namestrees | IC Inbox

[Kratos makes a noise that's somewhere between an exhausted sigh, a wince, and "I dunno". He's had a really long day okay.]

I don't expect it to take too much longer.

[To be able to use magic, that is. Realistically he has no idea how long it'll take, but he really REALLY doesn't want to make Lloyd worry about him, of all people.]

Can you even heal that kind of stuff? [Asking because he HONESTLY DOESN'T KNOW. Look, Raine was their go-to healer back home, she had the fancy unicorn horn, but also Lloyd has no idea what the rules on healing are. But then again, maybe Kratos was just acting like he couldn't heal good when he was pretending to be Mr. Mercenary. Unclear.]

...I'm glad you'll be alright.

[And even though he's quiet for a moment, there's still a sort of tension here. Man, today has been.... well. Absolutely bonkers. And he's torn between giving Kratos space to rest and at least clear the concussion a bit, or just diving right in.

Haha j/k, he's always been one to leap in with both feet.]

I wish you were feeling better but... I do have to tell you. I ran into someone at Coba. That's part of why I stayed out so late. [Noishe whines helpfully, be it encouraging Lloyd, or giving his sympathies to Kratos, or just not understanding why the medallion voices can't be here and petting him??]

...I talked to Mithos. He's... still pretty mad about everything. [Understatement of the past 4 millennia tbh]

[ Well now. That. That's a name she HAS heard about.

She lowers her voice; perhaps Lloyd can hear it, perhaps not, but to Kratos she says: ]

..I'll leave you two to talk?

[ Perhaps thiiiiiiis is a conversation Sophia shouldn't be here for? At least, not right now.

(WOULD THAT SHE COULD BE THERE TO PET YOU, NOISHE. Next time you visit, for sure.) ]

[Kratos is no Raine. His healing is good for patching up injuries sustained in combat, but anything too extensive is out of his reach. His current injuries are probably not too bad, though.]

I can handle it, and even if it's too much, there are other healers in Coatepec.

[Will he actually talk to them??? Eh well as long as Sophia is here maybe. She won't let him get away with his bullshit.

BUT ANYWAY. He is a little concerned about that tension, hoping that he's not the one that's bothering Lloyd. A lot has happened, though. Jinx blew up, Kratos is hurt and not around, Lloyd just got done traveling. Lloyd's got a lot going on.

But then he drops that bomb and Kratos is not at all prepared for it. Also he has a concussion and that's probably not helping with the processing... process. Actually it takes him maybe a little too long to reply. Which is fine, because Sophia has chosen now to peace out. Stunned, he just manages to nod to her before returning his attention to Lloyd.]

L-Lloyd, you...

[SORRY THAT'S THE BEST HE HAS AT THE MOMENT just be patient he's old.]

[...Yeah, he should have expected that kind of reaction. Especially what with him being concussed?? Apparently? Sorry, dad, you should have slept more.]

I'm fine. It was-- As civil as you'd expect, I guess.

[No one got nuked, no one got stabbed (so far in the thread) so like. That's pretty good.]

I just.... wanted you to have a heads up about it.

[Another pause, and happy Noishe noises as he's running his fingers through the dogmonsters fur. What a good emotional support beast. Really should have left him in Coatepec apparently, though.]

I don't have any reason to fight with him here, so I just... offered to answer some questions. [You can iMAGINE HOW THAT WENT.] ...How're you doing, though?

[HE CAN'T SLEEP??????

He's listening but he's not listening? He's stuck on the MITHOS IS HERE PART, so by the time Lloyd gets to "how are you doing", Kratos has reached the rubbing his face in frustration and swearing under his breath phase.]

God dammit...

[Which is muffled by said hands rubbing his face, but the CONCERN??? is clearly still there. Eventually he does actually register what Lloyd is saying though, and answers with an almost robotic:]

I'm fine.

[he's not FINE, LLOYD.]

He didn't attack you?

Well, he definitely thought about it. At least a few times.

[If it happened is TBD i guess???]

And you don't sound fine. [A sigh.] I know, this is-- the worst timing. [Does good timing ever exist for this??]

[He just

sighs

a long, exhausted sigh.]

Sorry. I guess I'm not fine, but there's nothing that can be done about it right now. I'm glad you let me know.

I suppose I'll have to have some words with him.

[Look they either have to deal with it now or later there is no 'never' option. Still, Lloyd.... feels pretty bad, bringing this up to him. When he just got exploded by a phoenix and watched a young girl die. But hey, life is fast and hard.]

What do you mean, 'nothing that can be done'?

[It's an earnest question, because... he doesn't quite get what it means.] I mean, if you hit your head too hard, I get that it's hard to really think about things... But even if we don't have to do anything, we can still figure out where we are about it.

[You know, actUALLY COMMUNICATE?]

I plan on just... letting him figure out what he wants to do here. But I told him I wasn't gonna pretend I'm not here, either. So he'll have to deal with me as much as we have to deal with him.

[did he tell mithos about kratos or not HMMMM UNSURE, ALSO TBD.]

[Life is fast and hard and in some cases way too long and that's kind of uncomfortable.]

I just-- regarding my current level of 'fineness'. I can't do a lot about it right now aside from take it one step at a time.

[STEP 1: recover from exploding
STEP 2: panic but like internally
STEP 3: recover from this brand new migraine that he's experiencing...]

All I know right now is that my biggest concern is you. Mithos is a manipulator, and a damn good one. You have a curse that makes it difficult to control your temper. I don't want him to find a way to take advantage of that.

Oh yeah, I didn't say anything about that. [THE ONLY SMART DECISION HE HAS EVER MADE IN HIS LIFE and boy is it an Important One.] It was hard enough just to get to 'no, the incense is actually serious', really...

[But yeah uhhh RAGE FIRE CURSE definitely. Something he has to watch. And maybe that's why he feels so fucking exhausted, having been trying to keep that in check the whole damn time.]

I'm fine. And it's not like we're hanging out or plan on talking more or anything. I just-- thought if I saw him, I should let him know I'm here, too. It didn't seem fair otherwise.

[Is there a logic, there, is there not? Who knows. But it felt right.]

...Sorry to give you more to worry about, though. I guess I picked a pretty bad time to leave. [...No, lbr, it's better that he wasn't there for the phoenix fight.]

That's good.

[VERY SMART LLOYD, Kratos is glad you didn't say anything about that curse to the one person who would find a way to use it to his advantage. He's not so sure telling Mithos that he was here was a good idea? But like what even is a good idea anymore?]

There's no need to apologize. It's better that I find out now than run into him later with no warning, and there's no way we could have foreseen any of this happening. Especially not after it had been quiet for so long...

[Well, quiet-ISH. Quieter.]

[It's okay he gave him way more unfortunate knowledge SO HEY it all evens out???]

Yeah, I guess a few weeks of quiet is more than we've had.... well. Since getting here. [There's a tired sort of amusement at that. It was nice. You know, the parts he was mostly normal for. The week he was an emotionless husk doesn't count.]

Hopefully that phoenix acting up isn't the start of anything else crazy... I was hoping the break would last a little longer than this. [HE STILL HASN'T ACTUALLY... SEEN VIPER ABOUT THIS DUMB CURSE?? AND NOW MORE SHIT IS HAPPENING? Ugh.]

[Is that how it WORKS???]

Yeah. I was hoping the same thing. This place certainly can be frustrating.

[Understatement of the century. Kratos sighs, winces a bit as he shifts in his seat. Can this place maybe CHILL A BIT?]

How's Noishe doing? The mask still working out?

He's doing better than you and me, for sure.

[Noishe had been dozing, but he does rouse enough to give an affirmative noise. Yep! Doing good!]

I've been trying to be careful, too. I stopped in Tikal for a few days, to make sure he had time to rest and anything could wear out. And I'll probably stay in Coba for another day or two-- though everyone says the incense is a lot thinner the closer you get to Kiichpan.

[Man, RIP your broken ribs.]

I know there's not a lot you need, but is there anything you'd want? I can talk to Sophia, see about getting you something while you're on the mend. [He's pretty sure heals can't hurry up that concussed feeling.]

[Noishe is a much better topic than Mithos and exploding Jinx and all the other horrible shit they'd been talking about.

Good, good. You've been taking excellent care of him.

[At least he knows Noishe is okay, and chances are Mithos won't even fuck with him. It's Noishe, everyone loves Noishe.]

Wh-- I mean, she's right here. Or, well. In the other room, I could just ask myself. If I needed anything.

[Weird stilted speech there, Kratos????? That's just the concussion for sure. He adds a little quieter:]

I think I scared her pretty badly when I came in.

It's not like he makes it hard. [MORE PETS FOR NOISHE who honestly probably just wants to fucking sleep but also is here for pets, so you know.] It helps that he's so smart.

[But-- wow, Kratos. Missing the point.]

You could ask her, but that's not the point of us trying to do something for you. [Which Lloyd already fucked up by, you know, SAYING it, but also he knows better than to think he has any idea of what Kratos would like or need. Especially since he's over halfway across the continent right now so can't really do any spontaneous gestures.]

With all your injuries, you mean? ['Extensive burns' Man he has been thinking like what happens to himself sometimes, but-- he hadn't even thought that this would be after all the initial healing.] How bad are they?

O-oh. Um. Sorry, I must have misunderstood...?

[He still doesn't really get it? Which is good because that means Lloyd hasn't fucked anything up!]

Pretty bad. Nothing life threatening, though, and I'll be able to heal myself once I've recovered enough mana. I was just a mess when I got home, is all. You don't have to worry, Sophia's been watching me like a hawk.

How do you misunderstand that.... [It's an amused aside, but Kratos can absolutely hear it. Not only angel hearing, but also Lloyd iSNT EVEN TRYING TO HIDE IT....

Anyway, RIP the poor man who hasn't had anything nice in over a decade.]

I'm not worried about you healing, I'm worried about you not taking it easy. [NO ONE HE KNOWS RESPECTS THEIR INJURIES himself included. Man if he was laid up with broken ribs and incapable of sleeping he would fucking lose it with that long of inactivity.] I'm glad she's there to look out for you, though.

[JUST insert defeated sigh here. He doesn't know, this is all new and weird to him and the short time that people did give this much of a shit about him was A SHORT TIME and A WHILE AGO.]

I-- I see. I'll try to take it easy.

[And he will! He'll do his very best!]

Yeah, she's... she's been... it's been nice. You know, having people around for once. It's been different.

...Yeah. I liked getting to stay there with you both. [NORMALCY??? IS REFRESHING??] It's been a while since we... you know, kind of had a place and people to come home to.

[For separate reasons of course, but the sentiment is the same. He doubts Kratos really had anything to call a 'home' with Cruxis, and Lloyd had been travelling around the world for who knows how long with all his friends.]

And it helps that you've got someone around you don't have to corral around. [You know like the massive amount of SHOUNEN TEENAGERS in this game.]

[He agrees with a little 'hmf' noise. Cruxis wasn't "home", it was just a bunch of weirdos that he'd vaguely existed around for thousands of years. He'd never really known what home felt like until he left. Even if he and Anna had been traveling around pretty much constantly, Kratos had at least had his little family to come home to, wherever home ended up being. With Lloyd and Noishe and Sophia around, it had felt kind of like that.

He can't decide if that's weird or not.]

Heh. It feels more like I'm the one making things difficult for her, to be honest.

Well, that's what you do best.

[That is ABSOLUTELY a shot fired, but he's laughing, so like. You know he doesn't mean it. But seriously bro you do tend to complicate things.]

I think she likes having something to focus on. She's not a fighter like the rest of us, so she's probably felt a little... Mmm... [A hum, trying to think of the right world. Not 'useless'. He's sure she knows she has worth. But her skills don't quite line up with what this world needs.] Like it's harder for her to find her place in helping out, I think. And it's just... normal for friends to look out for each other.

Besides, if she was too put out by it, she could just leave.

[wow okay smartass tell us how you really feel

It's fine, Kratos is amused by these shots that have been fired directly into his soul. He even laughs, y'know, a little. Its probably barely a laugh but for him its impressive.]

Humph, I suppose I can't argue with that.

[he doesn't mean to complicate everything, it just comes naturally.]

She could, you're right. Considering how long she's been here, I can only assume that she doesn't mind my company...

[Hey Lloyd your dad is a moron]

Anyway. You have a good point. This place is frustrating enough as someone used to combat, I can only imagine how much more challenging it is for her. Even so, she's already proven to be immensely helpful already. I don't think we would have made nearly as much progress on the trails if it wasn't for her.

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