simulsimul | a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance

Entry tags:

a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Heh. Perhaps both.

[It's almost amused, before it dissolves into a sigh.]

I thought I was prepared. I wasn't.

[Mostly, he just wasn't thinking about it; compartmentalising has generally worked. By the time he can look at something internal, the difficulty is already gone.]

[It's humor, except for where it isn't. Yuan glances back to him, only briefly before looking out the window again.]

You have some time now, if that's what you need. Would you prefer to be alone with your masochism?

[And his love. Either. Both. As it goes.]

[Kratos turns to survey the room. It's spick and span, especially given that they won't be on the skyship all that long, relatively.]

No. I've run out of things to be distracted by on my own, I think.

[This is one of those times when he would appreciate being given orders, if only so he doesn't have to think. Although having to think through commands he's giving to others also works.]

[Yuan notes Kratos doesn't argue the rest of that statement.]

[But he turns, and nods, sharp and almost decisive.]

Help me with my armor, then.

[And yet it isn't as brisk as an instruction would normally be.]

Yes, Master Ka-Fai.

[This is murmured, ironic in a fondly grateful manner; not quite the same as Yuan's orders for him to rest and sleep while he was ill, and yet at the same time, similar. Similar in the permissiveness and the recognition that Yuan is giving an order that Kratos wants to obey, and will, because he trusts in it.

[Kratos steps closer, ignoring the ache in his hip, to start unbuckling Yuan's armour with practiced fingers.]

[Yuan doesn't even take all that much offense to the title; he can understand Kratos's tone well enough.]

[So he lifts his arms, angles himself so Kratos has the easiest access to the buckles, and does not draw back startled from the touch of another person when he's practically invited it. It's... odd, getting out of it with help; the times such a thing has happened before, Yuan was too injured to do it himself, or the armor itself damaged. This isn't strictly necessary.]

[But it is easier.]

Both this and your brace will need looking-after, if you're inclined to keep busy.

[He's just saying. Yuan doesn't comment further.]

[For a moment Kratos honestly isn't sure whether Yuan's noticed that Kratos has been wearing the brace longer than recommended at this early stage, or just knows Kratos well enough to be pointed about the need to take it off. In the end, it doesn't matter. Although Yuan's armour is hardly dirtied, at this early stage, looking after it and the brace are things to do which occupy Kratos through the afternoon. Going to sleep to the backdrop of the skyship's low-grade rumble is just one more thing which is oddly soothing.

[It does not stay soothing for long. Kratos doesn't historically have much trouble getting to sleep, or staying there; but on this occasion his sleep is restless. He keeps waking in fitful starts, dreams scattering before he can remember them, except for the persistent coppery smell of blood in his nose. Every time he drops off again, it's with an impending sense of doom, as if his mind knows where the dreams are headed before they get there.

["You've been a worthy adversary. Have you a last request, Consul Legionnaire?"

["Spare my brother. Spare Kratos."

["I thought you Tethe'allans believed in a heroic death."

["..."

["Very well. Take him out of the line."

[The memory of cutting agony in the back of his thigh is what makes Kratos awaken this time, with a strangled not-quite cry. He's drenched in sweat and shivering, gripping his thigh as if that will assuage the phantom ache in it. He's distantly surprised to find it isn't bloodied.]

[Yuan sleeps lightly. Perhaps he's naturally this way, or perhaps it was simply learned after years in places where he needed to wake quickly. Regardless, it's useful, especially now.]

[The rumble of engines is deceptive, but not loud enough to cover sound in the room itself. Yuan blinks awake with Kratos's noise, utterly still until he establishes what's happening, puts together the sound from the cot near him with Kratos.]

[The room has more light to his eyes than it would to a human's. By that token Yuan can see Kratos, dimly silvered in the light from the window, can tell he's awake and shuddering.]

[Nightmares, then. Altogether, Yuan isn't surprised. If he were entirely awake he might think better of pushing himself upright, letting on he's seen the moment of weakness. He isn't. He's drowsy and it's dark and it's easy to get up without thinking, swinging his legs to the floor.]

[Softly:]

Kratos. You know where you are?

[Time takes itself to rearrange. Kratos knows he isn't in Vanaheim; but it proves equally difficult to convince his body of that fact. He rests on his elbow and breathes into his pillow, his cheeks wet.

[Yuan's quiet voice cuts through the ghosts more cleanly than anything Kratos could do himself.]

Skyship.

[Kratos's voice is raw, and he takes another breath, resting his forehead on his arm, swallowing against the burn in his eyes. He isn't hurt, he tries to tell himself; but his mind and body are convinced he is, still.]

Good.

[Yuan has known soldiers to wake still convinced they are prisoned, or caught beneath a dead comrade, or worse. Kratos aware of his situation is a promising sign.]

[He can't quite ascertain, from here, the look on Kratos's face. He can hear how raw his voice is.]

I'm coming over there.

[As a warning, so Kratos isn't startled when he's still on-edge. Yuan suits actions to words, standing and crossing only to sit again on the edge of Kratos's cot, one hand tentative on his back.]

[Even the warning doesn't quite prepare Kratos for the hand on his back, no matter how gentle; not with the memory of o Branain behind him, and the impending dread of pain for which he still couldn't prepare. No matter how light, Yuan's touch makes him flinch and tense like an coiled spring pulled to the edge of breaking, though he manages not to roll or retaliate.

[It's Yuan. It's just Yuan.

[Kratos forces himself to exhale, and that takes some of the hunch out of his shoulders. It doesn't ease the tightness in his chest, the dampness in his eyes, or the raggedness of his breath. This might be intolerable, if anyone else had been witnessing it.

[It's very nearly intolerable now, if only for the question Kratos, somehow, never thought to ask, now emblazoned in his mind. He does not lift his head to ask it, and his voice remains as raw as before.]

Whose division are we joining in Vanaheim?

[If it's in Vanaheim -- surely the same man isn't in command of the city, after all this time. Surely. (Please.)]

Easy.

[Murmured. Yuan almost draws his touch back; decides at the last that a grounding is probably better than a lack thereof. Keeps his hand on Kratos light, easy enough to duck away from.]

[He answers before he can think why.]

General Cathaoir o Branain. There are worse to serve under.

[And then he catches up, mentally, through the daze of shaken-off sleep, and recalls who was commanding when Vanaheim fell, whose name was on all the reports and spoken of among other soldiers with not insignificant awe for some time.]

--ah.

[Because of course. Why would they want to relieve the man who'd taken Vanaheim for them? Why wouldn't they give him his due, by letting him keep his prize? Even so, Kratos's next exhale has sound in it, something cut off; neither sob nor whimper, but something close to both. Unconsciously he moves to curl up, one hand still protectively gripping his leg, as if to staunch a wound.

[Under other circumstances, that would never happen. But he hasn't slept well, and he's still trying to convince himself that the memory was just a memory; past, done, unchangeable.

[It doesn't help, knowing who is waiting at their destination.]

[Spirits damn it. Yuan's heart aches in ways he isn't accustomed to.]

I won't let further harm come to you.

[Which is a poor promise, given his earlier failures on that front, but it's all he can think right now, and it comes from his mouth before he can think better of it.]

Kratos. Be here, not then.

[It's all he can think. It probably isn't helpful. Yuan strokes down Kratos's back, hesitant and gentle, at an utter loss for anything. He-- should perhaps stop.]

[Be here, not then. I won't let further harm come to you. Kratos takes deep breaths, letting those words fill him up, letting the stroke of Yuan's hand ground him until the words become something more than just sound.

[Cot. Close walls. Rumble of the skyship's engine. Here, being transported. Safe, owned, protected. Surely o Branain got all he could get from Kratos already.

[Even still, the thought of meeting the man makes Kratos quail inside. He tries to expunge it with a last deep, shaky breath, and doesn't quite manage; but at least it does let him reassert some calm. Even still, he can't quite bring himself to lift his head just yet, even if some of the tension in his body has eased out.]

Forgive me for waking you.

[This is soft, hoarse for everything Kratos has just been trying to contain.]

It's fine.

[Yuan says this almost immediately, dismissive and quiet, and doesn't stop that same careful motion, since it seems -- somehow -- to be helping. Frankly, Yuan wouldn't have blamed Kratos for shoving him away at this point.]

It wouldn't be the first time.

[And he's more concerned for Kratos than for his own sleep, or lack thereof. They have time aboard the skyship; he'll catch up.]

I'm here, if it's any comfort.

[Just... generally. It feels inane, since Yuan's already been sitting here a little while, but nevertheless it also feels like something that must be said aloud. Emotions are complicated.]

[It's the same kind of automatic response which reveals how out of depth Yuan truly is. Ordinarily it would be endearing. It still is endearing, for the fact that Yuan is there, trying, even if he doesn't quite know what to do. [Ordinarily, that would be enough. It isn't enough this time. And there's an offer in Yuan's words, even if he doesn't realise it's there.

[Wordlessly Kratos pushes himself up and turns to put himself in Yuan's embrace, resting his chin on Yuan's shoulder. The last time he'd received a hug from someone --

["Are you ready?"

["Are you?"

["Hah. You're forgetting you're not the only Aurion born ready to die, little brother. Even if we should lose --"

["We're Aurions. We don't lose. Even when we lose, we don't lose."

["Then let us dare. And don't die before me, Kratos. That's an order."

[Kratos squeezes his eyes shut and exhales shakily, his grip tightening around Yuan. As much as he's managed to calm himself, the tears still haven't stopped. He knows what dream is waiting next time he sleeps. Maybe the concrete reminder that he isn't alone in the midst of enemies will be enough to stave it off.]

[Yuan doesn't expect it. Kratos's movement is obvious, and he isn't startled, but nevertheless... he isn't expecting to be hugged.]

[Perhaps, then, Kratos needs someone to hold him. It's simple enough, even if Yuan doesn't have much practice, to put his arms around Kratos's shoulders in turn.]

[It's warm. For some moments, Yuan even forgets to question why Kratos would turn to him for this. He's here, after all. This is something friends do, when needed or wanted. There's no one else, and nothing else important right now.]

Take as long as you need.

[Yuan does not, he finds, really want to let go.]

[It's good that Yuan makes that offer. Kratos doesn't know how he's meant to pull away. In one fell swoop, everything he'd been investing in Nidavellir to avoid has risen to bite him; he can't remember the last time he was so vulnerable as to need to be held. Most times, he's managed.

[He's managed because there hasn't been someone. Now there is. It's the reason why the bracelets are a comfort to him; why being owned has been a state he can accept. Even sibings, Aurions must accept will be lost. Yuan, more than anything, has been constant. Even from opposite sides.]

He asked her if she had any last requests.

[This isn't precisely sudden, even though Kratos doesn't mean to say it. The hug is releasing the tension in him enough for words to come out, whether he intends it or not.]

She meant to die in battle if she could, but he offered the rest of our forces amnesty if she surrendered -- and by then the royal line had already been killed, taken or escaped. So she surrendered.

[Even though it meant her officers' lives would be forfeit. Some had fought on anyway. But the bulk of the remaining troops -- and there hadn't been many, in comparison; the rest she'd sent northward with Bia -- the bulk, she'd managed to save. In so far as they could be saved, as slaves.]

Before he -- executed her -- he asked if she wanted anything. She asked him to spare me. So he had them take me out of the line and --

[His throat closes and he struggles for a moment, tears in his eyes and grief in his chest.]

[Kratos goes on, and Yuan panics only briefly about what to say, until it's clear Kratos isn't really looking for anyone to say anything. It seems to be enough that someone else knows. Maybe that someone else is aware how much it matters, how much it hurt.]

[Yuan thinks, with a peculiar sort of clarity, that Kratos needs to be seen just as much as he did. He tightens his hold on Kratos just a little, lets one hand come up to stroke his ever-unruly hair. It's a possessive gesture, Yuan's well aware. That's fine enough; both of them have made their feelings more or less clear on that subject.]

[He can fill in -- he thinks -- what Kratos hasn't managed to say yet. O Branain made Kratos's sister watch the fulfilling of his word, ensuring Kratos would live but never -- theoretically -- present a sincere danger as a combatant again.]

She saved thousands of lives, including yours. I can't regret that, save for the pain it causes you.

[Prompting, sort of. In addition to reminding Kratos the death had an end. Yuan can't help but think he's grateful to her, as well. He has Kratos, after all.]

[The hand gentle on his hair helps unlock Kratos's throat, but hard to make him gasp with the tears, so it still takes him a moment to answer. It isn't a response to what Yuan says. Kratos hears him, but can barely comprehend that Yuan said anything.]

He made me face her. My hands were chained behind me so I couldn't do anything. I heard him draw his sword. That was all the warning I had before he cut my leg out from under me.

[His voice is tight and hoarse, trembling.]

Then he signalled the executioner. The last thing she saw was me on the ground. I couldn't even stand up for her -- I was the last thing she saw, and I couldn't even stand up for her. I barely remember anything after, but I remember that. And I remember -- being put in a tent so dark I couldn't see anything. Couldn't hear anything but a high-pitched noise which kept me awake. O Branain asking me questions. But I don't remember whether I said anything. I must have -- if he let me go. But I don't remember what I said.

[How badly had he hurt the resistance in the northern provinces? Kratos doesn't know. But he must have caved. If only he could remember what he said.]

[It would be optimism to offer that perhaps o Branain simply couldn't get anything out of Kratos. Yuan doubts it, personally. But: Kratos would not have done so willingly.]

Don't take what isn't yours to bear.

[A freshly hamstrung person standing is, as far as Yuan knows, impossible. And the point of interrogation is to coerce information from a person. It would be easy to blame oneself, but personally he considers Kratos faultless.]

[Then again, he is Sylvaranti. And he's well aware he and Kratos don't have the same relationship to loyalty.]

...I'm sorry.

[Yuan rarely says these words. Even now, it's for sympathy, more than anything else. Something offered where he still has nothing else to give.]

[Kratos's words have been depleted enough that now he can hear what Yuan says, and what he doesn't say. Right now, the direction seems beyond him; but if he takes it as an order, even a gentle one, he thinks he has the strength to try.

[Even still, his voice remains raw, and tired with the weeping, instead of tight with it.]

What if he asks me for more?

[Would being Yuan's now be enough of a defence that o Branain would not ask, or would be unable to bring his influence to bear? Or would he merely have to order Yuan to turn over his property? It's the sort of question Kratos feels he might be able to answer, if it were any other circumstance.]

You were given over to sale because it was believed nothing more could be gained from you.

[A brisk, not entirely gentle assessment. It's true that it's possible now that Kratos might give information on the lay of the land, or how troops are likely to move, but Yuan isn't going to ask. They can manage.]

Anything minute that would have slipped by will be more relevant to field details, not the grand scheme.

[The General is managing things, but not in the field quite so much as Yuan will be. Yuan leans his head against Kratos's, eyes half-shut.]

And in any case, you're mine. In theory, if you have more information to give, it will be for me to ascertain and acquire.

[Look at him not asking.]

[You're mine. It's been said, more than once, but in Yuan's embrace and with Yuan bending enough to rest his head there, it feels realer in this moment than it ever has. Not that it didn't, before -- but with every breath, the tightness in Kratos's chest feels more manageable.

[Kratos's next exhale is as shaky as the rest, but there's a release in it, and a great deal of the lingering tension in him dissolves. He can't remember the last time he's been held like this, but it's what he needs, right now. It's how the 'mine' sounds to him, whenever Yuan says it, whether Yuan's aware that he's said it or not. As if there's someone Kratos can rely on, no matter what.

[He knows that's not how it should be, according to Sylvaranti customs. But Kratos is fiercely glad Yuan is not the usual Sylvaranti.]

Thank you.

[The words come on a breath, and small; but still, Kratos doesn't move.]

a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance

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