Charles Patricius

"... Cake frosting?" Charlemagne questioned without hesitation. Angelica had chosen the most obscure, yet understandable analogy for Anu's involvement in her birth. Frankly, he wasn't sure whether he should call it weird, or perfectly sensible. In the end, what he decided was... "Weird reference, but I'll allow it." At least it was understandable. Too many things from the mouths of these goddesses had been completely out of the blue for him. At this point, he'd rather have Angelica doing all of the explaining.

Charles was the name of someone having an issue. That, too, was accurate ─ even to the lad himself if one recalled his grandfather and namesake. "Can't argue with that for a few reasons," he said quickly. Charlemagne did have to work on actively using his senses. Lately though, it was so far from the forefront of his mind that it may as well have been lost entirely. Still, he couldn't argue that it would be a boon. It would be considered at the very least. "Yeah, I get the concept. I don't need a push to do the thing; I need time to slow down and focus on the things that aren't slapping me in the face," he said with an exasperated sigh. So many times recently, he'd been pushed unnecessarily to develop this or that skill or habit. Life was too hectic to address so many obscure things. No matter. As Angelica crossed her arms, Charlemagne placed his free hand on his hip. She didn't know who Luviagelita was? He'd remind her. "You know, I'm not entirely sure myself. But it's got bratty 'princess in a castle' vibes," he quipped.

Soon enough, there were two hands planted on either side of his face. Much like Sakura, Angelica couldn't get a grasp on his relationship status-related issues. She didn't agree that he'd done something wrong, and insisted that he hadn't. They didn't get it. Both goddesses seemed so hung-up on the monogamy preached by Father An being his issue, but the true problem was rooted in his very being, and something else entirely. "No," he argued. "It's not about it being normal in France, and it's not about any of that other stuff. It's about the fact that I said one thing, and did another thing. I didn't even talk to you about it first. Neither of you seems to get that. Breaking promises isn't cool, so... even if you're fine with everything that happened, I owed you an explanation ─ and I should be held responsible by making it up to you. That's the problem," he explained.

Apparently the metaphor chosen by Angelica was weird, but it would be allowed. She frowned slightly at his words, "I mean we both understand it. Food is easy," she said seemingly displeased by the idea that her thought was weird. She did often get hung up on smaller things, but she wasn't actually displeased. What was more the lad even agreed with her grip concerned a lad called Charles. At least he understood his issues, even if he was apparently displeased. Moreover, there was the claim that he understood the concept of things, but wasn't in need of a push to look into or develop things. What he needed apparently was time, and for things not to be slapping him in the face. "No one said it had to be right just now or anything..." she commented, figuring the lad would simply keep it in mind for later at some point.

Oddly enough Charlemagne still had snark to offer the lass, when she claimed not to know Luviagelita, he described her as a bratty 'princess in a castle' type. Another moment would occur where her nose turned up in the air as she had an equally snarky reply. "I will have you know, the princess is roaming the castle grounds. Bratty behavior unchecked!" she claimed as if triumphant.

Ah, but the light-heartness would fade at least slightly as Charlemagne seemed keen to clarify his issues of his personal nature. He apparently wasn't too upset about the lack of monogamy but instead took issue with saying and doing different things. He took issue with not discussing it with anyone first. He felt the need to explain and make up for it because of this. Angelica heard him out in the moment. He seemed to be really honest about it, but it also didn't make too much sense to her, maybe it was because of the different ways the viewed the world. Even with her own limited understanding of how the world worked she understood something different. "If you feel the need to make it up to me, I won't stop you... but I still think you're being too hard on yourself in considering it the way you do. I am also sure both Sakura and I see it from a perspective that is innately inhuman," she explained. "I am not telling you to run around and break promises or anything like that," she clarified. In truth, Angelica thought he was being quite unfair to himself, as what he'd promised and what he thought he promised were two very different things, in the goddess's mind. He also seemed to be in a strange state of distaste concerning the whole of it. But it wasn't like when she was mad at him for not visiting, his options were literally life or lack of existence. Besides that, given the fact that his intentions weren't in question his actions were far from problematic, especially when one considered he hadn't figured out how to fully navigate his new life, body and soul.

Angelica was sticking with her food-based analogy, not at all to Charlemagne's distaste. It was still a bit queer, but she was right. "Food is easy. Food is good. That's why I'll let it slide, but it's still really random. I guess you've probably been cooking stuff this past couple of days though, huh?" he said, figuring food analogies were perhaps not as obscure as he thought. Angelica did eat, and while hiding away in the labyrinth, she probably had to prepare her own food as well. "Wait, can you like... actually cook? I've never seen you cook," he said. Of course, that was a given whether Angelica could be called a proper cook or not. He did often drag her around to other floors, experiencing foods cooked by others in Aincrad. Moving on to how he dealt with things, or rather how he couldn't deal with many things of late, Angelica insisted that it wasn't a rush. "I get that too, it's just... so much. For the past few days, I just keep getting hit with teachings, guidance, suggestions and... ugh! It all just feels so forced that I get annoyed by it. I just need a minute, and the world and everyone in it disagrees."

As if to take that aforementioned minute right away, Charlemagne fell silent for a few seconds. In that time, he inhaled deeply... and exhaled slowly. If nothing else, he could always rely on Angelica for broken tension. Their chats always involved these little moments of jabs, laughs, and generally precious moments. In fact, he was experiencing on internally as Angelica claimed the princess was now roaming the castle grounds with her bratty behavior unchecked. He could only laugh upon hearing such ridiculousness. "The castle grounds, really? That's still the castle. I think the princess should check her privilege instead. Maybe she'll realize she still hasn't seen the world."

She wouldn't stop him from setting things right. Conversely, she didn't think it necessary due to the belief that Charlemagne was being too hard on himself. Angelica and Sakura certainly saw things in a very inhuman way. That was part of their charm as individuals, but also something Charlemagne couldn't agree with. "I'm sure you do think that. But, I have to hold myself to a standard. Our morals are what make us who we are. If I don't follow my own rules, I'm letting down all those guys that already made the dumb decision to follow me. That would make me as bad a leader as Father An, and... I've felt some of the things he did before as a god. I never want to become that."

The lighter conversations which could happen between Angelica and Charles were likely rather good for the lad. He did seem to agree that food was easy and good, which is why he'd accepted her metaphor even though it thought it was oddly placed. It seemed that Charlemagne thought about the fact that she might have been cooking more in the last couple of days. "Well, it's more survival fare than cooking but yet," she said of her time in the labyrinth as for if she could actually cook, she looked a little sly. "I dabble a bit. I mean, I couldn't just ask the people who look after me to make stuff I've seen on our adventures. They might have turned me in for sneaking out," she said carefully. But what was dabbling when you had an almost infinite lifespan? Well, the truth of the matter was, that Angelica was actually a fairly accomplished baker and a fairly good cook. "Of course you've never seen it, we've only really spent time together on my floor the once. Should I be thinking about cooking for you? Is that a good thing to do?" she wondered. Oddly enough the girl was a bit less sure of how to navigate the situation but she'd cook for Charlemagne and Sakura and quite a few others if they wanted.

The lightness of the conversation, was one which could continue. The snarky attitude of Angelica met Charlemagne's quirkiness and they seemed to bounce off each other. He claimed she should check her privilege and realize she hadn't really seen the world yet. "Well maybe, but the world isn't going anywhere, and it's not like you shouldn't fully explore home before branching out~" she mused as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do. In a moment like this, she could almost ignore that she was on the run in Aincrad and that her guardian was some sort of creep. Speaking of that creep, apparently, Charlemagne thought he was holding himself to a standard. He thought that morals made people. She heard the lad claim that he didn't want to become the type of person that An had been as a god, especially while having knowledge of some of those things. "Well, if you don't want to become like that... then don't. I can tell you from my current perspective I already understand the difference even if you don't. You're nothing like him and that is spectacular. Be yourself, even if I don't really get it," she affirmed the lad the way she always would.

To no one's surprise, Angelica wasn't doing much by way of cooking recently. Few knew better than Charlemagne how different survival cooking was to anything done in a kitchen. Most times, he found it involved simply throwing something over a fire until it was neither disgusting nor dangerous... and at times, it managed only to avoid the danger part. "That's fair. Being in the wilderness is limiting. I'm guessing you've avoided using magic to keep the sensors from pinning your location?" he wondered. That assumption aside, it seemed Angelica had performed some cooking-related experiments over the centuries. He supposed it made sense; she did show great favoritism to some foods tasted during their rendezvous. Boring as life on a single floor seemed to be, it only made sense that she pick up a hobby or two related to their adventures. Charlemagne seemed quite satisfied by this new information. "Look at you! Way to go, Angie! I'd love to try something you've made, if you're willing to do it!" he agreed.

Furthermore, Angelica argued that exploring one's home was important before any world exploration occurred. He couldn't have argued that a few days ago, but with recent information, perhaps it wasn't the best idea. "I think that part should probably get a retcon. Y'know, since home is kind of garbage in this case," he said absently. It was likely that none of them would ever return to that 'home' after this adventure was over, but he supposed the memories within it were worth keeping. "Or maybe not. We did all have some good times there," he surmised. That, too, was something Charlemagne wished to hold on to. Memories were important. As for his desire to avoid becoming another Father An, Angelica concurred, but adamantly stated that he and An were not alike. "Well that's the point, isn't it? I won't become like that because I'm sticking to my guns. These are my guns. Deal with it~"

It wasn't really surprising that Charlemagne understood what Angelica was currently going through. She found it particularly nice that she finally had life experiences worth commiserating about. In the moment she was so pleased bit she couldn't help but smile despite the more dire situations going on. "Yeah, I've been trying to make sure I am not being tracked in the traditional sense, and I have pretty good senses I can tell when someone is a bit too close," she said of her own personage. "I've been making small fires and cooking fish or other small creatures, if Junipero brings them to me. I think he thinks I am bad at hunting," she said of her bird familiar. Beyond that, it seemed that she wasn't the only one pleased by their conversation, Charlemagne had praises to share with the lass, and even offered to try her cooking if she wished to make him something. "Of course! I didn't know anyone would be interested. Thanks, Charlie!~" she chimed simply beaming with her own excitement, a slight hint of a blush on the girl's face. Oddly, she was still quite unused to praise or appreciation of her works, but she was trying to unlearn a bit of the bratty behavior which surrounded that particular issue.

According to Charlemagne, Angelica needed a retcon, whatever that was, because home was garbage. That was pretty true but it seemed after a few seconds he decided their good memories outweighed the negative ones. "I was going to say I don't know retcon, but I agree. I am letting my happy memories remain so I don't hate it. I think it's better to be more focused when you don't like things..." she said with a firm not. She wouldn't want her opinion negatively influenced if it didn't have to be. Moving on, Charlemagne's point was that he and An weren't alike and he thought this was because of his 'sticking to his guns' as he put it. Angelica saw that as fundamentally untrue. But she was pretty sure it wasn't one of the things she could explain in a way which would have it be understood. After being a victim, even minimally of her guardian's machinations, she realized that there was something far deeper than 'morality' which defined the difference between Charlemagne and An. "I feel that's still missing something, but since I can't qualify it, fine. But when I figure out what it is... I'm definitely going to make sure you understand!" she claimed. Such was her nature. A bit boorish but her heart was in the right place. She didn't want Charlemagne limited himself because of how he saw things, but she knew he was also missing pieces to the picture. It wasn't something which could be conquered immediately but that was fine. She continued to look at the lad, seemingly pleased.

Angelica was about the last person he ever thought he'd hear of living off the land, cooking her own food. She even had her familiar helping with the gathering part of survival. All things considered, it sounded like she was excelling. "Good strat. And... he probably thinks that because you are. Not that I have the data on it or anything, but when have you ever hunted for anything but an excuse?" he asked in jovial fashion. He would apparently be trying whatever form of cooking Angelica had at her disposal, eventually. He wasn't sure whether that was exciting or frightening, but he'd remain optimistic until given reason to believe otherwise.

So long as they kept their positive memories of Aincrad, it didn't matter if the place itself was the most toxic environment Charlemagne had ever seen. In those specific moments, Aincrad was the best place to be ─ and they would only move on to bigger and better places in future. For some reason, Angelica thought his mental processes were still missing a detail. She deemed it inconsequential for the time being, but insisted upon making him understand the nuances of her general point. "Uh-huh..." he said, dragging it out a bit. "Or, y'know... you could just... not. I'm pretty sure I don't need another person trying to tell me their views on how I deal with myself. You don't get it, you don't need to get it. I don't get why you people think this is such a big deal, and I'm not even sure I want to at this point."

Charlemagne was apparently still in a rather happy and joking mood. The lad seemed to think that Angelica wasn't a particularly talented hunter, and that was why her familiar was content to do it for her. He claimed it was a good strategy. While also jabbing that she'd only hunted for excuses. "Well excuses are much harder to capture... I think that means small animals are well within my ability level," she said while turning her nose up. She was never really upset about anything, well that wasn't exactly true. She was prone to bratty outbursts and rather snide replies to things that annoyed her, but for the most part Charlemagne didn't do anything like that.

Most part, being the most operative part of that statement. According to the lad she could leave her explanation of something alone. He didn't need anyone else telling him how to deal with himself. He claimed that they didn't have to understand it, and that he didn't know why everyone else was so concerned. Moreover he claimed he wasn't sure he wanted to know if there was a proper reason for everyone else's interest at this point. "Oh? And who is being prone to bratty behavior now?" she sassed back, her tone still rather light. To her it was completely obvious that if multiple people were trying to help him with this issue of self, then it was actually a lot more important than he was giving it credit for. Whatever way he needed to come to terms with it, was his own to consider. She had different issues, so she understood wanting to work things out for herself in that sort of context. "Like I said, I don't know why I think its important about it... but I feel like it is, here," she said pointing to her own heart. Surely he would get it at some point, maybe someone better at voicing their opinions could help him identify the real problems with him existing as a highly a magical being full of doubt and undeserved self-judgement. "But again, I won't pretend to completely understand this stance," she said shaking it off. If he didn't want to talk about it now, perhaps some other time it would come up and it'd be a thing. She was still more than willing to leave it, brash though she was, she was less likely to trample over him to make her point, "Anyway, what's actually going on with you guys?" she asked about him and his party. It was likely a bit more flexible a topic and less him focused.

Excuses were hard to capture, according to Angelica. Obviously, she was just bad at it. Charlemagne himself couldn't claim to be an expert, but excuses appeared in the mind more quickly than the truth in the society he'd originally grown up in. "That so? Angie, are you sure you're not just bad at making excuses?" he questioned. As he saw things, she was always the type to brazenly declare her intentions and actions as if there was never a thing wrong with her behavior. Those types never had need of excuses, so they probably didn't even think of them very often. "Though when you do have an excuse for something, it's pretty fun to see. It's been a while, but... what was it? Furrowed brow, beet-red face, little twitch of the mouth? Pure tsundere, great visual," he tried to recall. Whether his memory was accurate or not, was entirely up to Angelica to confirm or deny.

Yet again, there was additional and unnecessary addressing of a pointless topic. These divinities seemed almost obsessed at times with their queer outlooks, as if his view of self and moral code were the product of negativity or something. Apparently, his rejection of the topic was bratty behavior. In what way? He didn't know; it made no sense. "It's called disagreeing, Angie. You're hearing what I'm saying, but you're not listening. Just... listen," he reiterated. This repetition was becoming an annoyance for the lad, but perhaps Angelica would be the one to actually understand what he was getting at. Someone had to put to rest the idea that he was in some fixable crisis. "You know how you like to create? I'd guess any time you make something, you know ahead of time what you want it to be like, right? Well that's me! I want to be the kind of guy who makes promises and sticks to them. I'm not having some massive issue with my outlook; I'm holding myself to a standard I can appreciate. Can't you get that? Because I need somebody to get that," he ranted. A deep sigh followed as Charlemagne doubted any headway would be made. He'd just move on to addressing Angelica's question. "We're in a carriage bound for the surface world. There's a guy who has a gate leading to the world we came from. We have some mechanics to figure out, but the plan is to use that while tracking the next Holy Grail. By the way, that's going to take about two years."

Angelica had mentioned that excuses were hard to catch, and Charlemagne countered with them being... something she was bad at making. Of course she wasn't good at making them. She was a straightforward individual. In truth, excuses weren't really part of her normal thought processes. She didn't justify her own actions, she simply committed to them... it was her nature. "I'm not bad at making them, they're unnecessary!" she declared arms crossing over her chest. This was definitely on its way to the exact kind of 'tsundere' outburst that Charlemagne was speaking of. In fact, her face was a gentle shade of red, as he continued to describe a situation she seemed to be remembering it a bit. Her brow often furrowed when she was caught off guard. Did her mouth really twitch? Well right at the moment her bottom lip was twitching but she steeled her jaw and turned up her nose. "I don't even know what one of those words means, it's not like I have any idea what my face does when I am speaking anyway!" she proclaimed. That was the truth, also an excuse, also terribly tsundere.

Moving on from that, there was something of a rant coming from Charlemagne. Angelica was quite used to these especially over the last few days. The lad seemed to find himself worked up quite a bit and then spewing words from his mouth that likely didn't make much sense to anyone. What he wanted was for someone to hear what he was saying actually listen to his point. He then gave an analogy which she could understand a bit better. He claimed the only thing he wished of himself was that he make promises and keep them. He claimed that he wasn't experiencing any massive issues of self, but he was holding himself to a standard. For himself. "Actually, I do get that a bit more. If you're doing it just for you, it's a bit different then how it sounds initially..." she said giving it a bit more thought. He was completely allowed to feel any way he wanted, but if his aim in life was to avoid becoming an old man stuck in his ways, it would be better for him not to give himself too many hard opinions. But if he was sure he wasn't actually upset or suffering from some weird, 'I broke a promise. I am scum and thus will be freaking out about it periodically' thing, well that was fine to Angelica. Beyond this point, they were now talking about, according to Charlemagne he and his group were headed to the lower world and about to, cross over and back to Gaia the world he'd come from. He also stated that it would be taking a couple of years for him to actually manage to rescue her. That didn't appear to currently be a problem. "Oh? You're going home for a while? That's good. Two years is a way shorter time than the last kind of adventure. And I've heard from you more in the last couple of days then over the course of your last couple of adventures. So, that is fine. I hope you guys manage everything. Have some fun and make sure to take care of yourselves~" she said seeming to be very happy for the group at large. She knew because of their earlier talks that a lot of people came from that other world. She imagined it would be like home for them.