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All right. Let's meet up, but on one condition.

No feeling sorry for me, okay? I mean it.

I won't. I just want to be there for you, like when you've been supporting me.

All right. Pick a place and I'll be there, and you can ask me whatever you want.

These aren't very nice stories, Ashe. Just keep that in mind.

Let's see. I'm working on getting my own place soon, so for now you can meet me in the Professor's. Everyone else is out right now anyway so we'll have some privacy. I'll get started on some tea.

It's okay. They're parts of you, but they don't define you. And I'm not unhappy to be here for you.

Sounds good to me. I'll make my way over; shouldn't take too long.

Hey, whatcha making? For the tea, I mean.

You like Almyran pine needles, right? The Professor knows everyone's favorite, so I've been growing a couple of trees for tea.

Yeah! I have some too, actually, they were in a letter that Holst sent me.

Not a new letter, I mean, don't get your hopes up. This place saw fit to deliver me a packet of a bunch of old ones. From Holst and from my mom.

Oh, but that's really great! I'm glad you have some things from home. Even just rereading a letter like that must be nice. I wonder if I could try to get stuff too like that.

Anyway, I'll make sure it's ready when you get here. I'll personally drink just about any tea, so I'm interested in trying this.

Sounds great. I'll see you soon!

[And for once, it's Balthus who comes knocking at Ashe's door after one quick handwaved travel sequence, and not the other way around.]

[When Ashe hears the knock, he calls out with coming, I'm coming! before he bustles over. It's nice to have the manor more or less to himself, especially to have some personal space for Balthus.

He opens the door and offers up a smile.]

Come in, the tea's ready.

Heya, pal.

[The door opens, and without missing a beat, Balthus reaches out to ruffle Ashe's hair, grinning at him as he makes his way inside.]

Whew! Never can get used to the size of this place. You're gonna have to lead the way so I don't get lost in here, all right?

[An easy going chuckle slips out at the ruffle. It's something a lot of people do, but he doesn't really mind.]

Sure! It's not too complicated, at least. It kind of reminds me of Castle Gaspard a little bit.

[He takes Balthus by the ends of his fingers, as if somehow he'd end up losing him in the manor.

The manor itself is very reminiscent of their homeland in a lot of ways in terms of the aesthetic and simplicity, but the hearth and stonework in the kitchen is where Ashe loves it best. It's here that there's a dining table, and two steaming cups of tea. There's some cookies of course, too, as Ashe couldn't really help himself.]

Make yourself at home.

Hey, you got it.

[He lets himself be led, smiling faintly to himself at the sweetness of the touch to his hand, and when they reach the kitchen and its ready-set table, Balthus accepts the invitation to sit in stride. As he slides into his seat, he reaches into his coat and produces a packet of letters held together with twine, some very obviously creased from being folded and unfolded dozens of times.

It's not exactly hard to guess what those might be; he sets them carefully out of the way of any potential spills of the tea, but close enough at hand that they're still within reach.]

So. Where do you want to start?

[As Ashe settles into his seat, he picks up a teacup and gently blows on it before taking a sip. It's actually not a bad flavor; it reminds him a little bit of mint, but not quite hitting that either. Still, he can see why some people like it so much.

The question makes him pause.]

I guess... maybe start with your earliest realization of what she was doing to you. As kids, we don't always realize things like "this isn't how it should be" or that kind of thing, you know?

[He takes his own tea, but doesn't sip it or even raise it up to his mouth at first, preferring instead to rotate it idly in its saucer, and then after a minute, to run his finger absently around the lip. It smells great, and it is his favorite; it's a little like having Holst close at hand, actually.

Maybe that's why he's not sipping it just yet. Because Holst is such a part of this, too.]

Well. She hated my mom, first, is the thing.

[His finger traces the rim of the teacup again.]

You know, you'd probably like the story of how my mom met my dad. It really was like something out of the storybooks. She was from this little town in the mountains, never been out to see the world before, and my dad...I mean, he was the Baron Albrecht. Alliance nobility. She got herself into some trouble, he rescued her, they fell madly in love...

But you know how it is with noble families, yeah? Bloodline's everything, and hers was a complete mystery. My dad's family hated her from the moment they laid eyes on her.

[It really does sound like something out of a book, however bittersweet it has ended up. Ashe does smile faintly, cradling the warm cup in his hands.]

I'm gonna guess they put a lot of pressure on your parents. But I know how much you love your mom; if someone hated her, that's a pretty big sign to you no doubt.

Yeah. So I guess you could say the first thing...is that I remember my stepmom saying my mom should've taken me with her, when she left. She didn't know why my dad bothered to keep me.

[Now at last, he picks up the teacup and smells its contents, buying himself a moment.]

I'm about five, six years older than my half-brother. I remember my stepmom making me follow her through the house while she broke everything my mom had left behind. Any trace of her, anything that'd been hers when she was the Lady Albrecht...she wrecked it all. She wouldn't even sleep in the bed that'd been my mom's; she had 'em cut it up for firewood, and her family paid for a new one.

It was a pretty clear message, yeah? Anything that was my mom's, gone. And I was my mom's.

[There's the urge to get angry on Balthus' behalf, because that isn't family. It's a concept that means a lot to Ashe, who has spent his life looking out for and raising his younger siblings almost entirely on his own. But he calms himself down, afraid to break the cup in his hands, and decides to set it down.]

Guess we're off to a good start, huh. [Ashe huffs softly.] I feel like we're just barely at the tip here regarding your stepmother.

Oh, yeah, she was always a witch. It got worse once my little bro was born, because the title of heir was still uncertain. Sure, I was older, but I was the son of the disgraced first wife, and he was the kid of the approved-of Lady. So any chance she could get away with it, she'd make things my fault.

[He sips his tea.]

Things got more complicated for her once Holst caught on to her scheming. Everybody had him figured for the next leader of the Alliance, you know — and there he is, running around with me, the unfavored son. And if he was sticking up for me, well. She didn't have the rank to tell him otherwise.

[He shrugs.]

She tried, sometimes, to split us up. When we got in trouble together, she'd blame it all on me, and fawn all over Holst. I think she figured I'd get jealous of him and pick a fight, do something stupid, wreck the friendship. But Holst wasn't having any of it. He'd demand just as much blame as I got, and never let me take the fall alone, not for anything.

[Concerned about what to do with his own hands, he folds them together so he doesn't break anything. He doesn't want to draw attention to that, not when he's completely focusing on Balthus and what he's been through.]

Holst has really been a great friend to you. I'm looking forward to meeting him one day.

[And he means that. All of the praise Balthus has for his friend, the amount of adoration. Holst must really be a good man.]

It's no wonder you were looking for him as a kid.

Yeah. I wasn't really worried about being lost. I was thinkin' about what'd happen when I was found. Getting found with or without Holst made a big difference.

[Now he's quiet for a long minute.]

It all went south when I got sent to the Officer's Academy. They screen for Crests, y'know, and that's when they found mine. Well — it's Fódlan nobility, yeah? There's no chance a Crestless younger son is gonna inherit a noble house when there's an elder with a Crest kicking around, questionable parentage or not. That's when the bitch got murderous. She had to; there was no chance of her son taking the barony any other way.

That makes sense.

[And it does add in the perspective. It wasn't just Balthus worried about his friend, it almost meant his own safety in a way.

Finally unable to help himself, he goes to put his hand over Balthus'. There's not really a sense of pity, but just frustration about the past he's endured. It does help bring some understanding, including the nightmare they shared. So, Ashe does what he instinctively desires, and that's to give comfort.]

Do you know what your brother thinks about any of it?

Oh, he's in a bad spot. We get along pretty well, he and I; I actually think he'll make a better Lord Albrecht than I would. He's got the head for it. You know, a numbers and books guy, not a soldier. But Albrecht's pretty tiny, he's taking over more forests and villages than he is armies.

[He sips his tea, seeming to realize that he's gotten off-track, and circles back around to it again.]

He knew he was getting the princely treatment while his mom was taking out all her frustrations on me. There just wasn't much he could do about it, aside from keeping his head down. He couldn't have stopped her.

[For a second, his expression darkens.]

My pops could've, maybe. If he'd tried.

[He had hoped that Balthus' brother would at least see the truth of it, which is at least something, even if he couldn't do anything about it. Gently, he squeezes Balthus' hand.]

Did your dad just look the other way?

[Which is frustrating. So frustrating. It isn't what a father should be.]

He needed my stepmom's money, I think. Albrecht's not all that big, and we're not all that rich, but we've got some land named after us and that's not nothing. My stepmom, she's just the opposite. Her family's got money, but no status, so they bankroll a lot of what goes on in Albrecht and, y'know, I guess she wanted her kid to get a title out of it for her trouble.

[He sighs, turning his hand over so that they're more properly holding each others', and so that he can give Ashe's a faint squeeze in return.]

My dad...is a guy being pulled in a lot of directions. Whatever his reasons, he doesn't pull back.

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