Jacopo closes his eyes, but doesn't raise his free hand to rub his face or to massage his temples. He doesn't have the strength to shove her off his shoulder, even though this is improper for a maid. If he had more minutes left in him, this would not pass.
One more word. ]
... Idiot.
[ And that seems to be his last word. Nothing meaningful, nothing useful, but he passes peacefully with his hand in hers. Despite all of his talk, he hadn't let it go.
Perhaps tragedy can change. In this life, Jacopo doesn't die surrounded by contempt. There is someone here for him... And while it barely shaves the layers of his solitude and loneliness, it's more than he was afforded during the time of kings and vassals. Perhaps he can have a grave this time?
This life gave him a homeland. It gave him a chance to love and marry, no matter how short bliss lasted. It gave him a chance to see someone he never thought he'd ever meet again. It let him keep his name... And let him die as himself. Unfortunately, his soul isn't free. This mansion will take him, even if he were to be buried elsewhere.
Until next time, where I await your write-up on what Elysia has been doing until like 2010s. ]
her behavior may not be proper for a maid, but she's never been one who respects propriety anyway. she follows etiqueete when it suits and when it makes things easier, but she has no true deference.
it may be his last word, his last breath, but she'll remember this for the next time she sees him. she closes his eyes for him, and elysia lets the sadness come, as it always does, but she doesn't let it sink and simmer. she has seen and experienced too much loss for grief to anchor her down. she moves forward because that's what she always does. it's what she decides. she holds onto loss, she remembers each and every person who has ever left her, and she carries them with her as she goes forward.
and forward, she goes through time, for the hundred and fifty or so years before she sees jacopo again. once she leaves a place, wandering and being nomadic is just like her childhood. she goes from city to city, state to state, meeting people and learning new skills.
her friendliness and forwardness open more doors than they don't, and even if women aren't afforded many rights fore decades after jacopo dies, she still makes it work. it's a bit rough for her when she was initially from an equivalent of a modern time period, but her love perseveres always.
at first, she just travels. then, she goes to school. eventually, she spends a few years as a maid again before she moves and offers her services as a discreet bodyguard. it's another few years before she travels and learns to be a pastry chef. she makes a small name for herself at a beautiful patisserie before she disappears and surfaces as something new and fun that sparks her interest.
by the time the 2000s comes around and the internet takes off, she falls into being a content creator. hoyoverse says in a modern era with no threat to humanity, elysia becomes a streamer. she streams about anything she finds cute and pretty but mostly about food and the beauty in historical landscapes and landmarks and any place where nature and flower fields are mostly untouched. every once in a while, she reviews a book.
her phone and camera are never far from her. she can be out filming the next time she sees jacopo. ]
[ Thank you. Jacopo will not know all she has done over the years, but I will take the crumb that she enjoys many lives and experiences.
He is modern and dresses like this, basically. Professional and spiffy, but not too formal. It could be his lunch break and he decided to eat out for lunch, enjoying it at a nearby park that has a lot of walking areas and benches. Nature can be nice when you're a cog for capitalism.
Elysia can be doing her thing while he's focused on his smartphone, not noticing her just yet. His eyebrows do knit at the sound of her voice as she streams, though his gaze doesn't pull away from his phone screen. There's something about it, but he can't pinpoint what it is. ]
elysia is panning over some flowerbeds with her camera set up and talking about flower language and how it's romantic - both in the way that people mean the word romantic and the way she does when she turns and catches sight of him. she transitions into some kind of goodbye before she packs her things up and walks over to jacopo.
her hands are clasped behind her back. ]
Hi~ [ it's familiar for a first greeting, perhaps too familiar but she's usually this way. ] It's a beautiful day out, isn't it?
Likely, he's checking the stock market or something... Not in the obsession of bring a broker on the side, but a regular amount of vigilance as someone who owns a different amount of stock and a diverse portfolio.
He still doesn't notice her until a shadow is cast within his line of sight... Then he lifts his head to see her, though he locks his phone so she can't check his screen. ]
It is. [ Despite giving off the air that he shouldn't be bothered, he answers without any irritation or annoyance. His eyes do flicker to his watch for the time, as if assessing how long he can entertain this. ] Good for your stream, right?
[ somehow this tracks for a girl who curses people to be miserable
jacopo would care about stonks. stocks are only so interesting. elysia meets his gaze with a smile when he lifts his head. she can read his body language, as ever, but she remains undeterred, also as ever. ]
Yeah, that was why I'm out here instead of inside. Was I too noisy? I did cut myself short when I saw you. I thought, a new day really does start with lovely encounters.
[ They are very not interesting to me, but they are interesting enough to Jacopo to have a good idea on what the forecast is looking for his Assets. He doesn't even know he gives off an aura of any kind. He's just existing, but being read by a girl he doesn't know.
Which he isn't sure how to feel about, but everyone judges each other. That's the risk of going outside. ]
It could be worse. [ While not a yes, it's also not a no. ] So... You cut your stream short to talk to me.
[ it's interesting to think about volatile the stock market can be even if i don't fully understand it
elysia could do better at hiding how much she knows, but she doesn't care enough to. it's nothing that will harm anything irreparably or will change the fate of the world, so jacopo can think she's a freak and be confused.
if anything, it's nice to witness his rudeness again. she doesn't enjoy being rude to, but it's never bothered her, and it's another confirmation that it's him. when it's not impossible in her universe to have similar faces but different personalities, it's nice for jacopo to be like this. ]
I didn't think you'd want to be randomly included in a stream, and you looked like someone I wanted to get to know better. I don't know how much time you have before you have to go, but won't you humor me?
[ sometimes the head of your nation can make a decision and the stock market crashes
Fortunately or unfortunately, he has met a handful of weirdos in life. Twenty-six is old enough to have one freak encounter, so what's another? Still a freak encounter, he supposes. Jacopo does seem to be blessed or cursed to look the same, then also act the same, while so many seem to return different and changed. The incredulous expression stays before it melts away with a sigh. ]
I can see why you'd stop streaming if you're going to drop lines like that. [ Rather than it being for his sake, he thinks it's for hers. Terminally online people are a lot. ] My lunch break ends in an hour.
[ He is, however, less snappy and biting with his words. Maybe before he would add that he'd leave if the small talk grew stale. With having been productive enough with stonks tracking, he puts away his phone. ]
[ listen......... unfortunately sometimes it is more than just the stock market
it's not surprising that people new (again) to her would think anything she says is a line. she's used to it by now. she doesn't take this as a rejection. if he rebuffed her in this first meeting, she would have let him be. she may be forward and challenge boundaries too much, but she has social grace and awareness.
she sits down next to him while still giving him some personal space. ]
However I sound to you, I mean what I saID. I'd like to know you, little by little, and I'd like to become friends that way. An hour can be a start.
[ although she knows he can definitely leave before the hour is up. she remembers that much. she knows that much. ]
[ Help... She really is upfront and Jacopo is only used to that in a setting where it's planned. Meetings, appointments, conferences, and the like. Not something like a chance encounter where someone drops friendship onto a platter for you.
Jacopo is kind of speechless because what is happening? It is the usual day where he worked in the office, dealing with his team who don't seem to know how to do their job, and he had anticipated a nice lunch break before he slaves away to overtime. ]
You... Are very forward. I never said I was open to friends, either.
[ thinks about how i did read the tag over because it used to say something other than said that didn't make sense and still didn't notice the caps after
anyway, this is not so unexpected from him. she almost expects him to get up and walk away soon. it's just like how he left the group chat or the cafe or anything else. ]
I don't want to hide how I feel. You didn't say you didn't want friends.
[ oh i'm sorry ara i also was like these caps must be telling me something doesn't say anything and writes my tag so i can touch grass.
This Jacopo isn't so impersonal and near anti-social. He may still look the same and the way his eyebrows knit mirror every scowl in his past lives, but his shoulders while still stiff and tense aren't shaped like they're carrying the weight of the world. In a modern world, he only has modern day worries... And without a curse, it would seem his everyday worries are not so harrowing or heavy.
Who knows, though. They were all versions of him, even the worst of him. Regardless of curses. Whether he stands up and leaves without warning, she will have to see and experience the person he is now. ]
Only children talk so outwardly about friendships.
[ Only children need that to be so obviously defined, says the man who has a hard time being clear. A sigh because... He does prefer straightforward people and he's less paranoid of others in this life. ]
[ it's fine i should have opened my eyes to reread touching grass is more important
what he says makes her laugh. ]
Why do you think people stop being so straightforward when they grow older? Why do people make things so complicated?
[ they're not pointed questions, tone more lighthearted and curious than anything else. she doesn't need it to be obviously defined, but he so often is unclear. this is her way of being annoying. ]
Maybe adulthood introduces more reasons for people to be afraid. I don't like quitting before I try.
[ she doesn't know anything of how morgana cursed him or that he isn't cursed at all anymore. all she can know is what she sees of him and experiences of him. ]
It could work out. Cute girls can make anything happen. ♪
If they find it complicated, perhaps the issue is themself.
[ Skill issue? That's his rhetorical answer to her rhetorical questions, though the truth is m navigating interpersonal relationships is not always easy and simple, especially in adulthood.
There are more reasons to be afraid. Knowing where you stand with someone can be terrifying, but they are simply strangers.
There's just a silence as he gives her an incredulous look, mouth partly open. He closes his mouth, then opens it again. ]
It isn't befitting for girls to inflate their egos so blatantly.
[ Good on her for confidence. Jacopo is just here being like modesty??? ]
[ she does think jacopo has some skill issue. At least in the last two lives he's had. Maybe this one isn't as bad? She'll have to see.
Even if he still says these kinds of things when they're in the 21st century and not the 19th or 11th. ]
You can say that kind of thing to me. [ because her confidence is so hard to crack. ] But you shouldn't say that to any other girl.
[ this is as admonishing as elysia ever gets. She will defend a girl's right to be anything she wants—whether it's to be stupid beyond words or arrogant to the point of tears. ]
[ At least he would be successful in his professional life, I guess.
Elysia may think it's enough, but obviously he wouldn't which is what's illustrated on his face. Girls could be cute in all ways, but it alone wouldn't make him budge. Similarly, being cute won't mean they'll be friends. ]
... I don't think being cute is that important to stress over.
[ isn't that part of his problem? he became so good at being a lord or mafia boss that everyone around him left him alone in misery
girls being cute in every way not being enough is why he sucks. elysia would not think this in those specific words, but she does think girls should be respected. ]
You're being a little too literal, but everyone has something about them that someone can adore.
[ YOU CAN RESPECT WOMEN WITHOUT NEEDING TO THINK THEy'RE CUTE? IF ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD RESPECT WOMEN REGARDLESS OF HOW THEY LOOK OR FEEL? ]
If you're talking about cute in personality, that's not only subjective but also vague. [ ... ] You're going to say you're cute all around, aren't you.
[ I did. The hilarity of being asked if I learned anything new in the graveyard, but there wasn't anything for me to learn in two days especially being cursed and then a party. ]
What did we even learn about each other from this back-and-forth?
[ Jacopo, you don't know that she knows you quite well. ]
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Jacopo closes his eyes, but doesn't raise his free hand to rub his face or to massage his temples. He doesn't have the strength to shove her off his shoulder, even though this is improper for a maid. If he had more minutes left in him, this would not pass.
One more word. ]
... Idiot.
[ And that seems to be his last word. Nothing meaningful, nothing useful, but he passes peacefully with his hand in hers. Despite all of his talk, he hadn't let it go.
Perhaps tragedy can change. In this life, Jacopo doesn't die surrounded by contempt. There is someone here for him... And while it barely shaves the layers of his solitude and loneliness, it's more than he was afforded during the time of kings and vassals. Perhaps he can have a grave this time?
This life gave him a homeland. It gave him a chance to love and marry, no matter how short bliss lasted. It gave him a chance to see someone he never thought he'd ever meet again. It let him keep his name... And let him die as himself. Unfortunately, his soul isn't free. This mansion will take him, even if he were to be buried elsewhere.
Until next time, where I await your write-up on what Elysia has been doing until like 2010s. ]
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her behavior may not be proper for a maid, but she's never been one who respects propriety anyway. she follows etiqueete when it suits and when it makes things easier, but she has no true deference.
it may be his last word, his last breath, but she'll remember this for the next time she sees him. she closes his eyes for him, and elysia lets the sadness come, as it always does, but she doesn't let it sink and simmer. she has seen and experienced too much loss for grief to anchor her down. she moves forward because that's what she always does. it's what she decides. she holds onto loss, she remembers each and every person who has ever left her, and she carries them with her as she goes forward.
and forward, she goes through time, for the hundred and fifty or so years before she sees jacopo again. once she leaves a place, wandering and being nomadic is just like her childhood. she goes from city to city, state to state, meeting people and learning new skills.
her friendliness and forwardness open more doors than they don't, and even if women aren't afforded many rights fore decades after jacopo dies, she still makes it work. it's a bit rough for her when she was initially from an equivalent of a modern time period, but her love perseveres always.
at first, she just travels. then, she goes to school. eventually, she spends a few years as a maid again before she moves and offers her services as a discreet bodyguard. it's another few years before she travels and learns to be a pastry chef. she makes a small name for herself at a beautiful patisserie before she disappears and surfaces as something new and fun that sparks her interest.
by the time the 2000s comes around and the internet takes off, she falls into being a content creator. hoyoverse says in a modern era with no threat to humanity, elysia becomes a streamer. she streams about anything she finds cute and pretty but mostly about food and the beauty in historical landscapes and landmarks and any place where nature and flower fields are mostly untouched. every once in a while, she reviews a book.
her phone and camera are never far from her. she can be out filming the next time she sees jacopo. ]
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He is modern and dresses like this, basically. Professional and spiffy, but not too formal. It could be his lunch break and he decided to eat out for lunch, enjoying it at a nearby park that has a lot of walking areas and benches. Nature can be nice when you're a cog for capitalism.
Elysia can be doing her thing while he's focused on his smartphone, not noticing her just yet. His eyebrows do knit at the sound of her voice as she streams, though his gaze doesn't pull away from his phone screen. There's something about it, but he can't pinpoint what it is. ]
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elysia is panning over some flowerbeds with her camera set up and talking about flower language and how it's romantic - both in the way that people mean the word romantic and the way she does when she turns and catches sight of him. she transitions into some kind of goodbye before she packs her things up and walks over to jacopo.
her hands are clasped behind her back. ]
Hi~ [ it's familiar for a first greeting, perhaps too familiar but she's usually this way. ] It's a beautiful day out, isn't it?
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Likely, he's checking the stock market or something... Not in the obsession of bring a broker on the side, but a regular amount of vigilance as someone who owns a different amount of stock and a diverse portfolio.
He still doesn't notice her until a shadow is cast within his line of sight... Then he lifts his head to see her, though he locks his phone so she can't check his screen. ]
It is. [ Despite giving off the air that he shouldn't be bothered, he answers without any irritation or annoyance. His eyes do flicker to his watch for the time, as if assessing how long he can entertain this. ] Good for your stream, right?
[ Might have overheard a bit. ]
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jacopo would care about stonks. stocks are only so interesting. elysia meets his gaze with a smile when he lifts his head. she can read his body language, as ever, but she remains undeterred, also as ever. ]
Yeah, that was why I'm out here instead of inside. Was I too noisy? I did cut myself short when I saw you. I thought, a new day really does start with lovely encounters.
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Which he isn't sure how to feel about, but everyone judges each other. That's the risk of going outside. ]
It could be worse. [ While not a yes, it's also not a no. ] So... You cut your stream short to talk to me.
[ Con...Fused... ]
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elysia could do better at hiding how much she knows, but she doesn't care enough to. it's nothing that will harm anything irreparably or will change the fate of the world, so jacopo can think she's a freak and be confused.
if anything, it's nice to witness his rudeness again. she doesn't enjoy being rude to, but it's never bothered her, and it's another confirmation that it's him. when it's not impossible in her universe to have similar faces but different personalities, it's nice for jacopo to be like this. ]
I didn't think you'd want to be randomly included in a stream, and you looked like someone I wanted to get to know better. I don't know how much time you have before you have to go, but won't you humor me?
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Fortunately or unfortunately, he has met a handful of weirdos in life. Twenty-six is old enough to have one freak encounter, so what's another? Still a freak encounter, he supposes. Jacopo does seem to be blessed or cursed to look the same, then also act the same, while so many seem to return different and changed. The incredulous expression stays before it melts away with a sigh. ]
I can see why you'd stop streaming if you're going to drop lines like that. [ Rather than it being for his sake, he thinks it's for hers. Terminally online people are a lot. ] My lunch break ends in an hour.
[ He is, however, less snappy and biting with his words. Maybe before he would add that he'd leave if the small talk grew stale. With having been productive enough with stonks tracking, he puts away his phone. ]
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it's not surprising that people new (again) to her would think anything she says is a line. she's used to it by now. she doesn't take this as a rejection. if he rebuffed her in this first meeting, she would have let him be. she may be forward and challenge boundaries too much, but she has social grace and awareness.
she sits down next to him while still giving him some personal space. ]
However I sound to you, I mean what I saID. I'd like to know you, little by little, and I'd like to become friends that way. An hour can be a start.
[ although she knows he can definitely leave before the hour is up. she remembers that much. she knows that much. ]
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Jacopo is kind of speechless because what is happening? It is the usual day where he worked in the office, dealing with his team who don't seem to know how to do their job, and he had anticipated a nice lunch break before he slaves away to overtime. ]
You... Are very forward. I never said I was open to friends, either.
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anyway, this is not so unexpected from him. she almost expects him to get up and walk away soon. it's just like how he left the group chat or the cafe or anything else. ]
I don't want to hide how I feel. You didn't say you didn't want friends.
[ he can stand to make himself clear. ]
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This Jacopo isn't so impersonal and near anti-social. He may still look the same and the way his eyebrows knit mirror every scowl in his past lives, but his shoulders while still stiff and tense aren't shaped like they're carrying the weight of the world. In a modern world, he only has modern day worries... And without a curse, it would seem his everyday worries are not so harrowing or heavy.
Who knows, though. They were all versions of him, even the worst of him. Regardless of curses. Whether he stands up and leaves without warning, she will have to see and experience the person he is now. ]
Only children talk so outwardly about friendships.
[ Only children need that to be so obviously defined, says the man who has a hard time being clear. A sigh because... He does prefer straightforward people and he's less paranoid of others in this life. ]
You know this might not work out.
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what he says makes her laugh. ]
Why do you think people stop being so straightforward when they grow older? Why do people make things so complicated?
[ they're not pointed questions, tone more lighthearted and curious than anything else. she doesn't need it to be obviously defined, but he so often is unclear. this is her way of being annoying. ]
Maybe adulthood introduces more reasons for people to be afraid. I don't like quitting before I try.
[ she doesn't know anything of how morgana cursed him or that he isn't cursed at all anymore. all she can know is what she sees of him and experiences of him. ]
It could work out. Cute girls can make anything happen. ♪
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[ Skill issue? That's his rhetorical answer to her rhetorical questions, though the truth is m navigating interpersonal relationships is not always easy and simple, especially in adulthood.
There are more reasons to be afraid. Knowing where you stand with someone can be terrifying, but they are simply strangers.
There's just a silence as he gives her an incredulous look, mouth partly open. He closes his mouth, then opens it again. ]
It isn't befitting for girls to inflate their egos so blatantly.
[ Good on her for confidence. Jacopo is just here being like modesty??? ]
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[ she does think jacopo has some skill issue. At least in the last two lives he's had. Maybe this one isn't as bad? She'll have to see.
Even if he still says these kinds of things when they're in the 21st century and not the 19th or 11th. ]
You can say that kind of thing to me. [ because her confidence is so hard to crack. ] But you shouldn't say that to any other girl.
[ this is as admonishing as elysia ever gets. She will defend a girl's right to be anything she wants—whether it's to be stupid beyond words or arrogant to the point of tears. ]
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It's not an outlandish thing to say with someone with such a big ego! He's the one with the smaller one here, as much as he can live off of bravado. ]
Normally, I wouldn't.
[ He may be rude, but only if you give him a reason to be rude. That could be as simple as existing, though. ]
Being cute isn't enough.
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unfortunately, her feminine ego is sturdy to his fragile masculine one, and exist she does right now. ]
It is enough.
[ elysia would let a cute girl do almost anything. ]
It's difficult enough to get people to think they're cute when they are.
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Elysia may think it's enough, but obviously he wouldn't which is what's illustrated on his face. Girls could be cute in all ways, but it alone wouldn't make him budge. Similarly, being cute won't mean they'll be friends. ]
... I don't think being cute is that important to stress over.
[ But he's a man, so. ]
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girls being cute in every way not being enough is why he sucks. elysia would not think this in those specific words, but she does think girls should be respected. ]
You're being a little too literal, but everyone has something about them that someone can adore.
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If you're talking about cute in personality, that's not only subjective but also vague. [ ... ] You're going to say you're cute all around, aren't you.
[ Why... Does he have a feeling? ]
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Isn't it obvious that I'm a cute girl? ♪ What's so wrong about being subjective? We all are.
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I don't think I'm going to win this battle.
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she laughs. ]
I'm happy you've finally seen the outcome. So can we be friends?
[ this is also a losing battle for him. ]
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What did we even learn about each other from this back-and-forth?
[ Jacopo, you don't know that she knows you quite well. ]
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