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(no subject)

Type: Video
Sender ID: paradisaea (Kaveh)
To: so, so public
Subject: important question!!!
Warnings: Alcoholism and the chaos gays probably in the comments somewhere.

[Kaveh is laying at on a couch in his home, sprawled bonelessly across it, and he's clearly flushed. Given he's staring despondently up at the ceiling and not directly at the camera, this is not because he's having a good time.]

Hey...how are you s'posed to convince people y'care about them? [Kaveh laughs a bit, bitterly.] I'm clearly doing it wrong.

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[ Look he knows that's A Landwalker Thing but still!!!

Though he also knows that people in such state respond even worse to logic than usual - and besides, Ulpianus is unsure that Kaveh will even read his messages properly.

He will have to use... his words. ]

Many regret the things they do while inebriated.

[ Despite the fact that it's still Ulpianus, his voice is much gentler than the other day - or the usual tone of his text messages. He's speaking softly, a little like talking to a child. (As far as he's concerned, the situation isn't far from that.) ]

Ha, I already regret things sober, that's no different.

[Kaveh snorts, but it's odd...he didn't think this man could be that gentle. Humm, he's too drunk to feel condescended to...]

Besides, Haitham is s'posed to be back soon...he wouldn't even let me wash the dishes myself! Like he even knows where anything goes.

[ He CAN be kind to people!!! It's just. Rare. And he can't do it for very long.

Speaking of, Ulpianus is about to protest that well ACTUALLY, it IS demonstrably different to make decisions while sober or while influenced by stimulants... But then Kaveh mentions 'Haitham', which gives Ulpianus pause - until he remembers that the man mentioned a husband last time. ]

Your partner. He must worry for your hand-eye coordination in this state. Is it him you've had an argument with?

Pfft. Pffft! I've made drafts drunker than this.

[At the idea Kaveh argued with Alhaitham, he makes an AUDIBLE 'hmph!']

Alhaitham would never! I didn't get his constellation tattooed over my heart to allow any room for doubt.

[ ... Alright, so the drinking is apparently a recurrent event, and the man allowed himself to... write? work? while even more affected than this. Briefly, Ulpianus wonders if he will ever meet a land-dweller without such unexpected... imbalances in character.

The detail of Kaveh's relationship with his husband makes Ulpianus feel awkward, too - it's a world far away from his own, one he's never had an interest in. But the feeling of devotion in itself is commendable. ]

Constellation?

Constellation. We're all born under a set of stars that define our fate from birth. His is Vultur Volans--the hawk.

[ Oh wow he does Not like that whole thing about fate. ]

And yours?

[Yeah don't worry about it.]

Paradisaea--the Bird of Paradise. We changed our usernames after we got engaged!

[Kaveh giggles a little bit. he might have rolled over so he can properly kick his feet. Oh no.]

[ THIS IS GETTING FURTHER AND FURTHER OUTSIDE OF HIS EXPERTISE. But at least Kaveh no longer sounds miserable?.. ]

There is a certain poetry in the similar nature of your constellations.

[You've distracted him but at what cost, Ulpianus]

Right? I've always thought so. Birdlike constellations aren't that common in Sumeru.

I have heard the expression "written in the stars". An apt descriptor in your case.

[ Alright, he's seen some of those landwalker recordings - movies, if he recalls correctly. "Classics of Wrankwood", apparently, and several were themed after romance. He can fall back on that experience.

(But he would rather not know if Alhaitham ever asked Kaveh to draw him as one of his Fontainian girls.) ]

How did you meet?

We met when we were students at the Akademiya. It's a little embarrassing in hindsight, but I thought he was being picked on by the other students, so I tried to intervene...

[Ulpianus. Ulpianus no. You know not what you do.]

[ IT'S FINE HE'LL JUST AVOID KAVEH OUT OF EMBARRASSMENT FOR THE REST OF HIS TIME IN ESCO. ]

You care for others.

[ Despite Ulpianus trying, it's still easier for him to form his responses as statements. ]

But you were mistaken?

Well, of course. The way I see it, if I think "someone should do something about that", I'm 'someone', aren't I? I can't just hope someone else takes care of it.

[Kaveh chuckles to himself a little.] Well, yes and no. They were deliberately trying to leave him out. But Alhaitham didn't care and wasn't paying them any attention. We got into a debate about the book he was reading instead, and I was so mad, because his points were reductive and utilitarian so I stayed up too late looking up sources to counter him...

And he was waiting right there in the House of Daena the next day when I looked for him.

[ OH WHEW THAT IS NOW BACK WITHIN HIS TERRITORY. His classmates did things like that.

(Blandus probably did that at him.) ]

Were you able to refute his points?

[ Here, Kaveh, have a little bit of animation in his voice! Like he's a little invested in that part! ]

Of course I was! He was reading books from the Kshahrewar course! [LOUD HMPH.] But then the little brat introduced an entirely new line of argument from a different paper and I had to go read that.

I think we were at it about two weeks before we got kicked out of the House of Daena for being too loud the first time. We got lunch and went to the Razan Gardens to keep arguing instead, and by then he was already my best friend.

Breadth of experience and willingness to take the unorthodox point of view. He must be an outstanding scholar.

Are your fields of study different?

Yes. It's very rare, to meet a man with a mind like his. In terms of his breadth of knowledge, I don't think anyone in Sumeru save the Dendro Archon herself can compare. [Kaveh chuckles to himself.] But knowledge is not all there is to "wisdom."

He studied in Haravatat--the field of semiotics and the study of language. My darshan was Kshahrewar--our concern is machinery and engineering, including architectural engineering. There's some overlap; most ancient machinery uses runes, and the Haravatat are most responsible for decoding them, but in general they're fairly disparate darshan.

But Alhaitham took electives from every single darshan, when he could fit them into his schedule. Not that he bothered to turn up to his classes in person that often.

[ Engineering? Good to know. Ulpianus makes a mental note to reach out to the man when he's not drowning his sorrows to discuss technology to explore the depths of the sea... but perhaps anonymously. ]

Language is not merely the written runes and the spoken word. All things communicate. Even the cells of our bodies speak a 'language' of their own.

He'd probably agree with you. All history, all culture, all communication, even from the smallest bird and tiniest blade of grass...without language, there is no means to record any of it. But that which humans do not record themselves in pen and ink does not necessarily go unrecorded.

Architecture, too, is a form of language. A message that long outlasts the body of those who sent it.

[ He thinks back to Aegir. "A message that long outlasts the body of those who sent it"... It's very fitting. ]

... Indeed. The choice of materials, the choice of balance between form and function. The function itself. The synergy between every building of a city.

[ He sounds... wistful, almost. ]

I've always thought it was...romantic isn't quite the right word, but there's something powerful, in seeing ancient buildings. That I stand in the hopes and dreams of someone from hundreds of years ago. And one day, someone may stand at the buildings I've designed, wondering the same questions, long after all my pain and sorrows have returned to dust.

When we design buildings, their function and their safety is key to it's success. But we must also consider that they will outlast us all, and they are our surest means to speak our wishes to the future. I may never live to see my ideals become reality, but my buildings will.

[ How did they get here from Kaveh drunk crying about relationships.

Ulpianus is silent for a while, choosing what he wants to say. The ideals Kaveh talks about are beautiful, but a part of him wants to point out that his buildings may well only be witness to civilization's demise. Even if humanity should do everything to avoid that.

But given the man's earlier melancholy, it would be counterproductive to talk about that. ]

... My people inherited the wishes of the Predecessors in such a way. We found their ancient settlements, and stood among their halls. We learned their language and their thoughts. If not for them, Aegir would not know the splendor it came to enjoy.

Your hopes are not unfounded.

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(no subject)

actually he'll switch to voice (so we dont have to format tags--)

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