twenty [action]

[imatreenow]

[Almost a week ago Mithos had returned from a mission, the first he'd ever volunteered for. It may have seemed a strange choice for someone who trusted no one, who loathed being a pawn for others, to submit himself as a lab rat for combat testing, but his choices are narrowing around him. There is something he is after. Something he can finally close his fingers around, after watching it all scream past him for so long. If he is going to be used by the Malnosso regardless of his choices, it is better that he gains something from it - which he'd had to remind himself many times to dampen the sour taste sitting in the back of his throat.

Now back in the village, he has resumed the same quiet routine as before. In the early morning, before the sun is too hot in the sky, and before too many villagers are awake, he can be seen hunched over in the garden around House 52. He tries not to wonder if the flowers, planted with the thin hope that his sister might have the chance to enjoy them, amount to anything more than a vain effort. When he decides he needs more supplies, he makes sure to visit the flower shop in the early afternoon - wondering, like a scratch in the back of his mind, if school is still in session at all, or if he'll run into someone he would rather not see at all.

Later in the day, he withdraws to the woods south of the village to train. Four thousand years of fighting are wired inside his muscles, but it doesn't hurt to stay as sharp as possible. He's still getting used to the subtle differences between a proper sword and the knife he now relies on. Slicing the air, going through the motions of killing, he feels like he is building something. When he's done, he settles in against the base of a tree and draws the ancient set of panpipes from his pocket. He usually prefers to play inside, where the music of his sister cannot be heard by prying ears, but surrounded by the forest and his thoughts he can almost forget that people exist. And so the notes come out, clear and steady.]

Comments

[imatreenow]

[His glare follows her to where she sits down, and then he immediately rises from his crouch. He doesn't drop the trowel, instead gripping it with whitening knuckles in hopes of pressing on the intruder the thought that anything can become a weapon, if provoked.]

You are trespassing. Or is it not clear enough that you are unwelcome here?

[disastergirl]

[Her glance fell to the trowel, which was quickly accompanied by a roll of the eyes. Geez, what a--

Hold on. This person was a tiny bit familiar, weren't they? Had she met this person before? She couldn't remember... Oh whatever. It would probably come back to her in time.]

Oh, it's clear enough. I just don't see how I'm trespassing.

[imatreenow]

You have dragged your filthy self onto my property. [Which is technically not true - in a village free of currency, nobody can own anything.] Therefore, you are trespassing.

[disastergirl]

[That would have been a point of contention, had she not been sent over the boiling point by a certain word.]

Filthy!? [stands up!]

What was that for? Do you get your kicks out of calling strangers "filthy" for no reason?

[imatreenow]

[He smirks lightly at her vehement reaction, and his annoyance will fuel further insults.] For no reason other than the fact that you are a filthy human.

[disastergirl]

I don't see how being a human automatically makes me "filthy"! I thought you were human too until you went and said something as stupid as that.

[It probably wasn't a great idea to just tack on a remark like that, but she had never been one for backing down.]

[imatreenow]

Then obviously I'm not a human.

[And he's not backing down either, when she's the one impinging on not only his space but something that holds far more meaning than a plot of dirt.] If you do not understand what makes you filthy, it is because you are too selfish to see anything beyond yourself.

[disastergirl]

Or, you know, it could be because I'm from a different world and have no idea what you're talking about.

[She hadn't met many people who weren't human, so she had pretty good odds of getting it right if she took a wild guess. It wasn't like she had much to lose here.]

Does that mean you got sick of trying to get people to accept you?

[imatreenow]

[He glares silently for another moment to disguise his confusion, before a memory snaps into place in his mind and he realizes why this girl had seemed familiar.]

I grew sick of that a long time ago.

[disastergirl]

[Thankfully she had the sense to not say "I told you so", despite the small nagging voice at the back of her mind. Oh well, it probably wouldn't have been much fun anyway.]

Did you? And why is that?

[imatreenow]

Because humans never change. They are selfish creatures who readily step on others in order to fulfill their own desires. They see what is different from them and they fear it, they hate it. They do nothing but destroy. [Stale rhetoric that even he has found exception to, but he forces it out because it is still more true than the lie of kindness and fairness in the world.]

[disastergirl]

[She furrowed her brow. Something big must have happened since the last time she saw him. Something unforgivable.

Maybe it was something like what had happened to her at the Barrier Shelter. Thinking of it in those terms tempered her irritation somewhat, although she certainly didn't approve of what he was saying. Still, his hatred made a little more sense when she thought of it that way.]

Must be tough to feel that way when so many people here are human.

[An aloof tone seemed like the best match for those words.]

[imatreenow]

[He cannot discern whether her words are in sympathy, pity, mocking, or if it is a statement thrown out with hardly any thought at all, like saying the sky is blue.]

Which is why I choose to avoid them all. [The implied jab: including you.]

[disastergirl]

You're doing a pretty lousy job of it. [Jane, why. She suspected that it had more to do with the principle of the thing than actually avoiding other people, but she wasn't in a hurry to confirm it.]

All I wanted to do was look at your flowers anyway.

[imatreenow]

[He was doing fine until someone decided to stick her nose where it's not welcome. If his glare seems darker, it is not her imagination.]

And now that you've seen them, there's no reason for you to be here. [He's still gripping that trowel, and his words are coated in a deep permafrost.]

[disastergirl]

Fine, have it your way. [On the outside, she didn't seem particularly fazed by those chilly words. She made a point of never expecting kindness from strangers in the first place, so this was no big loss in the long run.]

By the way, a bullet moves a lot faster than a trowel ever could. Just saying.

[imatreenow]

You would do well to not underestimate me. [The knife still waits hidden in his pocket. Bringing a knife to a gun fight though it may be, his speed - even without his Cruxis Crystal - is nothing to scoff at.]

[disastergirl]

[hands on hips.]

You're going to think I'm a dumb human either way, so I'll underestimate you as much as I like!

[No, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to say, but she had come too far already to start being intimidated by him.

Also, y'know, that pride thing and all.]

[imatreenow]

[He only smirks.] You're at least right about that.

[disastergirl]

[Her eyes narrowed for a moment, but she tried to force that look away.]

Oh? Did it hurt to admit that a human might actually be right about something?

[imatreenow]

What harm is a speck of dirt to a person? [As much as he enjoys throwing insults, this exchange is wearing on his non-existent patience.]

[disastergirl]

I don't know, maybe you should look down at the ground and ask it!

[She turned on her heel. About the only good point was that she was careful not to disturb the flowers in the process.]

[imatreenow]

[He watches her go with a sneer. She may have gotten the last word, but as far as he's concerned, he's won - she's leaving, and he has his solitude back.]