summonerd | i just wanna know: who broke it?

"Wh-Hey!" Sheena says, tries but fails to tug her arm free of Zelos's grip. "Let--" she starts, then stops herself, remembering just why it's a terrible idea. "...oh. Sorry."

She makes an attempt to pull away a second time, experimentally, frowning when his grip tightens instead of weakening. "Hey, Tethe'alla to Zelos? You can let go," she says, pasting a less-than-genuine smile onto her face. "I'm not gonna go out there, I just--" She runs her free hand through her bangs, gaze drifting back towards the door Lloyd had left through. "I'm just worried."

Zelos does snap out of his reverie when Sheena finishes speaking, at least. He blinks. Oh dear, oh dear--that was sloppy. He's stepped out of line. Zelos slips a smile onto his face and chuckles, releasing his driver immediately, then shrugging. "Yeah, well," he says, "y'wanna know my opinion? Let him be." He pushes himself away from Sheena and walks over to where he remembers the kitchen being, vaguely gesturing over his shoulder. Lower, he says, "Poor guy looked like he saw a ghost."

He doesn't give Sheena the time to react to that if she heard it. Zelos quickly peeks into the kitchen and bangs his palm on the wall as harshly as he can. "Yo, Malos!" he shouts, all shit-eating grins and amusement to hide how badly the event just unnerved him. "We got a runaway! The kid left!"

Malos, who was already on his way out of the kitchen wondering why the fuck his front door just opened, almost runs into Zelos. "Architect!", he swears, startled, and then the rest of what Zelos says registers to him and. "Kid? Which kid?"

He doesn't give Zelos the time to answer, poking his head out of the kitchen to look and--there's Sheena, so. "Where the fuck did Lloyd go? What happened?"

So much for a peaceful fucking breakfast!

Edited 2019-03-29 02:09 (UTC)

He doesn't give her the time to say anything about it, but Zelos gets to feel the way her heart drops into her stomach anyway. It's not like he could have known, but he hit the nail on the head, and the noise she lets out is akin to a deflating balloon, soft and easy to miss as Zelos goes on and Malos enters the room. This day just keeps getting worse!

How does she explain what she's pretty sure happened without sharing things that aren't hers to share. Fuck. She struggles to pull that smile back onto her face, or at least get back to something neutral, as she says, "He just got here yesterday, right? It's... a lot to take in, all at once. I don't think he'll go far."

Zelos chuckles at Malos' outburst, flapping his hand about to dismiss the tense atmosphere in the air, stepping up into the room right behind the blade. "Oh, yeah. We all had one hell of a day yesterday, right? Particularly him, from the looks of it," he says, directing himself to the couch he'd slept in and settling himself in it once again. He tucks his arms behind his head. "I mean, I think I even heard him cry. So give him, like, an hour or so to calm down. I'm sure he'll be back." He pauses, hums. Snorts. "And if he's not, then we can always meet him halfway, right?"

He's grinning like this is all a joke, like it's amusing, like he's not freaked out of his mind about everything and anything and the way that it all just keeps happening with no fucking end in sight. Architect, this has been the strangest day of his new life, and the fact that it's the very first one feels like a bad omen of what's to come. What the hell did Zelos get himself into? What did Sheena get him into?

This is already shaping up to be the worst roadtrip ever.

"I mean, yeah," Malos says, more confused than anything else. "Guess y'all have been through a lot." And they're in a brand new, probably confusing as hell, dimension besides. Well shit. "Givin' him some time sounds like a fine plan," he says, a little louder than normal, putting on an air of confidence masking the unease that sits in his chest.

Like, okay, giving someone some time to sit and regulate themselves after a breakdown? Valid as hell. Makes perfect sense. Definitely something he's used to.

But also that's his grandson so he's kind of worried like holy shit.

Give him some time, Malos, give him some time. Malos ducks back into the kitchen, makes sure his pancakes aren't burning (they aren't) and then sits and glares at the pan while he tries to figure out what he's going to do. Maybe it won't even be the best thing to spring on Lloyd if he's not doing too hot, but also... if Lloyd and Sheena are going to be in this world for an extended period of time--which Malos kind of figures they are, especially with Zelos in the equation, and knowing that inter-dimensional travel probably ain't something you can do on a fucking whim-- Then, well. Lloyd and Sheena really need to know how this world fucking works, huh. Especially if they're going to meet Mithos. Especially since they have no idea what the history here is, with the war, with the Aegises. Maybe Sheena knows some but Malos knows Lloyd doesn't and they...

They cannot just walk up to Mithos' tower not knowing shit about fuck.

Oh shit, pancakes are burning.

Cursing, Malos hastily gets them outta the pan and tosses them onto the plate with the rest. Batter's all been used up and they've got a pretty impressive stack going, but-- Well, they ain't eating until Lloyd's back. Malos shoves the plate into the microwave. They can just heat 'em up later, it's fine. No one will know if he doesn't say shit.

Better go kick Anna out of bed.

He takes a second just to look Zelos' and Sheena's direction before he heads upstairs. Sheena's pacing enough she'll probably run a rut in their floor if she keeps it up. Zelos is on the couch, looking like he might be trying to nap again. He thinks about saying something to Sheena, isn't sure what to say, decides against it. Saying nothing, up the stairs he goes, until he's in Anna's room.

"Up up up!" he calls, obnoxiously, opening her curtains so she gets a faceful of sunlight. "Unfortunately, day's started."

There's a flare of anoyance and regret along their emotional bleed. Anna rolls over and covers her face with a pillow. "Five more minutes," she grumbles.

Normally this is the point where Malos cajoles her out of bed with promises of breakfast he's already made and threats that it's gonna get cold if she doesn't get her ass downstairs soon, but today he goes with:

"Come on, gonna need you to give your famous Aegis history lesson."

That gets her.

She sits up-- or at least, props herself up on her arms to send him a slightly-more-coherent look. "Oh fuck," she says, and the annoyance in their emotion bleed is replaced by confusion and also a sweet sweet song of eager delight. (Anna loooooves doing these history lessons, she has speeches memorized and everything.) "How soon? I need to pee, at least."

Malos laughs. "After breakfast," he tells her. "Maybe during. You got time."

"Time to shower?" Anna asks.

Malos shrugs. "If you want."

Anna considers it for a moment, then: "We're gonna be on the road for a while, maybe I better."

Malos leaves her to making that decision, and heads back downstairs. He checks the clock. It's been like, fifteen minutes since Lloyd went out? Probably hasn't been enough time... He doesn't want to eat breakfast without Lloyd, though. And something about leaving Lloyd out there alone just doesn't sit right with him.

And like... Lloyd should at least know there's breakfast, right?

"Gonna go check on Lloyd," he tells Sheena, already making his way for the door. "Tell him breakfast is ready and all." He hesitates, then adds. "Don't help yourselves, we'll eat when I get back."

Out the door before Sheena can argue. Malos hopes she's right about Lloyd not having gone far-- but then, he can feel Lloyd's ether signature, still. It's weird, a human having an ether signature so strong (not quite blade, only barely less), but Malos counts it lucky at the moment. He follows the taste of something a little like Anna, a little like something old and just-barely remembered he can't quite name. (Did their Lloyd have an ether signature? Malos kind of remembers he did, maybe.)

He finds Lloyd in the woods not far from the house, back to a tree, face buried in his knees. Malos bites down his worry and siphons his emotional link to Anna, not wanting to ruin her shower with concern she doesn't know why he's throwing around, and also not wanting her highly-focused delight making it harder to think about what's in front of him.

"Hey," Malos says, dragging the sound out just a little. "Breakfast is ready." He wants to ask what's wrong, but knows better than that. Can't get away with that shit when you ain't close to someone. So. "You don't gotta come back right away, just wanted to let you know."

Lloyd startles as soon as Malos speaks up, whipping his head up with wide eyes. There is a little bit of mental berating - you're alone in these small woods, Lloyd, your friends are being hunted, you should have been alert - but he pushes it back like he pushes back the slight tinge of pain coming from his knuckles. The violent energy he had run out here with had disappeared with a few punches to a random tree, and though it left Lloyd mentally exhausted and with torn knuckles, he feels at least a semblance of better. At the very least, his flashbacks have faded for now.

“Ah - thank you,” he says, voice a little hoarse, guilt pulling at his throat with the obvious concern on Malos’ face, with the way he came out here to find Lloyd instead of Lloyd keeping it together by himself. “I-I’m coming. Don't want to keep you all waiting.”

Humiliation lingers in Lloyd's thoughts, sprouting growing dread at facing Zelos or Sheena after this episode, after making everything awkward and tense, after running out like a child. Lloyd pauses, counts to ten, takes a deep, shaky breath and stands, picking up his gloves beside him. He strolls ahead, fixing the gloves back into place and keeping his eyes downcast, because he's sure they're bloodshot and ugly and he's embarrassed, so fucking embarrassed at how he just keeps doing this, breaking down at every wrong turn just because his life happens to be tough.

Lloyd thinks about Kratos, about living for 4,000 years with so much pain, and knows it could be so much worse. He stops in front of Malos, flashes a tiny smile, and tilts his head in the direction of the safehouse. “Let's go.”

"Hey, we don't mind waiting!" Malos assures Lloyd, first and foremost. "Or if you want us to start without you so you can have a little more time without feeling guilty for keeping us, that's fine too. Don't have to go anywhere until you're ready."

Lloyd looks pretty set on going regardless, but Malos hesitates, just a second, feeling like there's something here, something more he should say. He isn't sure what. Watching Lloyd right now is like looking into a funhouse mirror that shows the past-- same signals Zelos was sending, earlier, don't ask I don't want to talk, but Lloyd's is a little shakier and...

Something about the downcast of those eyes, Malos recognizes. Kratos hides his face when he's embarrassed, too.

"Really, Lloyd," Malos says, gentle. "If you want some more time to cool off, take a breather-- I get it. Happens to all of us. It's been a pretty crazy twelve hours-- less than that?" Feels like a fucking eternity since Lloyd showed up, seeing as after that Sheena arived with the goddamn Aegis in tow. "Anyway. A lot's happened. I really can't blame you."

Malos moves then, slowly, just a step or two. "But... if you think you're good, we can go. Or I can just go, if you want some space. Don't worry about breakfast."

The thing is, Lloyd doesn't really wanna go inside. He doesn't want to face Sheena and Zelos yet, not after that agitating episode, not with the shame that burns in his chest over losing his composure in front of Zelos, who's got his own shit to figure out, and leaving Sheena to deal with it. Lloyd doesn't want to deal with this, with this world, with this scenario, with the cruel 'fuck you' fate keeps spitting at him.

But he also doesn't want to stay out here and try to wait out something that won't fade away from existence just because he's ignored it long enough. Lloyd Irving has never run from his problems before, really, and he's not going to start now, not when there are other people who could use his help. He might be broken, he might be shattered, but he'll do what he can. So it's best he staples his heart back together, whips his mind back into working order, and fakes it till he makes it.

Lloyd needs to get Sheena home, after all. No matter what it takes.

He strengthens the weak smile on his face, shrugging a little nonchalantly, trying to force the strain out of his voice for the sake of tugging the concern out of Malos'. "I'll be okay. It was just - Zelos reminded me of someone, is all. I wasn't ready. But - I'll get over it. I'll be okay."

Without waiting for Malos' response, he turns and starts walking towards the safehouse, closing his eyes and exhaling quietly as soon as his back is turned. No matter what it takes.

"Okay," Malos says, even though Lloyd's already gone. He follows after, trying to decide how much he believes Lloyd. Hard to guage.

Give it some time, Malos, give it some time. Lloyd's old enough to take care of himself. You don't gotta worry too much about him.

(Oh, but he's worrying.)

(If there's anything the Irvings are good at, it's being stubborn as hell, even when it comes to holding on to absolutely terrible ideas.)

Anyway, time to head back in and get breakfast ready for real. If someone's stolen one of his pancakes he swears to fuck--

Unfortunately for Zelos, sleep just won't come, especially not when Sheena keeps pacing about worried out of her damn mind. It causes a strange feedback loop of anxiety to grow between them, one that Zelos desperately attempts to fight back while keeping his face blank to truly sell the picture of him having fallen asleep. At least this'll keep everyone away from him, even if temporarily, so he keeps the charade.

Malos leaves, announcing that breakfast's ready, and once he hears the door open and close Zelos opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling. A need for a distraction and some form of entertainment blooms in his mind, and in its wake Zelos makes a face. He shouldn't. He really, really shouldn't, but with the way everything keeps getting crazier and crazier, with everything that's happened in the past few hours, Zelos feels annoyed enough to think that maybe he's justified in stealing some food for himself to eat alone, if only to avoid the awkward air of a make-believe friendly breakfast between them five.

He could do it, probably. After all, Anna's nowhere to be found, Malos and Lloyd are outside, and maybe if he tries hard enough he can sneak away from his driver so that she can't stop him, either. The idea sends a shiver down his spine. Because a part of him is afraid of being caught, but--that's fine, he tells himself. This isn't the castle. It's just some fucking food. Blades need food to survive too, even if in smaller amounts. He can get away with that, right?

That should be fine, right?

Hm.

Whatever. Zelos blinks, focuses and listens for Sheena's footsteps, then picks a moment when they're far away from his general position to rise and peek out, making sure Sheena's not looking his way. Once he confirms she's distracted he gets up and walks off to the kitchen, footsteps quiet and nerves shaking with Sheena's emotional bleed and his own fear as he tentatively and slowly searches the kitchen.

Come the fuck on, Zelos, it's just food. It'll be fine. You can get away with stealing a bit of food, for fuck's sake.

It's fine.

Edited 2019-03-29 19:36 (UTC)

Most of Sheena's pacing is because she's worried about Lloyd, true, but it's giving her a chance to get her thoughts in order, too. The emotional link between her and Zelos is new and alien, but it's hard to miss that almost all of the emotions that she can tell are coming from him are negative ones. And he'd told her he'd essentially never even left the castle before... This is a lot for him to adjust to, probably. She's on her way back towards the living room in this loop of the house, anyway; she should probably check in with him.

"Hey," she starts, uncertainly, as she comes into view of the couch, and then stops as she sees that Zelos isn't where he'd been lying down.

If he followed Lloyd and Malos out after stopping her from doing the same she's gonna-- Well. Not kill him. But she's going to have something to say about it, at least. But no, it's only been a moment, and she's not distracted enough to have missed the front door opening and closing again. She pokes her head into the kitchen, definitely not feeling a tiny puff of relief when she finds him there, peeking into a cabinet like he's never been unsupervised in a kitchen before. Alright. Now what?

"Hey. Looking for something?" she asks, trying to sound casual.

Okay, in Zelos' defense, the only reason why he jumps a little when Sheena addresses him is because he was distracted thinking about where the fuck these peoples' plates could even be, because he's a proper boy and if he's going to eat anything then he's gonna do it without making a fucking mess. Really, that's it. That's really it. He doesn't really have to disguise his surprise, so he lets a bit of it show in a milder, less panicked way than what he really felt at being found out, holding that emotion close and refusing to let it swim through their connection.

He gives Sheena a little smile, though, something that looks friendlier than he really feels, and shrugs. "Thought I'd grab a bite," he tells the truth. "I'm starving. Don't really wanna wait," he lies. Then he tilts his head, smiling still, unconsciously trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. "Need something?"

"Thought Malos said to wait," she says, but her tone's not accusing. She is hungry, now that she thinks about it. And if she hasn't eaten since yesterday morning, then--

"No, I'm fine," she says. "I just... wanted to make sure you were doing okay?" It's tentative, Sheena not used to being anything like this genuine with any version of Zelos, but that panic earlier had been sharp enough to cut through her concern about Lloyd like it was nothing. She steps into the kitchen so she's not in the doorway, shifting her weight to rest on her right foot awkwardly.

He gives her a flap of his hand and a snort. "Yeah, well, Malos ain't my dad."

Well, shit, Zelos is half tempted to step back when Sheena comes into the kitchen, but he holds his ground, smile still in place, all amused and pretty and fake. He does laugh at her question, though gently and a little like he can't believe she's asking. "Yup," he says. Keeps holding onto that fear and decides to redirect. "I'm more worried about your friend, though. Is he always like that? 'Cause that's gonna be a problem when we're on the road, you know."

Edited 2019-03-31 02:33 (UTC)

She doesn't make any move to close the distance, just leans back against the counter, considering his question before anything else. "He's been through a lot," she says, aware it's not exactly an answer. "I think he just needs time."

Unfortunately for Zelos, though, she knows what his deflection looks like when she sees it. She takes a deep breath, readying herself to be way more open than she's ever been with him. "But seriously. Earlier, it felt like--" God, is there a social etiquette for 'I can feel your emotions and they're deeply concerning'? Whatever. "Like you were really anxious about something. I don't- this is all new and weird, I know I'm kind of in over my head, I was just worried."

Ahahahaaaaaaa son of a bitch, she's fucking figured it out.

Zelos can't help but tense a little when she says that, opting for sighing and crossing his arms to hide his discomfort. He rolls his eyes. He'd been honestly expecting to get away scot-free from the whole emotional bleed thing by keeping himself under control and being quiet about it, given Sheena is from a different universe and she totally neglected reading up on the blade system, but apparently he's been sloppy enough for her to pick up on it here and there. I mean, the whole 'shut the fuck up I'm gonna let you feel how annoyed I feel' thing probably didn't help, either, but can you really blame him? He was frustrated! This kinda stuff is just habit for blades!

Okay, okay. Zelos doesn't really feel like disclosing exactly why he's feeling the way he does, and he's currently too emotionally constipated by just holding in all his fear and anxiety, so instead of being honest he does the next best thing.

He tells a half-truth.

"She's a total stranger, remember? Who knows what else she's really planning, considering, well," Zelos laughs, goes for gesturing to where his core crystal lies hidden under his clothes. Raises his eyebrows and says nothing else. Deliberately doesn't say Anna's name, just in case.

That's enough for Sheena to accept it, at least, eager as she is for this conversation to not be what it is. It's a good reason to be nervous, something she'd thought about a little too before everything else had driven it from her mind, and she frowns, leans forward as she rests one hand on her hip.

"Yeah, I know," she says, careful of her tone in case any of the others are on their way back. "I don't know what she wants either, but I'm not gonna let her make you do anything you don't want to, even if she is helping us. Neither is Lloyd." She sounds certain of that much, at least. Even if Anna is his mom, Lloyd's hardly about to let her do something he thinks is wrong.

"Aww. That's real sweet of ya, hon," Zelos manages out through a chuckle. Still, the way Sheena says that actually makes Zelos uncomfortable, the constantly repeated idea that he's got a choice alien and perhaps a little terrifying. Besides, putting his faith on the two people who seemingly killed his mirror is... a little nerve-wrecking, at the very least.

He wants this conversation to end soon, so he twists and goes back to scavenging the kitchen, reaching up for one of the cabinets above him, and--bingo! There's the plates. "But anyway, the plan still stands, right?" he says, taking out a single plate for himself and setting it on the counter. Now where's the fucking cutlery. "I gotta send you home. Whatever anyone else wants, it's still second priority to your thing," he adds.

At least making himself appear busy distracts him enough from the fact that everything keeps happening so much and doesn't seem to be fucking stopping. It's fine.

If Anna showers longer than normal, it's only becuase she gets distracted reiterating speeches she's given like, probably a hundred times now. She is a simple woman with a very complicated special interest that she adores greatly. Like, fuck history. She didn't even go to school but she knows the shit they teach at school is dumb as shit. It's uninteresting and pumped so full of propaganda it makes her sick.

But, the version of history Kratos told her? Fascinating as hell. (And, okay, maybe that's just because she's in love with the man who this history's about, but that's valid, okay?) (A man she hasn't seen in five years, a man who probably thinks she's dead--DON'T think about it Anna, don't think about it.)

Where was she.

Oh yeah-- Even regardless of Kratos, the thrill of knowing a history no one teaches, the lengths she's gone to to confirm it (she loves Kratos, she trusts him, but sometimes you just gotta break into some top-secret records and also steal copies so people believe you) has been... maybe her favorite part of being a rebel. Her resources are too thin now and her plans too scattered to pull off any large-scale rebellion, but you know what she can do? Tell people the truth.

So, yeah, she's maybe got this speech memorized back to front. Going over it again just to make sure she remembers is a comfort thing more than anything else.

She gets downstairs to Malos already serving breakfast, so like, that's fine, but fuck him. She wasn't in the shower that long.

But also they do have three guests so maybe she shouldn't be so fucking petty.

"Am I doing this, like, now?" she asks Malos in hushed tone as she warms up her very-cold-by-now pancakes.

"Well, seeing as we can't exactly take them to Mithos when they have no fucking clue who he is or what an Aegis is, yeah," Malos answers.

That strikes surprise in Anna. "Since when were we heading to Mithos?"

Malos levels her with a Look, even as he passes her the syrup for her pancakes. "And a safer place for one refugee Aegis is...?"

"Good point," Anna admits, even though she hates it a little. Hopefully Mithos will be civil.

(And... it WILL be nice to see Kratos, again.)

(Hoo boy. Keep not thinking about that one, Anna.)

"They have no idea that you're springing this on them, though," Malos warns. At the offended look and the disappointment she sends him, he laughs. "What? You're a big girl! You can figure out how to start the conversation yourself."

Anna sticks her tongue out at him. Starting this speech is always the hard part, because she can practice a beginning all she wants but it's always thrown off by actual real people who have varying opinions about listening to her rant for like an hour about history. Sighing a little, she takes her pancakes over to the table, plopping herself down in one of the empty chairs.

"So," she says, looking mostly at Sheena, since Lloyd's on the floor. (She can't even judge him, really.) "If we're heading to Mithos, then you guys need to a little more about Aegises, huh?"

Edited 2019-03-31 05:51 (UTC)

Sheena looks up from her food as Anna sits down across from her, only to almost immediately choke on a bite of pancake at the casual way she brings up Mithos. She thumps at her sternum, coughing.

"Uh, yeah," she says, after she's gotten it under control. She glances at Lloyd surreptitiously, glad she thought to warn him about Zelos's plans, before she continues. "I know a little, but... it's hard to ask about the kind of stuff everyone knows without people getting suspicious."

Edited 2019-03-31 06:16 (UTC)

"Yeah, that tracks," Anna says. "Though honestly no one would have told you the truth, anyway-- only what they think is the truth."

That... would have been a pretty good segway into the rest of the shit, but she realizes that Sheena must know... absolutely nothing about Aegises. Also Anna's got a pancake to eat. Fuck. She should have eaten before starting this. Look it's fine just take a quick bite no one's judging and if they are they can fuck themselves.

"Not that. Uh. Architect, I gotta start way sooner than that, huh," Anna says. Malos doesn't chuckle, but she feels his fond-smug-amused package of emotions and knows he's thinking about it all the same. Asshole.

Anna sighs and leans back in her chair. Takes another bite of pancake.

"Well. Okay, give me a sec to get into some mythology bullshit, but. Legends say there's this guy called the Architect, and using the power of the Aegises, he created our world," Anna says. "Dunno if the Architect's real, but the Aegises? Real as shit."

(Anna would it kill you for once in your life to explain things even a little bit seriously? Yes?? Okay.)

"Mithos-- he's one of the originals," Anna continues. "And they're-- the Aegises? They're really powerful blades. Ten times as strong as a regular blade, easy. I mean-- they created our world."

She pauses, then smiles here, sharp and incredibly bitter.

"Not that humanity's interested in that, of course. Humanity mostly just wants to use them to wage war."

Blades don't really need to eat, so even before Anna starts talking Zelos is already only poking at one of his two pancakes every now and then just to busy himself. But then she gets into her little history lesson and Zelos tenses only ever so slightly, now pretending to eat to try his hardest to keep his attention to her words to a minimum, trying to keep calm. Unfortunately for him, though, it's kinda hard to not pay attention when she's talking about Aegises, the very fucking thing he is, and it's even worse when she mentions the war.

He knows that if she mentions a very, very specific subject then he won't be able to take it and he will most likely leave, but... maybe he can pretend. Maybe he can take it. And, if he's honest? A part of Zelos is curious, too. He is no fool; he's read the history books, been told about the past by his caretakers, but there's always been enough inconsistencies and mysteries to leave him unsatisfied. Zelos would rather ask Mithos himself how this world functioned before he was created, because he really doubts he could ever trust a human's words, Anna included, but...

Perhaps he can get some info from Anna. Maybe her side of the story will shed some light somewhere, or provide some context and allow Zelos to draw his own conclusions, or--or--

He takes another bite of food, trying to stay calm, expression blank and posture nonchalant. Play the part, Zelos, play the part. Don't think about the war. Don't think about what she's going to say next, just focus on getting as much info as you can.

Let's just see how this plays out.

Anna waits a second, but it looks like everyone's just digesting-- no questions yet. She keeps going. The words are familiar, to the point where she's more focused on hitting the beats of the narrative than the content of them, honestly. (If she focuses too much on the content, she'll just get too pissed off to speak.)

"Of course, even considering how powerful the Aegises are-- You can't fight a war with just one blade, especially if that blade doesn't want to fight. And why would Mithos or Martel want to fight humanity's war? They were both taken from their home, split between the countries, asked to fight for a cause they didn't care about, asked to fight each other..."

She doesn't know much about either of them, only what Kratos has told her. But she knows: The Original Aegises, willingly fighting each other? You could sooner expect the sky to fall.

"So humanity needed a way around that," Anna continues, grim. "And that's why they created th--"

A flare of alarm from Malos so sudden that the words die in Anna's mouth. Before she can even turn her head towards him to see what's up, Malos is sliding into the room, the smile on his face a little too big.

"Heeey, Zelos," he says, before Anna can even ask what the fuck. "You wanna go with me for a walk? You look like maybe you could use the air."

The tight hope and fervent alarm in Anna's veins that isn't hers abruptly makes sense, and steals the air from her lungs. Did. Did she really almost just bring up the cannons with an Aegis in the room? She can't even mention them around Kratos, half the time!

"And before anyone gives me shit about it being dangerous," Malos continues, "I'm pretty sure we're clear so long as we don't go too far. Soldiers are the only ones looking for us right now, and if they were around they'd have already knocked our door down. So."

Malos waits. Anna keeps her mouth shut.

Keep it cool. Keep it together. Don't show just how much worse your dread gets the more she speaks, the more she talks about the war, about taking away an Aegis' choice by forcing them to fight. Zelos stabs at the pancake with his fork. Once, twice. Breathe in, breathe out. Don't even let Sheena get even the slightest lick of your anxiety, don't let anyone see how badly this is hurting already. Stop thinking about the cannon. Stop thinking about the cannon. Stop thinking about the cannon stop thinking about the cannon stop thinking about the cannon stop thinking about the cannon--

A voice cuts through so sharply that Zelos suddenly drops his fork. He blinks. Looks up to meet Malos' eyes.

He's... been addressed? He risks a glance at Anna. She's looking his way, too.

It looks like he's been addressed.

Oh, shit.

It's--It's fine. Keep cool. He breathes in deep, goes back to making eye contact with Malos, because at least looking at a blade helps the sickening pool of pain and guilt and horror in his gut to freeze over a little. Zelos rolls his eyes and hastily constructs a mask of annoyed nonchalance, as if Malos' request was personally troubling him, as if this were anything but the salvation that he wants to get the fuck away from cannon talk. "If you insist," Zelos says. It's the only thing that'll come. And it's pretty weak, maybe, but he's trying his fucking hardest to keep his voice calm and steady, making it a show out of slowly getting up from his seat despite every nerve in his body telling him to vault it the fuck out of this room.

He throws his hair over his shoulder and follows Malos out without further protest, the easy smile on his face hiding discomfort, hands at his sides balled into fists.

no subject

no subject

YOU HORRIBLE CHILDREN YOU'RE KILLING YOUR GRANDPA

THIS IS HELL

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

BUCKLE UP HERE WE FUCKING GO

no subject

no subject

no subject