simulsimul | another thing; w/ fafnirs and skeletonenigma; cw for suicide talk

[The fact that Skulduggery feels the need to repeat the same sentence, combined with the 'planet' and the increased incredulity in his tone the second time, tells Kratos exactly what that sentence is. The repeat of that word 'you' suggests that's the part which refers to him.]

You're. Ah.

[Kratos goes back to the letters, seeking out one which corresponds to those sounds. The book, it proves, also has words for the passing of time, hours to years, day and night, and seasons. These are not immediately helpful.

[Next he consults the other two books in conjunction. He finds 'you', but doesn't understand the explanation; that's alright. He finds it in the thinner book, and this does have pictures. 'You' leads him to 'I' leads him to 'be' leads him to 'am' leads him into an increasingly deep circle of vocabulary with all his dogged intensity.

[By the time the car pulls up, Kratos is using the second picture book to sound out some basic sentences, and only stops to look up when Skulduggery turns off the engine.]

[Forget reporting him to the Sanctuary. By this point, Skulduggery probably has a moral obligation to report Kratos to three or four different mortal governments.

Not that he will, but it's sobering to remember that.

By the time they pull up to the house on Cemetery Road, Kratos is reading at a primary school level. This doesn't surprise Skulduggery anymore. He turns off the engine and fingers his mobile phone for a moment in thought.

Valkyrie won't thank him for disturbing her. Ghastly has made it clear he's not available until after sunrise. For the next few hours, he's on his own.]

Pick up anything useful?

[It's a house. This, at least, looks familiar, even if the architecture is very different from what Kratos knows. Mana-signatures are distant; there are other buildings down the street, but the lights are dark and Kratos can't sense anyone inside.

[Unfortunately, he also still can't understand Skulduggery's question -- though now the sounds and individual words are clearer. He's sure he can guess the intent behind it, however; something along the lines of 'how are your studies going', he thinks.]

Yes. I am --

[Hm. How to finish that sentence. He doesn't have very many words yet. Kratos flips through the intermediate book, to the list of easy phrases he remembers being there, and the one whose picture, of someone receiving a gift, indicates gratitude.]

Thank you. Your -- time.

[The response, spontaneously generated and understandable, has Skulduggery looking at Kratos with surprise again. The drive had been less than an hour -- surely that isn't enough time to pick up even an imitation of fluency?]

You're welcome.

[Because 'think nothing of it' might be a little complicated at the moment.]

I hope you have a way back off this planet. This isn't a place you want to be stuck for very long. It has a tendency to put itself in apocalyptic danger.

[Kratos understands 'I', 'you', 'planet', and that's about it. Skulduggery's tone tells Kratos that Skulduggery may be slightly miffed, however. Kratos has known Yuan for a very long time, after all. He knows the sound of belligerent irritation very well.

[He chuckles softly and unbuckles the belt, then pushes open the door to step out into the evening with a deep breath. The air's cleaner out here. Not by a significant amount, but enough of one. Wind is one of his lesser affinities, but he still has a sense of it.]

Yours?

[Kratos nods toward the house. It's remote enough to serve as a base of operations for someone who isn't precisely human anymore.]

Yes. [He says it with a small amount of pride.] Mine.

[All Valkyrie ever does when she visits is complain about the lack of food. Skulduggery's renovated the house to have a kitchen and a bathroom now, and people still usually find something to complain about.]

I live here alone. Just me. There's nothing to worry about, and you can read for as long as you like.

[Skulduggery's no longer completely sure Kratos won't understand that, but the sentiment should become clear soon enough. Skulduggery gets out of the car and leads the way into the house, making sure to flip on a light or two as he goes.]

Can you eat? Did you learn 'eat'?

[There's a lot of use of the word 'I' and 'me'. Either Skulduggery is very proud over a house, or he's trying to reassure Kratos that they will have privacy. Since Kratos can't sense any mana, he assumes the second; unless Skulduggery has undead friends whose mana is far less defined. Somehow, Kratos doubts that. He'd still be able to sense them. He trails Skulduggery into the house with books in hand, looking around.]

Eat, yes.

[Is Skulduggery asking whether he understands the word, or can do so? Kratos supposes it doesn't matter. The answer, like with the sleep question, is the same. Still, it's not entirely accurate.]

Yes; no. Hmh.

[Kratos hesitates, flipping through that book again for the pages on facial expressions and emotion. 'Happy' is not really applicable, here, but it's the nearest he has.]

Yes food -- happy I eat. No food -- happy no eat.

Edited 2016-12-18 10:06 (UTC)

[Please excuse Skulduggery laughing. He can't help that there's something faintly ridiculous about this whole situation.]

If that's what you can manage in less than an hour, we might not need Ghastly's help by the time he wakes up.

[It's got to be enhanced magically somehow. Not to demean Kratos's intelligence -- quite the contrary, Skulduggery's still impressed by it -- but learning a completely new language well enough to communicate complex meanings within an hour just isn't possible.

At least... by the standards of Earth.]

At any rate, I'm glad you don't need to eat. I don't have any food here.

[Skulduggery draws the curtains across the front living room window, then removes his disguise, piece by piece, and lays each neatly on the side table in the hall.]

[The laughter gets a head-tip, impassive as most of Kratos's actions are impassive, even when there should be emotion implied. It seems to be laughter more at the general circumstances, however, so Kratos ignores it and wanders around the room a bit, taking in the lack of personal belongings on the walls. At least there's furniture.

[Kratos takes a seat, pulling the low table closer to put down the books, but is distracted from pursuing the language further by Skulduggery pulling off his disguise. He is, indeed, a skeleton. A skeleton held together by mana in a very literal sense. Kratos wonders whether he can feel pain.

[He picks up the intermediate book again, leafing through the pages with swift intent. Surely there's something in here to tell him the most basic questioning words. It takes a bit, but he does find a spread of pages which seems likely -- though the symbol in the title is not one he recognises.

[The images indicate it's what he wants, however. A picture of man in a crossroad; a picture of a woman examining something through a microscope; a child pointing at a beetle and looking up at an adult; someone looking at a clock; someone sitting in the middle of a deconstructed piece of furniture with a sheaf of paper while scratching their head. Where, why, what, when, how.]

Skulduggery.

[Kratos gets to his feet to bring the book over, pointing at the last image and sounding out the accompanying word.]

You. Skeleton. How?

[He knows he won't understand the full explanation, but just the fact that Skulduggery might know how he's sentient when, by all rights, he shouldn't be -- it would be reassuring that Kratos doesn't have to worry about him going rabid.]

That... [Skulduggery shakes his head, bemused.] ... is a very complicated question.

[What does Kratos hope to glean from this? He can't possibly understand the answer, especially when Skulduggery doesn't understand half of it himself. Still, he does deserve something for being able to ask the question at all, and Skulduggery stops to think for a moment.]

I was killed. ['Killed' probably won't be in the children's thesaurus, so Skulduggery tries to get the meaning across by sliding one finger across the area beneath his skull where his throat should be.] By a man named Nefarian Serpine. [They've technically gone over 'name', but just in case, Skulduggery points to himself, repeats his name, and then indicates the empty space next to him and repeats Serpine's name.

This is certainly the strangest way he's ever had to tell the story.]

After I was dead, Serpine burned -- ah. Fire. [Skulduggery snaps his fingers to bring the flame back up in his hand.] And when I was nothing but bones -- [He peels off one glove and points to a single bone in his arm.] -- a series of things happened that might be too complicated for me to reenact here, the end result of which was me. [He hesitates, then points at the thesaurus.] It's a little like a ghost. G, H. Only not like a ghost at all.

[For one thing, Kratos does gain a new range of words while comprehending their meaning. For all the words Kratos misses, the context is fairly clear given Skulduggery's pantomime. Kratos watches in silence, his mouth growing slowly tighter. The nuance might be lost, but Kratos understands enough. Skulduggery's story ... sounds not unlike his.

[Except that it still doesn't answer his most pertinent question. It's the series of physical events, not an explanation of Skulduggery's mana. Perhaps that is too complicated. Perhaps Skulduggery genuinely doesn't know.

[In any case, hearing the story makes Kratos wonder something else. His flips through the book again until he finds the page quite obviously about families. There's a mother. A father. A son. A daughter. Kratos's voice is gentler than it was as he taps that image and asks:]

Family?

[Skulduggery looks silently down at the page for a moment before answering.] No.

[Wait.]

Yes. But no, not anymore. Not now.

[The passage of time makes it both easier to talk about, and not any easier at all.

There's something, though, about the way Kratos asks. The change in his tone -- the fact that he asked at all, even. Skulduggery wouldn't have thought angels had families in the traditional sense, but Kratos did specify human angel. Skulduggery doesn't need to know the details in order to make an educated guess.]

What about you? Family?

[The way Skulduggery pauses before saying 'no' tells Kratos all that he needs to know, though he appreciates the attempt at clarification.]

Serpine.

[Grimly. If Skulduggery had been killed by someone else, why would that someone else spare his family? It's a guess, but Kratos does not think he's wrong. He's willing to let Skulduggery change the subject, since the subject of Kratos's family is far less unpleasant nowadays -- regardless of the panging grief he still feels. Kratos smiles slightly.]

Family. Yes.

[He reaches up to his collar to pull out the locket and open it to show Skulduggery. It's quite clear the two pictures are years apart; the one of him and Anna and Lloyd is chipped around the edges, while the second is still shiny with varnish. (If Skulduggery thought Kratos was wearing rather a lot of buckles now, the outfit in the image is going to be a surprise.) Kratos points to each person in turn, starting from the older image, moving to the newer.]

I. Anna. Lloyd. Lloyd. Colette. Genis. Raine.

[Kratos hesitates, then makes the same motion across his throat which Skulduggery had.]

Killed?

[He points to his side and says, in tones of bitter, resigned anger:]

Kvar. Kvar killed Anna.

[It isn't entirely accurate -- but Kratos is willing to submit to Lloyd's interpretation of the situation, in light of the language barrier.]

I killed Kvar. Serpine?

[Vengeance may be a hollow victory, but there's something to be said for knowing a killer is no longer capable of killing.]

[Skulduggery nods at Kratos's guess. Serpine. Two vibrant, wonderful people killed just so Serpine could have a chance at killing Skulduggery himself.

The locket comes as a surprise. Skulduggery brushes the bottom of it with a finger in an arrested attempt to hold it so he can look more closely. There are two pictures inside, not just one. There's a pang of old jealousy that Kratos has anything like this to remember his family by, because Skulduggery doesn't. Big paintings were expensive back when he and his family were alive, and anything smaller got lost in the war.

Their names, as well -- 'Anna' and 'Lloyd' could be English. 'Colette', 'Genis', and 'Raine' less so, which probably means the similarity of 'Kratos' to the Greek god is coincidental.]

Yes. I killed Serpine.

[After far too long, but Skulduggery will take his hollow victories where he can.]

Only after he made himself immortal, though. It's a funny story. That was the same night I destroyed two artifacts that were supposed to be indestructible.

[The momentary cheerfulness fades rapidly after Skulduggery finishes speaking. In an effort to, once again, change the subject, he points to the newer picture, and speaks clearly so Kratos will understand the words he's already learned.]

Where are they? Your planet?

[And, added as an afterthought, because otherwise the question will bug Skulduggery for a very long time:]

Are they also angels?

Edited 2016-12-19 00:35 (UTC)

[The forced cheerfulness is of greater import than the words Kratos can't yet understand. He can guess the subject is about Serpine, of a sort; Skulduggery trying to make himself feel better about the event where he avenged his family. Kratos isn't surprised that the cheer fades quickly.

[Rather, Kratos focusses on the question. 'Are' is related to 'be', according to the book and the long section on time -- 'where', he also knows. 'Your planet' is obvious enough. The only word Kratos doesn't recognise, combined with Skulduggery pointing, is easy enough to figure out. He points too.]

They? They. Yes; Aselia.

[His finger shifts to indicate Colette and Lloyd.]

Lloyd, Colette, angels, yes. Human angels. Raine and Genis -- Hm. Elves. Human elves.

['Elves' is a word that Skulduggery won't recognise; it's in Tethe'allan. Kratos pauses, then puts the locket -- still with the chain around his neck -- in Skulduggery's hand so Kratos can open the book. He points to the image of the daughter, then the image of the son; then respectively to the parents, reading the words indicated by the arrows to show relations.]

Raine, sister. Genis, brother. Father -- human. Mother -- elf. No human.

[Kratos watches Skulduggery carefully at this, to tell from Skulduggery's reaction how he might feel about interracial relationships, if they even exist on this planet.]

Edited (wording) 2016-12-19 00:51 (UTC)

[Aselia. Skulduggery now has a name for another habitable planet somewhere out in the galaxy. This is not something he ever thought he'd have.

More to the point, the angelic nature seems to be a heritable trait. Kratos hasn't labelled Anna among the angels, which could mean everything and could mean nothing. Lloyd, however, is. Colette -- daughter-in-law? future daughter-in-law? -- is also an angel. Skulduggery doesn't understand what Kratos calls Raine and Genis, but presumably it's some analogue to angel. Human angel, human other-thing.]

Not human.

[Correcting grammar obviously being the most important thing here.

Skulduggery has to revise his earlier estimate when Kratos finishes. Unless it's possible to only be half-angel, which Kratos hasn't specified, Skulduggery's missing something. Sister, brother. Of Kratos? They look more similar to each other, so no. If being a human other-thing is like being a human angel, then --

... this isn't the point of being shown the locket.

When Skulduggery speaks again, there's an audible smile in his voice, and his fingers have tightened ever-so-slightly around the locket.] You're a lucky man.

Not human.

[It's very nearly an automatic repeat, if faintly puzzled only because Kratos is wondering at the reason behind a difference in a single consonant for two words which mean the same thing. He's still looking at Skulduggery, however, and realising just how difficult it is to read a skeleton. He'd been managing so far only by tone of voice, because he's so used to reading Yuan's mental bleed-through; it's not much different.

[So Kratos can't tell what Skulduggery actually thinks of the idea of interracial couples, which is frustrating. Skulduggery's tone is a positive one, at least, though Kratos can't understand most of the sentence. He can guess it's something to which he'd agree, however, and smiles back.]

Yes.

[He takes the locket back and looks at the pictures one last time before closing it; and the look on his face and in his eyes is the clearest it's been since he and Skulduggery have met. Wistfulness. A regretful kind of acceptance. Hope. Tenderness. Then he snaps the locket shut and looks up again, his expression falling to a considering sort of impassiveness. Skulduggery's family might be gone; but he had contacted someone, earlier.]

Who?

[The sixth from that page of questions, earlier. Kratos indicates the pocket where Skulduggery stowed his phone pocket as he asks.]

[Kratos's expression, as loaded as it is, doesn't tell Skulduggery as much as he'd like. That Kratos misses his family is obvious enough, of course, which makes his presence here without them interesting. Why leave? Why explore space on his own? Is he looking for something? Did circumstances force him apart from his son, or was it a mutual and conscious decision? Does his son even know where Kratos is?

All questions Skulduggery can't ask for some time yet.]

Who --? [Skulduggery has to put his hand in his pocket to realise what Kratos means.] Ah. Ghastly Bespoke. A friend. [Pause.] Brother, but not brother.

Brother but not brother, hm?

[There's a laugh in Kratos's voice. That sounds familiar, indeed. Kratos is assuming, judging by the book, that 'brother' is for blood relations; so this sounds extremely like a situation in which men have become brothers without being related by blood. Which is what he's also assuming.

[There just aren't many people who would accept being woken in the middle of the night by a skeleton.]

Yes. I --

[He taps his own chest.]

Yuan Ka-Fai. Brother but not brother.

[By all rights, he should also be in the locket.]

[Skulduggery sounds surprised again.] Yuan Ka-Fai? That's Chinese.

[Chinese, Greek -- French, if you count Colette. What sort of a world is Aselia?

But, again, not currently the point. Kratos has a close friend, but that friend isn't pictured in the locket. That, Skulduggery thinks, probably says a lot about their relationship.]

He's an angel too, then.

[It's barely a question.]

It occurs to me, Kratos, that I've been running under the assumption that everything you tell me is fact. I don't think you're lying, necessarily, but you might be mistaken. You might believe you're from another planet, and you might even be right, but that's not to say your planet and this planet exist in the same dimension.

[Hm. How to put this in as simple a form as possible.]

You. Your planet.

[Skulduggery takes three steps to the right.]

You. My planet. Earth.

[Then he points at the distance in between.]

How?

Angel, yes.

[By rights, their relationship probably goes beyond brotherhood at this point. There aren't many people who would attempt the impossible just to save someone else, let alone in the way Yuan had. Kratos still isn't sure what side-effects there might be from that.

[The ramble gets an amused head-tip, but Kratos stays where he is as his gaze follows Skulduggry's movement away. Then he smiles.]

Derris-Kharlan.

[He pauses for a moment. Even without knowing a great deal of the language, he's aware that this is going to sound mildly ridiculous.]

Car planet.

[He says it with all the deadpan at his disposal, which is great indeed.]

[Derris-Kharlan. A name, most likely. But is it a generalisation, like ship, or is it a proper noun, like Titanic? It answers Skulduggery's question, but --]

Car planet.

[Not even Skulduggery can match Kratos for deadpanness, but he isn't trying. Every ounce of his considerable bemused disbelief is evident in his tone.]

Car planet.

[Even accounting for the possibility of a spaceship, Kratos's use of the word 'planet' implies a great many things Skulduggery can't accept. He shakes his head.] I'm not sure I believe you.

Heh.

[Kratos's smile is very nearly a smirk, and he beckons Skulduggery as he steps toward the door. The book, the most useful so far, is tucked into the back of Kratos's belt so he can't lose it, in case he needs it later. Or possibly not -- in space, he'll need to use telepathy, most likely. Skulduggery may need it, then.

[He moves out the door, glancing over his shoulder to ensure that Skulduggery is following. Out the door, around the side of the house -- where they'll be hidden from the road, with only a flat spread of meadow beside them. Kratos walks a short distance further and then stops. Blue fragmented light blooms from his back and shoulders, tendrils of a gossamer flower which extends all around him, though not quite to touching the ground. They look fragile, but aren't; and they aren't his wings at their greatest, either. He still doesn't know what sort of detection technology they have here, and he shouldn't need anything more than his wings at their most passive to get out of the atmosphere.

[In vacuum he'll need to extend himself more -- but not yet.

[When Kratos turns, in the darkness and with the way the light works on this planet, he looks as though he is wearing a halo. It draws some of the colour from his hair so that it looks redder than it is. He holds out his hand.]

You. Derris-Kharlan.

[It's an offer.]

[... Well. If Skulduggery had ever been under the impression Kratos was mistaken about who he was -- and, to be honest, the thought had definitely occurred -- then he isn't anymore.

They're not feathered wings, though. Some part of Skulduggery is disappointed by that. They're no less impressive for being intangible sparkles in the air, and Skulduggery has no doubt they're not nearly as delicate as they look. But still. No feathers.

The offer, once again, is a surprise.]

Now?

[Skulduggery looks up into the night sky. If Kratos wasn't detected by anything coming down onto the planet, he probably wouldn't be detected leaving it either, so that's one concern resolved. Leaving the atmosphere -- well, Skulduggery's never done it before, but theoretically he can. He doesn't need to breathe. There's no air to manipulate in space, so he'd be dead in the water, but he'd still be alive. And Kratos, presumably, would take care of the rest.

How would vacuum affect his suit?]

How long will it take? Hm -- when. When will --

[Then Skulduggery stops, and decides he doesn't actually care. He raises a finger.]

Hold that thought.

[He pulls out his mobile and leaves Valkyrie a text saying he may not be around in the morning, and if she could please keep herself alive until he gets back, that would be grand, as they have something to talk about. Then he leaves Ghastly two texts: one saying he may not be around in the morning and to assume he's indisposed until he calls, then a second one belatedly apologising for the phone call in the middle of the night.

With that all taken care of, he puts the mobile away.] OK. Let's go.

[Rather than take Kratos's hand, though, Skulduggery simply lifts into the air himself.]

['When' is a good question. Kratos looks thoughtfully up at the sky. It isn't too far into the night, but the travel will take some time even if Kratos takes Skulduggery only as far as the moon, and even if Kratos can move as fast as he wishes with Skulduggery in hand. By that point, the scouting team may have already set up a warp pad back to Derris-Kharlan.

[If so, he can bring one back with him and install it in Skulduggery's yard. It would shorten travel time somewhat.

[Kratos looks back as Skulduggery rises into the air.]

Huh.

[That's interesting. Kratos can even sense the shift of mana in the wind, not unlike Sylph -- except more conscious effort is obviously expended. Kratos drops his hand and alights from the ground also, a short hop before the tendrils of mana comprising his wings push the air beneath him, making him rise with far less apparent effort than anything with feathers.

[He regards Skulduggery thoughtfully as he ascends with easy beats of those wings. How high can Skulduggery fly on his own? It's clear he needs his hands to do so.]

another thing; w/ fafnirs and skeletonenigma; cw for suicide talk

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