07: Well that escalated quickly

[paladaddy]

Who: Shiro Fujimoto and Franken Stein
When: Shortly after this post.
Where: The Villa
What: Shiro confronts Stein for a talk
Style: Action
Status: closed

[Okay, it's not really a fight, but it's a confrontation that needs to happen.

Shiro knew this whole deer thing was going to go spiraling out of control from the get-go. Leaving a carcass out there for anyone to find was definitely a lapse in judgement, and they should have taken care of it when Stein had insisted on killing that deer in the first place.

But no, this isn't about the mess or Hubert's post. This is about the underlying causes of the whole thing.

After talking with Hubert, Shiro goes to Stein's room to see if he is there. He knocks on the door before speaking.]

You got a moment?

Comments

[circumsutus]

It's unlocked.

[Stein has a bad habit of working with only a desk lamp, the bright harsh glare standing out in the darkness of the rest of the room. Currently, he's just reading, going through a science journal he managed to pick up in the library. He doesn't look up when Shiro enters.]

[paladaddy]

[When he enters the room, he pulls the door shut behind him. No need for any of the kids to overhear their talking and come investigate.]

We need to talk.

[circumsutus]

[Stein's rolling chair squeaks as the doctor leans to look at Shiro.]

Oh?

[He's not in a talking mood.]

[paladaddy]

[It's dark and a little unnerving to just have that one light, So Shiro will glance to the wall and look for a light switch while he speaks.]

I want you to come clean with me: why did you take apart that deer?

[circumsutus]

[Stein winces as the light goes on, taking off his glasses to rub at his stinging eyes.

He feels like a child again, twelve years old with teachers asking the same sort of questions.]

I already told you.

[He's never liked people invading his space.]

[paladaddy]

You fed me a line about studying for parasites, but I get the feeling that's not the real answer here.

[The more Shiro thought about it, the flimsier that excuse became.]

[circumsutus]

Really?

[He stretches, cracking his back, and tilts his head from one side to the other to crack his neck as well.]

What do you think my motivation was?

[He's tired.]

[paladaddy]

[Instead of stating it outright, he adds a bit of a story to it, mostly to prove he knows what he's talking about.]

I started smoking before I was old enough to buy cigarettes, so I had to get them however I could, and that sometimes meant dry spells without a single smoke. It was absolutely terrible, and after a couple weeks I would smoke just about anything to get rid of my jittery nerves. But that first smoke after a long dry spell, it had a weird calming effect on me.

I saw that same calmness in you, that night.

[He's been trying to explain it away, but it's the big reason why he had been bothered by the incident.]

[circumsutus]

[Stein understands the analogy. Admittedly, it does sort of make him want to go out into the backyard and smoke, but that's irrelevant.]

Did you?

[The light on his glasses shifts just enough that the glare vanishes to reveal Stein's olive-green eyes focusing on the priest.]

[paladaddy]

[Don't even try that glasses trick on him, he can do that too and has about 20 years more practice with it.

If Stein is unnerving Shiro at all, Shiro isn't showing it.]

Yes, I did.

[It's not said in an accusing tone, but it's stated clearly enough to show that Shiro won't be taking anymore bullshit answers.]

[circumsutus]

Is there something wrong with that?

[paladaddy]

I don't care what you do to calm your nerves, so long as it isn't criminal and doesn't get other people on our case.

[Stein taking apart animals for shits and giggles is disturbing as fuck, but Shiro has dealt with worse. He's more worried about it progressing to things beyond animals, because he knows all too well how addictions can get worse like that.

Along with that, he doesn't want the kids getting any flack for it, but he's less worried about that particular consequence since he can run interference.]

And I don't care what you tell other people, either. But If I'm going to be the guy to help you when you get in over your head, I at least want the truth from you, and a little warning ahead of time.

[circumsutus]

[That's not a reaction Stein hears very often. Congratulations, Shiro, you've piqued his interest.]

I'm not going to get in over my head.

[He has a lifetime of experience. Besides, this is an addiction held carefully under control, unlikely to break out in a sudden rash of murders. Unless he gets his hands on the trolls.]

But thank you for the offer.

[paladaddy]

[See that's the kind of thing Shiro wants to avoid. No messing with the trolls, Stein.

And Shiro isn't convinced by the definitive statement there. His years of experience have taught him that skeletons like this always come out of the closet at some point, and the best anyone can do is keep the damage to a minimum.

Still, Stein looks like he's on-edge anyway, and Shiro meant for this talk to be an opening of communication, not a scolding.]

If you're sure. But if something comes up later, don't be afraid to come to me with it.

[Minimizing risk and casualties, that is his job. He's trying not to smother Stein, but he has a duty to the humans here as well.]

[circumsutus]

I'm not very fond of shrinks.

[They always try to figure out what's wrong with him, and he's not exactly fond of that.]

[paladaddy]

Then it's a good thing I'm a priest, not a shrink.

[Shiro would like to figure out what's wrong with Stein, but he knows that in practice he won't find out by poking and prodding the guy. It's best to just focus on the things he can affect, like what things Stein cuts up.]

[circumsutus]

The only other priest I've met is a seventeen year old guillotine who doesn't bother to take his headphones off his ears long enough to listen to god. [He's not impressed with priests.]

[paladaddy]

[He's not sure if 'guillotine' is being used metaphorically or literally here.]

It sounds like he needs to rethink his strategies, then. It's hard to be a priest if you're terrible at listening to people.

[circumsutus]

I'm sure he thinks he's doing a good job. He'll figure things out eventually.

[paladaddy]

He's still pretty young for it too, if he's only seventeen. I was still an exwire then.

[circumsutus]

I don't know him well, but he would probably want to know what took you so long. [He's going to take advantage of the change in subject.]

[paladaddy]

Hey now, I was studying five different meisters at once and I still finished school on time. That's got to count for something.

[Whoops he just goes with the change of subject right there. He might be leaning against the wall more casually now too, since the conversation turned less serious.]

[circumsutus]

[Pointless conversations are pretty good distractions, and Stein manages to pull himself together enough to hold a conversation.]

He's the first autonomous death scythe ever, and since he reached the rank when he was 13, he's also the youngest ever.

[paladaddy]

[Shiro would be grumpy about being outdone by a brat, but the autonomous part catches his attention.]

So an autonomous person is someone who's both meister and weapon?

[circumsutus]

Well, you can't exactly swing a guillotine around.