[text]

[waywardboy]

I knew this place was full of some kind of magic. People acted like I was crazy.

Memory loss? And trees and plants everywhere. Magic always causes problems. We're all lucky it wasn't something much worse.

Comments

[Audio]

[coimiceoir]

Vam-pires. [It's a strange word in her mouth, and she spends a moment playing with it before answering.] I don't know the word. I don't think we had them at home. [Not strictly true, but she'd never met a Dearg-due before, and he certainly didn't look like a blood-sucking maiden.]

But even if your parents were of lesser blood, [Tactful. That's what she is.] you are trying to make more of yourself - and that means you must be better than them already. I think there is hope.

[Audio]

[waywardboy]

[He has no problem accepting the "lesser blood" part. Even if Angel's circumstances are special, Connor has his own ideas about how that whole "vampire with a soul" thing works, and none of them are very flattering.]

I hadn't thought of it that way.

[Audio]

[coimiceoir]

Every new day is a chance to start the fight afresh - if today was a failure, tomorrow you learn from your mistakes and do better.

That's what Caedmon says anyway. [She means Souji, but she won't use anyone's true name before knowing if they've given it freely.]

[Audio]

[waywardboy]

[There's another long pause, and his voice sounds unstable when he finally answers.]

That sounds like something my father would have said.

[Audio]

[coimiceoir]

Then he was probably on the right track, even if he couldn't do it himself.

[She's completely serene about this notion, even if she can tell that he's not, entirely.]

[Audio]

[waywardboy]

Maybe he tried. He lied a lot. That's all I know. Most of what I know about him is from stories.

[Audio]

[coimiceoir]

[Softly, matter-of-fact.] He wasn't lying about that. It has worked so far.

[Audio]

[waywardboy]

... I'll remember that.