week 2, monday afternoon

[arbalestrier]

[It's the start of another week and the revelation that there's another supernatural phenomenon in play already has his head spinning again. After seeing more than one person transformed into an animal, he's begun to accept the idea that magic exists, however absurd and insane it sounds. And once Sousuke starts to come to terms with it all, that's when he decides to seek out Hwylryn.

It's not a difficult task, considering he's out in the open. Sousuke steps over to the flower bed, letting his shadow fall over the other man.]

Hwylryn. What are you?

[There's a part of him that's aware that asking like this might be rude, but he's never been good at wording things delicately, and he'd rather not beat around the bush.]

Comments

[coldseep]

( Sousuke will find a certain Hwylryn stretched out on his back in the flowerbeds, his long, white hair sprawled out in the dirt behind him. He's half-covered by leaves and blooming flowers, his eyes closed in the sun, but his breath to quick to suggest he's asleep.

When he hears his name called by a familiar voice, his eyes flutter open, and he lifts a hand and sticks it up over the top of the flowers, waving it so Sousuke can see where he's laying. )

Here I am.

( Sing-song. However, the air around him is still - quite literally. He's pensive, and full of thoughts; and something about it feels dangerous - though, not aimed at Sousuke, and not suggesting he might snap, or anything. The air's tension simply seems dangerous in the way the air about a lion seems dangerous, even if it's at rest. )

[arbalestrier]

[If not for the oppressive air, Sousuke wouldn't even have thought anything of the greeting. As it is, he cautiously steps through the flowers until he's next to Hwylryn, although he doesn't sit himself down or anything like that.

There's no musket with him today, although he's started carrying a pistol in a holster at his back--not that it would be useful against that behemoth he saw in the mirror, anyway. None of this stops him from being his usual blunt self, though.]

Why did you kill him like that?

[There's no accusation or animosity in his voice--it's just a question, without any particular sentiment behind it.]

[coldseep]

( Hwylryn looks up at him, remaining where he is. His expression seems innocuous enough. )

How would you prefer I have killed him?

[arbalestrier]

This isn't a matter of preferences. What I want to know is why you used such a roundabout method.

[coldseep]

( Ah, that part. )

... I wonder.

( He makes a thoughtful sound, wondering if he should give a sincere answer, or if the effort would be ultimately useless. Well . . . )

... Sousuke. Have you ever stumbled onto a cultural practice you thought was strange? In your homeland, or... anywhere else.

[arbalestrier]

[His expression turns pensive, but there's no hesitation when he answers.]

Yes. In the country I'm residing in, and elsewhere too.

[But most of the examples that come to mind are definitely the more recent ones.]

[coldseep]

Then maybe you'll get it.

( or not. but that's the context for it. )

... Where I was born and raised, a fight is a form of respect, in a sense. He wouldn't give it to me... so it ended up being play.

( he doesn't say this as excuse, or justification - it is what it is, take it or leave it. )

But, while it wasn't satisfying... I can't say I didn't enjoy it, either.

( it feels a little contradictory, but a proper fight and excitement of a dolphin batting around a puffer fish are two adjacent, if distinct, niches. )

[arbalestrier]

[He falls silent, brows furrowing in contemplation. It isn't as if any of these ideas are entirely unfamiliar, but even so--hearing of something secondhand or seeing it in someone else doesn't necessarily confer understanding. He could grasp the outline, perceive the colors, but it remained altogether nothing more than an incomplete picture, a sketch that remained unfinished.

He doesn't think there's any merit in asking about why the fight was enjoyable; if emotions were that easy to comprehend, reading people wouldn't be so difficult.]

Would you have killed him instantly if he fought you seriously?

[coldseep]

( He hums . . . now, there's a question.

Despite the melody of his sound, he does seem to be considering this seriously. )

He was pretty strong. But . . . dragons are that much stronger.

( He says this not as a brag - though he certainly doesn't seem humble about this fact - but as a plain statement of truth - uncommon for him. )

If he was only so strong that there was no choice but to kill him instantly, I wouldn't want to fight him. ( He doesn't do flyswatting. He's not the type. ) But if he were strong and clever, then I wouldn't have had to kill him instantly at all. That's what I wanted, I think.

( Now, this is a little evasive - but what it boils down to, if Sousuke picks up on it, is this: if Chu Wenshan were strong and clever, then he would have fought him seriously, and let the dice fall as they did - killing him whenever he found an opening. Because that would have still been fun.

But if Chu Wenshan were only strong, then - no. He still would not have killed him instantly. Because playing with him would be the only way to make a fight like that fun.

The only outcome was something drawn out. Hwylryn's ideal was simply that it be drawn out on Chu Wenshan's merit, and not simply because Hwylryn was forcing it. )

[arbalestrier]

[So, dragons are as difficult to decipher as people...

It's a ridiculous thought, and one that's as surreal as it is uncharacteristic of his usual mentality. Dragons only existed in the realm of fiction, and he's a realist at his core. Even so, the matter-of-fact delivery certainly adds certain amount of weight to the statement--while he saw the moment that silvery dragon caught Chu Wenshan in its great maw, a part of him could rationalize it as edited footage or something equally grounded in the logic he was used to.

But he does accept it now, even as he's still considering how it factors into his assessment of Hwylryn.

He also accepts that he's probably missing some of the nuances in this answer, even if he can recognize it is effectively a no for both scenarios. But, that uncertainty at the end throws him off a little.]

...You don't know?

[coldseep]

( That that is what Sousuke focuses on seems to surprise him, and seems to make him pause - like he hadn't even noticed his uncertainty himself.

Quietly, he seems to consider this. )

... I wonder.


( ...

He slowly pushes himself up to his elbows, and then a little bit more into a sit. Dirt falls from his hair as he does.

He's quiet. Thinking, thinking... Looking a little more helpless the more he does. )

... Maybe not. The more I think about it... in the end, I can only think that I just want Tiamat back. ( Maybe it doesn't sound relevant to the execution, but it - feels like it is, to Hwylryn. ) ... But I know there's no path that will lead me there.

[arbalestrier]

[He watches the movements carefully, like an attentive watchdog. It's a bit odd seeing that composure shaken, even if it's marginal. But that uncertainty, along with the contemplation and sense of hesitation, makes the answer feel that much more honest.

The sentiment is something he can't quite comprehend, but that fundamental truth--that death is final--is something he knows quite well.]

...Yeah.

[He doesn't know what else to say to that, so he stays silent as he thinks things over once, twice. And at the end of the third time, he finally speaks.]

Would you kill Ish too?

[It's a non sequitur, he knows, but it's the last question he'd been considering. And even if it was indirect, the self-proclaimed Witch of Ruin still had a hand in those deaths.]

[coldseep]

( This one requires less consideration - in fact, almost none at all. )

Of course.

( Ish made this murder happen - on purpose - with those heightened emotions. He's certain this wouldn't have happened without it. Yes, Chu Wenshan pulled the trigger, but Ish is the one who handed them the gun. )

... I'm a little worried what the consequences of it would be if we do it thoughtlessly - if it would cause the space to collapse on everyone, or if it'd just strand us all without a host, and, eventually, without food.

( Hwylryn is the cautious sort - he has lost too much to reckless behavior to want to engage in it himself. He's steady, passive, and careful, for better or worse. )

I think, if we can forge a pathway out, we can kill him safely. Every space like this has a weak spot, somewhere.