we run a training session every week for people to learn. you should at least check it out once or twice, nobody's saying you need to learn how to fight well enough to beat up anyone you want but if we get monsters everywhere again like last month or have to fight like in may
better to know how to protect yourself than to hope someone's gonna be there to save your ass
[Getting that information? Honestly just makes him feel worse. It wasn't that he never learned how to fight. He'd been sent to military camps and taken self-defense classes thanks to his family. But he was never good at it. He was way too weak.
But he wasn't bold enough to point that out to someone over the internet. So time to lie.] Thanks. I'll think it over.
[Honestly? That's all right. Dante's not so much worried about people being good at it as being able to. Being weak... he can change that, if he ever wanted to. But if he's got the knowledge, a burst of adrenaline in a fight might be all he needs to survive.
Sorry, Elliot. Normally he'd be willing to have left it alone. But after everything that's happened... well, he's scared. He just got a pretty solid wake-up call to the fact that he can't protect everybody by himself. So if he can't, he wants to do everything he can to make sure that people can protect themselves, too.
[He almost leaves the conversation there. He's not feeling so hot, and he's still got stuff he needs to finish up before his move tomorrow. But before he shuts out of the conversation, by chance he looks at the name of the person he was messaging.
"Dante Rantanen"
Wow. He...knew that name. It wasn't a name he's thought about in a long time. But...]
Wait. Sorry if I'm wrong and I'm just bothering you, but...are you Andri Rantanen's son?
[Normally he'd be inclined to brush this off as a coincidence. He knows it's far-fetched. But if both his brother and Eren were given this mysterious app too...maybe destiny was having a hand in guiding this.]
[Oh wow it is him. 1 point for destiny being a thing, he supposes. ]
Oh! I thought I recognized that name!
I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Elliot Craig? [Wait that was stupid, his name is already listed of COURSE he knows the name] Our parents knew each other, and I stayed at your grandmother's house for a bit after... well, it was a long time ago.
No, really--what? For a long moment, Dante just stares at his phone blankly, dumbstruck.
He doesn't remember the name of the boy that came to live at his amma's place when he was nine years old. He remembers it happening, just a little while before his parents sprung it on him that they were going to take him on tour with them, but... man. It feels like that was a lifetime ago.]
[It was easy for him to remember that. It was easy to remember all the things that were related to his parents dying. But besides that grief and pain? He did remember the kindness of Dante's grandmother. And how much it helped to have someone his own age to help take his mind off his worries some.
Still, it's surreal to be having this conversation. What do you even say?]
Sorry I fell out of touch. I was waiting to write you when I had more positive things to say so I wouldn't be so depressing. Buuut by the time that happened, I'd lost your address.
[Wait that sounds bad.]
Oh, not that my life's depressing! It's fine! Just for awhile, with what happened I...is calling an adjustment period the right phrase?
[Why does he feel so uneasy? For some reason, instead of wanting to reconnect with Elliot now that they've remembered they knew each other, Dante wants to draw back. That part of his life... that chapter's a time he doesn't touch, he tries not to remember. He doesn't want to remember the time when he was a child and happy and carefree. He hasn't been that for a long time.]
someone else my dad knew died a little while later. he and my mom decided to take me on the road with them after that
i didn't go back except to visit until i was almost done with high school
[Congratulations on being the first dude intimidated by Elliot Craig ever, Dante.]
Oh. I'm sorry to hear that.
[About the death of the other person. But being on the road all the time at that age? While Elliot wanted to travel, he's not sure how a kid would handle it. But he won't pry about what it was like, or make assumptions. This is the first time he's talked to Dante in 10 years and he tends to be pretty private himself.]
So...do you study music too or did you choose something else?
more like i argue too much and don't know when to shut up
[Really, it's probably because Ardyn seems to like him for some unknown reason that he's saying he'd be a good lawyer. But Togusa had said so as well...]
who said i care about shadows? but if i tried to be a pianist it wouldn't ever matter how good i was, they'd still say it was because he taught me everything i'd learned
Well, that is part of being a lawyer, can't deny that...
[Uh wow yeah, that...definitely sounds like Dante's got some real issues with his dad and his shadow, even if Dante says otherwise. It even explains a little his attitude of "don't tell your parents" from earlier. But Elliot isn't bold enough to point that out directly.]
Hmm...yeah, some might say something like that. Though they couldn't if you picked up another instrument, right? But that's only if you wanted to play again.
[He doesn't get being fine giving up music, he could never do it. But whatever makes Dante happy....
But oh. Oh no he's asking about him now. Oh nooo, this is going to be awkward. Even more awkward than it was now. He almost thinks about lying but, this is a public network that Eren and his brother are also on. He could already hear what they'd say if they saw him lying about this.
[Why would this be awkward? It's not like everyone in the world has to have problems with their parents... even if... the majority of people he knows does.]
[Mostly? Because he can tell Dante has some issues with his dad, so it feels like he's rubbing it in for not having those himself. Especially when all those reasons Dante said against pursuing music? Were some of the reasons he did pursue it.
Though at least that message seems...safe. ]
Thanks. Good luck with pre-law.
[...Through he's now realizing that since he knows the guy that runs the fight club, it'd definitely be noticed if he played hooky like he was planning. Friiiiiiiiiick. He should've kept his mouth shut.]
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we run a training session every week for people to learn. you should at least check it out once or twice, nobody's saying you need to learn how to fight well enough to beat up anyone you want but if we get monsters everywhere again like last month or have to fight like in may
better to know how to protect yourself than to hope someone's gonna be there to save your ass
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But he wasn't bold enough to point that out to someone over the internet. So time to lie.]
Thanks. I'll think it over.
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Sorry, Elliot. Normally he'd be willing to have left it alone. But after everything that's happened... well, he's scared. He just got a pretty solid wake-up call to the fact that he can't protect everybody by himself. So if he can't, he wants to do everything he can to make sure that people can protect themselves, too.
Then maybe nobody will die again.]
all right
good luck
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[He almost leaves the conversation there. He's not feeling so hot, and he's still got stuff he needs to finish up before his move tomorrow. But before he shuts out of the conversation, by chance he looks at the name of the person he was messaging.
"Dante Rantanen"
Wow. He...knew that name. It wasn't a name he's thought about in a long time. But...]
Wait. Sorry if I'm wrong and I'm just bothering you, but...are you Andri Rantanen's son?
[Normally he'd be inclined to brush this off as a coincidence. He knows it's far-fetched. But if both his brother and Eren were given this mysterious app too...maybe destiny was having a hand in guiding this.]
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what about it
[Dante, on the other hand, has forgotten all about the name Elliot Craig, and the boy he once knew.]
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Oh! I thought I recognized that name!
I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Elliot Craig? [Wait that was stupid, his name is already listed of COURSE he knows the name] Our parents knew each other, and I stayed at your grandmother's house for a bit after... well, it was a long time ago.
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No, really--what? For a long moment, Dante just stares at his phone blankly, dumbstruck.
He doesn't remember the name of the boy that came to live at his amma's place when he was nine years old. He remembers it happening, just a little while before his parents sprung it on him that they were going to take him on tour with them, but... man. It feels like that was a lifetime ago.]
i remember that
we were both pretty young, weren't we
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[It was easy for him to remember that. It was easy to remember all the things that were related to his parents dying. But besides that grief and pain? He did remember the kindness of Dante's grandmother. And how much it helped to have someone his own age to help take his mind off his worries some.
Still, it's surreal to be having this conversation. What do you even say?]
Sorry I fell out of touch. I was waiting to write you when I had more positive things to say so I wouldn't be so depressing. Buuut by the time that happened, I'd lost your address.
[Wait that sounds bad.]
Oh, not that my life's depressing! It's fine! Just for awhile, with what happened I...is calling an adjustment period the right phrase?
[Elliot. Please breath.]
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[Why does he feel so uneasy? For some reason, instead of wanting to reconnect with Elliot now that they've remembered they knew each other, Dante wants to draw back. That part of his life... that chapter's a time he doesn't touch, he tries not to remember. He doesn't want to remember the time when he was a child and happy and carefree. He hasn't been that for a long time.]
someone else my dad knew died a little while later. he and my mom decided to take me on the road with them after that
i didn't go back except to visit until i was almost done with high school
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Oh. I'm sorry to hear that.
[About the death of the other person. But being on the road all the time at that age? While Elliot wanted to travel, he's not sure how a kid would handle it. But he won't pry about what it was like, or make assumptions. This is the first time he's talked to Dante in 10 years and he tends to be pretty private himself.]
So...do you study music too or did you choose something else?
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no
actually i'm going pre-law
took a couple courses and the prof pointed out i'd be good at it
and i'd never be anything but andri rantanen's kid if i tried playing anyways
[Elliot... is actually the first person he's told that he's pre-law to. It's strange to type the words, but in a good way. It's a focus.]
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Mr. Rantanen seems like he'd leave a big shadow.
[He frets about never living up to his mother's legacy and she wasn't nearly as famous as Dante's dad. ]
Pre-law's really impressive!
I've never had the head for that stuff.
So you must be really smart if the professor says you'd be good.
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[Really, it's probably because Ardyn seems to like him for some unknown reason that he's saying he'd be a good lawyer. But Togusa had said so as well...]
who said i care about shadows? but if i tried to be a pianist it wouldn't ever matter how good i was, they'd still say it was because he taught me everything i'd learned
[It's definitely Andri's shadow.]
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[Uh wow yeah, that...definitely sounds like Dante's got some real issues with his dad and his shadow, even if Dante says otherwise. It even explains a little his attitude of "don't tell your parents" from earlier. But Elliot isn't bold enough to point that out directly.]
Hmm...yeah, some might say something like that. Though they couldn't if you picked up another instrument, right? But that's only if you wanted to play again.
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i'm fine the way i am now
[...dammit, he probably has to make small talk, doesn't he.]
what about you, what are you doing
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[He doesn't get being fine giving up music, he could never do it. But whatever makes Dante happy....
But oh. Oh no he's asking about him now. Oh nooo, this is going to be awkward. Even more awkward than it was now. He almost thinks about lying but, this is a public network that Eren and his brother are also on. He could already hear what they'd say if they saw him lying about this.
There's a delay in his response.]
Me? Ah, just still studying music.
[Like his mother.]
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nothing wrong with that, good luck
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Though at least that message seems...safe. ]
Thanks. Good luck with pre-law.
[...Through he's now realizing that since he knows the guy that runs the fight club, it'd definitely be noticed if he played hooky like he was planning. Friiiiiiiiiick. He should've kept his mouth shut.]
I guess I'll see you Sunday?
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yeah, see you then