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]

[Oh. That makes plenty of room. Kratos finds a place on his stomach, not precisely sprawled but enough that he won't find it difficult to move his leg out in the morning. Having someone at his back should not have been comforting, after that nightmare; and yet it is, after the distance of time, and knowing who it is.

[Particularly with the arm across him. It's possessive in the soothing way. When Kratos closes his eyes to reach for sleep, it does come; and while it isn't entirely restful, it's enough that he doesn't remember what he dreams.

[The next morning, Kratos wakes feeling if not rested, then safe. Then, given a minute for past events to sink in, ashamed. Yuan shouldn't have had to deal with that. One of the things Yuan relies on him for is to manage himself, surely. For the rest of the day, Kratos is even quieter than usual, and keeps his head down, obeying wordlessly and trying to make himself as little of a burden as possible.

[By evening he feels quietly exhausted, but says nothing. The thought of trying to sleep again makes his stomach lurch; but what's he meant to do? A person needs sleep, and even an ex-soldier should be able to handle bad dreams.

[Even still, when the time comes, he sits on the cot and eyes the pillow, and makes no attempt to lay down.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan still sleeps lightly; but if Kratos dreams, it doesn't wake him. Good.]

[He doesn't comment in the morning, not sure if Kratos's pride can bear it. It's a different matter in daylight, when consciousness is in full swing and the regard of others sets in again, and Yuan doesn't press, no matter how odd and unsettling it is to see Kratos with his head so bowed.]

[So he goes through the day and doesn't comment, treats Kratos like normal, hoping that will abate it; only by the time they're settling for the evening again, Kratos looks very little different.]

[Yuan comes to a halt in front of him, looking down at familiar unruly auburn.]

Are you all right?

[simulsimul]

[Even with the warning of the footfall, Kratos starts when Yuan speaks. Somewhere in the midst of staring at his pillow, he had begun to consider how he might best avoid sleeping tonight.]

I'm fine.

[It's just as well. He should at least try. Resolutely Kratos reaches out to tug the pillow into a more palatable position, and then reaches down to take off his boots.]

[conductingresistance]

[Somehow, Yuan finds he's unimpressed. He takes only one step back, to give Kratos the room to bend over, and otherwise remains in exactly the same attitude, observing Kratos.]

I don't think I believe you. You've been off all day.

[He's prodding, giving Kratos the opportunity to say something himself.]

[simulsimul]

[... It's difficult to resist even an unspoken order, with Yuan looming over him like that. Kratos sets his boots down and pushes them gently under the cot using his heels.]

Forgive me for burdening you last night. It won't happen again.

[He does not look up.]

[conductingresistance]

[Spirits damn it all. This is what Yuan gets for thinking progress is being made.]

it's rather presumptuous to assume you posed a burden.

[There's no real edge to his words, though. Just statement.]

Do you think the same thing likely to happen again?

[simulsimul]

[That makes Kratos hunch in a little further. The fact that there's no anger there somehow makes the words harder to hear. How could it have been anything but a burden? He took half of Yuan's bed.]

-- Likely enough.

[His voice is softer than usual as well, unsure. He's not sure how to handle this; not only his being incapable, but his having someone who cares, who can do something about it.]

[conductingresistance]

[Damn again. How does Yuan gentle himself enough?]

[Gingerly he sets a hand on Kratos's shoulder again.]

If you judge it that probable, then it doesn't make sense not to take steps to ward it off.

[He's just-- offering.]

[simulsimul]

[The gentle weight of that hand feels simultaneously lifting and burdening. How can being offered help feel like so much of a weight? Because you shouldn't need the help at all. You're the one who helps others, not the other way around.

[And yet, Yuan said he wasn't a burden. Kratos stirs slightly under his hand, head lifting a bit but not enough for his face to be seen past his bangs.]

How could it not have been a burden?

[conductingresistance]

[The frown this produces from Yuan is not disapproving, but utterly bemused.]

How could it have been?

[He offered. It's not like he moves unduly in his sleep. If anything, Yuan would have been concerned for imposing something unwanted on Kratos.]

[simulsimul]

... I wasn't strong enough.

[In turn, Kratos shifts again, almost-but-not-quite lifting his head. His tone is likewise confused.]

I should think that in the field you'd want to be able to rely on someone who won't --

[Break down after one bout of nightmares. Especially given where they're going.]

[conductingresistance]

[A flat line of a stare. Yuan persists for a moment in that, then shakes his head.]

We're approaching the place where everything was taken from you.

[Looking back, he'd be more surprised if Kratos was entirely fine.]

You've been fine up until now. We won't be in Vanaheim more than a few days.

[Yuan is, on some levels, assuming this will ease once the stressor is gone.]

Even today, while you were more quiet and withdrawn than usual, you fulfilled your duties.

[simulsimul]

[In some ways, the faith is frightening. Kratos has lived up to his name because he had to. This is one of the first times he's felt he wants to live up to someone's expectations, just because of who they are.]

What if I'm not fine after Vanaheim? What if --

[He can't finish; he doesn't know how. He doesn't usually entertain what ifs. There isn't any point. But right now they feel as if they're crowding his heart and mind, and he can't keep them out. He could manage his two worlds as long as they were separate, but after Vanaheim means the northern provinces, and he's not sure how he's meant to keep them from colliding.]

[conductingresistance]

And what if you are fine?

[There's really no point in borrowing trouble from the future. The future will bring that soon enough.]

Your mind is clouded by grief and fear and some-- nebulous idea of strength. It might help if you got some rest.

[If Yuan can fend off nightmares for him, then he damn well will.]

[simulsimul]

[The prickly bluntness brings Kratos almost upright, forces him to examine himself. Part of him still insists he's done wrong, that he should have done better; but Yuan doesn't seem to think he does. And it's Yuan's judgement which matters.]

-- Is that an order?

[He thinks he can put it down long enough to sleep, if it's an order.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan draws breath. Hesitates. He has some difficulty with the idea of ordering Kratos to his bed. But... phrasing.]

Yes. Get some rest, Kratos. However is most likely to stave off nightmares.

[It isn't maybe quite as much of an order as it ought be, but there are lines Yuan is wary of crossing.]

[simulsimul]

[It isn't until Yuan's phrasing is so careful that Kratos realises the implications of what he's just asked. He's vulnerable enough that the thought of it makes him flush, difficult though it might be to see given dim light and skin tone; but Yuan has already answered, and made it so, and left open the allowance for contact, if Kratos needs it.

[Judging by the minutes he'd spent staring at his pillow, he does need it.]

Yes, Master Ka-Fai.

[Kratos stirs again, finally, waiting for Yuan to lift his hand before actually rising to limp across to Yuan's bed, settling in much the same position as he had the night before.]

[conductingresistance]

[When Kratos shifts Yuan lets go of him, moving to give him the room to go where he wants. He's neither surprised nor displeased by that destination being his bed.]

[...he doesn't think he's imagining that cousin to a blush, even in this light. Yuan isn't going to touch further on that subject right now. Instead he checks the door's locked, goes about a few other little pieces of business ensuring he won't have to get up again, and comes back to his bed.]

[Ordinarily he would have been taken aback by Kratos calling him master again. But there was, Yuan thinks, something of relief in his voice. It's... something to ponder on.]

[So Yuan sets that aside, too, and slips into bed beside Kratos, tugging the blanket up and reaching the same careful arm over Kratos as he had the night before. Close to an embrace. Hopefully a comfort.]

Sleep. You're safe.

[simulsimul]

[Yuan takes long enough that Kratos manages to settle himself somewhat, allay the doubts and uncertainties which seem to be running rampant in him currently. He manages to close his eyes, to find a rhythm of breath which at least does not make the tension in him worse, and tries to find equilibrium.

[He fails, with the soft noises of Yuan putting things in order, and preparing for bed. It only makes Kratos feel as if he should be doing something, no matter how much he knows Yuan prefers to take care of many of his own tasks.

[In the end the moment Yuan actually comes to bed is almost a shock, if only through unfamiliarity; Kratos tenses for a moment, but relaxes almost at once, with a long exhale intended as a release. He relaxes a little more, with the arm, and the murmur; this time when his eyes shut the darkness and the quiet are far more tolerable, knowing he's protected.

[The next morning Kratos wakes at least somewhat more rested than before. The shame is not entirely assuaged, to an extent that Kratos is no longer even sure what causes it; but he can rest secure in the fact that, at least, Yuan ordered him to rest in such a way. In as far as Kratos feels guilty for needing to ask Yuan to render commands in a way Yuan has avoided, he also knows that Yuan would have refused if he'd entirely objected.

[Either way, though Kratos remembers dreaming, he doesn't remember what they are, and that's a step up. In the light of day, and rested, things seem easier to handle. He might have been alright, except that a stone of dread has apparently lodged itself under its ribs, in light of where they're going. And how close they're getting. He remains reserved.

[The third night, the last night before Vanaheim, he doesn't sit on his bed once he's prepared to sleep. He just stares wordlessly at his pillow, and waits for Yuan to return.]

[conductingresistance]

[Though there are things to be done and troops to be checked over, half the while Yuan is picking at the knot of a problem that is Kratos, turning their interactions over in the faint hope of finding something illuminating in their recent conversations. He keeps coming back to wasn't strong enough, which makes precious little sense to Yuan. Strong enough to prevent his entire city falling? Well, it would be the rare man who was. Strong enough to stand for his sister? Human or half-elf, all bodies are only flesh and blood. Strong enough to cope by himself?]

[Well, perhaps; Yuan can't pretend he'd be entirely at ease in Kratos's situation. But he's offering the help freely. This, he understands, is how friends deal between each other: without burden, offering aid without expectation of recompense. Kratos is someone Yuan has the power to help, unlike every downtrodden slave or half-elf in Nidavellir.]

[He fusses about the room that night to see if Kratos will move or change that stare; when it becomes evident he isn't, Yuan comes to stand before him again.]

It's bothering you, not being able to deal with this on your own.

[There's a question beneath the statement.]

Would it-- help you, to talk about it?

[Yuan has no idea.]

[simulsimul]

[Neither does Kratos.

[He's barely even aware of Yuan around him, once more. It's too easy to start thinking, and never stop. But he does stir when Yuan speaks, and turns his head, without looking Yuan in the eye.]

I don't know. I've never had this trouble before. I'm not meant to have this kind of trouble.

[Even Kratos isn't sure if he means the nightmares, or the inability to work through them alone. But Yuan's question, in conjunction with what seems to be an obvious statement, does at least prod something.]

I was always taught that a single precedent could undo everything.

[It's a bit nonsensical, reaching for a thought only half there; but it's a start.]

[conductingresistance]

Not meant to.

[This makes Yuan sigh, of all things.]

You were not carved from stone. Do you think what a person is meant to do or not do means anything to me?

[With smaller things like law-breaking, yes, all right. But half-elves aren't meant to free themselves, or become commanders, or anything of this sort. Yuan has made his career on what he's not meant to do.]

[The other bit Kratos gives him makes almost no sense, but Yuan pries at it anyway.]

One instance of weakness, and everything is ruined, in other words?

[simulsimul]

[It should mean something to you, goes unsaid, even though it runs through Kratos's head. Even he's aware enough to know that's treading territory he has no right to treat. To say he should expect what Kratos is meant to do is to tell Yuan he should have stayed in the smithy.

[Yuan has the gist of things, anyway. Kratos nods.]

It's why I wasn't allowed to pursue acting. If even one Aurion was allowed to do anything else, every Aurion would question. Especially these days, with the war going so badly -- we can't afford to let cracks spread.

[If this new state of mind is only the beginning, Kratos might be rendered entirely useless.]

[conductingresistance]

You aren't that sort of fulcrum any more.

[Yuan hopes that doesn't sound as harsh as it could, but-- Kratos doesn't bear the weight of the city on his shoulders now, or shouldn't. A moment of weakness, accepting comfort from someone else, will topple no cities, shatter no worlds.]

If one crack, one blow, is enough to shatter the whole, then it was not well made in the first place.

[This, and other lessons learned in the smithy. Still, Yuan thinks, Kratos may have been as much slave as he was, only with prettier chains.]

Kratos. Why can't you accept help?

[They've touched on this before. Yuan isn't entirely certain of getting any better answer, or being able to say anything more, but he doesn't know what else to try.]

[simulsimul]

[It was not well made in the first place. Kratos opens his mouth to respond to this, and has nothing; and as he turns it over in his head he finds there's no response possible. It's logical. Most tools are designed to take a battering. Why should the subsistence bloodlines be any different? Especially as they arguably didn't exist anymore?

[The thoughts are very nearly painful, and Yuan's question is hardly a respite. Still, perhaps because Kratos is grappling with the earlier idea, he answers honestly.]

I'm meant to help others. If I need help, how can anyone depend on me?