eight [action/voice]

[imatreenow]

[When there is far too much on his mind (like now, like always), Mithos finds that it is somewhat helpful to go on long walks about the village. He tends to stick to the outskirts, where people are sparser. Better yet, he occasionally slips into the forest itself, where people are practically nonexistent. (Go ahead, prove him egregiously wrong

Comments

[Private]

[seiriald]

What is it, Mithos? [Though she's happy to be contacted by him, she has no idea what he would want to ask her about.]

[Private]

[imatreenow]

...You’ve been hurt and betrayed many times before too...right? You know what it’s like to be stabbed in the back at every turn. So...you wouldn’t betray anyone, would you? You won’t betray me, will you? [He can’t quite keep the pleading note out of his voice; it’s faint, but it’s there. Exposing such weakness is not something he usually does so easily, but he needs to hear her answer.]

[Private]

[seiriald]

Mithos...! [She remembers those sensations so very well, so many of them continue to sting and tear at her just as vividly now, even if they happened years ago. If she didn't remember, she wouldn't despise Humans so much.]

... No matter what, I wouldn't betray anyone who I swear it to. If I did... breaking a promise to someone so important to me would never stop hurting, I don't know if I can live knowing I've done that... If I did that to you, Mithos...

[Private]

[imatreenow]

[Words and actions are two completely different things, known to contradict each other, but...he can hear her earnestness. He wants to believe that it is okay to trust her.]

I'm...important to you?

[Private]

[seiriald]

Yes, Mithos... [She can't help smiling a little, because it's very true. She hadn't met anyone like Mithos in all her years, who had similar opinions as she, and at the same time... Had the blood of those he hated running through him, just like her.]

Back home, wherever I've been... people knew how I felt about Humans, and I was 'tolerated'... but you're the first person... [Who understands.]

[Private]

[imatreenow]

[He knows what she means without having to hear the end of the sentence.] You're the only person I've met who truly understands.

[A pause, like peering down over the edge of the cliff before jumping. For once, there aren't sharp rocks at the bottom.] ...I believe you, too. When you say you won't betray me. ["Trust" is a word that leaves a bad taste in his mouth, but his words carry the same implication.]

[Private]

[seiriald]

[Even though she couldn't lie, it was still relieving to hear that Mithos believed her. If she's not already at the bottom of the cliff waiting to catch him, then she's taking the jump with him.]

Thank you, Mithos... That means a lot to me.

[Private]

[imatreenow]

[He's still surprised by how quickly he came to care about her and even trust her. She perhaps even ranks among the strangest things to happen to him since arriving. It's a good kind of strange. And it means a lot to him, too, but it seems weird to say so. Instead--]

How's your arm now? It was still injured the last time I saw you.

[Private]

[seiriald]

My arm is much better despite the experiment. I should be able to remove the cast by next week. [The fact that he was concerned made her feel warm inside, echoing his surprise in how much she's come to care for him.]

What about you? Are you well?

[Private]

[imatreenow]

Ah...that's good. [Casual conversation, as between friends, is still strange for him, and this is probably fairly apparent. It will take some time.]

I'm fine. [Physically, anyway, which is what he assumes she means.] I had a run-in with a filthy traitor during the shift, but he managed nothing. [All the previous gentleness in his voice is gone, hardened as soon as he mentions Yuan. So much for casual conversation. Way to go, Mithos.]

[Private]

[seiriald]

A run-in? [This is cause for concern, she knows that there's hostility toward those that dislike Humans, but that someone would come after Mithos for it? Not okay with her at all, casual talk can be saved for another time.]

... Who is this person?

[Private]

[imatreenow]

[It was a chance encounter, and Mithos is the one who initiated any sort of attack, but it's not as though he holds any objections to Kaori forming a wholly negative opinion of Yuan.]

Yuan, a former companion of mine. [How to explain succinctly...] After Martel died, I devoted everything I had to bringing her back to me. As I discovered much later, he was doing everything he could to impede her revival. He abandoned her.

[Private]

[seiriald]

... Is he still getting in your way? [She may be prevented from reunited with the people she's lost, but if there was a chance Mithos seeing Martel again, and someone is cruel enough to tear those hopes apart...]

[Private]

[imatreenow]

Always.

He even had the impudence to tell me that he feels no guilt for what he has done. It disgusts me. He was supposed to help me protect her wishes; he was supposed to love her. They were once engaged, he and my sister. Yet in the end, he turned his back on her like everyone else.

[Private]

[seiriald]

Engaged?! [Fastest way to get her to dislike Yuan. Not only is it a sensitive topic for her given what has happened in the past, but you never break a promise and turn your back like that back home. No one would allow it... You'd be killed for it. Her voice is so flat now, very flat...]

So... you have no other allies?

[Private]

[imatreenow]

....No, I have no one. My former companions betrayed me, and all my allies failed me.