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]

[All Yuan had thought through, apparently, were his peculiarly possessive instincts. Which he is not about to give voice to.]

[And he cannot at all tell if Kratos is approaching dry humor or not. Any hope in the previous not-quite-spoken understanding vanishes quickly.]

My finances are fine. I will, however, give you the household maintenance to manage.

[Such as it is.]

It's inevitable that I will be dispatched again.

[War, after all, is not a straightforward business of ending on a deadline. There are still people who disagree with the ending; there are still battles to be fought, if fewer.]

When that happens, I intend to take you with me.

[Not least because he has some concerns for Kratos left to Nidavellir alone. He assumes Kratos can handle the care of armor, at least.]

[simulsimul]

[Something's shifted, but Kratos can't tell what. For someone so impassioned, Yuan is annoyingly hard to read; and yet, he does acknowledge that Kratos can help around the house, when he'd so blatantly diverted before.

[Kratos is busy trying to puzzle that out when Yuan drops that bombshell, and for a moment Kratos can only blink at him wordlessly. Though the bemusement may be hard to tell, given his expression doesn't change much. Then it solidifies into a proper flat blankness, which is a definable change Yuan may be able to tell. There's nuances to impassivity, after all.]

Why? Even with a cane, I won't be able to keep up.

[And Yuan can't possibly believe that he would be willingly complicit in the killing of his countrymen. Which brings up only one possibility, really, something simultaneously of dread and hope. Tethe'alla must still be resisting mightily, if Sylvarant needs slaves as fodder; but it also means Kratos will be, essentially, helpless when he dies. It's not a fate he particularly wants to imagine.

[Nevertheless, it's occurred, and something in his bearing hardens.]

[conductingresistance]

[In his turn, Yuan can identify that something has shifted, but isn't quite sure what. He can mark the changes, not see what they mean or what causes them.]

[So for a change his frown is genuinely perplexed, not irritated or grumpy.]

With the broader troop movements, no. With the camps...?

[The vast assortment of things needed to form a mobile base for that many troops will never move as quickly as motivated soldiers. That's simply a drawback any strategist will need to account for.]

--I'm not expecting you in the front line, if that's-- no. Like this, you aren't fit for the battlefield.

[That's a frank assessment, not meant unkindly. Simply what is.]

No. You're a Tethe'allan soldier, even formerly, and you belong to a half-elf. Do you really think leaving you behind to be a wise choice?

[simulsimul]

[The way Yuan says that is as if it's something which should go without saying -- of course Kratos wouldn't be on the front lines. So taking him on deployment isn't a matter of fodder. The tension releases Kratos's heart somewhat, even as the unblunted truth of his situation stabs him with its sharpness.]

You think I'd be any safer in a camp full of Sylvaranti soldiers?

[... He probably would be, at that. In the city he'd have no allies, and civilians aren't known for their discipline. Even with Yuan away from a camp on orders, life there would be rigidly enforced, and there's got to be socially ingrained rules about others' possessions, living or not.

[And it's getting very difficult to think, with the smells rising from the pot on the stove. It takes Kratos a few blank moments to realise his gaze is even focussed there, his stomach suddenly keenly empty. He closes his eyes and gives his head a little shake, trying to refocus.]

I'd still need something more than a cane. My leg isn't going to get much better than this.

[Most lamed officers were only hamstrung when they reach their destinations, to enforce a march and give Sylvaranti wounded room in the wagons when coming off the front line. Kratos had been one of the few who'd been hamstrung on the field, as much for safety's sake as to make a point to Nike before she died. His life had been spared -- but it's still, and would always be, in the hands of Sylvarant.]

[conductingresistance]

Some. Enough.

[It's all Yuan has to offer.]

[He tracks Kratos's gaze, isn't really surprised. To hide his own feelings on the topic of Kratos never improving much, Yuan turns to test the heat of the soup. All it needed at this point is re-heating, so it won't be long.]

It may be possible to find a brace that will help. Not immediately, however.

[Yuan needs to see how this goes. And how much the sort of technology he's thinking of runs. And if Kratos's presence will be accepted enough that no one will question giving him the greater mobility.]

[The soup's hot enough. Yuan takes down bowls and ladles it into them, finally coming over to set a bowl and spoon in front of Kratos.]

[simulsimul]

That's fine.

[As if Kratos has any say in it whatsoever; as if he isn't, currently, existing on the sufferance of Sylvarant. Why is Yuan treating him like this? Like he has a right to determine his future? Kratos has heard that half-elves in Sylvarant are treated even worse than in Tethe'alla, but he'd found that difficult to imagine once he knew how they were treated by his own country; he'd wanted to believe those rumours were only rumours.

[Now he's wondering whether Yuan has some experience with slavery already, and not necessarily on the master's end.

[The thought derails before it can reach the potential of asking, thanks to the food. Kratos's attention fixes on that the moment he hears it slop into the bowl. The last few weeks have been one long chain of misery; until the breath of fresh air and sun, the lack of chains, he hasn't realised how badly he's been needing something more substantial than a prisoner's fare. They weren't exactly starved -- but that doesn't mean much.

[He clasps his hands together under the table, fingers trembling, and breathes through the urge to snatch up the bowl Yuan puts before him. It's probably still hot, for one. For another, he'd rather not choke now that he's out of that horrible place.

[It takes a few moments, but it's only after Kratos feels as though he's mastered himself that he reaches out to pick up the spoon and eat. Even then, after that first glorious mouthful, he can't stop himself from eating faster than he intends.]

[conductingresistance]

Careful. Give your stomach a chance to get used to actual food again.

[This is said as an almost absent caution at his speed, Yuan not even looking at him past a few glances to ensure that Kratos is eating and not about to choke on it for over-hurry.]

[He's leisurely about his own soup, one hand cradling the bowl, his gaze distant and through the food rather than at it as he lines up plans and thoughts for what's going to need to happen next. Easier with Kratos's focus not directly on him.]

[...Yuan's been living on his own for years now. It'll be strange, having someone there again. Much less it being Kratos.]

[simulsimul]

[Kratos knows. He does make an effort to take breaks, to slow himself down; it's just ... difficult. More difficult than he could have imagined, even knowing that men in his position have the problem. It gets easier once he's got some soup in him; it's still a test, but he manages to put down the spoon and take a breath, and let his stomach settle before eating more.

[Yuan seems very far away, even sitting just across the table. Kratos lets him have that distance. Instead he turns his chair to the side and start testing his capabilities, now he's had something to eat, now he isn't in the dark and cramped cell.

[He starts with his arms, his back, stretching each limb carefully, testing his muscles after so long without any opportunity for exercise. He's done this as regularly as he could, while imprisoned, but there it's still been far too long between times. It's almost a shock when he realises he's out of breath before he's even reached his legs, and his hands are trembling. He goes back to the food, and manages to eat a little more, before resuming his stretches.

[His good leg is about as expected. Hale but tired, lacking food. His bad leg ... Kratos has to manoeuvre it out from the chair just to be able to straight it properly, and then he spends a moment staring down at it, his expression impossible to determine.

[At this point, it's nearly a dead weight. He can lift it, he can turn his foot to some degree, but he can't bend his knee without manually bending it with his hands, or do ... anything else, really. No one's told him how he should be treating it, what he should be doing to maintain the bare amount of mobility he has left.]

... I'm going to need to speak to a healer.

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan's eye is drawn by motion; he glances up to see Kratos stretching before returning his attention to food. Still, from the corner of his eye he watches, now and again, and he does not miss the trembling hands.]

[...he understands the necessity of crippling Kratos. He dislikes the reality of it. Yuan is equally sure he'll have cause to think this again in future.]

To see what can be regained?

[They would have healed him after they did it, and Yuan doubts there will be any genuine fixing of it. Still.]

I can arrange it. How long ago...?

[It's impossible to tell what's going on in Kratos's head, but Yuan would be surprised if there is not some feeling of loss there. ...There is nothing he can say.]

[simulsimul]

No.

[This is rather flatter than most of what Kratos has said so far. He pulls up under his knee to make it bend, feeling the clean line of the scar under his palm, and orients it so he can sit more appropriately at the table.]

I don't know how I'm meant to be handling it, like this.

[It's cleanly healed, or as clean as it can be when they deliberately ensured he'd remain crippled, but if there's anything he can do to maintain the muscles still good, he'd like to be able to do it. Right now, thinking about what he can do is the only life-rope he has. If he stops to consider all that he can't --

[No. Kratos picks up his spoon again to finish his soup, much more slowly now. He's no longer hungry; but it's only prudence to eat as much as he can take.]

How long ago was Vanaheim taken?

[He honestly doesn't know -- but it should be answer enough. It's a long way from Vanaheim.]

[conductingresistance]

[--right. The futility of hope.]

It was about a month ago, now.

[That's... unusual, though. Usually prisoners would be made to march. At least, Yuan is assuming Kratos wasn't made to, by virtue of the fact that he would be practically unable to.]

[Yuan picks up his bowl and stands, moving across the kitchen to look out the window instead of watching Kratos.]

[simulsimul]

[Far too late to do anything about it. Kratos isn't sure what he expected. It feels like an eternity; it could have been even shorter. He does remember a skyship, somewhere near the beginning of the haze -- but the rest was all in a wagon.

[There is not much soup let in the bowl by the time Kratos pushes it away, but he's back to regarding Yuan, waiting for ... direction. For indication. It's clear that Yuan hasn't thought this through, but surely he has some idea of what he intends? Kratos doesn't know this house, or what's in it.]

What now?

[For a commander and a man who must have fought just to convince people of his right to buy a slave at all, Yuan is remarkably slow to action.]

[conductingresistance]

[The time eating and staring out the window is spent also in contemplation of a plan of action-- enough is considered and discarded that by the time Kratos speaks again Yuan actually has some idea. He turns and comes back, picking up Kratos's mostly-empty bowl and moving them both to the sink. To be dealt with later.]

I'll show you the house. And I assume you'll want to clean up sooner rather than later.

[Yet again Yuan has rather uncomplimentary things to think about Kratos's treatment in the past month; but that is neither here nor there. He comes back over and waits a moment for Kratos to get up, eyeing him sidelong and wondering whether to offer a hand or not.]

[simulsimul]

That would be preferable.

[Kratos can't smell himself anymore, it's been too long; but he can imagine what kind of offence his presence must be causing to a half-elf's senses right now. His chair is still turned enough from the table that he has room to move. He ignores Yuan standing over him and uses the table to pull himself up.

[His body does not want to move right now. At all. Fatigued dizziness sweeps over him and his bad knee trembles. Kratos leans on the chair for a moment, breath catching at the ache in his leg and hip now that he's spent some time resting. He hadn't realised how stiff he was, and now the warmth of food is making the whole of his being want to shut down.]

Are there stairs?

[He's going to have trouble with stairs. He hadn't seen any, but a compact house like this, that doesn't say much.]

[conductingresistance]

[Kratos is not the best thing Yuan has ever smelled, no; but he is also a soldier. For all his preferences of cleanliness, he has encountered worse than this.]

No stairs. Most of the homes in this are are only the one level.

[It may be less than would be generally possible, for an officer. Yuan genuinely does like this area, though, and would have chosen it even if he had the resources for something better or higher-up.]

It isn't large; I doubt you'll have trouble finding your way around. This way.

[But Yuan paces himself to Kratos, not rushing him.]

[The first thing he points out when Kratos is up to moving will be the washroom; there's a shower and tub combined, and towels that look like they are probably fresh.]

[simulsimul]

[No stairs; that's a relief. The thought of trying to navigate those is almost a nightmare. Limping heavily, Kratos follows Yuan, noting that Yuan drops his pace down to match. It's easier without his hands bound; Kratos has to wonder what's going to become of those chains.

[The washroom is nicely furnished as the kitchen isn't, with the same elegant arc to the cupboard handles, and a kind of varnish highlighting some of the stone's natural hues until it looks as though there's solid bands of blue and green around the walls. There isn't a window, but sunlight comes down from a hole in the ceiling, striking glass and illuminating the space with hardly the benefit of technological lights.

[And there's plants. Kratos has never seen that in such an enclosed space before. He blinks wordlessly at the narrow garden-bed flanking one wall, and then leans against the sink as Yuan runs him through the locations of all amenities.

[There is no shaving kit. He'll have to deal with the beard for a little while longer. His hair, though ... Kratos reaches up to test his hair again, and shakes his head.]

It's been a while since I've been able to wash my hair. I'm going to need help with the tangles.

[Frankly, lifting his arm even this far is a feat almost beyond him. Fatigue is setting in.]

[conductingresistance]

[The chains are currently languishing in the back of a closet, where Yuan dropped them the first time he stepped away for a little while. He has no plans to do anything with them apart from ignore them and generally forget they existed.]

[Do Tethe'allans not go in for indoor plants? Hm.]

[Although that thought is promptly forgotten in favor of utter bemusement at the invitation, such as it is. Yuan would have needed to tender some help, anyway, with the braiding at least, but...]

[It feels strange.]

I... can help if you need it, yes.

[Which he will, because no one bothers to take care of slaves. The thought sparks a brief flash of anger, visible but directed at no one present.]

[It occurs to him that injuries may not have been left at laming and neglect. Yuan hopes that's the extent of it even as he has the thought.]

[simulsimul]

['Invitation' is not the word Kratos would have used. 'Admittance of requiring help' would be a phrase closer to the mark. Of course, it wouldn't be the first time he's had help with his hair; it's not an alien thing, to him. But it occurs, at Yuan's hesitation, that it might be alien here.

[Surely if it's stepping over a line in other fashions, Yuan would have said so? Kratos glances at him, just to make sure; but Yuan's words are an acquiescence. Kratos chooses to take it at face value while he still can. The future seems marginally more solid, now, but it's not quite settled.

[Kratos doesn't ask. Instead he moves to start the shower, which is honestly a piece of technology Kratos wasn't entirely sure Yuan would have; but it does make things easier. Bathwater would get dirty far too easily, and a sit-down wash would take a long time. At least this way he can scrub and then soak. Assuming Yuan has no objections to a slave using his tub for such a leisure. So far, he doesn't seem to have objections to most things Kratos would have thought a slave-owner would have objections to.

[So Kratos proceeds to ignore Yuan as he undresses without much in the way of shame, but with an element of cautiousness given his state and the fact he isn't sure just how much he can push Yuan as yet. He also ignores the voices of the guards wafting around in his memory. Undressing takes longer than it should; but the clothes he has left aren't worth salvaging, at this point. He does drop them in the most convenient corner he can, to pick up and dispose of himself, later.

[He is unsure, to some degree, whether Yuan will want a look at him before getting into the shower -- to see the state of his purchase. There's another testing glance Yuan's way.]

[conductingresistance]

[Starting the shower makes perfect sense. In that situation, Yuan, too, would also like to be clean.]

[He does not at all expect Kratos to start undressing, and he turns very sharply around at the first hint of it. There is some sense in retrospect, Yuan realizes as he pulls his composure back around him, since working with Kratos's hair will most efficiently be done mid-bath, but--]

[Did Kratos not expect privacy, or not think he would get it? What is he expecting, from Yuan? None of this is doing anything to quell his earlier concerns.]

[His back is still resolutely turned when Kratos glances back, shoulders rigid and eyes away. What he does do is ask:]

...are there injuries which were left untended?

[It is the gentlest way he can think to ask if Kratos was tortured in some way.]

[simulsimul]

[That's -- unexpected. Almost touching, in a strange sort of way, and isn't that an emotion Kratos wouldn't have imagined arising as a result of Yuan Ka-Fai. It's the tensest Yuan's been this whole time, even outside, with the eyes of the city on him. Is that because of modesty, or the awkwardness of the whole situation? Kratos can't tell.

[It takes Kratos a moment to realise just what Yuan's asking, and his hand automatically goes to his shoulder, broken once and then healed sometime early on.]

... Nothing permanent or debilitating, beyond the obvious.

[The beatings are the only things which have left any physical scars. He remembers not being allowed to sleep or eat, and constant high-pitched noises while being held in a tent without light, and then being interrogated. He can't honestly remember what he said, if anything. It had all stopped once the skyship came to carry the most high profile prisoners and wounded back to Sylvarant.

[... That probably means he told them something, if they decided he was safe to send back. He just -- he can't remember what. He stands still like that for a moment, brow furrowed as he tries to remember; but it's useless.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan is going to continue being turned around until he can establish that Kratos is submerged or otherwise obscured, thank you. As a result he misses the instinctive shoulder-touch, and can only go off what Kratos has to say.]

[...and 'nothing permanent or debilitating' still leaves a bit of room, knowing interrogation techniques. Perhaps Yuan would be happier not knowing details.]

[Although it's good to know Kratos wasn't irreparably damaged. Apart from the obvious.]

Good. Let me re-phrase, however: is there any injury which currently needs looking after?

[One thing Yuan is rarely without is medical supplies. Injuries do happen, and he knows what to do with most of the basic ones.]

[simulsimul]

[It breaks Kratos's train of thought, at least, though he had thought he'd answered sufficiently.]

No. They didn't really beat us once we reached the auction house.

[His wrists are raw from the chains, but that's about it, and doesn't require tending. No one really had the energy to test the guards' patience by then, and the guards weren't stupid enough to risk reducing the money that might be gotten. Kratos realises after the fact that the answer might be blunter than is wise -- but nothing about this situation is as he expected. Yuan's been blunt in turn.

[Now Kratos remembers the shower. Awkwardly he manages to climb into the tub to stand under the pounding water, and it's heaven; he braces himself against the wall and leans into it with a sigh, letting the water wash away the upper layers of grime.]

[conductingresistance]

[About par for the course, then. Yuan nods, even if he's still facing away.]

All right.

[He stands and listens, then, to the water and the sound of Kratos in it, and he tries not to ponder exactly how awkward this entire thing has gotten, nor the occasional pangs as the injustice of life and the world surmounts what even he is inured to by now.]

[It occurs to Yuan, however, that without looking he won't be able to tell if and when Kratos needs assistance; however, he's not about to turn and chance seeing something. That still feels wrong, some violation of privacy even when there is practically nothing left of it.]

[Yuan passes mana between his fingers, and sighs softly.]

Let me know when you're in need of my help.

[simulsimul]

Mmn.

[It's a lazy response. Probably an unforgivably insolent response, actually, if either of them cared. At this point, it's fairly plain Yuan doesn't. It's also fairly plain how much of the gossip had been born of ignorance; Yuan's more modest than any soldier Kratos has ever met. He hasn't looked around once, or even tried.

[In the end the only reason Kratos stirs is the knowledge that he's half falling asleep, standing there against the wall, and if he does then he'll fall; and that will make things even more awkward, assuming he doesn't knock himself out in the process.

[But he does straighten up in the end, reaching for the soap to clean off the rest of him. His hair he leaves until last; and his original assessment is still accurate when he reaches it. It's not much more than a tangle, made worse by the braid. At least it doesn't have ribbons in it. Most everyone else he'd seen with braids had ribbons. Maybe the slaves didn't get that leisure. Maybe just the prisoners of war didn't.

[Kratos manages to get the tie out, at least, and toes the drain closed. Then he stays under the water while the bath fills enough for him to use. Or at least to give him some veneer of privacy. Only when it's fit for use does Kratos turn off the shower and consider how to manoeuvre himself down. It's awkward and makes copious use of the wall, and his leg never really stops being a dead weight; but in the end he's seated and resting against the tub wall in a position where Yuan will be able to reach his hair.]

Alright. I'm ready.

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan is not someone who's going to care about insolence in this context. So he waits -- realizing belatedly he really will need to lend Kratos some of his own clothes simply so they can get Kratos some -- until finally Kratos speaks.]

[At that he moves, collecting hair things and a wide-toothed comb, and he sets those by the side of the tub while unbuckling his vambraces and rolling his sleeves up. Before long Yuan is sitting on the edge of the tub, markedly not looking toward the water, and fingering the ends of Kratos's hair with a thoughtful look.]

[It's thicker than his, and previous observation suggests unruly. Still, with some patience detangling should be possible. Hopefully, as it will be difficult to braid if Yuan has to remove significant length.]

I'll see what I can salvage.

[He opts to begin by working soap in; it will be easier to detangle if it's as clean as he can manage. It's... a peculiar feeling, this sort of unwarranted intimacy. The sooner it's over, the better.]