sixteen [action] | Saturday

[imatreenow]

[On Saturday afternoon, villagers may notice a peculiar sight while out and about in their daily routines. Or maybe they've learned not to question anything that happens here, so they won't pay any mind to Freyjadour as he carries a damp and shivering Mithos through town in what is generally described as 'bridal style'.

...There's an explanation for this. Really.

It has something to do with being unceremoniously dumped into the fountain upon return from a death penalty removal, a minor inconvenience known as pain-killers, and a major inconvenience known as muscular atrophy.

Feel free to awkwardly run into them at any point during the trek to House 11. Tread close enough and snippets of arguments are likely to be heard:]

Put me down...! I am fine.

You can't even stand. Stop struggling, please.

[Or maybe something like:]

I don't need your help.

Yes, you do...just calm down.

[They stop to rest a few times along the way, because while Mithos isn't exactly heavy, he still isn't exactly light either. And he refuses to make this easy on Frey, putting up a constant sruggle against his hold. Good thing there are benches to sit on. And awkward, sullen silence to enjoy, in which Mithos pointedly looks the other way and Freyjadour just has a patient if long suffering look on his face.]

[LATER ACTION - House 11]

Throughout the rest of the day, Mithos has taken up temporary residence on the living room sofa of House 11. The side effects of the drugs have worn off, but he's still in no condition to go off on his own. According to Frey, anyway. Regardless of his condition, a house full of humans is one of the last places he wants to be. House members, come gawk at the grumpy kid in the living room all you want. He defnitely looks like he could use a little company, right? ...Right?]

[OOC NOTE: As you probably expected, responses in the earlier part will come from both Mithos and Freyjadour. Surprise on who will tag first, decided on a thread by thread basis. Later action portion may or may not include threadjacking from Frey or Kaori. You have been warned, friends.]

Comments

[imatreenow]

[That's...not what he expected, but it doesn't show in his immutable glare. Why would Silver care...?] No, but I had no choice. It was either that or spend the rest of my time here vulnerable and weaker than I already am.

[...he shouldn't have said that last part. But embedded in the words is the fear of having to go out in the village without a weapon by his side, without the ability to run or evade. The added paranoia and wild distrust he's had to attempt to shield himself with. The disgust at being so helpless.]

[tsuntrader]

[Most of it is finely tuned out. The Mallies hit a really strong nerve, and discussion of them shoves reason out of the window.] So you willingly subjected yourself to one of them. What if they did something worse to you? What if it's not a permanent fix? You'd really put yourself in the hands of someone who'd hurt you? Are you stupid?

[imatreenow]

Don't you think I thought about that? Do you have any idea how much time I spent wondering what to do? How afraid I was that I would come back with both legs useless? I already told you, I had no other choice! What else was I supposed to do? [He doesn't care if he's using words like 'afraid'. Silver has no damn right to attack him for this, after he practically clawed his hair out thinking himself in circles about it before he took the plunge.]

[tsuntrader]

[No, he doesn't want to hear it, he doesn't want to hear it, he doesn't want to hear it-

...But he has to. Mithos is right. As much as it makes his skin crawl and his stomach turn over, he can't deny the fact that it really doesn't sound like there wasn't another option. He keeps quiet and once again breaks eye contact in favor of looking down, to the side- anywhere that isn't Mithos.]

[imatreenow]

[...Nothing to say to that? He's almost bothered by the abnormality of it, but he pushes that down in favor of trying to cobble together some sense of victory. What exactly did he win here, though...?

And perhaps a little late, he remembers the sleeping girl in the room and lowers his volume.] Why do you even care what I choose to do? What does it matter to you if I get hurt?

...You're always telling me to be more open about trusting people, and always asking me why I can't. Are you taking that back now?

[tsuntrader]

...I keep telling you to quit being stupid and thinking everyone hates you or is out to get you. Or that you can still be civil and interact with people or even like them without trusting them.

Trusting people in general is a whole other bag of worms, let alone trusting the Mallies.

[imatreenow]

I don't want anything to do do with anyone here.

The people who live in the village are no different from the Malnosso to me, until they can prove themselves otherwise.

[tsuntrader]

If you really think that the people here can be compared to the people who treat our lives like tests, kidnap us, mess with us, and throw us into war whether we can handle it or not, then something's really wrong with you.

[imatreenow]

[Something's wrong with his whole life, but it isn't him.] ...I don't care what you think. I wouldn't expect you to really understand.

[tsuntrader]

Why wouldn't I understand? It's not that complicated. You only care about what you think.

[imatreenow]

I wasn't talking about that.

[He's silent for a few beats, because explaining to people who still won't get it becomes tiring.]

What reason is there to think any better of the people in the village? What reason do I have not to hate them? Most of them are humans, just as the Malnosso are. Even if they act kind on the outside and convince themselves that they're good people, they're still humans. Don't the Malnosso you so despise act kind to those in the village, to be seen in the way they wish to be seen? How is that any different?

[tsuntrader]

The mallies mess with us. The village doesn't. How is this complicated?

[imatreenow]

...I don't know why I even bother.

[tsuntrader]

It's like you're trying to argue that someone that punches you in the face and acts polite is the same as someone who acts polite but doesn't just because they could.

...If that's not enough, the Mallies have power over us. They're controlling and can do whatever they want to us. That's not to paint the village as nothing but a bunch of happy-go-lucky goody goody two shoes people, but even if Jimmy over at the superstore kicks Growlithe for a living, he isn't one of the guys that makes you all friendly and messes with your memories and he never will be. That's definitely not something that can be lumped into one big category. If you really want to hate everyone, try for "the people I hate because they've done something to me" and "the people I hate because I'm a whiny bratty paranoid guy with pointy ears and a bad backstory."

[imatreenow]

[He's silent for a little while.]

Maybe I hate everyone simply because of who I am, but I see nothing wrong with that. [He has no other option, being what he is and seeing what life has done to him because of it.]

[tsuntrader]

Maybe that's only a maybe. Maybe that mentality hurts the people you care about.

Hatred isn't just exhausting. It's consuming. It makes you lose sight of everything.

[imatreenow]

[Direct hit, Silver. He doesn't even realize that he stopped glaring at the other boy, now staring wide-eyed at the floor. That fork is somehow in his hand again, and his hand is a tight fist. His other hand attempts to strangle the couch cushion, fingers digging against the fabric.]

...Leave me alone. [Because he knows that, dammit, and he wishes he didn't. He knows Martel doesn't like it...she doesn't approve of it...she doesn't understand it. The anguish etched into her face as she told him he needed to stop this is etched into the grooves of his brain. He knows how much hatred consumes, because it's consumed his whole life and the person he used to be, swallowed it all whole and spat out the bones. Losing sight of everything... Did he lose sight of everything? Martel is everything... But she didn't want the spoils of any of the victories he never had, so what was the point? He doesn't know anymore.]

[tsuntrader]

So you do see something wrong with it.

[imatreenow]

I'm not wrong. [His fingers curls more tightly around the fork. Silver should be very glad that he's across the room.]

...It's not my fault. [That he was too weak to deal with it any other way. He was put into the world as something hated, and his only coping mechanism was taken away when his sister died.]

[tsuntrader]

What happened to you isn't your fault. Your reactions to things when you were a kid also isn't your fault.

But now? You need to move on and put the past behind you. You need to grow up, too.

[imatreenow]

...I haven't been a child since Martel and I were exiled from Heimd-- [right, he wouldn't know what the meant] --our village.

[But that's not even worth discussing with Silver. None of this is. He isn't letting go of this poor fork, because his fingers need something to sink into right now.] Don't talk to me about leaving the past behind...I'm sick of hearing it. Not everyone can do that.

[tsuntrader]

Anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it. Every minute you live in the past is another minute you lose in the present. Grudges, guilt, and regrets are useless. What matters is what you do right now.

But you know that already, don't you?

[imatreenow]

And what if I can't? [The assumption that all one has to do to accomplish anything is try - as if he never tried hard enough in his life - scrapes underneath his skin.] What if trying isn't good enough? Who are you to patronize me like that?

[He is very, very tempted to throw this fork straight at Silver's face.] What do you even know about anything? [Don't tell him it's all useless. Everything his life has slowly curled around, crippled and stunted and miserable...don't say it was for nothing...]

[tsuntrader]

If trying isn't good enough, you fall down, right on your face. And then you gotta get up and try again, and fall down again, and keep doing it over and over no matter how many times or how hard you fall.

[...] If you didn't throw your problems around every time you had a discussion with someone, no one would bring these kinds of things up.

[imatreenow]

[...Yeah, okay, he's throwing that fork as hard as he can, because it's the only proper response he has for that last bit.]

I'm not strong enough to do that. Is that what you want to hear? That I'm weak? [That's why you're talking to him, isn't it? To pry him apart and expose just how small he is?]