though it isn't unkind.]

His dedication to Her Highness is akin to my dedication to you, all be told. He has a simple desire to serve his liege, and truly, I find such a thing admirable. But no, you're right--it isn't such a bad thing.

[...I mean it probably is because they're both the worst kind of echo chamber, but then again, Lorenz is befriending Ferdinand--]

As am I with you, my lord. It is rather nice to get to know the people here, and to understand them better, I admit. They're all so incredibly unique...and it is nice, to have acquaintances. And even friends.

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