tiir rumibul; oo1

[contemptibility]

Who: Tiir and vatheon!
When: Early afternoon?
Where: In the forest, near the lake.
Style: [I'm lazy okay]
Status: NEVER MIND this suddenly became open thanks to Cal—

[It might sound a bit odd, coming from someone who tries to be honest, but Tiir hates this curse.

... Granted, he hates most of them, but still.

It might've been fine another time, or under different circumstances. Half the time, Tiir wouldn't care if others could see his thoughts, as he'd already be saying them out loud.

With Guriko to look after, however, it's a different story. He can't afford to let her see.

... And he's not as confident as he was months ago.

Thus, his thought bubble blank as he forces himself to think about nothing, he escapes to his usual hiding place: the forest. That is, the one place he can usually count on to be unoccupied.

... Except for right now, apparently—]

Comments

[tsundyne]

[There's something about this whole situation. Being able to read his thoughts, being able to...understand, if only in part.

In fragments. She reads the words monster and murderer, and oddly enough, the first image in her mind is far from him--no matter how horrific the site had been, watching him devour someone else.

She still thinks of Strega, of Ikutsuki, all of those who'd been responsible for her father's death...]

(That's not right. Not right. Minato insists. He insists. He must be right. Don't know how--

So much I don't know.)

I'm not afraid if you, if that's what you mean.

[Her tone is flat and nonthreatening. She is merely stating a fact.]

[contemptibility]

[And in return, his bubble shows flashes of his memories: killing humans, tearing them apart, being soaked in their blood—]

But you certainly don't like me either, do you?

[tsundyne]

(I want to--)

[Shaking away those thoughts of uncertainty, images of people Tiir had never even met and never would meet. That's the only phrase she can think of, and it flashes and distorts, as if trying to call attention to itself.

She is shaking her head again, but it's clear somehow she means it.]

I thought you were the one who didn't like me.

[contemptibility]

(As deluded as him, then—)

Oh, that's still true. This... inconvenience— [he gestures to the bubble] —doesn't change that.

[tsundyne]

...Why? Because I yelled at you? [He's hardly the type to care about that.] Because of what I am?

(Only an inconvenience if you have something to hide. Only an inconvenience...it's only an inconvenience. Only an inconvenience

Deluded? Deluded?)

[Her thoughts are jumbled, as one expects anyone's to be when they aren't explicitly trying to control it. Ether way, she is staring at his bubble when he gestures to it.]

I'm human, but that's hardly my fault, you know.

(Maybe he doesn't think he deserves to be liked.

Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.)

[contemptibility]

Experience has taught me not to expect much from humans, I'm afraid.

(Always ridiculing, using, betraying, hating, killing us. Waging wars against each other—slaughtering us. If I kill—massacre. If they kill—justice.

If that's justice, then I don't want any of it.)

[Likewise, his own thoughts are jumbled, as it's difficult not to think so many things when the topic of humans are brought up.]

[tsundyne]

[She can tell. It's always been a touchy subject with him, and she doesn't have to know him intimately at any level to grasp that. She has her own touchy subjects...

This just happens to be his.]

Experiences like that?

(Not everyone is like that. I'm not like that. I can't be like that.

Betraying, betraying, betraying. Betraying hurts. Being betrayed hurts.)

[Images of a certain video flash on the screen, though not in any coherent manner. Memories of sitting on her bed. Memories of crying--

She puts a hand on her head, shaking it once more.]

Is that really what you see, when you look at me? When you look at Minato?

(No no no no no no)

[contemptibility]

[And in return, there are children in his bubble. Ones that cry, ones that don't even look up at him until he holds—these same children being slaughtered right before his eyes.]

As a matter of fact, yes.

(I was happier when it was.

He's changed things. Me. Complicated. Wished I'd never met him—)

[But despite the contradiction between his thoughts and his words, he continues, because that's all he knows how to do, really.]

My friends have given humans enough chances to assure me that humans will never take them.

[tsundyne]

That's...

(Not fair. Not fair. Why am I watching something so awful, why does he associate me with such awful things. And him. Him, he saved the world. Doesn't deserve, doesn't deserve.

He knows it.)

['He's changed things.' That sounds like Minato all right. Yukari had to turn away, not wanting to face such horrific images, but she turns back in time to read that.]

That's not fair. To you or to me. You've been giving second chances to people who don't deserve them, then--not all of us are like that! Just like how not all of your kind are alike.

[What else can she say...?]

(Fix...)

[contemptibility]

Perhaps, but the difference between your kind and mine is that yours tend to be more susceptible to pressure from those around you. Even humans who may not despise us... they never have and never will be willing to stand up against the rest of the world for our sake.

(Who would choose us? Meaningless, worthless—

I don't need a human like you to 'fix' things.)

[tsundyne]

(Why choose? Choose. Why. You may not need me but I'm here, I'm here even though you pushed me away. Minato is here too. He doesn't abandon people

Never abandon. People only abandon him...

Reject--)

...L-Look at where you are.

[It hurts. It hurts to listen, it hurts to think, but this is possibly the most insight she'd ever had on him. Maybe the most insight she ever will have.

She doesn't know.]

'The rest of the world' -- this is it, now. You're not home anymore. There's no telling when you'll go home to that awful place... [Some of the same images she'd seen in Tiir's bubble are appearing now in her mind. Broken, imperfect, but there.] It's just not the same.

Who? Who should we stand up to?

(Thalassino. Alpha. Nurse. Injustice. Who? Wronged? Has he been wronged? Vatheon. Who?)

[contemptibility]

(How it always is. You'll tire of playing the saint. So will he.)

And yet I have every intention of returning home, with no desire to take any... poor habits with me.

[tsundyne]

(He won't. You don't know him.

And now you're going to abandon him, too. But he won't. Never. I know--)

[Breathing. Breathe, Yukari, breathe.]

Like what?

(Trust. Trust. Not a poor habit. Will never know when it's too late...to trust...to open...)

[An image of Minato, lifting a single finger appears in her head. But no one outside SEES would ever know what it means.]

[contemptibility]

(I was never his friend to begin with.

Never betrayed because I don't trust humans—)

Like making the mistake of believing in people that I shouldn't. I'm afraid I can't afford that kind of carelessness.

[tsundyne]

(But he trusts you.

Minato trusts Tiir. He trusts. Why not Tiir. Why can't he do the same. Why doesn't he realize--why. Why.)

...And what have we done, to make you think that you shouldn't believe in us?

(Tried to help. Tried to show that we're not like them.

Running out of ideas--

won't give up)

Not us as humans--because that's not all that we are. But us. Minato. And Yukari. Tell me.

[contemptibility]

[...]

You'll have to forgive me if you haven't done much to prove why I should.

[tsundyne]

Don't dodge the question just because you can't think of anything.

[Not angry, not angry. Maybe she is at first, her thought bubble turning a deep red for a moment--but it fades as she takes some deep breaths.]

We've tried to make it easier for you here. Even after seeing what you do--

(Maybe because we saw what you do

without magic)

I bet that's more than your humans back home ever did.

[contemptibility]

(Not wrong I've known this all my life can't be wrong—)

Perhaps. But as I said, you'll tire of it eventually, once you realize there's no benefit towards yourself.

[tsundyne]

(He thinks I give up so easily. He thinks Minato gives up so easily.

No. We're not like the others. He can be and is wrong.)

We don't need any benefit to do what's right. We never have before--and we're not gonna start now.

(When has SEES ever needed validation to continue fighting as they have been? When have they ever asked for thanks?

Thanks for saving the world! Thanks for risking your lives! Thanks for sacrificing yourself...

When has he ever asked for thanks?

...When has he ever received it?)

[contemptibility]

(What?)

Do you honestly expect me to believe that?

[tsundyne]

(...Right. Gotta stay calm.)

[Seeing that word makes her realize how jumbled her thoughts must be. She shakes her head, and then stares back at him.]

...Don't you want to?

Just what is it going to take, and how long are you going to be so stubborn about it?

[contemptibility]

Nothing. There isn't anything you can do to change my mind.

(can't take that risk, can't afford to make that kind of mistake—)

[tsundyne]

...Fine.

[It sounds like she's giving up, but she's not, really. 'Least he knows he's stubborn.]

But you can't keep us from trying. I'm proud to be a human, and there shouldn't be anything wrong with that.

[contemptibility]

Feel free to be proud. That is no concern of mine.

[tsundyne]

[A pause, because she doesn't know quite what to say to that. 'No concern'--

A vague image of Tiir with his back turned appears in her mind, though it may be hard to tell that it's actually him. And she sighs.]

If that's true, then...maybe I should leave.

(I don't want another fight.)

Were you avoiding someone?