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

[simulsimul]

[The scene Kratos comes in on is not unfamiliar, if not precisely common. Kratos generally tries not to let his people complain too much when healing is needed, even if he frequently needs a similar reminder. It would be amusing, if it weren't for the fact that the healer felt the need to summon him here instead of reporting to him in his tent.

[Kratos comes to the cot-side and crosses his arms, tipping his head down at Yuan without a flicker in expression.]

We know that half-elves run warmer than humans.

[His regiment consistently has the highest population of half-elves of any regiment in the Tethe'allan military. Either they know they'll be treated as equitably as possible given the military climate, or other regimental commanders just don't want to have to deal with them and reassign them as soon as possible.]

Is his wound infected?

[This is to the healer.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan scowls up at Kratos. He's used to people who have no idea what to do with a physiology that isn't human. And he has a deep desire to be poked and prodded as little as possible. Why can't they just leave him in peace?]

It's been cleaned more than enough--

[The healer cuts him off.]

I doubt it, but I need to narrow down all possible avenues. He's showing early signs of something that isn't usual for this stage in the healing, and if we don't catch it, it could compound. He's insisting he's fine. Commander Aurion, will you please order him to let me do my damned job?

[Yuan, for the record, does not look entirely well; he's still fairly pale, even for him, and he has the hazy-eyed look of someone who hasn't been sleeping well. And yet:]

I'm fi--

[This cuts off into coughing. Yuan's face creases in pain as that pulls at torn and mending muscles. The healer rounds on him.]

So help me if you have a respiratory infection.

[simulsimul]

[Order him? The very idea strikes Kratos as so ludicrous that the incredulity almost shows. Almost. Still, this level of reticence to be tended is foolish, not to mention downright impractical.

[Kratos doesn't weigh in right away in favour of listening in mild amusement and waiting for Yuan's irritation to wind down, much like he would one of his younger siblings. Up until the coughing fit, which makes Kratos frown suddenly and drop his arms. That's definitely not something he should be doing for an abdominal wound.]

I was under the impression his lungs were unharmed.

[It's not a question so much as a verbal airing of a fact to make it to the next step.]

We'd better move him out of the tent. There are too many people in here to risk that it might be spreadable.

[Kratos turns to catch Adrasteia's eye. She makes a good show of not grimacing, but her mouth turns down. Customarily apprentices bunk with their masters, but owing to the sensitive nature of the reports which pass through a commander's hands, a knight who is a commander -- which is entirely different from a knight-commander -- typically still bunks alone. It does, at least, mean that they have an extra tent to use for just such a situation, in circumstances when their housing needs are already pushed to maximum.]

Take Knight-Initiate Adrasteia's tent. I'll see what else we can manage if we need more space than that.

[Hopefully, they won't.]

[conductingresistance]

They are. Or were. It's a straightforward abdominal injury, no deviation into the thoracic cavity.

[The healer is made of frown. Yuan, with himself now under control, wonders if he dares risk speaking again; the coughing fit was an exceptionally unpleasant experience. He settles for staring mutinously up at the pair of them and wishing deeply to be vertical again.]

There are a few things it could be, but you're correct, there's a good chance of contagion. I recommend quarantining him.

[Yuan would like to be consulted, personally, even if the result is the same, but trying to say something this time results in more coughing. He subsides. For now.]

[simulsimul]

[That sounds even worse. Kratos's brow furrows more, and after a moment he beckons Adrasteia over.]

Get something to put under his back.

[She nods and turns around, but some of the other Sylvaranti are already rummaging for folded linens to use as an extra pillow. Kratos, for his part, kneels to put his arm under Yuan's back, lifting him gently so the healer can put that bundle under his back. Then Kratos rests him gently against the bundle, eyeing Yuan's chest and the rhythm of his breathing, watching for a hitch which heralds a cough.]

Is that easier?

[This is not the first time Commander Aurion has put his own hands to what is ordinarily corpsman work; none of the Tethe'allans bat an eyelash at it. If there's any risk of infection, he's not going to ask someone else suffer it, even knowing it's going to result in a medley of tonics to stave off the possibility.]

[conductingresistance]

[And now Kratos is manhandling him. Excellent. This day gets better and better. Yuan is stiff-shouldered and sullen by the time he's settled again, but the angle, he will admit, is slightly better. He draws breath, slow and careful, assessing himself.]

...yes.

[He can tell he's going to wind up quarantined. Coughing and unreasonably bored. His life could get lower, but right now Yuan's having trouble seeing it, and the slowly-healing wound aches with the phantom of the cough.]

[The healer stands back with arms folded once Yuan is settled.]

I don't intend to take any chances. There are treatments and there's every chance he'll recover -- especially if the wound isn't infected, which I am going to check -- but I won't take the risk of this passing to the other wounded. I'll have Knight-Initiate Adrasteia's tent commandeered for the purpose, thank you.

[simulsimul]

[The look on Ka-Fai's face is exactly the sort Kratos has seen on his under-ten siblings. Yuan's just lucky he's wise enough not to say out loud some of the thoughts Kratos knows are running through his head; Kratos has no reservations about treating him like a child if he acts like one.]

Adrasteia.

[Kratos nods at her and she vanishes out the tent-flap.]

She'll prepare the tent for you. I'll send over some corpsmen to help move him once she's done.

[He glances down at Ka-Fai with a faintly indulgent air, like from an older sibling to a younger.]

And possibly some reading material so he'll stop showing his claws.

[Honestly. Kratos doesn't wait for a response, but with a nod at the healer, turns to leave.]

[conductingresistance]

[What claws. Yuan scowls now at Kratos's retreating back, but ultimately can't do anything about it. He hates so very much about this situation.]

[He can't do much about it, either. Rarely has Yuan felt quite so helpless. He does not a model patient make, but he does bite his tongue now and then rather than push his luck so far the healer winds up having to call Kratos back to glare indulgently at him.]

[So he's separated from the others, and moved into the horribly empty tent that lately belonged to Knight-Initiate Adrasteia. Yuan wonders idly if she'll resent him for it, though he doesn't linger there. He suffers the various tonics forced on him with sullen ill grace, aware he's childish and temperamental and hating that too, even as the cough sets in more fully and becomes disgustingly productive. The stab wound aches with every cough, sometimes deep and -- ha -- stabbing, other times more generally, since mercifully it's healing.]

[He really shouldn't snap at the people who are trying to help him. He knows this. And yet Yuan still winds up hating everything about being sick and wounded, including himself. It's probably a mercy no one save the healer and Kratos really visit him, since he's technically quarantined.]

[Yuan informs himself he does not actually care about Kratos's opinion of him. The commander cannot rescind the citizenship offer for Yuan being crotchety and sick. Probably. And yet he's painfully aware of how useless he is.]

[At least there is reading material, however condescendingly given. Time fades into the haze of sickness and sleep and general anger, and at least Yuan can tell he is mending, but it seems agonizingly slow.]

[simulsimul]

[To be fair, Kratos doesn't have time to visit all that often. He does suffer through being dosed to stave off any possibility of the regiment commander likewise falling ill; but at least he finds adjusting to having a room-mate far easier than Adrasteia, who is both an only child and has become accustomed to the benefits of having Commander Aurion as a master.

[Fortunately, she's too gracious to hold a grudge. It's one of the reasons Kratos chose her.

[Kratos does at least get regular updates from the healer. Pneumonia is the verdict, and no one else in the tent falls sick, so measures taken to prevent the spread succeeded. They don't have the resources to inoculate everyone, however, so Yuan's visitors are sorely limited, particularly given the commander tax on Kratos's time.

[Still, there are some nights he has a spare hour or so. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen; and one not particularly special evening is one of them. He doesn't really feel like going back to his tent, and he's already done rounds of the camp to unobtrusively observe. His regiment is familiar with his tendency to do so, but Lirea's still isn't, entirely; there's a few things he needs to talk to her about regarding camp security and discipline. And he'd like somewhere quieter to consider them, rather than be afflicted by Adrasteia's snoring.

[Which results, somewhat unthinkingly, in Kratos quietly entering Yuan's tent, pausing by the entrance to see whether he's disturbed Yuan in doing so.]

[conductingresistance]

[Until now, Yuan has mostly been used to Kratos ducking in and out-- perfunctory visits, in and out, obviously just checking on his living status. That's fine, if boring. It leaves him little enough time to reach a point of snapping at Kratos, which is for the best all around.]

[This time, though. Yuan's awake, a light, slim book he's already read twice open in his lap. The motion at the entrance makes his eyes flick up, taking in Kratos's bearing and going thoughtful instead of returning to reading.]

[It looks, oddly enough, like Kratos intends to stay for a little while. Inasmuch as Yuan is capable of reading the man; it simply seems like there's a stillness about him that isn't usually present when he's commanding, and handling fifteen things at once. Yuan fixes his place in the book in his mind, closes it, and raises his eyebrows at Kratos.]

[...well, he isn't hacking yet.]

What brings you here?

[simulsimul]

[Hacking or not, Ka-Fai doesn't sound well; his voice is hoarse and thick from everything his coughing is trying to bring up. His complexion hasn't really improved either, though at least, from all accounts, he did finally submit to being sponge-bathed by his attending healer. Grudgingly. Yuan, Kratos has been discovering -- thankfully secondhand -- is an awful patient.

[The fact that he's awake, however, nearly makes Kratos leave again; but then he hesitates just a touch too long for that to be anything but a snub. He stirs finally, nearly a shake of himself.]

I was just looking for a quiet spot. I can leave if it's too much a disturbance.

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan is not thinking about the bathing. At all. The less he thinks about that, the better.]

[He hesitates a moment himself, then shakes his head.]

It's fine.

[It isn't like he's trying to get something important done.]

But I doubt I'll be as quiet as you hope. The cough persists.

[He sounds sharp, but it isn't really directed at Kratos.]

[simulsimul]

It isn't worse than Adrasteia's snoring.

[Kratos steps properly in, glancing around. Besides the cot, there's just the crate the healer's been using to store medical supplies; so Kratos settles himself on the ground leaning back against it, with the clipboard against his knee as he fishes a pen out of his belt.

[He does not, immediately, intend to say anything; rather, he starts jotting some notes on an inspection form he intends to give to Lirea to review.]

[conductingresistance]

[She snores. Huh. This makes Yuan laugh, a short sharp bark which triggers one of the coughing fits he warned of. He grimaces as he tries to fight it down, with the result that he isn't in a position to say much of anything until Kratos is settled.]

[Yuan considers the twice-read book. Considers Kratos, and a previously voiced desire for quiet.]

[He is very, very bored.]

The snoring must be very bad, then, if you're this desperate.

[simulsimul]

[Kratos does keep an eye on Ka-Fai as he attempts to expel his lungs, but seeing as this doesn't happen, by the time Yuan looks at him Kratos is already seemingly focussed on his notes.]

There's something about the tone of it. I've never been able to concentrate with her snoring.

[His tone is very nearly indulgent, although it's hard to say whether that's for Ka-Fai or for Adrasteia; certainly Kratos doesn't seem bothered by the conversation, despite the professed need for quiet.]

[conductingresistance]

[Something about Kratos makes Yuan want to keep prodding him. This may be a masochistic sort of an impulse, but Kratos isn't exactly discouraging conversation.]

And you came here instead? She must be quite prodigious.

[In some other situation, Yuan might apologize for necessitating that they bunk together. He is miserable and grumpy enough not to.]

[He drums the fingers of one hand against the book. Damn. Kratos's presence means he can't entirely relax, and he isn't going to just rescind the invitation. As much as a wounded prisoner has that level of control.]

How vital is what you're working on right now?

[simulsimul]

I expected patients to be resting.

[This is without a change in tone, so it's hard to say whether Kratos is being pointed or amused. He doesn't look up, either way.]

It's a camp inspection. Then I intended to write some letters to my family.

[Now he looks up, but without shifting his head; only through a shift in his gaze.]

If it's a bother to have me here, as I said, I can leave.

[conductingresistance]

I've been resting for days.

[And he's still tired, but Yuan's not about to mention that part. He meets the shifted gaze with his own, slightly narrowed.]

I said it's fine.

[He did not say he was going to be quiet. He said something very different, in fact.]

I'm not so polite as to be dishonest about that.

[simulsimul]

[He implied it would be due to coughing. Kratos tips his head a little.]

Then why ask how vital it is?

[The only reasons Kratos can think of is that Yuan is trying to judge how much of a nuisance he might be.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yes, well. Coughing and other things. Yuan is entitled to some variety.]

So I can establish an appropriate amount of interruption. I haven't seen other people very often, and there are only so many times I can read the same book.

[In other words: Yes, Yuan is entirely trying to judge how much of a nuisance it's reasonable to be.]

[simulsimul]

Hmh.

[There may or may not be amusement there, hard to tell though it is for someone who doesn't know him well. Kratos returns his attention to his paperwork, his penmanship smooth and flowing.]

What is it you'd like to say, then?

[It isn't a 'no'.]

[conductingresistance]

[...what is it Yuan wants to say?]

[There's quiet, for some few moments following that question. Yuan scowls at the book like it's done him a grave and personal wrong.]

No one in Sylvarant would believe you're this kind, you know.

[simulsimul]

[There's no response for long enough that Kratos makes some good headway on this report. Luckily it's not something he's submitting officially, so much as something to give to Lirea. She'll have something for him in turn, no doubt. It's policy when two commanders have equal status in a camp.

[But the words, when they come, are surprising enough to make him look up with a tip of his head.]

Kind?

[Yuan does remember how many of his people Kratos has killed, surely? Certainly no one on his own side has ever called him kind, and they're his comrades.]

Where did you get that idea?

[conductingresistance]

[Half a laugh which turns into another damned coughing fit. Yuan really has to watch what he finds amusing.]

If you were anyone else, I'd suspect you of fishing for compliments.

[Not Kratos. Kratos is too confused to be doing that.]

Tch. Don't mistake me, I'm not calling you nice. Your stoic face could terrify children.

But you've done things you didn't have to, for the sake of decency.

[simulsimul]

My stoicism seems to terrify everyone but children.

[He's been around a lot of children, Ka-Fai. They have a way of seeing past the mask, or just existing in such a firm state of hope that the existence of the mask doesn't matter. Kratos goes back to writing, and only after a moment adds:]

If no one upholds themselves to a basic level of decency, even to their enemies, then what's the point of all this?