[ Right. That's what sets them apart, isn't it? Junpei looks between them, offering a faint smile and feeling uncertain. Maybe inept? Here he is, a dumb mortal boy explaining a power that forces one to face their own death each and every time...and these two are removed from it as Alicia says.
It's the 'lost something for it' part that makes his heart ache and fills him with some desire to help, even though he's entirely at a loss of what he could do. What he could possibly offer to two people who have likely seen it all? ]
How long have you been alive? Or is that kinda the thing you stop counting after a while?
[Because of their world, their existence is a blessing and a curse, depending who one asks. Their longevity is a gift that stops them being erased. But the minutiae of their lives are not something to share with this young man.
He catches his daughter's gaze and understands why she shares what should remain private. She wants to make friends. But he worries. So he offers what advice he can to her friend to make her happy.]
That is not the sort of question I find myself debating, monsieur. Life. Death. Neither matters more than the other. What matters is those with whom we spend our time.
[It's been a long time since Alicia actually tried to keep track of how many years it'd been. She watches the number on the monolith count down, every year, but tries not to think of what it means.
But she catches Papa's slight discomfort and the way he answers vaguely, but almost pointedly. Oh, he doesn't want people to know about it. Fine, fine. She'll tell Renoir later, maybe.
Time to change the subject.]
What art did you like most? [She leans forward a little bit, sipping her drink.] It's okay if you don't remember what it was called.
[ What matters most is with whom we spend our time. Junpei can't help the way his eyes drift to Alicia. Spending time with her had been an unexpected gift this world gave him -- meeting her, having stupid and silly fun, getting to have all these new experiences either because she showed him or because he got to see these things through the new lens of her reactions. If he can, he plans to fill the bulk of his days in Etraya with Alicia. So her father's words are something he can take to heart.
Although Alicia's follow up question strikes a mild fear in him...like he's being given an exam he didn't study for and he's totally going to fail it. There had been so much to take in and he's not sure he has a particular favorite. There is one that kind of stood out to him, though. ]
You mean I was supposed to pay attention to anything but you? Kidding!
[ He teases. Clearly Alicia is his favorite work of art!!! But he'll offer a serious answer (especially with her father right here.) ]
Ummm. That one with the raft? I keep thinking about it.
[ The Raft of the Medusa, he's referring to. ]
It really captured what they were going through.
[ He quickly finishes off the croissant so he doesn't have to keep talking, though. He's no artist. But he appreciates art....as a casual guy and not someone who's steeped in it like them. The longer he talks about it, the more he's worried he'll unintentionally offend them. ]
[He knows the artist was twenty seven when the work was painted. He knows the style. He understands from his perspective the emotion behind the piece.
It enters his mind this young boy might not comprehend the word in an artistic sense. His silence lasts for a moment before he asks another question after a statement.]
Individual pieces of intense emotion. These resonate with you?
[Junpei says that and she nearly chokes on her drink, coughing briefly in surprise. Maybe her cheeks are a bit flushed, darker grey instead of pink. She coughs, clears her throat, and doesn't look at her father.
Right. Um. Which was that.
Now she looks at Renoir with a dangerous eye. He better be nice to Junpei, because he's a novice in analyzing art but he's clearly trying. Alicia doesn't want Renoir to scare him off, the way Aline sometimes would scare Alicia off when she was little. (Or, those aren't quite her memories. She still feels them.)]
[ The romantics? Oh shit, is he being called out on his first comment to Alicia? Junpei has it in his mind to apologize, but just as he's swallowed his bite, Renoir clarifies. Oh. Ohhhh. And Junpei appreciates it. The way Renoir takes the time to explain. Patient. Not dismissive. Not calling him an idiot for not knowing.
A tiny smile creeps up on his lips and then he looks toward Alicia for a moment. The smile grows as he sees her exchanged glance with her father. It's nice to see this sort of relationship -- this teasing and clear love between a father and a child. Slowly, he nods to answer the question. ]
Yeah. It feels like they're trying to tell me something. Like they got something so strongly inside they gotta put to paint and get it out there. It kinda makes you wanna go back and take it all in so you can try to understand what they wanted you to know.
[ Junpei rubs the back of his neck with a quiet laugh. ]
Of course, I could be totally wrong! It's just what it made me feel when I looked at it.
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no subject
It's the 'lost something for it' part that makes his heart ache and fills him with some desire to help, even though he's entirely at a loss of what he could do. What he could possibly offer to two people who have likely seen it all? ]
How long have you been alive? Or is that kinda the thing you stop counting after a while?
no subject
He catches his daughter's gaze and understands why she shares what should remain private. She wants to make friends. But he worries. So he offers what advice he can to her friend to make her happy.]
That is not the sort of question I find myself debating, monsieur. Life. Death. Neither matters more than the other. What matters is those with whom we spend our time.
[And to do that, one needs to be alive.]
no subject
But she catches Papa's slight discomfort and the way he answers vaguely, but almost pointedly. Oh, he doesn't want people to know about it. Fine, fine. She'll tell Renoir later, maybe.
Time to change the subject.]
What art did you like most? [She leans forward a little bit, sipping her drink.] It's okay if you don't remember what it was called.
no subject
Although Alicia's follow up question strikes a mild fear in him...like he's being given an exam he didn't study for and he's totally going to fail it. There had been so much to take in and he's not sure he has a particular favorite. There is one that kind of stood out to him, though. ]
You mean I was supposed to pay attention to anything but you? Kidding!
[ He teases. Clearly Alicia is his favorite work of art!!! But he'll offer a serious answer (especially with her father right here.) ]
Ummm. That one with the raft? I keep thinking about it.
[ The Raft of the Medusa, he's referring to. ]
It really captured what they were going through.
[ He quickly finishes off the croissant so he doesn't have to keep talking, though. He's no artist. But he appreciates art....as a casual guy and not someone who's steeped in it like them. The longer he talks about it, the more he's worried he'll unintentionally offend them. ]
no subject
[He knows the artist was twenty seven when the work was painted. He knows the style. He understands from his perspective the emotion behind the piece.
It enters his mind this young boy might not comprehend the word in an artistic sense. His silence lasts for a moment before he asks another question after a statement.]
Individual pieces of intense emotion. These resonate with you?
no subject
Right. Um. Which was that.
Now she looks at Renoir with a dangerous eye. He better be nice to Junpei, because he's a novice in analyzing art but he's clearly trying. Alicia doesn't want Renoir to scare him off, the way Aline sometimes would scare Alicia off when she was little. (Or, those aren't quite her memories. She still feels them.)]
no subject
A tiny smile creeps up on his lips and then he looks toward Alicia for a moment. The smile grows as he sees her exchanged glance with her father. It's nice to see this sort of relationship -- this teasing and clear love between a father and a child. Slowly, he nods to answer the question. ]
Yeah. It feels like they're trying to tell me something. Like they got something so strongly inside they gotta put to paint and get it out there. It kinda makes you wanna go back and take it all in so you can try to understand what they wanted you to know.
[ Junpei rubs the back of his neck with a quiet laugh. ]
Of course, I could be totally wrong! It's just what it made me feel when I looked at it.