magicalesbian | 7TH ☄ s h o o t i n g s t a r ☄ v o i c e

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7TH ☄ s h o o t i n g s t a r ☄ v o i c e

My fellow Lucetizens! [She still thinks it's funny okay.] I'm sure it's been on everyone's minds since that last announcement, but just what kind of weaknesses do you think we're going to have to face? I mean, most of us have experience with some pretty terrible shifts back in that bad-end timeline, so I think we know what kind of things can be thrown at us. But how many people here can say they really understand their own weaknesses?

So I got to thinking! We all have a responsibility here to help those who want to go back home, right? So we should take this chance to work together and figure out our weaknesses together! I mean, I don't think it's very reasonable to expect all of us to just overcome our problems by ourselves in a few weeks. That's crazy, right? But if we all know what everyone else might expect, then we can work together to help support each other!

Like, say some guy is like super tormented by an evil slime monster in his past that killed his beloved pet hamster, Toodles. But on the other hand, we've got a guy who's a world-renown slime monster slayer! If those two worked together, then maybe Mr. Slimophobia can get some support in overcoming his fear of slime monsters! Or, you know, he'll at least know to stick by Mr. Slime-killer when the time comes so he'll have someone to help bail him out of trouble. [Flawless logic.]

So! Here's what we should do. We'll get everyone together and just... talk things out! Just drop your name here, and everyone who knows you will chime in with what they think your biggest weakness is! Then, other people can see that and offer help or support. Of course, I know a lot of people might not want to risk hurting their friends feelings by listing off their faults, so just go ahead and cover up the camera if you wanna stay anonymous.

[There's no way this can end badly, nope.]

And don't be scared to put yourself out there! Don't forget, this is for everyone's benefit, so it's totally a judgement-free zone!

If you don't put your name down, then... well, I guess that's probably your big weakness then, huh.

((ooc: It's an IC honesty meme, guys!! Feel free to threadjack to your heart's content. For any anonymous comments, you can put ANONYMOUS in the subject so people still know OOCly which character is saying what. If your character wouldn't post to this themselves but you still want to participate, you can handwave/ask another player for someone else to post their name for them.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Because I wanted us to start moving east!!

Score you're such a kid about this! You wanted us to follow your directions, you wanted us to look it up ourselves, what did you even want?!

To go to Belkend, obviously!

Well I think we can count an inability to admit when you were wrong among your weaknesses too.

[..............]

Shut up.

[.....progress.]

All right, that's enough of me ragging on you. Go on; what're my weaknesses?

You're a hypocrite.

[THANK GOD FOR THAT TOPIC SHIFT. Also there is literally zero hesitation in his reply.]

[GHHK. Should've known Asch would be looking for blood.]

Okay, I...appreciate the honesty. How so?

[You did just spend five minutes riling him up, Guy. And this is the end of the world- shouldn't they be treating this seriously?

Though now he's unsure whether or not he should be regretting it. He's not too keen on starting an actual fight.]

...You... expect things from other people that you refuse to offer from yourself.

[....nnnn...]

For example, you won't admit when you're wrong, either. So there's that.

[Guy's quiet for a while, arms all tight and folded before he sighs and looks away. This is the end. It looks like both Luke and Asch want to go back. ...which Guy might have to sabotage, but no matter how this goes he's probably going to lose them both. He needs to try and get along with them while he can.]

You probably have a point. I know I've got...some behaviors I'm not really aware of. Sometimes.

Maybe-

[-maybe everyone does. That's the point of this, isn't it? So they can escape this place? Even if escaping means... what it means for him and Luke?

Which. Which of course Guy wouldn't help with. Guy wouldn't want to lose Luke. Or him. Maybe. Possibly? Is that what's happening here?

...Yeah, he's... kind of regretting this. They're already on shaky terms, and Asch hasn't given Guy much of a chance since they both returned to this place. He's still kind of in shock that Guy is even bothering with him again.

But for them to be talking, he... doesn't want to ruin it yet. Not until he decides whether or not to try again.]

...It was stupid to make this public.

[Hard enough to get them talking with people they give a damn about. Openly? In front of everyone? Forget it.]

Do you wanna meet somewhere? [Guy doesn't even bother hiding the hopefulness in his voice.] I won't- I'm going to be careful. I'm never careful when I talk to you, I know, but...

[This is kind of it. That feeling of "It'll be over soon" is pressing down on everybody. Asch must feel it too.]

I'm not a child, you shouldn't have to be.

["Shouldn't" being the key word there, not that he'll admit it. He's going to have to learn how to keep his temper better in check very quickly, or this will all blow up in their faces. The fact remains, out of everyone here they might be the best suited to sort out their flaws.

They've seen the worst of one another, after all.]

Where?

We can meet at the bar, go somewhere else from there. [Probably just out in the woods or by the river, somewhere secluded. It'll be harder to justify walking out of the conversation that way.]

I'll meet you there, then.

[Now. Because if they wait they'll find excuses; he's already got a dozen or so springing to mind to not show up, and all that's averting them is the fact that he refuses to be a coward.]

[Guy's already at Good Spirits; he fell back into tending the bar very easily, and a lot of his work there is mechanical. It leaves his mind open to think about what he's going to do about this.

He can't let Asch and Luke go back. That much is clear. But how he's going to stop them, that's the tricky part. He's so lost in thought he doesn't hear the door chime, even in the emptiness of the afternoon and he glances up to see Asch.

He scrapes the inside of his lip with his teeth, lets his coworker know he'll be out for a while and unties the apron he's taken to wearing since he started adding a few meals to the menu. As an afterthought, he snags a bottle of Kimlascan rum as he circles around the bar and heads wordlessly for the door with Asch.]

[Since they weren't staying, Asch waits by the door; thankfully Guy isn't long. He can't tell if that's because Guy's eager to get this over with, or he feels the same about avoiding pointless delays as Asch himself- they're both pretty good at avoiding things they'd rather not discuss. Or think about, for that matter.

His gaze drifts briefly to the alcohol Guy carries with him, but he doesn't comment. It's probably going to end up a mistake - they're not great at this on the good days, and alcohol is unlikely to help - but who knows what kind of mood they'll be in after the fact. Maybe it'll help.

Shrugging it off, he heads down the road, aiming north.]

I know a place.

[Guy makes a gesture for Asch to lead the way. It's a quiet walk, which he was expecting, and it gives him time to really, really think about this. Every time they've tried to talk, they've ended up fighting and Guy knows it's because he lets himself get too flippant. Asch is so serious; he treats things with so much gravity, it's probably insulting when Guy doesn't do the same. Does Asch think that it's not as important to Guy because of that?

Asch's hair is longer than Guy remembers and it keeps twisting in the wind. He'll have tangles later, and Guy remembers when they were still together how he'd brush it for hours, sometimes braid it on the windier days to keep it from getting too knotted. He wonders who brushes it for him now. Maybe Stella, and that thought doesn't make Guy nearly as jealous as he thought it would. Or...at all.

It seems like they were together just months ago, but then they'd been fighting and then he disappeared, and when he came back everything was different. Asch was blind, there was a tension between him and both Fabres, and it had been- strange. It had been strange.]

[Asch is pensive as he walks, trying not to think too hard about what they're doing. It shouldn't be so difficult, just... talking to someone. It shouldn't fill him with such conflict and unease. But so much has changed since the last time they were comfortable enough with one another to make such an effort, and knowing that Guy doesn't remember any of it just makes it harder. It's not like it's Guy's fault - he was from a different time then, a very different place, and the curse slot had brought out of him things that he'd long decided to bury. Asch is certain that he'd have done a lot worse if he'd been struck by it- he'd have started with Luke and left a trail of bodies across half of Auldrant. If their goals hadn't been so aligned (and if he likely would have targeted a few of the God-Generals on the way) Sync probably would have enjoyed using the curse slot on him. Guy had just been the unlucky victim of spite and convenience.

But it's hard to forget. It's hard to just brush away those memories- the look of pure, unfiltered hatred in Guy's eyes, the strength he threw into the swing that nearly cleaved Asch in two, the way he carelessly shoved his dying body aside to finish off Luke. The way he hadn't particularly cared, afterwards. Hadn't even apologized. Had asked him why he saved Luke.

Had just showed up and uprooted Asch's life and the oh-so-fragile peace he'd managed to find for himself here after losing everything, shoved him around and stalked him and hated hated hated and tried to stop Luke from caring about him, Luke, who was one of the few who did, and had the gall to ask him why.

Had asked, straight-faced, if Asch hated him.

So it's hard to forget. With his heart pounding, with Guy walking behind him, armed, with the scar gently throbbing with the faintest memories of blood and death and a handful of people who actually cried over the body of someone like Asch the Bloody. With Guy not knowing what happened, and Asch wanting to never, ever tell him.

He has no idea how he's going to do this, but somehow he keeps himself moving, walking steady and unfaltering until he reaches his destination- the cherry tree grove, close enough to town for convenience but far enough that it feels secluded enough for a discussion that neither of them want to have.]

[Guy recognizes the grove as that place that white wolf had always hung around, the one Asch had inexplicably bonded with. The one that sometimes just walked right into their house and waited for him to feed her. It's a nice place; a beautiful place even, the trees healthy and strong and lush, though the branches are mostly bare and the grass is still cold and damp in places. A few makeshift stone benches have since been added and Guy brushes off one of them before sitting down and resting the bottle on the stone next to his hip. He doesn't move to open it.

Leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, Guy picks at the fingertips of his gloves before looking up at Asch, who already seems tense. The set of his shoulders is tight, the lines on his face deep.] Hey. ...do you want me to start?

[Start with his own flaws, or Asch's? He's not sure which is worse. Or which will be more difficult. There's room on the bench, but he doesn't sit, too tense to relax like that. He doubts either of them would be comfortable with that, anyway. Instead he leans against the nearest tree, his eyes focused forward as if avoiding Guy's scrutiny will help somehow, and crosses his arms.

So. His flaws, or Guy's. Honestly, he doesn't care. He just has no idea how to begin.]

...Yeah.

[Guy takes a deep breath.]

I was thinking about this, since our last...talk. [Fight.] And on the way here, too. I think sometimes I tend to- to downplay things. Or dismiss them, or turn the conversation onto the other person- anyway. I do that with things that...make me uncomfortable to talk about. [He doesn't look up at Asch either, eyes fixed on the bench across from him.] Is that what you meant when you said I expect things from people that I'm not willing to give myself?

[Guy, then.

Still not sure if it's more difficult than the alternative. Dammit.

Asch considers his words carefully; he's never been a good speaker, and he's not fool enough to think that poking at Guy's flaws is any less likely to result in a fight than his own. Considering their history, they can probably fight about anything.]

For me, it's been a long time since then. But I haven't forgotten how... unfair it felt, sometimes. We fought over the most stupid things... at least, it seemed stupid until the truth started coming out.

[He inhales, then exhales slowly, eyes closing as he seeks out the words he needs for this. He's good at being blunt, good at criticizing people. He's lousy at turning those criticisms into something more constructive, something halfway usable.]

You're used to being the dependable one, the servant, the one who's always smiling. You want people to open up to you about their problems so you can help, because helping is what you're all about. But I'm guessing you think you'd be a lot less useful to people if they knew you're just as screwed up as the rest of us.

[Maybe it's the way that it's so obvious Asch is trying -trying real hard- to find the correct words that softens that "just as screwed up as the rest of us" blow. Or maybe Guy's distance far enough from it. Maybe- ahhhh, doesn't matter.

He bows his head and chuckles, pinching at the bridge of his nose.] You think an awful lot of me, if you think that's why. Helping people. [He's a lot more selfish than that.] Maybe that's your weakness, you always let me get away with so much. [It's supposed to be a joke but then something rings a little too true, and Guy makes a note to examine it later.]

...I don't know if I should talk to you about this. It's about the manor. [Back when killing Asch -Luke, then- was all Guy could think about. This might hurt him even more.]

[The manor. Back then. When he'd been so blissfully ignorant of everything- sheltered as he was, the problems of the rest of the world were so far away, little more than history books and theories and stories, really. He studied and he trained and he loved his country, and everyone around him was there to support him or, in his father's case, give him a goal to which he would aspire.

And then Van took it all away. Not just his life or his family or the future he'd been working towards- he had to take away that ignorance, as well. Sharing the Score, how he was meant to die. Sharing the darkness of the world and how terrible both countries could be, sacrificing their people for victory's sake.

And sharing the fact that Guy's friendship, all of their time spent together, had been nothing but a lie.

He's thought a lot about that time since then. Moreso now that in at least one universe, Guy's gotten his revenge.]

...Whatever you tell me wouldn't be worse than what I've already imagined myself.

[He's become a firsthand witness of that hatred. He's seen that oh-so secret anger rise to life in Guy's eyes. Nothing could be worse.]

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