[CLOSED] Misplaced

[bufudine]

Who: Angelo, Marcello, Serph
When: Backdated to the beginning of curse week
Where: IN PLACES. (Angelo's apartment, a clothing store, grocery store, the island)
Style: I'll match!


[When Serph wakes and finds the ever present hunger in the back of his mind missing, he knows there's something wrong.

The fact he's waking up in Angelo's bed is definitely wrong.

It only takes a quick look in the mirror for him to realise he's in Angelo's body, in his apartment, and likely suffering one of Vatheon's curses. He supposes it was only a matter of time, given how he'd managed to skip so many of Vatheon's curses lately.

Still, his first priority is to find his body, so after speaking briefly to Angelo, Serph ties up his now unwieldy hair and silently slips out of the apartment before he encounters Marcello.

...while still in Angelo's red silk pyjamas.]

Comments

[bufudine]

[Good. Serph's glad that it hasn't taken long to convince Marcello that he isn't Angelo. Of course, that doesn't really tell him much about who he actually is, though.]

It's Serph.

[His sitting posture remains stiff and straight.]

I would like to know what you did in your world.

[powerandstatus]

[There, in the conversation from the start, lay Serph's reason for visiting.

Marcello was staring at him. A scrutinous gaze. For a while, it seemed he wouldn't say anything, but then he delivered the truth Serph wanted to hear.]

I do not wish to discuss in detail such pitiful business with you. Suffice to say, I tried to change my world. I tried to reform society for the better. I bloodied my hands with terrifying methods, and tried using everything at my disposal... to spread equality and fairness.

[He tried... and failed. Was Serph going to remind him of his failure? Or ask, as no doubt Angelo had informed him of it, what exactly he had done.]

[bufudine]

[Even if Marcello doesn't want to discuss it, Serph does, though he tries not to be forceful about it. Serph doesn't look away from Marcello as he speaks, expressionless, until he tilts his head up slightly.

The slightest of frowns furrows his brow, though his expression is more thoughtful than angry.]

What was wrong with your world?

[What had been wrong enough for Marcello to decide to change it? He mentioned equality and fairness... but just what does that mean?]

[powerandstatus]

[For a while Marcello said nothing. He stopped and waited to see if Serph would share his opinion of him. He had lost count of the times his brother had shared his thoughts. Still, no judgement came - though he was being awaited on to give information that might lead to one.

He seated himself more portentously. He tried to count himself down. It made a change to have company that he could talk to - but not have to care for.]

The law is unjust. [A deliberate present tense, and he finished his point.] Our rulers scorn excellence in men from low birth, and throw children onto the street just for being the kind of people they are. Our faith sedates us with promises us wealth in the next world, whilst ministers feather their nests and fear nothing in our own.

[His tone was quite disappointed.] ... And our whole society prostates itself at the feet of such incompetence and nobody inside it sees he has nothing to lose but his chains.

sorry for the delayed tag! I should be less busy this week!

[bufudine]

[Angelo has touched briefly on the idea of nobles, but he hadn't gone into much detail about it. Some parts of Marcello's words sound familiar -- promises of wealth, or rather, peace, in the next world -- but the use of metaphor leaves Serph having difficulty in grasping the entirety of Marcello's meaning.

He starts with, perhaps, the most important question to clarify, first.]

What do you mean by "low birth"?

No problem. Been an exhausting time here too :3

[powerandstatus]

[Marcello had been keeping an eye on Serph to gauge his reaction. He learned forward a little when the one he was given was one of interest, and he was interested himself on one point.]

People who are neither members of the nobility nor the priesthood, nor those privileged with wealth. [A pause, then an observation.] I am curious. You seem unfamiliar with the concept of social division.

[bufudine]

[There is still some division, but the divisions had been down different lines. Leader and comrades. The Karma Temple and the Tribes. Sera. That last thought stings. But aside from the lack in the worlds he'd come from, the technicalities of why social divisions hadn't really arisen would take a long time to get into -- though he supposes the Karma Society and the Lokapala would count, but he'd spent mere days in that world -- so Serph simply bottom-lines it.]

We were more concerned with killing before we were killed.

[So they didn't really have time to bother with those kinds of frivolities. Serph raises his gaze to Marcello's face, the smallest of frowns creasing his brow.]

That had been our law.

[Their purpose.]

[powerandstatus]

[The word 'had' practically leapt out at him.

And Marcello felt his curiosity spark up. For a moment, he had felt some sort of understanding. What it took to turn on an entire system...

A small frown appeared on his forehead and he leaned back, his hands linking together. With a feeling of finally grasping the issue, he was fairly sure the two of them had been through similar situations for different reasons - and he wouldn't let it go.]

I did not think you as the sort to turn your back on the law of your land. Are you labelled some sort of criminal?

[bufudine]

[Prior to his arrival in Vatheon, Serph would have had no idea what Marcello had meant by criminal. What an odd concept.

Serph shakes his head. Perhaps, in a way, he had been, when the agents of the Temple had done their best to forcibly eject him. But...]

That concept did not exist in my original world.

[Besides...]

It was destroyed.