vatheon | There's no place like home for the holidays

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There's no place like home for the holidays

Who: VILLA PEOPLE and anyone else
Where: Where else, DA VILLA
When: Starting today, going allllll month!
Style: Any
Status: Open to all, visitors please ~~sneak in a window~~ knock

[Even with the curse going on and the myriad of new arrivals and new residents to that well known house in Vatheon, it's actually been more or less calm there. Not exactly quiet, but calm. Which is always nice to start the month of December with.

So what is your Villa person doing today? Cooking, hanging out, putting up Christmas decorations? Whatever the case, feel free to mingle about! There's plenty of new people to say hello to!]

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[Of course Kid would pick up on that. Why wouldn't he?

It's the comment about the switch that finally breaks him out of his memories, eyes blinking a couple of times before he finally pulled his hand away.]

Sorry. Didn't realize I was doin' that.

[He's something of a subject matter expert, when it comes to talking about souls and what happens at the end of life, he is simply the best there is (at least, in the bubble).

Kid straightens up, posture a great deal better than that expected of pretty much any of his peers, here or at Shibusen.]

Your brother knew. [And with the loss of a father they might very well have both adored--]

Hmm.

[Was that, perhaps, why Yukio seemed so strained when he spoke of his brother?]

[More than you know, Kid. More than you know. It can't be easy, to both love and hate some one who's been in your life from minute one, and Yukio feels exactly that.

Rin finally straightened as well, stuffing hands in his pockets and shuffling a foot along the tiled floor. If he couldn't fidget with his hands he would find some other way to do it.]

He could see demons ever since he was little, so Dad started trainin' him as an exorcist. He's... the youngest student to ever get his full certification, and the youngest instructor at True Cross.

[Even though he smiles faintly as he says it, there's an underlying tone of sadness to his pride. He'll always admire Yukio, and there's no shortness of amazement at his talents, but it still hurts to know there was so much of his own brother's life that Rin didn't know for years. So much kept hidden, so many secrets...]

[Kid can't exactly relate with - although he intellectually understands - what it's like to lose one's father, can't even really speculate. How could he, when his father is god? And, lacking siblings, can only liken that depth of connection with that he has (no, had) with the Thompson sisters.]

I can see that you're proud of your accomplished brother, but that's not all there is to it.

[Feel free to tell him to back off anytime, Rin, but Kid isn't going to let up until his curiosity has been fully satisfied.]

Am I wrong?

[Normally it's impossible to get Rin to open up this much. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, sure, but to actually talk about it is nearly impossible.

But for some odd reason that no one will ever be able to explain, he actually didn't mind spilling all of this to Kid.]

Nah. ... kinda wish you were, though.

[He huffs, shifts on his feet, but eventually decides that nope, it's not enough. He needs to busy his hands or he really is going to break something.

He starts pulling out ingredients for another... something. Really he's made more than enough food, but he just wants to have that focus, and knows it won't go to waste in that house.]

I'm dangerous. I'm the Vatican's wild card. I could become a weapon against Satan or fall and become his right hand. They don't know. I don't either, really. They don't trust me, and "they" includes my brother.

[Rin actually has no idea that Yukio struggles between loving and hating his older brother. All he knows is that Yukio uses any opportunity to remind Rin that he 'relies on Satan's power too much'.]

[People spill their secrets to an invisible god all the time; Rin can possibly afford to confide a little in one who can actually enjoy his fine cooking.

He tries to place himself in some relevant position to the one Rin surely experiences, and finds he can't.

At Shibusen and throughout Death City, he stood out in a crowd, drawing hushed whispers of reverence because of his relation to the god of their world. And although that would have been a lonely experience were it not for a few unique (and headstrong) individuals with the gall to be friends with a reaper (and in one case, engage in a heated rivalry), he never experienced widespread suspicion.

The only forms of comfort he knows intuitively concern the soul specifically. A mere physical pat to a shoulder seemed off-handed to the point of condescension. Actually contacting his soul, too intimate.]

Humans tend to fear what they don't understand. It's that same fear that spurs the brave to overcome it, to grow and evolve. I've heard it said that "fear" is, therefore, humankind's greatest treasure, but I believe that to be the soul.

[Even if they could see Rin's soul the way Maka could, the way he could, he doubts his situation would change much.]

Being their "wild card" against Satan, is that what you want? What do you suppose will come of you, once the Vatican has achieved its goals?

[To that, Rin can only give a wordless shrug. He has a hard time thinking that far ahead even on a good day, because tomorrow could just as easily bring something else. Another attack, another loss of control, failure, success, who the hell knew. No pun intended, of course.]

It's like I told Mephisto when he confronted me - I'm not human anymore but I'm not a demon either. The only choice I have is to move forward and become an exorcist.

Anything else... I'unno. I don't really see what else I can do.

Here at least I've got other choices but only because it doesn't work the same way Assiah does.

Edited 2012-12-06 06:08 (UTC)

[There are monks who meditate day in and day out for that sort of sense of immediacy, Rin.

To decide to move on, march forward in pursuit of a brighter outcome is certainly a sentiment with which Kid can definitely relate; he is, after all, rather keen on shaping a perfect world with his own hands one day, but not as an exorcist.

As god of his world, basically.]

Who is this Mephisto to you? Or rather, why should he matter? [Assiah, he assumes, might just be the name of the world he comes from. He never studied the Kabbalah.]

[Hey he knows a few monks!

But in all seriousness, he basically doesn't see himself as having any other options, even if the work is dangerous and thankless and unforgiving.]

... my guardian and the headmaster of the school.

[But he added after a hesitant pause, a look of distaste pulling on his features.]

He's also one of my brothers.

[An unfortunate few can't afford the luxury of a choice, sometimes. The blatant unfairness of Rin's situation might have sent him on a tangent, but he's a little distracted:]

Yukio?

[He's too young to be his twin's guardian, and more than that, the headmaster of a school. Besides, a name like Mephisto?]

No. I didn't realize you had other siblings.

... there's a book in the library. "The Demon Kings of Gehenna". Might be worth a read for you some time.

[He's not trying to be sarcastic or anything. He really means it. He knows Yukio picked it up some time, and it might give Kid some insight on just who these other siblings of Rin's are.]

I didn't really know he was related to me until a coupla months ago...

[Hints were dropped of course, but that didn't really do much when Rin's focus was almost constantly on something else.

[When he's done here, his next destination is obviously the library. This isn't something he wants to get distracted from and forget about it later; naturally inquisitive, it should come as no surprise that Kid would seek to satisfy his curiosity thoroughly when it's relevant to his interests.]

And I had suspected finding out about your birthright alone might have been overwhelming. It sounds like it's been one thing after another.

[And that would be sympathy, albeit awkwardly demonstrated.]

So, do you find being confined here in Vatheon to be a chance to sort it all out? Or an unwelcome interruption?

Pretty much...

[And it could be said that all things considered he's handled it pretty well, but Rin just thinks he's too damn stubborn to let it keep him down. He refuses to die just because some people tell him he should, so he keeps on going even when there are those that hate him because of that birthright and no other reason.]

I'm more worried about what's going to happen when I get back, honestly...

[Observing as Rin prepares another dish that Kid cannot yet identify, he fails to be distracted from the path of his story, finding that each new query exposes something new, interesting, and often unexpected.

That said, however, he's had a difficult life, and he's only... well, about the age of some of their peers at Shibusen.]

You're not alone in that. What was happening back there, when you arrived here?

[Seventeen in a couple of weeks, thanks to Vatheon's timey whimey bullshit. But that's still young, for all the things he's gone through.

One thing in particular he's still not completely okay talking about, and that's what his grandfather did to him and Yukio, and how he nearly lost his brother on top of everything else because of it.

He didn't, in the end, but the way things are going in Vatheon, Yukio's very future could be changed if something can't be fixed before it's too late.

So he's quiet for several passing minutes, the only sounds being his chop-chop-chopping of the knife against the cutting board.]

I'm tryin' to pass my final exam to become an exorcist. I have six months to do it in.

[Unless the Gregori change their minds and have his heroics during Satan's attack actually count for something. Which he doubts. They still don't trust him, the bastards.]

A final exam in only six months? But didn't you only just begin--

[No offense meant, but Rin didn't strike Kid as a young prodigy type; his eyebrows furrowing as he comes to a different kind of conclusion, he instead says:]

Doesn't that seem like excessive pressure?

[Or are they setting him up for failure? He's trying to reserve judgment, but the unfairness implied in this sets his teeth on edge. That's not even and balanced at all!]

That's just how little they trust me.

[And it sucks, but what can he do? He wasn't even awake to argue his own case. He had Mephisto doing the talking for him, of all people. Not even Yukio could stand up for his brother.

Though now days Rin is beginning to wonder if Yukio would have, given the chance...]

They want me as a weapon, that's it. And the only reason they even know about me is 'cause I fucked up. But it was that or let my friends be murdered.

[It's pretty obvious what he chose in that situation.

He doesn't explain any more than that. If Kid asks what's going to happen if he fails, he'll tell him, but Rin isn't going to be willingly forthcoming with the fact that his head is basically on a chopping block back home.]

[Kid doesn't feel the need to ask, when he already perceives Rin's head is resting beneath a proverbial guillotine's blade. His knuckles ache, his palms sting, and it's several more moments of the heat of pressure rising on crescents in his skin before the young reaper realizes his fingers are clenched.

He relaxes them, feeling his knuckles creak as he gives his fingers a moment to flex.]

Your circumstances are hardly what any reasonable person would call 'fair'.

[To say there's pity in that remark wouldn't be entirely accurate.

It's more like--

Admiration. To deal with adversity without losing one's determination, to face a deadline of this gravity and yet still reserve the energy to be positive and smile.

These aren't things Kid himself is capable of.]

It ain't like I chose this life. Can't help who we come from.

[Rin glances up from the treats he's rolling around in a coating of crushed graham cracker, a pointed look directed at kid for just a second. He should know, after all. They're just kids, all of them, given life without any say of their own.

That note of admiration isn't lost on Rin, though, and he goes back to his task quietly.]

If I gave up, it'd be throwin' away everything the old man ever did for me. I wanna kill Satan, but I ain't becomin' an exorcist just for that. I'm gonna make damn sure no one else ever dies for me. I gotta become strong enough for that.

[The reaper turns, stepping away from Rin and his work, arms folded.]

Having someone die for your sake. I can't say that I can understand what that's like.

[After all, as the son of Lord Death, he will inevitably outlive everyone he knows, those friendships he has come to cherish will inevitably wither like spring blossoms. That doesn't stop him from enjoying that bond while it lasts.

Nor does his presumed longevity stop him from being absolutely ready to give it up for the sake of those friends and the world they live in on a moment's notice.]

But to protect what remains, to want to make sure it doesn't happen again... [against the inevitability of loss] ...That, I can. You'll definitely reach your goal, of that I have no doubt.

[That doesn't surprise Rin. Hell, in some weird way they can share that. Rin will likely outlive most of his human friends, but that doesn't stop him from making friends and doing what he can to keep and protect them.]

Heh. Thanks...

[When he looks up again, there's an actual smile this time. Having that vote of confidence, even from some one he just met recently, actually means a lot.]

Edited 2012-12-19 01:49 (UTC)

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There's no place like home for the holidays

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