imatreenow | eighteen [action]

[Friday afternoon finds Mithos dragging a granite statue through the streets of Luceti. It will look familiar to those who can claim Aselia as their home world, carved adoringly in the likeness of a young man wielding dual swords. The figure is planted atop a base that bears a plaque engraved with the simple honor, "The Hero Lloyd Irving." All together, it stands at about three and a half feet, scaled down from the original model.

For Mithos, it's a bitter reminder of things that could never have been. Its sudden appearance in his house had been an elbow nudging him sharply in the ribs, an obnoxious stage whisper prompting, "Hey, remember that time all your hopes and dreams were crushed?"

Yes, yes he remembers.

Which is why he had to get rid of it. The first day, he dragged the statue behind the house, let it topple into the river, and watched the determined stony face sink below the surface. The next morning, it found its way back to his living room. Each day, he drags it farther away, and each morning it proudly comes back.

His route today takes him up from the south end of the village through the north end and into the woods. The farther away, the better.]

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[Walking along the river in a thick winter coat, Rapunzel comes upon Mithos as he drags the statue around. It's a peculiar sight to say the least, so Rapunzel trots over to the unfamiliar boy to see what he's doing.]

Excuse me...would you like a hand with that?

[He very much resents how ridiculous he looks dragging this thing around. Straightening up to assume a more intimidating image, he levels her with a glare.] I don't need help from an inferior being.

[When he faces her head-on, recognition twinges in her mind. She remembered him, but from a time when she wasn't herself. Hadn't they played together? He looked...different now, somehow. Sadder.]

But you're carrying that all by yourself. That can't be easy.

[He recognizes her and slowly remembers why - from when he couldn't remember who he was and forgot what he was. And...she had spoken with him, too, after Sayo left. She had wanted to help him.] I can manage.

Edited (because brainfart) 2013-01-02 00:40 (UTC)

Well, then...I can at least keep you company?

What makes you think I want anything to do with you? [He starts pulling at the statue again, wanting to give her a brusque hint by moving on. Buuuut the statue's base seems to have gotten caught in a shallow rut in the ground.]

[She quietly taps her fingers together. He'd been so pleasant last time they had met, hadn't he? Something very wrong must have happened to upset him like this.]

We played together. Do you remember? I really enjoyed your company.

[He glares silently for a moment.] You say that, but you don't even know who I am. That person wasn't me...he had none of my memories or experiences. [And he doesn't want to think that that's what he might have been, if the world hadn't compressed him so tightly and shaped him into this mangled thing.]

[She knew better than to argue with that - she had been someone very different that week, too. Though it hadn't been unpleasant, she hadn't liked losing her memories, either.]

What's your name?

[He regards her with open suspicion and hostility branded into his expression.] I have no reason to introduce myself to you.

[It's an expression she isn't used to receiving, but she has certainly seen it before. It makes a nervous knot tighten in her chest. Was he really so different?]

Then...that's alright. I'm Rapunzel.

[He chooses to ignore her, waiting for her to realize how unwanted she is, how useless her efforts are. Stooping over, he focuses on yanking the statue's base free. But he remains overly, uncomfortably, aware of her presence. Go away, just go away--]

[Well? If he won't acknowledge he needs help, she's just going to go for it, heading over to start tugging on the base as well.]

[He jaggedly glares at her even as he struggles with the heavy statue.] I already told you...I don't need your help. [That totally isn't the sound of his voice straining under the burden of his task, nope.]

[Yeah, no, it doesn't sound that way to her, mister.]

Well! I've decided to help you anyway. So you had better just suck it up and take it!

[With her help, he's already managed to tow the statue out of the rut. But don't expect any sort of thanks, because he sees this not as a victory, but as an annoyance.] Why are you doing this?

[And she answers matter-of-factly.] Because you needed help, even if you didn't want to ask for it.

Allow him to re-phrase that.] Why do you even care?

[And in her same tone as before:] Because I care about everyone.

You know nothing about me. [Says the jerk who refused to give his name.]

[You know, she is really not a fan of that attitude.] So? I still care about you.

You have no reason to. [Two years in this place and he still cannot grasp the basic concept that a lot of people are actually pretty nice.]

I don't need a reason. I just do! [But, fine, if he wanted some solid reason...] And...we played together. I think we could be friends, you know.

...I'm not a human. [He thinks this should be reason enough to deter her. They can't be friends because they're too different.]

[Considering the people she had met in Luceti, finding someone who looked human but wasn't doesn't come as much of a shock. But why did he think it would make such a difference?]

That doesn't matter to me!

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