week 5, tuesday

[vigilantics]

[ sometime in the evening, steph is going to track belph down to drag him somewhere.

the lounge. she's dragging him to the lounge. ]

Let's have a drink, my friend.

Comments

[axilium]

[he's quiet for a moment, before his eyes flit elsewhere.]

I envied you, you know—as ridiculous as it sounds. Your family was a villain, and yet you turned out differently.

[vigilantics]

It's not that ridiculous.

[ hikage said something similar to her. ]

[axilium]

... Heh. Maybe.

[he just smiles sadly.]

In the end, though, I wasn't strong enough to do the same.

[vigilantics]

Um, who was it? You mentioned your dad before...

tw that i meant to throw up earlier: suicide

[axilium]

Oh, my dad's dead. He killed himself when I was a kid.

[vigilantics]

[ a pause. ]

Sorry. [ she's not sure what she's apologizing for, so she shakes her head. ] Then-- who?

[axilium]

It's fine. I don't really remember him, anyway.

My uncle. He pretty much raised me.

[vigilantics]

...

What was he like?

[axilium]

... Well, I used to think he was the greatest person in the world until I learned that my family had been screwing over the world for generations and he was A-OK with that.

[vigilantics]

[ she frowns. ]

What were they doing?

[ she knows his world is kind of ruined horribly but. ]

[axilium]

Come up with a new energy resource when humanity had run out of everything else—and conveniently neglect to mention that it was poisoning the earth.

After all, why would it matter to them? If the world was ruined, they could just rebuild it to their liking.

[vigilantics]

Well, that's shit.

[ she probably could have replied in a more eloquent manner. ]

What about... you?

[axilium]

[...]

I've accepted my place.

[though there's an odd note in his voice that suggests it's... complicated.]

[vigilantics]

And... what does that mean?

[ she's biting her lower lip, and has to take another sip of her drink to get herself to stop. ]

[axilium]

[...

he smiles grimly. all things considered, he's still rather calm.]

It means I betrayed my friends, wrecked everything that I actually cared about in my life, and pretty much agreed to sell my soul to him. It means I gave up, Steph.

[vigilantics]

[ there's a pause before she carefully sets her glass on the ground. she'll actually reach over to grab belph's as well, stealing his drink from him to put it next to hers.

once that's out of the way, stephanie basically launches herself at him (as much as any seriously injured person can, anyway), wrapping her arms around him. ]

You idiot.

[axilium]

[he freezes—he wasn't expecting the hug. ... but he doesn't fight it.]

... Yeah, I am. I've known that for a long time now.

[vigilantics]

What about now?

... do you still give up?

[axilium]

...

To be honest, if you weren't my partner, I don't think I would've bothered with trying to save everyone here.

[vigilantics]

I could strangle you.

[ her grip on him tightens slightly, but no, it's still just a hug. ]

... I think that still means something though. You're still trying.

[axilium]

[dryly,]

Yeah, I get that a lot.

[...]

I'm really tired, Steph.

[vigilantics]

You're not here alone, Belph. I really, really mean it when I say I'm here for you.

[ she loosens her hold enough so that she can back away and look at his face. ]

I know that I don't really understand it all, but you're important to me. You don't have to always smile when you don't want to.

[axilium]

[that's what terrifies him. he already pushed away the last person who might've been there for him—the impulse to do the same here is strong.]

I think I'd probably go insane if I didn't.

[vigilantics]

[ well, that's an unhealthy coping mechanism. ]

... okay. But, you know, if there's something upsetting you then you don't have to lie and say you're fine to me. Just say you don't want to talk about it.

[axilium]

[belph has, like, one healthy coping mechanism amidst a variety of unhealthy ones.]

Not much of a difference between the two.