a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance

[simulsimul]

universe list
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 lightning and light can totally become a laserbeam amirite
- 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.

Comments

[conductingresistance]

[Leaning like this, it's easy to feel the tension rolling through Kratos. Yuan waits him out through it, staying solid and firm at Kratos's back, wishing--]

[There's no point in wishing. He can't fix this. He can help Kratos fix it enough to work. That's all.]

[Correct. You have enough sensitivity. Yuan sets his other hand behind him, as though to take his weight. It's not coincidence that puts it where Kratos can reach, though. Easy. Nothing I cast can hurt you right now, and your mana won't hurt you either. Breathe, and look again. Observe how your mana circulates. No need to rush it: it'll still be there.]

[It's gentle; this is Yuan taking care, trying to provide calm. He's better at it than he would have been fifteen years ago. He keeps his own pattern of mana up both as example and as his own exercise, tweaking the finest bits here and there.]

[simulsimul]

[Kratos takes another breath, making sure to let it out slowly. He feels the shift in Yuan's shoulders as his moves his hand, and after a moment follows suit, his hand landing entirely un-coincidentally on Yuan's. The mana of the 'glove' tingles, familiar.

[Yuan's never been gentle before. The fact he's putting in the effort now -- Kratos is quite aware of how much he'll never be able to repay.

[Another breath, and Kratos closes his eyes again. He doesn't reach inward, this time; he just sits, feeling Yuan's mana but not focussing on it; feeling his own. Even that puts a tightness in his gut, a discomfort in his mind which rings with the anticipation of pain or abandonment. Or both.

[Nothing happens. The seconds tick by and nothing happens, except for the little tweaks Yuan makes, reforging his armour with mana. The expectation doesn't fade, but it does loosen, a little, so that when Kratos gingerly stirs his mana around their joined hands, a tiny crackle of lightning arcs across their fingers.

[It isn't deliberate. It isn't mana pushed outward, not even close; it's just a reaction between their similar tastes caused by the movement of Kratos's mana against Yuan's. But at least it moves. It moves in ways unfamiliar, ways it oughtn't and which Kratos can't look closely enough to divine -- yet -- but it moves.]

[conductingresistance]

[Patience. Yuan occupies himself with his own exercises as Kratos works through -- whatever it is he's working through. The basics are a good, solid review, anyway, for teaching as much as for his own peace and control.]

[And when static sparks Yuan smiles, soft and genuine, where no one at all will see it.]

[There. Start there. He taps one finger in reinforcement, and focuses his mana in the pattern to that area, flowing just a hair stronger there, as though encouraging Kratos's. Perhaps it will simply spark more, and remind Kratos there's nothing to fear from it; perhaps Kratos will be able to match his levels with the example so close.]

[It isn't much. But it is a reassurance, and one Yuan can't help but be glad for.]

[simulsimul]

[Sparks arc and the tingle heightens, but it's not precisely the comforting kind. There's a shake in Kratos's next exhale, but he follows it with another breath. Right now, having the breathing to focus on is all that keeps him stable. Surely it's impossible Yuan has missed the tension in his back.

[He sends a distracted, grim apology, something between give me a minute and sorry to keep you waiting, and behind it, a sense of being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[It isn't a request for help, though; just for the patience Yuan has learned from helping to raise some children. Kratos keeps breathing, paying only mild attention to what's happening around him. Somewhere in that time, Lloyd's hand relaxes around his, and the room takes on that gentle stillness of sleep, highlighted by the scratch of Botta's quill.

[In this time, Kratos observes his mana as objectively as he can manage; the feel of it, the tension it's wrought in him just to observe. Eventually the mana in his hand heightens, matching Yuan's pattern, and their hands crackle before settling into a similar sort of glow. Kratos's wavers between shape and substance, a glove and a filament; but it's there, though Kratos's breathing grows ragged in trying to maintain it.

[The worst thing is, he can't tell if the difficulty is due to the catch Yuan noticed in his mana, or something entirely in his head. How can he fix it, when he doesn't know the cause?]

[conductingresistance]

[All Yuan passes back is: I am here.]

[Apart from that he is quiet, simply present, simply being. Minding his own nature, and waiting for Kratos to reach out.]

[When Kratos finally manages it, it's uneven; it's ragged, and it matches the tension in Kratos's back and the catch of his breath. But it is Kratos, real and existing and warm, and some semblance of himself again.]

[You have it. Let it go, and do it again. Don't push yourself, but as many times as you can.]

[Yuan, too, couldn't begin to guess if this is Kratos's mind or his -- scarred? -- mana. He suspects that practice will make the difference; and if that's the case, does it matter, right now, which it is? Practice and endurance and Kratos will heal. As much as he can.]

[And remember to breathe. Count if you need to. Yuan is sounding more and more like a teacher, and he isn't even really entirely aware of it. He nudges Kratos's mana with his own where their hands meet, very softly personal.]

[simulsimul]

[It is pushing himself, to maintain it, but Kratos keeps doggedly on until Yuan gives that gentle order. The authority in his tone is a sort Kratos has never heard from Yuan before, but it's direction; and Kratos sorely needs direction right now. He obeys, hardly with a thought.

[Breathing. Yes. He has been, despite the fact it's caught while he's focussed on shifting his mana. Kratos breathes a few times, testing the notion of counting; and finds it helps. It seems to lull himself into a false sense of security, so that when he pushes ever so gently, the anxiousness doesn't kick in until after.

[For a moment, the next attempt nearly forms the shape of a glove; then it breaks apart as the fear bites. Kratos exhales, and tries again, and again, and again, inching toward a complete glove-shaped illusion of his armour.

[It's excruciatingly slow. It shouldn't be this slow, take this much effort, to do something so simple. Frustration rises and leaks into Kratos's mental presence, though he isn't aware of it; his breathing remains steady but the emotion bleeds into his control, shoves a little too hard, and his latest attempt breaks into sparks of lightning hard enough to reach for the pillows on which they're seated.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan gives the frustration a little time, to see if Kratos will work through it, but when sparks crackle out of their mana, Yuan reaches up and back, taps his knuckles on the top of Kratos's head. What did I say about pushing yourself.]

[It has the same rasp as his tone might when voiced aloud, the faintest hint of exasperation. Too fond to be serious.]

[We have all night. Yuan's let a little of his own pattern slip, in observing Kratos's mana, and now he pulls it back into motion, a steady beat of circulation around him. This, too, brushes Kratos where they lean against each other.]

[With his free hand, Yuan shifts some of the gently singed pillows, flipping the ones that aren't directly being sat on over.]

[In any case, you're already making progress.]

[simulsimul]

[The rap to Kratos's head gets a grunt, but he grudgingly lets the push of mana fade and focusses once more on his breathing. It shouldn't be this difficult.

[It isn't bitter, exactly, but it leans that way; self-incriminating, almost. Kratos has to force himself to exhale, and then he can't help but wonder, a bit too loud, how he's going to manage if this is how things are going to be; how he's going to manage if this takes months or years to re-learn.

[All night may not be enough, and for once, the prospect of having to be patient weighs more burdensome than not. This discontent, too, registers as a subtle undercurrent. Another exhale, and his next question is deliberate, a second of have you noticed and location, rhythm; he's too focussed just on generation mana to have observed where his mana might be catching. Yuan might have seen something by now.]

[conductingresistance]

[Maybe it shouldn't be, but it is. We deal with the world we have. As terrible as it may be. The worlds do not have enough mana to sustain them; the Renegades are long destroyed; Botta has lost an arm in Yuan's service; Kratos's mana may be permanently scarred.]

[They must needs deal with all these things. As they are. It's the job of idealists to look ahead to what could be.]

[Yuan mirrors Kratos's breath as reminder to keep doing that, conscious of it. Conscious of their mana and the movement, or lack thereof. And he ignores the question Kratos didn't quite mean to send.]

[Right now he has no answer for it. The latter, however, he does. Yuan closes his eyes to focus a little closer, just to confirm, and answers. Your circulation's still off. Catching-- a pressure, I think. Perhaps like a dam. I can't tell if it's back and chest or just at your back. There's a brief silence with the hum of Yuan thinking to himself, a busy press of consideration, before: Not burnt out, I think. But clogged.]

[simulsimul]

[The fact that Yuan can still see the world for what it is, instead of what they wish it to be, is a never-ending source of awe and inspiration at once. And, occasionally, exasperation. Sometimes Kratos doesn't know what he is, as if he's caught between Yuan's realism and Mithos's idealism.

[Right now, Yuan seems the wiser of the two.

[Where the Sword impaled me, you mean. This is resigned, but the fragile sort. When Kratos focusses inward, it's that part of him which feels brightest and most unstable. He couldn't even go near it; he can barely channel anything to his hands. Can you give it a nudge?

[Sometimes they'd used to be able to nudge each other's mana into alignment, using some combination of Kratos's healing mana and the fact they're so closely aligned, and know each other so well. It's a hopeful request, though Kratos doubts it'll be nearly so easy.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yes. Yuan can't really soften that. I can try. Don't move, let me...]

[Yuan unfolds his legs and gets up partway. On his knees he turns, leaning against Kratos's back and reaching over his shoulder to lay a hand about over the scar he feels. Contact always makes this kind of thing easier, and he's many centuries past self-conscious about this particular thing, in this context.]

[When he closes his eyes and turns his attention inward, he finds a little more clearly what he was sensing earlier. It still feels organic, not dead. It could move, but it's like the mana is either caught or has forgotten how to move.]

[Try to relax. Yuan breathes, and lets a filament of his mana drift into Kratos's. He never has figured out how to get the lightning out of it; he's no healer. But they both know lightning, and he can't hurt Kratos magically right now in any case.]

[simulsimul]

[Kratos takes his weight on his hand leaning back, but otherwise doesn't shift. The feel of Yuan's palm on that scar makes a shiver run down Krtos's spine, makes him tense. He exhales deliberately in an attempt to obey Yuan's order, and it does work, a bit; Yuan still registers as safe.

[Small as that reach of mana is, it feels stronger. Kratos bites down on a grunt of surprise -- not pain -- and immediately tenses again. Another exhale, another inhale ... he can feel the solid weight of his own mana, with Yuan's as a backdrop, even faint tho it is.

[And he can tell that that little touch isn't going to be enough. A 'nudge' isn't going to be enough. His mana is a tangle, scar over scar over scar, layered over fifteen years of an open wound forced into healing around a bared blade; the sediment of fifteen years of the woulds' mana channeled through him.

[It's not going to be enough.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan isn't surprised to feel Kratos tense up. As familiar as they are, it's still an intrusion. They wouldn't even be able to manage this much if they were anyone else; if they had any more of an elemental dissonance.]

[He stays where he is, eyes closed and hearing temporarily disabled so he can focus more clearly on mana. Lightning and tangled pathways and scarring. Raine will be better able to discern something more from this, to do something about it. But, perhaps... one more attempt.]

[Breathe, is the wisp of a thought, distracted with a more salient point. Yuan himself breathes, matching to Kratos, and abruptly pushes a touch more mana along the same thread. Like a shock; a galvanizing start, aimed at the loosest of the mana that won't move. If he can only get it started--]

[Well, Kratos may not appreciate it all. Yuan withdraws his mana in the second after, anticipating the reaction and nevertheless holding on physically.]

[simulsimul]

[The 'breathe' is about the only warning Kratos has; just enough of a warning, before he feels Yuan's mana shift. It's just enough that when that spark hits, switching off his voice is practically something he trips over on the way down the path of pain.

[He does not breathe. The phantom sensation of the Sword thrust through him takes all that breath away. He has enough wherewithal to snatch his hand away from Lloyd's; but it flies up to Yuan's shoulder instead, gripping hard enough to hurt, while the other grips the carpet, and his body jerks away.

[It's barely a second, and then that spark is gone. Kratos slumps into Yuan's embrace, his limbs tingling with adrenaline and the sense that that tiny spark spread all through him in the worst way possible. It takes him a moment to remember to breathe, and when he does it's with a gasp, and sudden tears.

[Something's shifted in that scarred core of him. It's looser than it was, some filaments pulled from their knots, and Kratos's back sparks faintly with mana-leakage he can't quite control -- is barely aware is there. But the rest of it ... the blockage is still there.]

[conductingresistance]

[That hurts. Yuan holds on instead of jerking back, tightening his grip and temporarily disabling his sense of pain.]

[It was worse than he thought. When Kratos slumps against him Yuan sits properly again, Kratos half in his lap, head bowed and gaze not at all present. Forgive me, is the first abashed thought that makes its way through again, as Yuan re-enables various senses and re-assesses the state of Kratos's mana.]

[His hand is still set over the scar, light and apologetic. It's not impossible. But you'd need Raine's help, I think, if you'll permit it.]

[simulsimul]

[It takes some quiet moments before Kratos can find an answer, while trying to make his breathing even. He quivers at the touch of Yuan's hand on his back, the seal watchful; but the threat isn't a lethal one and the seal subsides, and all that's left is the memory of what might happen if his back is touched.

[The first response he manages is a sense of grim dismissal of Yuan's apology. Kratos had asked. He can't blame Yuan for bad results when he'd asked.

[But he stays where he is a bit longer, forehead resting on Yuan's shoulder, until his mana calm down. The idea of having someone else poking around in the core of him isn't exactly palatable; but moments pass and add the distance of time to the feeling, and it's the tangled weight of mana burning in him which seems the worse of the two choices.

[... Yes. Okay. He could probably learn to live with it. Probably. But he'd be useless with half his skills crippled by it. He does not want to be useless. Yuan expects him to not be useless. Lloyd deserves a father who isn't useless. So having Raine help it will have to be, once she's rested. In the morning.

[Kratos exhales deliberately, and it's the smoothest it's been since that prod to his mana. Show me the armour again.

[If they have to wait until morning, he can at least search out where all the tangles are in the meantime.]

[conductingresistance]

[The sense of apology doesn't linger mentally; but Yuan, who's rarely been given to a great deal of physical affection, draws Kratos a little closer, rearranges his legs so that there's actually some comfort to being sprawled in his lap.]

[In the morning, then. Raine is a stranger to Kratos, Yuan realizes, but she's sharp, and he trusts her, which will count for something. In the mean time, I have you. Here.]

[Yuan bows his head a little, eyes half-shut again, and draws his mana out into the same pattern as previously, each armor-piece carefully shaped from the barest threads he can manage. It's a complete circulation, from one hand to the other, and he looks wreathed in lightning. It isn't much good for anything but control and aesthetics, but it serves its purpose.]

[And he can focus his thoughts on that pattern, and not the tight knot of worry he carries about Kratos.]

[simulsimul]

[It does take some time, but being wreathed in Yuan's mana helps settle Kratos slowly. It's present but non-harmful; and the longer it's non-harmful, the more he's able to breathe out the tension. Its presence highlights what's in Kratos, too, makes it easier to feel out his own groundedness. That helps.

[Observation. That's the most Kratos can afford tonight, now. Occasionally, his mana does move, testing; but anytime he tries to push anything into physicality, the scar on his back sparks and crackles with faint lightning, like a loose wire.

[It's a long night, silent except for the hum of mana and the scratch of Botta's quill on paper.]

~finis

[simulsimul]

[to here.]