[Later in the evening, Ogata will wander over to Dimitri at the bonfire again, sitting down quietly with no real request or preamble. For a moment it might even seem like he's just sat here of his own volition, unrelated to Dimitri being there. But then he shoots him a sidelong glance and opens his terrible little mouth;]
You seem stressed, Prince Dimitri. [Perhaps this is a joke, given most everyone seems stressed and it's obviously the reason why. Obviously though, Ogata isn't one of them.]
[ Ah yes, Ogata and his terrible little mouth! Just the voice he'd wanted to hear at a time like this. Dimitri doesn't put up any sparkling pretenses, eyes cutting up towards Ogata with an unimpressed look. He keeps his voice level, dry. ]
[That's fine. If anything, it seems to put Ogata more at ease. Like he prefers it? He probably does.]
Of course. Like I said. I expected this to happen. And I've been in far worse situations. What's there to be stressed about? More people die in a single day during wartime.
[ weirdo. ] It's a tragedy, whether it's one death or many. The loss of life should always affect us.
[ He's good about fidgeting most of the time, but he wrings his wrist once. ] Besides, we are not at war here. The people here are by and large civilians.
I suppose, abstractly. But I'm not in the thick of it like you. Every man I kill is planned and intentional. [That's what it means to be a sniper, as far as Ogata is concerned.]
[ dimitri waits until there's a quiet moment before he steps into the isolation cabin, striding over to the 'jail' cell. he's more composed than he was in the final moments of trial. regal, almost. but the line of his jaw is tense as he steps up to ogata's prison, sitting in front of it, back straight. ]
We should speak.
[ before the morning. ]
Nu I'm wheezing you didn't tell me you made this i found it buried in my inbox just now
[Ah, there he is. The prince. Ogata's perched on the edge of the bed, but he leisurely leans back, leaning on his hands, when Dimitri approaches. All casual.]
About? [He's almost inaudible, for some reason, his voice a bare whisper.]
[ He's never liked Ogata. His history didn't spark pity for him as much as suppress it. But even so. Even so... Something about this was so very wrong.
His voice is coarse, mostly from staying awake for so long, but also from some mixed aggravation, frustration. ]
[That's a nice tone, Ogata thinks. Ragged and worn thin. More liable to snap. He wonders how long Dimitri will last this time. It's been about two weeks again, but there isn't the threat of immediate annihilation on the horizon this time.]
Mm. Well, this isn't how I expected it to go, but I'm hardly unprepared. Most soldiers don't live long happy lives, you know.
[ It's been two weeks again, but he's not the one being betrayed this time. As frail as his composure feels, a thinning thread, he grasps to it as he speaks. ]
I know. Someday I may have to ask men to die for me.
[ As Ogata so likes to point out, he is a prince. Still, judging from his expression, it's not a burden he wants. ]
[ Dimitri scoffs quietly, but considering he's the one making a request to a dying man, Ogata deserves to get his punches in. ]
Pray to whatever god you believe in that it's me you face tomorrow, and fight me to your very last.
[ He doesn't expressly wish to kill Ogata, considering the circumstances, but he will. There's nothing flinching in his voice, though he pauses after. ]
But that goes without saying. My true request is more practical... if you're willing to indulge me from wherever your soul is going next. [ hell, perhaps. ] ...I want you to send me a postcard.
You're right, I didn't need you to tell me that. I'm sure I would enjoy myself if it was you, but if there was such a thing as god or gods, I don't think I would much care for them to ask for their favor. [If they're real then he'd like to ask what the fuck.]
[ he doesn't argue otherwise. he doubts that if there are gods, they care much about what happens to the lot of them, not in this unholy place. he won't rely on the goddess to save anyone. ]
...I want proof that wherever our dead are going, it's truly safe. That there is some means of communicating with you, somehow.
[ he still doesn't really buy into the theory of a convenient afterlife, but he can't ignore the possibility, either. though it's harder to ensure that it isn't all just some ruse. ] I'd like you to send me a message that proves it's you.
[ he'll take the genuine ogata over the weird, polite version. better his unapologetically awful self than someone compelled to be 'nice.' ]
I don't. You're right—my upbringing, my status, and the power I will inherit make us incomprehensibly different from one another.
[ not to mention that his father loved him. does he understand ogata that well? probably not. he's too honest to pretend otherwise, too aware of his place in the world to deny it. ]
[He would laugh if Dimitri told him that. But maybe some part of his dark little heart would be glad to know it.
At the very least, he does appreciate Dimitri admitting they have lead completely disparate lives. So he settles and finally cuts to the chase;]
... Flayn asked me earlier to send her a postcard. If there's some sort of limit on how many I can send, I'm not wasting one telling you essentially the same information. If you're so curious, just ask her to see it next week.
I'm not sure what "best effort" you're promising me, though.
[Ogata visibly freezes up, wondering if he's made a mistake!!!]
... She asked. I may as well confirm with someone that I can contact you all. It doesn't especially matter who. [It definitely has nothing to do with the fact that she's always made an effort to talk to him and be kind to him even though he's a terrible combative goblin of a man.]
[ yeah it DEFINITELY isn't because flayn asked SPECIFICALLY. ]
Doesn't it? You'd rather speak to her than me. It seems like it matters to you.
[ he doesn't mind it, because he has never had a pleasant conversation with ogata anyway, but the fact that he has a preference at all is sort of telling. ]
[He considers countering with the simple fact that Flayn asked first, but Dimitri is already onto him and gets the feeling that won't hold up in court. He sighs.]
... Fine. Maybe she's grown on me. I don't understand why she seems to persist in thinking I could be better but... [Even if he thinks it's stupid of her, he doesn't hate it.]
I was never expecting or asking for something like that from either of you. [It's too late for him, honestly. The idea is nice. The kidness is nice. But it hurts, too. Because he really can't do anything with it. But Dimitri is young, still a child really. Seventeen, wasn't it? Not even the age of most rookie privates.
There's still time for him.] If you want that sort of thing from her, you'd better do everything in your power to protect her, Prince Dimitri.
[ he seems a little surprised by that. not by the fact that ogata would reject the notion of being saved, because that seemed likely. but did he think that dimitri might find absolution? ]
I don't. I... There's nothing like that for someone like me.
[ for a moment, he sounds sad about it, words soft and open. but there's no denying who he is. someone who's chosen to fight—someone who has already killed. he smiles, thin and tremulous. his voice is steady in comparison. ]
In any case, I expect that you'll help us from wherever your soul is going. [ dark and twisted thing that it is. ] In return, you can rest knowing that I will seek out who did this to Narukami. And to you.
[He blinks a moment but, you know, he's not really that surprised.]
... No? If you say so. [He's certainly in no position to argue if Dimitri's already arrived at that conclusion. Leave it to someone like Flayn.]
Whoever killed Narukami didn't do anything to me. It's the ones who voted for me... Though I suppose they would argue I brought this upon myself. [He hums a moment, before adding;] What makes you think I'll help?
[Ogata hadn't exactly meant to snoop on Dimitri. But when, in wandering around the castle grounds, he saw the prince over by the stables, he was curious as is his nature, but cautious, as is also his nature.
So he hung back as he watched Dimitri struggle to get a horse to cooperate with him. Probably someone like Dimitri has ample experience with horses, being both a nobleman and a knight. But the problem seems obvious to Ogata, as a hunter, he probably smells like a predator animal right now. He lets Dimitri struggle for another minute or so, before he trots over, making no move to hide his approach.]
So is your plan to just keep doing the same thing and expecting different results? [Why can't he be nice.]
[ Ah, his favorite person. Dimitri frowns, trying to look serious, though unfortunately he just looks sort of sullen with the way his ears flatten against his head. ]
...Horses usually like me.
[ LET HIM HAVE THIS. The ones here are so jittery that he can't even get close... ]
Do they? Well, usually you don't smell like an animal that might kill and eat them. [He finishes approaching Dimitri and reaches up to pat one of his ears.]
You have to cover up the smell with something else.
Like what? It's not like there's really anything for us to do at this point besides wait. All you have to do is disguise your scent. [This is something Ogata knows all about, as his job requires existing as little as humanly possible until you get the chance to make someone else stop existing entirely.]
I hadn't pegged you as someone who gives up that easily.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Week 0, Saturday
You seem stressed, Prince Dimitri.
[Perhaps this is a joke, given most everyone seems stressed and it's obviously the reason why. Obviously though, Ogata isn't one of them.]
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I could not say the same for you, Ogata.
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Of course. Like I said. I expected this to happen. And I've been in far worse situations. What's there to be stressed about? More people die in a single day during wartime.
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[ He's good about fidgeting most of the time, but he wrings his wrist once. ] Besides, we are not at war here. The people here are by and large civilians.
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I'm impressed to hear your people have so perfected the art of war that no civilians are ever harmed.
[This is clearly a joke.]
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We haven't. Of course we haven't. I have done my share of damage. [ ... ] But you seem like a soldier yourself. I'm sure you know what that's like.
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I suppose, abstractly. But I'm not in the thick of it like you. Every man I kill is planned and intentional.
[That's what it means to be a sniper, as far as Ogata is concerned.]
w1, saturday, post-trial
We should speak.
[ before the morning. ]
Nu I'm wheezing you didn't tell me you made this i found it buried in my inbox just now
About?
[He's almost inaudible, for some reason, his voice a bare whisper.]
SURPRISE
His voice is coarse, mostly from staying awake for so long, but also from some mixed aggravation, frustration. ]
Your imminent demise...?
[ What else? ]
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Mm. Well, this isn't how I expected it to go, but I'm hardly unprepared. Most soldiers don't live long happy lives, you know.
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I know. Someday I may have to ask men to die for me.
[ As Ogata so likes to point out, he is a prince. Still, judging from his expression, it's not a burden he wants. ]
Likewise, I have a request of you today.
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Well, I’m not one of your men, and you’re not the first to ask something of me, but I suppose I’m willing to consider it if you give me a good reason.
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Pray to whatever god you believe in that it's me you face tomorrow, and fight me to your very last.
[ He doesn't expressly wish to kill Ogata, considering the circumstances, but he will. There's nothing flinching in his voice, though he pauses after. ]
But that goes without saying. My true request is more practical... if you're willing to indulge me from wherever your soul is going next. [ hell, perhaps. ] ...I want you to send me a postcard.
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You're right, I didn't need you to tell me that. I'm sure I would enjoy myself if it was you, but if there was such a thing as god or gods, I don't think I would much care for them to ask for their favor.
[If they're real then he'd like to ask what the fuck.]
Why do you want a postcard from me, though?
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[ he doesn't argue otherwise. he doubts that if there are gods, they care much about what happens to the lot of them, not in this unholy place. he won't rely on the goddess to save anyone. ]
...I want proof that wherever our dead are going, it's truly safe. That there is some means of communicating with you, somehow.
[ he still doesn't really buy into the theory of a convenient afterlife, but he can't ignore the possibility, either. though it's harder to ensure that it isn't all just some ruse. ] I'd like you to send me a message that proves it's you.
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Oh? And how would you like me to go about proving that? Do you think you really know me so well?
[Do you miss polite Ogata from the trial yet?]
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I don't. You're right—my upbringing, my status, and the power I will inherit make us incomprehensibly different from one another.
[ not to mention that his father loved him. does he understand ogata that well? probably not. he's too honest to pretend otherwise, too aware of his place in the world to deny it. ]
All I can offer you is my best effort.
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At the very least, he does appreciate Dimitri admitting they have lead completely disparate lives. So he settles and finally cuts to the chase;]
... Flayn asked me earlier to send her a postcard. If there's some sort of limit on how many I can send, I'm not wasting one telling you essentially the same information. If you're so curious, just ask her to see it next week.
I'm not sure what "best effort" you're promising me, though.
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You'd send one to Flayn...?
[ he'll get to the other thing after. ]
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... She asked. I may as well confirm with someone that I can contact you all. It doesn't especially matter who.
[It definitely has nothing to do with the fact that she's always made an effort to talk to him and be kind to him even though he's a terrible combative goblin of a man.]
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Doesn't it? You'd rather speak to her than me. It seems like it matters to you.
[ he doesn't mind it, because he has never had a pleasant conversation with ogata anyway, but the fact that he has a preference at all is sort of telling. ]
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... Fine. Maybe she's grown on me. I don't understand why she seems to persist in thinking I could be better but...
[Even if he thinks it's stupid of her, he doesn't hate it.]
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Flayn is impossibly kind. She is the sort of person who would offer people like us salvation.
[ ogata liked to highlight their differences—their rank, their status, their lineage. but they're similar, too. he shakes his head. ]
I cannot bring you the same. [ dimitri isn't here to try and save him. ]
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I was never expecting or asking for something like that from either of you.
[It's too late for him, honestly. The idea is nice. The kidness is nice. But it hurts, too. Because he really can't do anything with it. But Dimitri is young, still a child really. Seventeen, wasn't it? Not even the age of most rookie privates.
There's still time for him.]
If you want that sort of thing from her, you'd better do everything in your power to protect her, Prince Dimitri.
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I don't. I... There's nothing like that for someone like me.
[ for a moment, he sounds sad about it, words soft and open. but there's no denying who he is. someone who's chosen to fight—someone who has already killed. he smiles, thin and tremulous. his voice is steady in comparison. ]
In any case, I expect that you'll help us from wherever your soul is going. [ dark and twisted thing that it is. ] In return, you can rest knowing that I will seek out who did this to Narukami. And to you.
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... No? If you say so.
[He's certainly in no position to argue if Dimitri's already arrived at that conclusion. Leave it to someone like Flayn.]
Whoever killed Narukami didn't do anything to me. It's the ones who voted for me... Though I suppose they would argue I brought this upon myself. [He hums a moment, before adding;] What makes you think I'll help?
week 6, tuesday afternoon
So he hung back as he watched Dimitri struggle to get a horse to cooperate with him. Probably someone like Dimitri has ample experience with horses, being both a nobleman and a knight. But the problem seems obvious to Ogata, as a hunter, he probably smells like a predator animal right now. He lets Dimitri struggle for another minute or so, before he trots over, making no move to hide his approach.]
So is your plan to just keep doing the same thing and expecting different results?
[Why can't he be nice.]
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...Horses usually like me.
[ LET HIM HAVE THIS. The ones here are so jittery that he can't even get close... ]
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[He finishes approaching Dimitri and reaches up to pat one of his ears.]
You have to cover up the smell with something else.
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I suppose you have a point... I didn't consider it since I'm not hunting them.
[ If he were tracking a deer or something, that's one thing. But he'd be hard-pressed to convince the horses he isn't here to hurt them. ]
I was hoping to get some riding in, but perhaps this is a sign I need to focus on something less frivolous.
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[This is something Ogata knows all about, as his job requires existing as little as humanly possible until you get the chance to make someone else stop existing entirely.]
I hadn't pegged you as someone who gives up that easily.