after the storm

[apathycary]

Characters: Edel and Alexander
Where & When: Gilded Castle
Rating & Why: Alexander-Rated, Edel Approved
Summary: Patching wounds after a fight.

Comments

[mongoosegrin]

Sleep had its appeal. Back home, some swore by it, and it oftentimes seemed as though the bloodier the hunt, the longer hunters took to their rooms upon return. Searching for that perfect, dreamless sleep, no doubt. Father scoffed them for such behavior; it was just another form of running. Cowardly. Even Edel called him on it. Disgusting. It only made rest harder to come by.

If Splendor's awful, overheated weather had anything going for it, it was that lack of thunder. That would've just been the icing on the cake. More thunderous pounding, hitting, yelling...He could hear himself over and over, and that mug breaking. The mug hadn't even been part of the problem, but it was a loud enough sound to accent what he'd done. And though he had spent a good few hours spinning the situation, shifting blame and concocting excuses, it all dissolved to the same bitter thought at the end.

Just like Father.He hadn't been paying much attention outside of himself, and the door was thick. Even so, the muted voice behind it sliced the silence and

[apathycary]

The lack of an answer did not stop Edel. If he had learned anything from those close to him, it was that their stubbornness often was the only thing that kept them alive. He could not help but frown at the door, but Edel's thoughts were only on trying to do his best to... in one way or another, lighten the situation.

"Cow-meat!" Edel's voice cracked slightly as he blurted these words out. Saying beef now seemed like it would be inappropriate. Not that he was... dumbing down his words for Alexander or anything, no! He just... you know, wanted to make sure Alexander knew what was in store.

And yet, the silence was not very welcoming.

"There's a bit of bread and a few vegetables, it's very hearty! I... I think you'll like it!" He pauses, "You haven't eaten in a while, so..."

So please open the door, Edel thought. He must sound like a sick, sad puppy. How pathetic.

[mongoosegrin]

Well, he asked to be killed, one wry voice thought, souring him further. Maybe he liked being yelled at. Which was weird to Alex, but then...what wasn't weird to Alex in Splendor? Comparatively, would a boy who simply accepted undue punishment keep doggedly coming back for more be that much stranger than the things he'd seen? Felt? It could very well have been the influence of that awful magic he displayed twice before, proving him right all along. No magic is good, no matter what.

He hadn't eaten much, that was true. But he had no appetite for it. The well-minded appeals couldn't charm his stomach into wanting food -- and the company it came with.

I thought he was a new Adam, but he's changed into meek Regina. Leading him to wonder how long it would be until his influence split this fresh mind. The comparisons were not wholly truthful, but what likenesses he did see failed to comfort anymore; it was no longer amusing. He was not having fun

[apathycary]

Human emotions were complicated and, if sometimes, stupid in outwardly appearance. Edel didn't enjoy being yelled at, far from it. After the initial scare, nothing was left for Edel other than a feeling of shame and sadness. He knew not how to handle others, it wasn't his job. It wasn't his... prerogative. But here he was in Splendor, on his own, with no one to help him.

No one at all.
It was his fault. This would be much easier if he understood the minds of others better, if he at least made the attempt. Edel's foolish, unsociable behavior only brought him further down. He was hard working and studious, but when it came to handling others... the thought processes ended there and the emotions took over

[mongoosegrin]

He could smell it then, permeating the room rather quickly and contending with that notion of poor appetite, but he did not look. Thick...a spice, cow...beef. He knew it without looking. But so what if it smelled more appetizing than the slop Aunt Vera made?

His gaze only shifted at the sound of his own name, eyes darting over while he stayed motionless. Half his face was shielded by his knees; if there was a smirk or some semblance of the mask, it did not reach his eyes. He stared flatly and said nothing, thinking why. No obligations, no rules, no ultimatums...

The stare and its silence lingered on for a time before Alex shifted, cross-legged and straight-backed until a soft pop in his back sounded and he sagged again, turning his head to match the direction of his stare. As his mouth began to quirk on one side, his head shook slowly. So stupid.

"You are an idiot."

[apathycary]

There wasn't much he could say to compete against that, Edel knew. He narrowed his eyes to hide the embarrassment of being called an idiot to his face like that, but he couldn't hide the truth that came with those words. Perhaps it would have been best to leave the food out and walk away, taking small steps in his attempt to console a friendship- a very fragile and very rare friendship- that he had somehow cultivated here at Splendor.

"That's right," he steadied his voice to the best of his abilities which- really, were pretty darn awful. "Call it what you like, but perhaps that is the best way to describe my actions."

[mongoosegrin]

Alex studied him, one eye squinting as he did. His lip curled a little at the open acceptance. Not that accepting, he saw. But even so.

He was almost reluctant to ask, but he'd run out of feasible reasons. If the true readin was feasible at all.

"Edel," he prompted, unmoving. "At what point do you say...'enough is enough'?"

Was there one?

[apathycary]

He couldn't help but laugh then.
It escaped him without so much of a warning or a pause. Once Alexander had (genuinely, even!) asked him this question, the sound simply escaped his mouth.

"I have dealt with far worse in terms of friends," Edel confessed. He folded his arms and looked away, thinking of his own childhood at the hands of a boy who coveted his own grandiose and noble life. "Perhaps I am bad at choosing friends, but I do not honestly think that's the case. Certainly, what we learn from each other is more important than the words we use to describe one another."

Edel looked up at the ceiling then, his hand strummed against his arm as he gripped it tightly. He could only mutter, "A coward shouldn't fault someone else for being a coward, should they?"

[mongoosegrin]

Alex's mouth tightened at coward. Outrage bubbled up anew, threatening to spill out the first insult to come to mind, sensible or not, but he kept his mouth shut. He could have said I am no coward, but even that would not come to pass.

He was no liar.

But truth pleased him not, and so he grunted with malone, turning his head to the window, wearing a wry smirk.

[apathycary]

Edel sighed. He could only handle so much frustration at a time, "And yet, you are sometimes much more difficult to handle than this person. I honestly do not know how I have been able to stand both of you in my lifetime."

"Crude as you may be," Edel didn't even bother to hide his disdain now, "I have few people in my life. No, I do not choose who they are, they just become who they are. I have struggled to understand you, but I also..."

"For someone who speaks about listening so often, you do not do the same yourself, do you? You do not need to listen, correct? You have a job to do, a mission to complete, listening is not required."

[mongoosegrin]

He snorted, teeth flashing in a corner of his smirk as he shook his head. I am not a stupid human of yours, he screamed in his head. Of all the ridiculous creatures rampant in Splendor, he had no choice in friends? Absurd.

Challenging Edel's criticism, Alex turned and looked at him with a dry expression. I am listening now, he thought wryly. Shall you say on?

[apathycary]

He wasn't expecting him to comply, really. Edel clenched his fist now and unfolded his arms. As much as he wanted to tell him what he felt, it was really nothing he could put into words. He never had to put it into words.

He couldn't, Edel realized then.

"I... think of you as my friend," he finally spoke. There was nothing else he could say to the matter, no need for backstory or explanation. It mattered not if Edel was far too much of a coward to give Alexander words for him to understand where he's coming from. No, Edel himself knew not where he was coming from. He was completely useless at this communication bit.

So with that, he only speaks of the present.

"That's all."

[mongoosegrin]

That's all.

Little was learned. Alex knew no more the expectations or implications of friend than before. From what he had seen and experienced, it seemed no more than the function of family, but done willingly.

Crazy human boy.

Yet all this flavor of family seemed to expect was life, above it all. Life, rather than taking it as he had been groomed to. Which meant what? What was he supposed to do?

"What is it you want me to even do?" he puzzled aloud, hardly aware he'd done sup until after the fact. He squinted at Edel, half-smirking to save face. "As friend," he clarified.

[apathycary]

"I'm not like you," Edel quickly spoke, trying to get the words out now, "It is not because I am Human and you are Darkov. It isn't only because I am weak and you are not, although... that is really true. No, I have learned a lot about you and your workings and- perhaps, I truly am a monster to your like."

"But how you are and how you act to me isn't different," he scoffed now, "It isn't different from my world. People turn into chimera, our word for monsters if they do not control their magic. Do you understand? My mother is in the hospital because of this. I could likely become like this. Do I want to? Of course not. Who wants to be turned into a soulless sack of flesh, correct? A hungry, inhuman being with no future or heart..."

He trembles, his fist still clenched as he continues to blurt out, "Friends, what little I have - human or not, help in controlling this process. It isn't as if I wanted to become friends with you, I knew nothing of you. Now, I know everything. Almost everything, isn't that right>? And here we are, acting

[mongoosegrin]

Alex blinked as his question was mowed over...and over, and over, and monster was aloud and in the air, clawing at his ears for attention. The smirk began to wash out, eyes narrowing, forehead wrinkling. The urgent and anxious knotting in his stomach that had come from the wish to understand days prior made a comeback, though the words did not belong to him. A reflex to danger.

I was always right, something in him thought amid it all. Magic, monsters...We were always right about this. Listen.

Listen.

An eyelid twitched; he fought the urge to look down and away. With his mouth pressed into a thin line, he kept his gaze fixed adamantly on the face contorting as it divulged things he did not want to know. Didn't Edel realize how hard he worked to ignore the magic in him? He already knew--

I am not a puppet for my family hit him like a sledgehammer, causing him to physically lean away to the wall, head turning. His reflex always kept the ear open to the source, to know when to dodge, but those were words. Blows without arms. He almost

[apathycary]

He bit his lip afterwards and probably his tongue to after that ordeal of a mess. Why was he expecting Alexander to understand? Perhaps he was giving his friend a little too much credit. Before beginning his own magic training, Edel was far more cold and serious, keeping his distance away from others in order to keep them from the harm he created in himself. Now, after the gentle teachings of his teacher, he wondered if perhaps this had all been a mistake. Opening up to others only ended in more pain and difficulty, didn't it? At the very least, if he were alone in his room, he wouldn't have had to deal with any of these issues. The murders, this man, or even the outside world