phonetasmal | text; un: patriarch

text; un: patriarch

[After the fight with his brother had settled down, Ardyn went back to his room and shut the door; after an hour or so of pacing restlessly and accomplishing nothing, he settled on taking out his phone and making an ill-advised decision.]

[...Just as soon as he changed his username.]

Since there is likely no end in sight to 'this station needs more therapy than the multiverse can provide':

I know one can be furious with someone they care about and yet not detest them. Difficult, but not unthinkable. But is it possible to ever learn to stop hating someone, when that anger is justified yet supposedly built on the foundation of a misunderstanding?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[DAAAAAAAD he's an ADULT]

Ah, there it is. I was wondering. Are you mad enough at me to not want to talk this over in person?

i'm not mad at you.

frustrated, yes, but mostly i'm angry with the two millennia old monarch who should fucking know better.

you can come over if you want to

Incoming, then.

[Knock knock knock. It's the kind of knock one makes if one has metal knuckles.]

[Ardyn opened the door looking tired and annoyed at just about all of existence. His room was an organized sort of chaos, with a variety of gacha junk and a table with chairs from the spaceport scattered around.]

So, first question: what the fuck.

...Which I suppose is less a question and more commentary on how utterly insane this situation has swiftly become.

[At least Junpei is a good Japanese son who has brought a tray of fresh tea in these trying times.]

I mean, if you want me to answer it like a question, I can take a shot at it. Here, though.

[He finds room for the tray on the table and offers Ardyn a cup.]

I made the tea. And the cups are from the Armiger.

You don't have to specify. I know you would have made it yourself if you brought it here.

[Sure enough, he dropped into a chair and took a drink without hesitating.]

What the hell happened? You aren't hurt, right?

[He sits and lifts his hands.]

I'm fine, I promise. I knew you and Yuuri would worry, so I swear, all I did was watch and stay out of the way.

[Still, Junpei lowers his gaze and taps one finger absently on the table.]

He asked, and I decided to go. No real 'talking me into it' necessary.

That's a surprising amount of self-preservation from you, but I do appreciate it.

[It almost came out as a joke, but fell flat into actual sincerity by the last half.]

...Why did he ask you? I don't quite understand that part.

Well, I can't speak to what he was thinking exactly, I can only tell you what he told me. He said... he wanted someone from your group to witness what he was doing. So that there'd be more evidence he was working on everything he claims than his own memory--even though I told him I wasn't going to bring back a shiny report card to you or anything, or try to tell you to forgive him. He was kind of vague about it, I don't think he had it figured out exactly; he just wanted someone there.

For me, hearing he was going to do something that drastic to himself... for you, essentially... I really did want to keep an eye on that process, in case it went wrong. So I could warn you if it looked like he was going to turn on you. I'd say it was a forty-five-forty-five split between that and curiosity.

...He's so godsdamned dramatic. And yes, I know I'm not one to talk.

[Ardyn sighed heavily, raking a hand through his hair.]

I'm not happy about it by any means, but I can at least understand whatever logic there is to understand there.

Yeah, I gave up expecting logic from you dungeons and dragons people at least a year ago.

[Junpei sips his own tea, then reaches over to bump Ardyn's arm with his knuckles.]

You going to be okay, Dad?

When am I ever okay?

[That, at least, was a little closer to sounding like a joke.]

I don't know--hell, we've already had a couple shouting matches. It's likely to calm down eventually, though I certainly don't know when.

Edited 2018-05-14 19:38 (UTC)