driftfleet | SS Hot Mess shows up to mingles 15 minutes late with Starbucks

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SS Hot Mess shows up to mingles 15 minutes late with Starbucks

Who: The Huntress Crew and Visitors
Broadcast: Maybe!!
Action: SS Huntress!
When: From now until end of the system!

[There's been an elf invasion! And an Ellen Page invasion! Also there's a star system! Come in Huntress, it's been awhile, so it's time for a mingle! ]

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[He sits on the counter, because he's rude and doesn't care all that much about who cleans it.]

I'm sure you've noticed the malevolence by now. It tends to get pretty nasty after a while.

[But there was a different reason he wanted to speak to Mikleo. He sends out a little tendril of wind to see if anyone is coming. He shuts the door just in case.]

What's going on?

...Yeah.

[That's kind of the reason he's here and not down there. It sort of feels like, lately, the malevolence is getting harder to avoid. Makes the place feel kind of like home, which is... not a good thing.]

You'll have to be more specific than that.

[Clueless, or evasive? You decide.]

[Yeah. Returning to Sorey's domain isn't as refreshing as it used to be, though Dezel isn't really sure why. He thinks it's himself and his problems that are forming a distance between them. Sorey would obviously feel better if Dezel just... stopped being a constant reminder of what they all lost.

Dezel scoffs at the very unhelpful remark.]

You and Sorey.

[Ah... yeah. About that. Mikleo shifts uncomfortably, staring down at his book so he doesn't have to look Dezel in the eye. He's blind, but somehow he can... scrutinize. And the subject is uncomfortable enough that he can't deal with that right now.]

...I don't know. We fought... I don't even remember what it was about. It wasn't that important. But he won't really talk to me, now. Not like usual.

[And that stings, more than he wants to admit. He doesn't know what to do with all of these doubts he keeps feeling, and the unsettling atmosphere he's beginning to notice around himself. What is he supposed to do when he can't tell the one person who gets him?]

What?

[That's. Not what he was expecting. He came down here to ask if Mikleo knew why Sorey had been so distant, since it was bad enough that Mikleo was worrying about (and therefore worrying Zaveid), but-- they fought? Mikleo and Sorey sometimes argue but he's never seen a full on fight. He wasn't there for that.

A part of him doesn't want to get involved. He could still take a step back and not give a damn, and everything would be fine-- for him, at least. But another, more insistent part of him is reminded of Mikleo's words on the handholding planet, and Dezel knows he can't run forever. This is his problem. The Shepherd's problems are his problems, and that includes if he's conflicting with his seraphim.

Damn it.]

... It's not just you. He hasn't spoken more than a few words to anyone.

[He thinks he might be able to guess about what they fought over. He's kinda off the mark, though, as it turns out.]

Maybe it's finally sinking in that there are some things he just can't help with. Seraph problems and human problems are different, after all.

[Right... that's right. He's noticed that. He's never been especially subtle about how he watches Sorey; it's been his duty since he was a child, really, and it's become a habit and even a pleasure sometimes, if he's forced to admit it. To make sure he doesn't hurt himself. To make sure he eats and sleeps. To make sure he can defend himself. To make sure he can handle the world outside of Elysia.

He's just... always done it. But lately, since the third round of conflict began here, it's felt a lot more like he's been watching someone else instead. Sorey's been so unlike himself, and yet whenever Mikleo tries to pry some answers out of him, all he meets is a wall.]

Seraph problems...

[Is that still bothering him? He'd thought that their swim and the armatus resolved the worst of it, and that Sorey had worked through the rest on his own. Was that just him being naive about how severe the problem really is?]

Back on that the last planet, he asked me... if I wanted to stay there. Because of the ocean.

Edited 2016-08-27 07:47 (UTC)

[Dezel has been content to let things lie as they will, mostly because every time he and Sorey armatize, bad things happen. They just keep feeding into each other. He should've never reached out, but it was hard not to, with the wind and sky surrounding him and the colors granted by Sorey's vision. It's not something he can take back. He isn't sure he would, anyway; Sorey had seemed so hopeful, so happy, from having the simple chance to armatize again. And Dezel-- Dezel wanted to make him happy for once.

He should've known he couldn't give anyone happiness.

Since then, and since the fight with Zaveid, he's barely said anything. He feels bad for making Sorey worry, for making him mad. Sorey isn't the kind of person you want to make mad. Maybe the Shepherd's forgiven him, but Dezel hasn't forgiven himself for causing him so much stress. It's just one more sin on the pile.

Dezel's eyes narrow beneath his hat. That isn't the kind of question that he'd expect from Sorey, unless he was feeling bad. Even Dezel knows how inseparable they are.]

Did you tell him he was being an idiot?

[Straight and to the point as always.]

Of course I did. More than once.

[They were armatized at the time; Sorey got more or less a steady stream of disapproval until they sorted it out.]

I get that he's worried. The malevolence that we can't quell, and the times we've gotten sick already- he wants us to be safe. But... he didn't say we. We should stay. It's been a long time since he felt the need to go it alone in order to protect me.

[That was a while ago, and he's not mad anymore, but he's still not happy that it happened.]

[It's definitely interesting hearing it from Mikleo's point of view. Dezel hasn't exactly been privy to the particulars of their relationship. Sure, they were close, and they were raised together, but it's the we part that really sells it.]

I thought he was past all that. He's always saying that we need to share our burdens. [Fuck, Zaveid was right. What a headache.] Who's going to share his?

It ought to be his friends, obviously, but we can't share it with him if he won't share it with us.

[Which is... honestly the most alarming part, for him. They share everything. They always have. What's different about this time? Why is he hiding it? What's different?]

Dezel, do you know if it's harder for a Shepherd to have two seraphim of the same element at once?

[It's not spoken in an accusing tone - it's no one's fault - but that's the only thing that comes immediately to mind.]

He should at least be talking to you. You're inseparable.

[Until now. Sorey must be hiding something, but he can't think of what it could be. The reasons are obvious enough. He thinks it isn't a big deal, or he thinks he's protecting his seraphim by doing so.

Idiot.]

... I don't think so. I've never heard of something like that, and besides, we aren't fighting hellions. We're not drawing on his strength that much.

[He's not offended or anything.]

I can break the pact, but that brings in a whole other set of problems. [A vessel. Blessing a ship. Dezel's blessing.]

[Yeaaaaaah let's. Let's not do that.

Mikleo shakes his head, arms crossing over his chest.]

I'm not suggesting that. I can't imagine a situation where that would be necessary.

[And it would be cruel to ask him to sever his connection to a pure vessel with how much malevolence they keep encountering.]

It's just something I'm struggling to understand. It's not like him to hide like this. When he's trying to avoid problems, he usually pretends that everything is fine.

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SS Hot Mess shows up to mingles 15 minutes late with Starbucks

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