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

[choiced]

[It's the first time Yuan's mentioned having any family, and Zelos doesn't completely hide his surprise or curiosity. He doesn't ask, though, and Nethan marks it without comment.]

You spar? [That piques Nethan's interest. Sparring is a different skill-set from what the military often requires.] Spar with me.

[More surprise from Zelos, but since the boy doesn't object, Nethan doesn't backpedal. You can tell a lot about a man from how he spars. Not just his skill, but his approach. His attitude. His priorities.]

[conductingresistance]

Here and now?

[Yuan has had stranger requests, and he doesn't mind it, but he cannot help glancing around the courtyard and the vast array of guards with something a bit more like wariness then before. Still, he inclines his head in assent.]

I assume you'd prefer I restrict myself from the use of magic.

If no one will interrupt assuming I have overstepped my place, I'll spar with you, yes. Is there a blunted sword I may borrow?

[choiced]

If someone tries, I'll stop them. [Zelos hasn't exactly taken a step forward, but he looks like he very much wants to, as if the best place to watch a sparring match is from right in the middle of it.

Nethan is more circumspect, though there's a bit of amusement on his face now.] Yes, I'd prefer you not use magic. Cole!

[One of the matches nearby breaks up and a soldier looks over.]

Lend me your sword for a while.

[The sword gets passed to Nethan, who almost immediately turns it and offers the hilt to Yuan. Its owner starts to object, but Nethan shakes his head.] Take it up with the Chosen, if you plan to make an issue of it.

[After which there are no more objections. But at least two grudging spectators.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan looks back toward Zelos, and for the briefest flicker of a second his expression is something warm before it's forbidding again.]

[He takes the offered sword with the slightest of bows, more of respect for the weapon than the man passing it to him, and he tests its weight thoughtfully. Light by his standards, but he is used to his Swallow, and he still knows well enough how to use a simple sword. It's well-beaten into his habits by now.]

[The one decision he needs to make is about which hand to use, and he passes the sword between his hands consideringly. When he was younger his right was stronger, and while that preference is more or less gone through years of practice with a dual-handed weapon, if he feels around the instinct to draw right-first is still there. To be obstinate, Yuan settles with the sword in his left hand, and drops back into a peculiarly open stance, sword low in the hand by his side though the tip remains pointed toward Nethan.]

As you will, then.

[choiced]

[Ambidextrous, Nethan figures. That's something to keep track of. Starting with the left hand doesn't guarantee an ambidextrous opponent will stay with their left hand.

And he's not fooled by the openness of that stance. Not when the man took on two assassins and won.

Nethan pauses just long enough to ensure they're both ready, then starts with an easy horizontal cut at Yuan's unarmed side. It's telegraphed, but not slowed down.]

[conductingresistance]

[Ambidextrous through significant practice still counts as ambidextrous.]

[Yuan doesn't move his feet, but he brings the sword across his body to deflect the blow, turning his shoulders slightly. The point of the sword, interestingly, remains almost exactly where it was, directed at Nethan, as though Yuan's made his opponent some invisible pivot.]

[He doesn't attack in turn yet, though, letting Nethan take a measure of him. Himself getting an idea of what to expect, in turn. It's been a while since he genuinely sparred with anyone who wasn't Kratos. Yuan rolls his left shoulder absently and settles again, watching.]

[choiced]

[Good. Efficient, no loss of energy. Not quite what Nethan expected, but only because he hardly ever expects flawless blocks in sparring matches between strangers.

The next step is a short thrust, this one not telegraphed. Even with the blunted sword, Nethan doesn't put enough power behind it to break skin. Just to prod. Painfully. After that one comes another thrust a little higher, then a horizontal slash which would cut through the guard of an unprepared opponent.]

[conductingresistance]

[There; that's something more like it. It requires a little more speed and sharpness from Yuan. Not as much as he is capable of -- there is no call for that, and indeed danger in it -- but more than he's displayed in the first block. A parry, a parry, and Yuan catches the sidelong cut on his blade, more than a fleeting contact this time. There's the ring of metal as he slides his sword around Nethan's, redirecting the momentum down and toward the earth of the courtyard.]

[That's better. He's getting a clearer idea of Nethan's abilities. Still Yuan doesn't himself strike.]

[choiced]

[More skillful guarding. Nethan will admit to himself that he's impressed. Not by the blocks themselves, but by what they say about Yuan's restraint. Restraint isn't a concept he would have associated with half-elves before this.

There's still a prickle of unease at the back of his neck he can't quite place, so he doesn't relax just yet.

A few more attacks in quick succession, this time mirroring Yuan's tactic -- redirecting momentum around and through whenever Nethan's blade is blocked, just to see how Yuan will react. He'll need to attack sometime.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan matches, assessing still, picking up speed as he needs to. Finally, though, he's going to have to do something if he wants to do more than mirror or stalemate, and he has enough information about Nethan to set his level, so to speak.]

[In a moment or two he finally acts; there's a quick thrust, flicker-fast and aimed for center mass, which Yuan fully expects to be parried, and so almost pre-emptively he's pulling the blade around, a half-circle to lead into a broader slice upward, diagonal.]

[It would be much more blatant with the Swallow, but much harder to deflect.]

[choiced]

[Nethan parries the first and barely, just barely, with a worryingly extended ring of metal, parries the second. His reflex when he registers the move a touch too late is to overcompensate, pushing Yuan's sword out farther than necessary, which in a real battle situation would leave him wide open.

He isn't trying to show off, but he doesn't want to be shown up, either. Stupid of him.

Nethan puts distance between them, resetting, rethinking. His shoulder aches. How did Yuan put that much strength into a blow so fast? You can account for speed, and you can account for brute force, but it's harder to account for them both at the same time. Nethan tries anyway. He ignores the ache in his shoulder and attacks again, this time without pausing in between each strike to assess, and without being stupid about it -- staying light on his feet and relying more on moving out of the way of Yuan's attacks than blocking them wholesale. He isn't aware of it, but there's a small smile on his face.

He's also not aware that they've started drawing a small crowd. Zelos, who's making sure no one's about to jump in and help Nethan beat down the unruly half-elf, is.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan doesn't take the followup. Both of them know it would not go well for Nethan. He lets the guard put some distance between them, giving him the moment before following up.]

[He meets Nethan's attack neatly, counters. Matches. He's still letting Nethan drive the shape of the combat for the most part, but Yuan keeps himself just a little bit ahead, a little bit stronger. A little bit faster. Enough to push Nethan.]

[It's almost teaching. Almost. The guard is good, for a human of his age, but he isn't war-worn, and he doesn't have Yuan's advantages.]

[Yuan is nearly smiling, nevertheless. He doesn't get this kind of opportunity as often as he'd like. And Nethan is enjoying this in a way utterly unrelated to fighting a half-elf, which is promising.]

[choiced]

[As the fight wears on and it becomes clear Nethan's outmatched, several onlookers move to join in, hands tightening on weapons in a way not anything like the sportsmanship necessary for sparring matches. Zelos, though only ten, knows exactly how to get the attention of a large group of people all much taller than he is.]

Stop! I'm the Chosen! It's friendly -- if anyone bothers them, I'm going to make sure you're fired!

[It does the trick, if slowly. No one's willing to test the ten-year-old's assertion, or try to move past him and his outstretched arms.

After a few more minutes, though, not many people want to. There's something silencing about watching a good spar, something nearly awe-inspiring that utterly ignores who the participants are. When Nethan finally breaks off and puts the point of his sword on the ground, breathing heavily, he's still smiling. His head is even tipped a little -- not respect, but something a lot like it.]

Which military, did you say?

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan finds himself abruptly profoundly grateful for Zelos's intrusion into his life. Not many people would venture so far, so enthusiastically, for him.]

[And the fight is, for what it is, fun. Not the same fun of matching Kratos: but enjoyable, nevertheless.]

[When Nethan breaks off, Yuan follows suit, keeping things polite. Honorable. He inclines his head briefly-- once to Zelos, in thanks, and once to Nethan, in slightly different thanks. He's almost smiling.]

I didn't.

[A glance aside.]

That place no longer exists in any form you would recognize, so the point is moot.

[choiced]

[Hmph. The instinct rears up to get tetchy over a half-elf's refusal to answer a simple question, but Nethan barely notices it. He's still on an adrenaline rush.]

Come back next week.

[The invitation surprises not only him, but a few of the onlookers close enough to hear. Even Zelos turns and stares. Still, Nethan doesn't take it back. There are more than a few recruits watching, he noticed, and Zelos has made it very clear what he expects to happen. For anyone else, the invitation would only make sense.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan did answer. In his way. It's not his fault if Nethan doesn't like the answer he gets.]

[He is, however, surprised by the invitation. However Zelos thought this was going to turn out-- Yuan didn't expect something so close to friendliness.]

[He's visibly taken off-guard. Only for a moment or two: but it does show. Yuan hesitates, and nods.]

Very well. The same time?

[He can make this time available, if necessary. And Zelos will be disappointed in him if he says no.]

[choiced]

[Nethan nods.] Same time. [He hesitates, then holds out his hand for the sword Yuan borrowed.] Thank you for sparring with me.

[Once the crowd disperses -- which takes a little more time than anyone expects -- Zelos pops up right next to Yuan, with exactly the excited, gloating expression you'd expect plastered on his face.] There. That wasn't so hard, was it?

[Never mind that it went even better than Zelos himself was hoping.]

It doesn't ruin things, right? People knowing you, and wanting you around?

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan hands the sword back, hilt-first. Polite about it, in his way.]

And you.

[It isn't saying the words, but it's expressing the sentiment. Sort of.]

[When Zelos pops up again, Yuan isn't at all surprised, only looks over with a slightly raised eyebrow. He is not dignifying the first question with anything resembling an answer.]

I... suppose not.

[That may change if he needs to go anywhere, but for now nothing is ruined, no. It only makes Yuan's life a little more difficult, and it isn't as though he hasn't dealt with difficulty before.]

[He's still unconvinced this is genuine desire for his presence, but it is... something.]

Are you happy now?

[choiced]

Good. 'Cause I was a little worried I ruined something.

[There's only so much even a ten-year-old Chosen can get away with. Zelos learned that the first time he went sledding down staircases in the castle using meal pans from the kitchen, and got punished for the trouble. He's much older now than he was then, and Zelos knows that even he can't change anyone's minds overnight.]

Yep!

[But Cruxis can. They did it with the Pope. And Zelos works for them.

So he's gonna do this.

They're not even remotely out of public view when Zelos wraps his arms around Yuan from the side without warning. He settles in with a contented hum, the side of his face nestled in the folds of Yuan's uniform.]

[conductingresistance]

[It takes a little more than that to ruin things. Yuan doesn't expect that this alone will have done much negative.]

[He's about to say something to that effect when Zelos nearly slams into him. Hugs aren't precisely new from Zelos, but it's in the middle of everyone, and Yuan is still not entirely used to it. He stiffens for just a moment, a brief sharp inhalation, before he eases again.]

[...well. There will be no undoing this. Not, precisely, that he wants to. Very carefully, Yuan settles an arm over Zelos's shoulders. Reserved; but present, nevertheless.]

What do you think you're doing?

[This is low, and not really accusatory, only a demand to know.]

[choiced]

What do you mean? [Zelos's voice is just muffled enough for his tone not to be very clear.] I'm hugging you. No one'll know you're off-limits if I don't.

[Some of the soldiers have turned to stare, Nethan among them. But whether because Zelos is right, or because the shock is too strong to wear off right away, no one makes a move to try and separate them.

Zelos, without letting go, pushes Yuan around until they're facing back the way they came.]

I bet you're dying to get back to the library. Come on. Let's go by the kitchen and see if Grace has any pie left. I'll make sure your piece is as big as mine.

[conductingresistance]

[Off-limits. Heh. Yuan can almost believe it, from Zelos.]

[He can weather the staring.]

Going by the kitchen is not getting back to the library.

[Does he really have to point this out? Yuan lets himself be manhandled, though, very clearly and very pointedly not resisting the Chosen's direction. That has the potential to be a subpar move.]

[He sighs, but goes with it.]

I don't need pie, but I'll go with you.

[choiced]

Duh. The kitchen's on the way to the library.

[Or it can be, given a little creative maneuvering.]

What do you mean, you don't need pie? I don't need pie either. No one needs pie. But you get hungry after fighting, and if you're gonna eat something, it should be something delicious.

[This is logic, Yuan. Plain and simple. So said, Zelos steers the pair of them back into the castle, leaving a lot of confused guards behind them.]

[conductingresistance]

Only when you make a detour.

[He sees what you're about, Zelos. Yuan offers some token resistance, digging his heels in temporarily, but eventually he lets Zelos shove him back into the castle.]

[He could be more good-natured about it.]

And if I told you I'm not hungry?

[choiced]

After fighting? [Zelos tips his head back to give Yuan a weird look.] Everyone gets hungry after sparring. Even the guards get hungry after sparring. Is it different for half-elves?

[Zelos hasn't known any half-elves well enough or near enough to compare them to the human soldiers, but he knows they have long lifespans. Maybe they also only get hungry once a week or something. That would explain why Yuan never leaves the library.]