Kratos Aurion (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
simulsimul) wrote2016-11-02 07:40 pm
simulsimul) wrote2016-11-02 07:40 pm
a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance
canon
breached
confessed
dadly
future
grigori
mercenary
MEover
origin
reversal
titans
scenario list
canon: Kratos needs to stop running off
confessed: wing reflex
confessed: actual wingpull
confessed: turning Renegade
confessed: son meets father
dadliness: confrontation
dadliness: awakening
dadliness: illness
dadliness: a fundamental lack of understanding on the word 'abducted'
dadliness: updating parameters
dadliness: assassination assignation
mercenary: hiding in the library
mercenary: aftermath of librarian saviour
reversal: oracle destroyed
titans: storming the tower
titans: safety in the canyon
titans: night horrors
canon
- combo of Kratos and Zelos ending
- Zelos does the stupid thing, but not so far as his death, and is still the eighth member of the party to Derris-Kharlan.
scenarios
scenario one: Yuan tracks Kratos down at Dirk's.
breached
- canon right up until after Botta’s death
- no one uses Yuan’s name around Mithos so Mithos walks right into the Triet base with them
- cue an epic OH SHIT in which Yuan gets a lil bit beat up while covering the evacuation of the rest of the base
- until Kratos appears to intervene and have the Chosen group get Yuan out of there
- Mithos gets Kratos tho and he’s a bit mad cos, yanno, traitor and all
- time to be locked up and punished and need to be rescued
- kind of puts a crimp in the creation of the Eternal Ring plans
- mostly cos Mithos turns Kratos lifeless, with some armour to regulate his mana so he remains a seraph. can't have the seal becoming less powerful, yo
- it does mean he can only obey orders tho
- the first rescue fails miserably but at least no one dies and they know they need to reforge his key-crest
- the second rescue attempt (circumstances of canon-point under percolation) goes a little better, though Yuan almost gets killed by Kratos trying to attach the key-crest
- luckily that and the first telepathy in a while gets through and Kratos manages to break out a la Colette, and heal Yuan enough for Raine to get there
- after which, angreh father-son beatdown on Mithos.
scenarios
None yet.
confessed
- almost successful assassination lands Kratos as an injured stranger in Iselia (1-2 years pre-canon)
- recuperation leads to accidental-on-purpose 'holiday' in Iselia
- doubts result in a request for Dirk to make a key-crest like Kratos' own
- oracle room undergoes some stealth sabotage
- regeneration journey is slightly delayed, prompted by Genis and Lloyd being discovered at the ranch
- Triet is awkward. so very awkward. for the Renegades -- whose side is Kratos even on these days and why was he vanished for two years?
- initial overall journey similar to canon, save that Kratos is a bit less circumspect about advising Colette on how to cope with angel transformations
- there are more overt Dun Wanna Feelings
- then Luin, wherein things happen and the group is in town during the Desian attack. the others naturally want to fight but tis a mite difficult against an army and building-destroying magitech. luckily, angel on their side. unluckily, wingpulls in order to muster the power to cover the townspeoples' retreat
- questions and confessions ensue
- Colette rejects the key crest (for the moment) so there's still hopefully maybe ambiguity about Kratos's position re the last seal
- it wouldn't fit anyway, it's modelled for the hand like Kratos's is because he was a derp and did not specify otherwise, so Lloyd needs to make a thing to make it fit
- slow protective retreat toward Asgard.
scenarios
scenario one: Kratos confesses before Salvation; Raine wants to follow up.
scenario two: Raine's examination of an angel; and also Kratos realises how far he's put his foot in it.
scenario three: Kratos goes to taunt Yuan a little, and also ask for his help.
scenario four: in which Raine makes Kratos tell the children all the things, and Yuan takes too much amusement from it.
dadliness
- Kratos retires in Iselia under the name Irving to raise Lloyd after the death of his wife
- no exsphere. ageing occurs! so does a beard and a braid
- teaches Lloyd swordplay, but on the sly, to avoid the other villagers noticing. his daytime job is weaving
- Lloyd finds the box of their exspheres and wants details. after some prodding by Dirk, Kratos explains how exspheres are made and that one is Anna's life. Lloyd is too young yet, but when Lloyd comes of age (~15) Kratos lets him make his own decision re wearing it
- Lloyd chooses not to wear the exsphere
- Genis befriends Marble and Lloyd meets her, as in canon; this happens before the journey begins, with the fallout
- difference being that Colette is still in the village so they can't be too horrible, so they just demand Lloyd be turned over for a flogging
- Kratos stands in his stead because natch. luckily, they're only mooks and don't recognise the bearded weaver as anyone important
- gives Lloyd his guilt complex early tho
- the oracle happens much the same way except Botta doesn't quite recognise the weirdly familiar bearded swordsman
- he does when he's reporting to Yuan tho
'there was an exceptionally skilled human'
/brief physical description/
/did x other faintly recognizable thing/
and both he and Yuan are aware that Kratos has been awol for a while, so there's a moment of pure silence and dawning 'no, it couldn't be'
- but then obviously one of them has to go make sure
- cue an interruption just out of Triet.
scenarios
scenario one: Yuan feels the need to investigate; this results in Kratos injured and abducted.
scenario two: Yuan realises he can't kill Kratos with his own two hands; Kratos gets mothered.
scenario three: Kratos gets sick on the heels of his recovery. Yuan mothers him some more. Botta disapproves.
scenario four: Kratos recovers and makes an escape attempt. Sort-of.
scenario five: Kratos recovers more and talks to Botta, when not needling Yuan about his lack of preparedness.
scenario six: Sheena's contract takes a slight shift into undercover instead of assassination work.
future
- Aselia is Earth ~10,000 years in the past
- all is peachy-keen except the tree is now underground and the elvens/half-elves/some humans are in hiding in the centre of the planet, hidden thanks to the summon spirits
- Colette is working with humanitarian aid in various impoverished nations
- Zelos is a diplomat in West Asia / Middle East trying to keep the peace
- Yuan is a crotchety lecturer at Cambridge who's also HUGE into environmentalism
- Lloyd and Kratos are having family time in space
- occasionally the trio on Earth meet reincarnations of people they used to know
- but rarely at the same time and almost never in a position where they meet
- but then they start meeting them
- lots of them
- all in the same span of years
- they're starting to think something's hinky
- until the space-elves attack
- and then they know something is hinky.
scenarios
None yet.
grigori
- at some point significantly before canon, Kratos actually calls it quits
- the Church's institution calls him a fallen angel of vengeance
- really he's just going around trying to help people and avoiding being taken back to Cruxis
- assigns himself to the Chosen parties whenever he can, up to Colette
- ????? idk some kind of profit somewhere
scenarios
None yet.
mercenary
- when Yuan visits Kratos at the beach when Lloyd is 3 months old, he does not manage to escape before Anna and Lloyd return
- accidental attachment to this kidlet who likes pulling his hair
- three years later, Yuan can't stand to hold back while Kratos fights Kvar, so he throws caution to the wind to help
- Anna is still killed but they rescue Lloyd and Noishe and both are branded as traitors
- Lloyd is raised as a Renegade with Dad, Uncle Yuan and the extremely reticent Uncle Botta (how dare)
- meanwhile in Tethe'alla Yuan infiltrates the castle as the library archivist
- stays out of sight, mostly, but has a good ear around the politics thanks to recruiting Princess Hilda
- also happens to stumble on Zelos hiding in the library right after his mother's death
- look he's got a 'nephew' he can't just do nothing (even if all he meant was to recommend a book)
- unwittingly accidentally 'adopts' the Tethe'allan Chosen by virtue of being the only one who doesn't treat him like the Chosen
- sometimes Kratos brings Lloyd to visit and basically they're all separate pairs of exasperated bros
- by canon Lloyd and Kratos are wandering mercenaries, helping people on the sly while gathering intel to send back to the Renegades
- Yuan and Zelos are actively building resistance to the Church using inside knowledge
- the ninja are all Renegades
- Colette is escorted by Raine and by the priests
- yes the 'chain up the Chosen and drag her to every seal if necessary' priests
- she meets Lloyd randomly in Triet but Lloyd doesn't know her as the Chosen. they're a bit out of touch on the Journey of Regen timeline
- stuff happens and they keep missing each other up until Palmacosta, which is a warzone between the Desians (and Dorr as their figurehead) and the Renegades (with Neil as their leader)
- Colette wants to help; priests say no
- out come the chains
- Raine objects, but she has no exsphere so what can she do
- btw Genis got caught in the Iselian ranch and tossed in as a traitor to be made a host
- he gets sent to the Palmacosta ranch
- right after Neil manages to take the city, after Colette and Raine leave it, Botta takes the Palmacosta ranch and rescues Genis, among others
- Genis becomes his little shadow and is much preferable to Lloyd, in Botta's opinion
- Lloyd and Kratos are still trying to catch up to Colette to rescue her when they drop by
- Genis hears what they're trying to do and insists on coming along.
scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan accidentally adopts a Chosen instead of a book from a library.
scenario two: in which Yuan is accidentally-deliberately adopted by the Meltokio Castle Knights.
MEover
- Mass Effect crossover someplace in the realm of 15,000 years after TOS canon
- except started before then, cos elves are really from Feros, planet of the cranky telepathic plant
- got decimated by the protheans trying to assimilate them into their empire
- elves objected, got killed a lot, fled Feros and got stuck in Aselia's orbit
- kinda forgot a few things but planted a seed from the Ferosian mother plant on Aselia
- Origin hasn't forgotten tho, kinda has a grudge against grumblegrumbleprotheansgrumble
- the entirety of TOS happened, and then some
- Kratos, Yuan, Lloyd, Colette and Zelos are the only ones left, but tis okay, they have each other
- somethingsomething natural space disaster, Aselia is destroyed but they manage to move Yggdrasill onto Derris-Kharlan and do a quarian by becoming a roaming ship
- mana is a variant of eezo lbr
- Derris-Kharlan's too big to use the mass relays, but c'mon it generates its own mass effect field so they develop tech to do hops on their own
- they're in no hurry tho, i mean lbr primarily angelic, elf and half-elf population
- so they're just bumming around their local clusters doing thorough investigations on all the things
- so much eezo on their ship
- so much
- suddenly the Normandy running from a reapers comes along to hide behind them
- reapers start shooting
- everyone on Derris-Kharlan objects
- JUDGEMENT IN SPACE
- so much profit and judging of reapers.
scenarios
None yet.
origin
- Kratos tells Lloyd the dad thing in Triet
- dad and son feelings ensue
- they culminate at the Tower of Salvation in Kratos stabbing Yggdrasill in the back
- unfortunately he does not quite die but impales Kratos against a wall and goes berserk on the Chosen party to the point of Yuan stepping in to help
- that is, by threatening to stab Kratos in the back while he's vulnerable (with Kratos's permission)
- Yggdrasill calls his bluff and fails, and Yuan does the thing
- while Yggdrasill is distracted the Chosen's group nail him but good and he retreats
- luckily while heart-stabbing happened, Kratos's cruxis crystal is still intact, and between Raine's healing and Yuan's mana transfusion he survives long enough to be taken to the Triet base and a refresher
- stuff happens in some fashion or other up until opening Origin's seal
- as it turns out, the mana tranfusion has fused the lock, so to speak, and Kratos can't unlock the seal even voluntarily
- only way to get Origin out at this point is to let him fuse with Kratos, so Kratos becomes Origin
- stipulation of this: Kratos refuses to let go of his humanity
- luckily Yuan already has a literal bond with him thanks to the mana transfusion, so with him as his summoner Kratos can keep his humanity, and only use Origin's powers when Yuan summons them
- commitment like woah for a literal eternity
- but hey, they messed up but good and it's the only way they can reunite the worlds.
scenarios
none yet.
reversal
~ 2000 years in, Kratos and Yuan conspire to kill Mithos and succeed, sorta
- he's stuck inside his exsphere, possessing people
- but he manages to survive and while Kratos and Yuan claim Derris-Kharlan for their base, he takes most of the angels as 'fallen', as well as the Eternal Sword
- most of his bases are hidden behind dimensional slips created by the sword - Iselia included
- Origin refuses to trust either Kratos or Yuan with the job, anyhow, and they don't have a summoner
- instead they're forced to fight Cruxis, embroiling the worlds in an angelic war between Cruxis and the new organisation of Chayim
- the Chosen bloodlines are more important to Cruxis than Chayim, but Mithos seals the seals so only the Chosen bloodline can flip the mana switch. Kratos and Yuan need someone to do that until they can reunite them, so the Journey remains an institution, just without compulsory death at the end
- there is angelification tho, if only so Chayim gets more soldiers and so the Chosen can defend themselves against Cruxis
- Kratos sends Anna and Lloyd to Iselia, because even though enemy territory, it's the safest place there is for them
- Anna get word to Kratos that the Desians are using Iselia as a long-term cruxis crystal cultivation location, and that the sword is held there
- her spy succeeds but is intercepted, and Mithos locks down the dimensional slip to prevent exit and access by angels for ~15 years
- Lloyd grows up in a town with a heavy half-elf population and believing he's training to help the good guys
- he has his own cruxis crystal as a host, but doesn't tell his mother due to the faith-based propaganda encouraging hosts not to bring it up or risk the powers not taking
- he wants to help though, so he steals a key-crest to ensure he can fight
- Yuan and Kratos plan to assault the town and shrine but Mithos uses the sword to interrupt travel between worlds, keeping Yuan in Tethe'alla and forcing Kratos to attack Iselia alone.
scenarios
scenario one: Iselia is attacked by Chayim to claim the sword, with the sword already gone
titans
- Yggdrasill captures Kratos before Kvar finds Anna and Lloyd, but after Kratos makes an Eternal Ring
- Yuan figures hell no and raises the Renegades to try and take Derris-Kharlan, rescue Kratos and solve the split-world problem
- the attack fails. a lot.
- Renegades are wiped out, Kratos is still in Cruxis's hands, but Yuan manages to escape with the Eternal Ring
- Cruxis follows him to Triet base, which gets destroyed and the few remaining Renegades scatter
- Botta is still around tho, helping out how he can
- mostly Yuan just goes searching for Lloyd and Anna
- doesn't manage to find them before Kvar does tho, and Kratos hears from Yggdrasill that they're dead
- this is slightly inaccurate, cos Lloyd still winds up rescued by Dirk in Iselia
- where Yuan eventually finds him, not knowing that he's 'supposed' to be dead
- so Yuan settles in Iselia for a bit to watch Lloyd and the Chosen
- cuts and dyes his hair, the whole shebang
- learns how to carpentry, invents a new use of magic
- winds up being Genis's role model just because scholar and magic-user and half-elf who can pass but also takes no shit from people
- is one of Colette's companions on the Journey when it starts
- he's been challenging their understanding of the Church's institution this whole time lbr
- Sheena is still a thing because the ninja have taken over the Tethe'allan base, which has survived, somewhat
- a grilling ensues
- sometime just after the Asgard Ranch Yuan does have to drop the bombshell
- about how the Journey is just a front, he and his bestie are angels, btw his bestie is Lloyd's dad
- how they're out to topple the institution of religion
- forget sacrificing Colette for the Regeneration, when they get to the seal they can do that without anyone dying
- and then move straight on to rescuing Kratos in Derris-Kharlan
- then they get to the Tower and realise Yggdrasill has Kratos under a Prometheusesque punishment a la 'impaled on the Eternal Sword to suffer the Seed's pain and watch the Chosen get murdered'
- luckily this does not happen, as they manage to rescue him and escape Yggdrasill instead, barely
- retreat to Botta's hiding-place in Asgard so Kratos can recover
- and also find out that Lloyd is actually alive
- the Chosen group goes around to make as many pacts as they can while in Sylvarant
- they get up to Aska when Yggdrasill sends his angels to attack Asgard
- cue Yuan and Kratos being unstoppable battle gods together
scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan leads the Chosen's party to the Tower of Salvation to dismantle all the traditions ever, and find Kratos waiting for them in serious need of a rescue.
scenario two: in which being in safety reveals that Kratos is not precisely unscathed, but he's doing his best.
scenario three: in which Kratos is emphatically not okay, but with Yuan's help, could be.
no subject
[Nike turns to Kratos, eyebrows raised pointedly.]
Why not?
[Kratos lowers his hand and keeps his head steady, and continues walking despite the shade of his cheeks.]
We've had this conversation.
How gorgeous does someone have to be for you to sleep with him?
I'm not interested in men.
Yes, and I thought you were just being picky.
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[...wait, is Nike saying Yuan is at the upper end of gorgeous? No. Yuan is definitely misunderstanding that phrase.]
Is all of Tethe'alla so obsessed?
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Why not? To my knowledge, there isn't anything wrong with him.
[She narrows her eyes at Kratos.]
There isn't anything wrong with --
Spirits, no.
[His cheeks are frustratingly red, and he doesn't quite look her in the eye. He's ... fairly sure there's nothing wrong with him. Nike gives him a few seconds more with her squint, and then looks back at Yuan.]
There's nothing obsessive about it. It's just a matter of good healthy living.
[Kratos sighs.]
The Sylvaranti don't have the same population management laws we do, Nike. Somehow I don't think their visions of good physical health includes the general concern for ensuring everyone is having sex.
Where's the fun in that?
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I'm-- not aware of anything wrong with your brother.
[Stiffly.]
I suppose you must then call it my own failing, for not being attracted to him?
[He's not entirely sure about this one, but... hm. He shakes his head.]
The clans get large enough. Sylvarant doesn't have nearly your... fixation. Health involves eating well and maintaining strength, not reproducing per se.
[Reproduction is barely safer than sex, as a topic.]
no subject
[Nike's face is blank. Kratos shakes his head despairingly.]
When the crown pays people to bear children, it's difficult to convince anyone that sex with or without attraction may not be a necessary thing. Even when one can't reproduce.
[For whatever reason. Ask him how long he's had to put up with people asking him why he hasn't got a paramour, Yuan. Go on, ask. He should never have told Zelus he didn't have any first-hand experience the day he gave Zelos the talk about sex and reproduction and the laws therein.]
Keep this up, Kratos, and I might start to think you were born Sylvaranti, with or without the hair.
no subject
[Why is this a conversation they're having. Yuan's given up blushing only because there is only so much blood to go around his body.]
[He withholds the impulse to ask about 'can't reproduce.' That's not Yuan's business, and he honestly doesn't want to know these particular details. Even if there seems to be a slow creeping friendliness about this family.]
[That, too, is unsettling.]
[...and then a browraise.]
All children?
no subject
It isn't always an option. Why limit yourself?
[Thank spirits they're approaching the door. Kratos nods, however, in answer to Yuan's question.]
All children. Raising children is full-time employment. If one isn't hired by the family to do it, the parents are paid by the crown. There's no other viable way to maintain population and logistical support.
[Of course, most half-elves either are low-social workers or footsoldiers. Even still.]
no subject
[And Yuan isn't even sure he's ever been attracted to anyone. He would agree with Kratos's mental assessment if he could hear it; thank the spirits they're nearly out of this conversation.]
[It's... oddly gratifying to know that there are at least some contexts in which half-elven children are wanted.]
That's what a clan structure does.
[He'd thought that was... normal, seeing the Aurions. Hm.]
I was aware subsistence bloodlines were somewhat different, but the way your family is seemed... normal, as far as I can tell. Do Tethe'allan families not usually involve such large groups?
no subject
Spirits, no.
[Nike's peals of laughter makes people glance over, and then away out of respect for the colours of her cloak. Kratos manages to hide most of the blush with his hair and the fact that it's still warm. Mercifully, they reach the next room; and Nike nods toward the other door.]
I'm going to take a dip in the pool. Take care, little brother.
[She claps a hand to the back of his neck to pull him into a hug and kiss his cheek, and take the opportunity to whisper in his ear:]
Be wary. He's not pleased about your half-elven commander.
[Then she pulls back and saunters through the other door, waving behind her.]
no subject
[Having Nike gone is rather like having been standing in one of Nidavellir's sharpest passages and then getting out of the wind; Yuan feels windswept, bemused and staggered, and it takes him a few moments to remember that he is less clothed than he would like to be, and also that Kratos is still there.]
[He gives Kratos a look which he hopes conveys how much help is necessary here.]
Is she... always this way?
no subject
[Resignedly, and much less concerned with being unclothed.]
To answer your question -- yes, families can become large, but after a certain point, parts of them are expected to be self-sufficient. Parallel bloodlines are frequently created through esteemed action, in which case the bloodline is less important than the name; thereafter, they draw their own income.
Would you like to give your hair some attention?
[Since they're here now; Kratos nods toward the seats and the oils being selected by the attendants in this room, warm and humid, but empty of pools.]
no subject
[Maybe that will explain why he's a bit confused.]
[...He'd thought they were almost free. Damn. But his hair does need the attention. Yuan hesitates, not entirely sure, but he can't just let it be like this, even if he'd like to be out of the baths. In a few moments he nods.]
Yes, I... need to.
no subject
[It's a sincere, almost wistful sort of nice. It had taken Kratos a while to realise that the ways the subsistence bloodlines worked weren't usual. He had no connection to his parents, and he never dared to wonder about what-ifs, but it still sounds nice.
[But that's not relevant now. Kratos takes Yuan across to a couple of empty seats and settles himself down. One of the attendants comes over promptly with a bow and a tray of oil bottles, asking which they'd like. Kratos picks something citris-scented, and then indicates Yuan.]
Choose one or two, and he'll pour a sample for your use. If you want, they'll wash your hair for you.
[Only attendants handled pouring the oils.]
no subject
I imagine it would be.
[Why did he bring it up.]
[Yuan peruses the oil bottles with a brittle sort of confidence, the sort that comes from pretending he knows what he's doing. The scent he settles on is lavender, since he can't discern any functional difference besides scent.]
I'd prefer to handle my own hair.
[A little belatedly, he settles to sit beside Kratos, like a wary cat.]
no subject
Well, maybe you'll get a chance to do more than 'imagine'.
[More of a chance than he would have in Sylvarant. The attendant brings back two bowls of oil, judiciously measured according to hair length and texture. Kratos accepts his with a nod and indicates they won't need the help; the attendant makes sure the bowls are filled, that towels are available, and then withdraws.]
I'm sure I don't need to give you instructions from here.
[Dryly sidelong.]
no subject
Unless that's your way of saying you want to touch my hair.
[Yuan can manage. He tests the feel of the oil first, rubbing his fingertips together thoughtfully.]
...that's something I can't see from here.
[Softly, an afterthought regarding getting a chance to do more than imagine having a family.]
Although your family seems... more of a clan than I would have expected.
no subject
[He's just saying. There's probably no end of people eyeballing it, for various reasons; not all of them bad. And he's not quite sure what to say, about Yuan not being able to see it; he shouldn't really be surprised. He just isn't sure how to counter it.
[but at that unexpected volunteering of information, Kratos tips his head.]
Is it? How so? ... My family isn't -- ordinary.
[He's not sure why he adds the last. It just ... seems like an appropriate disclaimer.]
no subject
[A careful assessment, eying Kratos sidelong to see how it'll be taken.]
You all-- look after each other. Everyone helps; it's all... together.
[He's flushing very slightly. This isn't making much sense, and he's sure he sounds ridiculous. For several moments he busies himself with his hair.]
They're... I imagine one wouldn't feel alone, that way.
no subject
I don't feel lonely when I'm home, no.
[It's a quiet agreement, followed by sidelong contemplation. Yuan doesn't have a clan, he said; which means he wouldn't know what it might be like to have even one which isn't ... the way he sees it.]
Family loyalty is ... important for us. Most families are more concerned for the bloodline.
[It had been strange to realise it. ... He knows why, also; but that's a thought he explicitly hasn't been considering, and the statement comes to close to acknowledging Something Wrong. His mouth compresses a little and he turns his head back so he can attend properly to his hair.
[His hair, at least, with his thickness and consistency, is an adequate reason for concentration.]
no subject
There's a certain amount of bloodline focus, in Sylvarant-- but it's only so that everyone knows who they are.
[Effectively. He understands the system, even if he feels outside of it.]
I'm not sure I understand what other value it has, beyond setting people apart from each other.
[Yuan shrugs uncomfortably. Keeps working the oils through his hair, till it settles into something gleaming and sleek and orderly.]
no subject
[This is very quiet, quiet enough that it will, perhaps, be obvious that Kratos is relying on half-elven hearing to avoid anyone else from eavesdropping. It's so quiet that there's a guilt in it, that it's aired at all.
[It's hard to see Kratos's face, to accompany the words. His eyes are closed and his head tilted so he can massage the oil into his head, with the result that it's hiding his expression. ... His hair is. Very thick. He unknots it patiently with his fingers as he goes, smoothing oil in until it's still unruly, but more by design than not.]
no subject
[The trouble with Yuan having had so much practice dealing with his hair is that some parts of it become automatic; he can do this by feel, the careful tidying and detangling and smoothing out. So he looks at Kratos, tries to get some sense of that expression in the shadows.]
[...it's hard to tell. He knows Kratos on the battlefield. That doesn't translate quite so well to this.]
Perhaps I'll learn something.
[Since he's here now. Perhaps it will be easier to learn through the lens of Kratos, or the reverse.]
How long need we stay here?
no subject
[Kratos stirs from his deep-thought and mindless massage of hair to glance toward Yuan, mostly in the sidelong of his eyes.]
We don't need to stay here for any reason, beyond the length of time we wish to attend to our hair. But we may leave shortly, if you're nearly done. I just need a little longer for mine.
[It's very thick, but not nearly as long as Yuan's, so perhaps it evens out.]
no subject
You were the one who brought us here in the first place. I've had sufficient surprise encounters for one day.
[But this is said quietly, like he's not sure he dares it be heard by anyone but Kratos. Yuan is still uncertain of his footing.]
And I believe I'm clean enough. My hair will be sufficient shortly.
[Not, perhaps, as thorough as he likes. Not what he'd be doing leisurely at home in his shower. But still: enough.]
no subject
[It's a confession, more than an explanation.]
People will expect you to use the bath-houses. And I've heard some Tethe'allans complaining that the ex-Sylvaranti smell, so I gather most of you haven't been aware of the custom. It was a needed introduction.
[He grimaces, pulling hands from hair, reaching for the water to rinse.]
But we were --- extraordinarily unlucky.
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