Kenos Inbox

[damnpire]

voice / text / communion

D's mind is a cacophony of things.

The landscape is shadow and darkness, and it is chilly and reserved where D sits in it; he feels like a simple young man. Quiet, soft, human. But behind the stoicism is a warm, sensual, and elegant sliver of something primordial and powerful. Embracing it is hypnotic, arousing, yet also a little horrifying.

Amidst all of this is something else, too: a craggled and old presence which can be heard on occasion cackling or chattering separately, the crusty voice belonging neither to D or the peculiar entity in the space.

Comments

[damnpire]

That could be true, yes.

[He won't disagree that Aetos could very well have not a single answer. That'd be disappointing. But also... neither do they. And a lot of them also don't have any way to dig for answers. Not that Aetos's digging is very ethical.]

I appreciate the sentiment, but it's true regardless of how I conduct myself. Biologically, I am a monster, one which must consume blood to satiate a curse. I understand you would disagree and perhaps even turn the notion around on me about yourself.

[warmare]

[Of course it could be true!, her presence seems to rail. Has she not been right more times than not, though she has been ridiculed and doubted by so many in her own faction for her stances and her words? It seemed that way to her, and yet still--]

You can diddle about with the definitions of words all you want, but you have two proper eyes and a working brain, do you not?

You know that is not what I mean.

[It swells again despite herself- the howling, bestial mass of roots that had stabbed into her and her companion's flesh, the glowing mass of forcefully, painfully fused together shards.]

Just because you are not human, you should be the one to risk becoming a mindless beast?

[There, how about that vocab word, then???]

[damnpire]

[Like a rock, he remains where he is mentally without flinching, taking her waves.]

Yes. [To him, it's as simple as that.] I don't believe I'm the only one, but if it means one less person to have to volunteer, I accept that.

If you don't have to, the one you love. Should nothing come of it, I will cease working with them altogether.

[warmare]

[D may be choosing the best path for dealing with Hayame when her emotions are running high, but... It does not mean she can or will come down that quickly.

Does he truly think that? Is he truly-]

I do not care if you are not the only one! Let the fool Zenites volunteer if they wish!

[They could all die, for all she cared. It would be less enemies, less standing between her and returning home (and fulfilling her promise, and dying-)]

What does the one I love--

[What- ? Or he loved? Or-]

You may not have the luxury of choosing not to work with them altogether again if you die on their experiment table, D!

[damnpire]

I can't risk Zenites learning any kind of useful information with someone now allied so closely with Meridian.

[He does understand her concerns, though.]

The outcome will be the same regardless. Either I decide my time was wasted, or I'm dead. If my Shard is intact, I'll return.

If it isn't, nothing of value will be lost.

[warmare]

[So maybe she cannot refute that first bit of logic. The burn of Meridian is bright, and in has grown hot enough to burn hotter than her hatred.

But.

After a long, long silence...]

... Do you think I make a habit of offering my friendship to the worthless?

[damnpire]

[On his end, he is also quiet because he gets what she is trying to say to him.]

Are the worthless also not deserving of your friendship?

[He knows that might be a hard question to pose to her, being as prideful as she sometimes is about others carrying their own weight, and the right weight. It's a little mean, though he doesn't intend for it to be.]

I don't think the lack of value of my life means I'm not still your friend.

[warmare]

[Perhaps it is a little mean. Of him? Or of her?, when she says,]

No, they are not.

[Hayame's friendship was not an easy thing to earn, nor was it easy for her to give. She had never had a friend before, in her own world, not allowing herself to want them nor need them, and in the freedoms and untethered nature of Kenos... she can count them yet on the fingers of one hand. Perhaps she would have used two... but she does not know anymore. It does not-]

Why must you-

[It does not matter. What matters is-]

Why must you insist upon this?

[Volunteering? Or being worthless?]

[damnpire]

[Both are valid, so it doesn't matter which she really means.]

I know that even without me, should something happen, you and the others will be able to carry Meridian to victory. If there is a way to help you all do that, I don't mind bearing Aetos's dangerous tests.

I trust you.

1/2

[warmare]

Do not make our strength an excuse for this-

This stupidity!

This masochism!

[warmare]

[But it is like a wave crashing against the shore.

And she is so tired of crashing, even if her pride, her character, her trauma prevent her from simply giving in and becoming a placid pond.

It is not acceptance nor understand that leads her to say what she does, but-]

... I will kill you if that freak makes a monster of you.

And if I can retrieve your shard, I will try and revive you.

Hopefully, with more sense than when you volunteered for this.

[damnpire]

[It is stupidity and masochism, she should say it. He does not get amused, but there is the faintest hints of a thankful smile in the mental landscape. Soft, even though she'll hate it deeply.]

I hope so, too. [Let him come back less thrown-himself-on-the-pyre.] Thank you, Hayame.

I'm sorry for troubling you. If I'm alright, I'll contact you after. I'll let you know what we find out.

[warmare]

If I have to kill you, do not expect me to tolerate Aetos any longer, "boon" for Meridian or not.

[Someone has to be half-sane in this gd place!!!!

... Also yeah, she hates it deeply. How dare he just still be standing there, smiling, instead of-]

I will await your word.

[And if it doesn't come... she'll go hunting for him.]

[damnpire]

[There is a mental motion like nodding his head in acknowledgement. That's fair enough. He wouldn't force Hayame to tolerate someone after uselessness or betrayal.]

I won't make you wait long. Take care.