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]

Is that enforced, or simply how things end up?

[Since it does make sense for people to live near where they work, after all. Yuan's line of sight follows where Kratos indicates, and eventually his gaze goes distant as he tries to assemble something like a mental map of the city so far.]

[There isn't much to put there, and he doesn't have quite the frame of reference for the surrounding lands, either. It'll take time. Yuan glances back to what's ahead of them.]

[It's something of a walk. Fortunately, he doesn't mind. And could use the exercise.]

...it's beautiful, in its way, I suppose.

[This is only a little grudging.]

[simulsimul]

It's simply how things end up.

[At least, Kratos doesn't remember any need or attempt to enforce it. It's just always made sense. And Yuan's grudging admittance is more interesting than considering whether or not it should be that way. Kratos glances at him sidelong in a fashion which almost approaches offended -- or would, if Kratos knew how to be offended.]

In its way? Hmh. You don't sound convinced. I'll just have to convince you.

[Kratos speaks to fill the time to where the boulevard intersects with the street leading into the hills. He points out the carved frescos on the aquaduct pillars, and the way the aquaducts are built so the falling shadows show the hour, no matter where in the city one might be. He bids Yuan to listen for the bells, which sound at different tenors at different times of day, to indicate who is approaching the city, who is in residence, the weather, the time. He shows Yuan how the cobblestones in the boulevard are shaped and modeled in a giant mosaic reflecting constellations. They pass by the broad wall which, in spring, will become bedecked in ivy, under whose leaves young hopefuls write their wishes, to be answered by other young hopefuls. He talks about the spring festival, when the aquaducts are wreathed in flowers and parades move through the city, blessing houses whose flowers match the spirits whom they represent.

[Though Kratos's voice never really rises above a certain level, there's a vibrancy in it, a constant shift in tone and cadence more akin to the rhythm of a song than simple words. Kratos himself is animated in a way he hadn't been on the battlefield; where that was fluid control, this is leashed and understated passion, made all the more intense for it.]

[conductingresistance]

[Never have more innocuous words sounded more like a threat. Yuan is proven more and more correct as Kratos goes on. And on. And on. After a while he's focusing more on the way Kratos goes on than the city itself. Though there's useful information in there too, bits about the local customs Yuan tucks away to be less obvious an outsider, it's Kratos that's the real novelty.]

[Yuan has never seen him this passionate. It's understated, but it's there; Kratos has sincere and genuine love for his home city.]

[Carefully, Yuan quashes thoughts of Nidavellir.]

You're starting to sound poetic, Kratos.

[Dry, but not necessarily a jab. Just informative, and wondering if Kratos is at all conscious of what he's feeling.]

[simulsimul]

[They've approached the intersection, at this point, and Kratos takes a breath to check himself, chagrined by the realisation that he has almost entirely forgotten himself. It isn't the first time; but there is a very good reason why Kratos tries to be taciturn. Anything less results in ... well, in moments like this.

[He's not sure if Yuan's words are meant to be a tease or not.]

Heh. I suppose I am.

[... He should probably put a lid on that. It's getting too close to things he can no longer have. Luckily, the theatre is further down the street; by the time they pass it, it should hurt less. In the meantime, he turns up the street, which has fewer people in it; but the people they pass now greet Kratos more regularly, and frequently by name.]

This area of the city is where the subsistence bloodlines live.

[It is, markedly, far less descriptive than anything else Kratos has said recently.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan himself isn't entirely sure if he's teasing or not, so at least they're on an equal footing.]

[Carefully:]

I didn't mean you needed to stop.

[Though why Kratos should give that opinion any weight... well. It's obvious, at least, that he has some feelings about subsistence bloodlines, which Yuan has already concluded are a fairly stupid concept. He'll do a credible job of pretending they're not, but really.]

I see you're well-known here. ...are there many?

[simulsimul]

[What is that tone? Kratos isn't sure about that either. Was Yuan afraid he'd offended him, or might? Hard to say. In the end, Kratos lets it pass, and simply nods as they move up the hill. It's not all one, but a series of small valleys.]

Most of the noble families have them, but there's usually only about a dozen needed at any given time, if that.

[From what Kratos read about the history of law, that was part of the legislation to prevent abuse on the part of the noble families. He had to wonder just what the families had done, before that amendment came into being.]

They all serve different fields -- primarily but not always in the military. Usually they're renewed when there's a shortage in any given occupation.

[conductingresistance]

[There's the lingering feeling that Yuan missed something in that exchange. Perhaps they both did.]

[Yuan shakes his head at Kratos's last, leaning into the hill as they start up it.]

That's a pretty way to say 'when too many soldiers die.'

[That may have come out a touch too snippy, for something that isn't Yuan's country or culture. He shakes his head.]

Mm. I suppose it isn't my place to comment on the way things are done here.

[simulsimul]

So it is.

[Kratos can't deny that, although few here would put it so bluntly. He shakes his head with a slight huff.]

We're not a dictatorship. You believe what you believe. You wouldn't be the only one who disapproves of the subsistence bloodlines.

[Of course, most of the people who do, do so because they believe it gives the wealthy an unfair advantage. It's somewhat true, Kratos supposes; but the law itself benefits the poor as well, sine they receive rebates also. Then, of course, there are those who simply believe the subsistence bloodlines are being unfairly augmented ... not unlike half-elves, come to think of it.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan makes a disgruntled noise right back at him.]

Perhaps it's that easy for you. Without knowing exactly how Tethe'alla's climate welcomes half-elves, it's... safer, to keep certain things my own counsel until my social position puts me beyond reprisal.

[This has the sound of reasoning he's gone through before. The 'if' Yuan doesn't say, but he feels it's implied.]

...Never mind. It's this one?

[Pointing ahead.]

[simulsimul]

['Easy'. Heh. Kratos's mouth turns down wryly, but he doesn't answer that. It's still easier than what Yuan has to endure, that much is true.]

Yet you said it aloud, regardless.

[It's a note, more than an accusation; it's an interesting mix, that Yuan is assured enough to bring it up with Kratos, even as he believes he shouldn't, with others. It's ... almost touching, in a way, that he trusts Kratos that far.

[Kratos nods in the direction Yuan's pointing. The banner at the front is enough of a tell, really; the aquaduct rises over it with an outlet to siphon into the building.]

Yes, that's the one. Most houses are build in a rectangle around a gardening courtyard and an aquifer. The villas here have three such buildings, connected by an open walkway. You'd be able to see them from the aquaduct catwalk.

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan's mouth turns down into a scowl anyway.]

If you had ill intent, you would be long past the time to show it.

[Kratos, of all people, has gone to every length to help Yuan. It's peculiar, but... something resembling reliable. So far. Yuan eyes Kratos sidelong, and declines to say anything more on the topic.]

I take it you're not planning to go up so far as the catwalks today.

[The banner is noted only a little belatedly.]

[simulsimul]

We can, if you wish; but no, I hadn't planned it.

[There's a way up from inside the villa. The front, however, appears to have no gardens or means to distinguish, aside from the framing of the door; but the building fronting to the street is length-ways, spanning the width of the two rectangles behind.

[Kratos takes them up to the door and lets them in without knocking, pausing to take off his boots and pull on some indoor sandals; his cloak he takes off and hangs up, leaving him only in tunic and trousers. The entrance is a short hall into an atrium, which is inhabited by a deep pool of still water, lit by the purifiers. There's a gap in the ceiling over it, where the roof slopes in to collect rainwater or be refilled by the channel leading to the aquaduct.]

Master Kratos! Should I tell Nan you're here?

[This is one of the staff, coming to investigate the sound of the opening door; Kratos shakes his head at her.]

No, I'm going that way; thank you.

[conductingresistance]

It might be interesting, to see from such a perspective.

[Yuan follows Kratos in, and is immediately arrested by the changing of shoes procedure. He watches what Kratos does, hesitates briefly.]

Should... I also change?

[There seem to be sandals for guests, which he'd take as proof, but he'd like to be sure. Here Yuan is all abruptly uncertain again; it's an unfamiliar place, unfamiliar styles, but the fact there is staff alone tells him it's moneyed.]

[He lifts his chin to hide the uncertainty, slanting his eyes across to Kratos.]

Who is Nan?

[simulsimul]

[The staff member takes her lave, and Kratos turns, realising belatedly that the simpler customs may still be alien.]

Ah -- yes, go ahead. Nan's the head of the household.

[Because they aren't raised by their parents, of course. Kratos waits for Yuan to change his shoes and then takes him into the atrium proper, bending to scoop water from the aquifer using the colourfully patterned clay cups, suitable for holding in the palm, and kept on the low table for just such a purpose. He hands one to Yuan and drains the other, then reaches for a couple of the amphoras resting against one of the carved pillars, bending to fill those as well.]

It's about time for the garden to be watered.

[This is the only real explanation offered.]

[conductingresistance]

I think that must mean something very different here.

[Yuan sets that aside to consider later, and bends to change his shoes as indicated. He trails Kratos after -- drinks the offered water, sets the empty cup down, and reaches for one of the empty amphoras. This he's on firmer ground with; Yuan has slightly more than passing knowledge of plants.]

I'll help, in that case.

[Though it looks slightly like Kratos is putting off going to see this Nan, since he just said they were headed that way. With water acquired, Yuan glances around the atrium more thoroughly, assessing the environs, making more notes on what's apparently usual here; eventually his gaze returns to Kratos, intending to follow where he leads.]

[simulsimul]

[Kratos straightens with the amphora under his arm, moving around the aquifer toward the courtyard behind, separated by a long hall and a stretch of mosaic. To either side there's an alcove with a statue of the family's gods -- or spirits, in this case -- Efreet on one side, Celsius on the other. The base of Efreet's statue reads 'passion'; the base of Celsius's reads 'intellect'.

[Kratos pauses to bow at both of them, and glances at Yuan.]

Mean something different here?

[conductingresistance]

The role the head of household plays.

[Yuan opts to brace the amphora against his hip, one arm wrapped around it as he trails Kratos.]

[The statues of the spirits are recognizable mostly because of what comes with them; Yuan doesn't often see them purely depicted so. To that end he studies the statues instead of bowing as Kratos does, wondering at the choice to show them as people. More or less, anyway. Fire accompanies the man he assumes is Efreet, and the opposing statue shows more wolf than woman, but crystal and wolf is almost a giveaway for Celsius.]

Do you know who it was made the choice, to show-- Efreet and Celsius, I assume.

[simulsimul]

Perhaps. What are you thinking she plays?

[Kratos follows Yuan's studying gaze, tipping his head while he re-examines the statues in turn, trying to consider them from the perspective of someone unfamiliar with the manner in which Tethe'alla shows the spirits.]

You assume correctly. I don't know, no. Someone early into the creation of the Aurion line, I suppose. The captions read 'Passion' and 'Intellect', if you were wondering.

[conductingresistance]

The head of household is the head of the clan, in essence. Someone else might handle matters of supply, or scheduling, but the head is the person to whom all responsibilities come; the decisions, and the weight, and the loyalty. Even when a clan becomes so broad that it has several homes, the heads within their homes have that same responsibility, on a smaller scale.

[But from what Kratos has said about subsistence bloodlines, and how he has never been able to choose anything else, compared to the more casual way he speaks of Nan, Yuan sincerely doubts those two things are related here.]

I was. It's an interesting combination. Appropriate, for fire and ice.

[simulsimul]

I see. No, the household is literal in this case. The head of the family would be what you're describing; they live elsewhere, in the leading bloodline's villa outside the city.

[Although Kratos has never met him, blood father or not.]

The subsistence bloodlines live separately, so the households need someone who heads it on the main family's behalf. That would be Nan.

[Who is now visible in the first courtyard, in fact, with a hat on her head while bent over the herb garden the staff keeps in the lead building. The other two are for training. She straightens when she hears their footsteps, dark hair faintly greying around the temples, but eyes still sharp. They soften when they see Kratos, narrow when they see Yuan.]

Zelus wasn't carrying tales, I see.

Good day, Nan.

[Kratos meets her at the edge of the garden to kiss her cheek. She humphs, but it's fond.]

Those had better not be amphoras of wine for the two of you.

[conductingresistance]

[Outside the city. For whatever reason that strikes Yuan as disloyal, in its way, though he doesn't know how to phrase it. And they are, after all, the people who are responsible for producing Kratos.]

[On this front, Yuan bites his tongue, and looks to the new person being introduced. She does not, he thinks, look all that much like Kratos, who is by necessity and familiarity his measuring stick for all things Aurion.]

[There is, however, genuine care evident even just from this.]

...I was given to understand the gardens needed watering.

[Yuan eyes Kratos, then the amphora he carries. Does that seem so genuine a risk?]

[simulsimul]

So they do. It's good to know Kratos still remembers the rhythm of the household.

[It's faux-caustic, even while she pats Kratos's cheek and then pulls back to point at the lines of herbs.]

You can start there, then. Both sides at once; two amphoras should be enough for around the square. While you explain.

[Obediently Kratos moves around the lines of herbs , gripping the amphora by the handle just enough to tilt it so the water comes at an even flow as he walks beside the garden.]

Explain what?

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan takes the other side from Kratos, absently testing soil with one hand and being cautious about how much he pours. He's not familiar with amphoras, after all, and it's easier to add more water than it is to take water from an over-watered plant.]

[He does pause to be very faintly amused at Kratos. Apparently Yuan has simply become something for Kratos to take for granted, not to explain. Either that or Kratos is being utterly obtuse on purpose.]

[Either would be amusing in its way.]

I don't recognize all of these herbs.

[A quiet question, though, since Nan and Kratos are evidently having a discussion.]

[simulsimul]

I'll get you a list.

[This is Nan answering, very nearly curt to get in front of Kratos's customarily even responses.]

Kratos, honestly. This is not the first time you've naturalised prisoners, but the one time you befriend and bring someone home, it's the half-elf who's tried to murder you on multiple occasions.

[Kratos hums, like a stand-in for a response he's trying to create.]

Sylvaranti and Tethe'allans frequently try to murder each other, Nan. That doesn't mean we always must.

[Nan shakes her head with a sigh.]

That romantic heart of yours is going to get you killed one day, boy.

[conductingresistance]

[Very quietly, Yuan chokes on his next inhalation. Surely Nan cannot in fact mean romantic. He would have noticed something of the sort.]

[...No. She must mean it differently. Something to do with the storytelling style, perhaps.]

I would promise you I don't plan to do anything of the sort again; but I suspect you wouldn't take my word for it.

[It doesn't even sound particularly bitter. He moves along the row of herbs, focusing down rather than on the conversation. This, too, can be weathered.]