late night reading

[curzed]

Who: Konrad Curze, Kaiisteron, later on: you?
What: Making Mistakes
When: sometime after 'night', it's obligatory (several days before Storytime)
Where: Somewhere in the Stacks, it's a big library. Probably time-out later. Maybe worse places.
Content warnings: Violence, daemons, primarchs, gratuitous bodily harm, the problems with uncontrolled powers, making a mess.



Sooner or later, someone in power is going to regret the group of misfits that have been taken here as Editors.

Like Konrad. He's been more or less behaving since arriving, aside from commandeering ALL cardstock of a particular color and texture, collecting singing bowls of a dozen sizes and leaving them in little clusters in the kitchen and bunks, and leaving a trail of fine, tiny glitter for several days on everything he touched. His efforts to find a way out of the Library are ongoing and unfruitful, prowling the Stacks without bothering to sleep more than once in several days.

But this time his path through the endless shelves of books is for a different purpose in simply putting as much distance between himself and the other people dragged here as he could. He has no control over when his 'gifts' chose to strike and drown him in the worst outcomes possible, but he does know when it's coming, and here there's no locked room with reinforced doors to make use of. Distance will have to do. There is a point, in the rending pain of things that haven't even happened yet, where Curze can no longer tell where he is now in favor of where he will be then.

It makes for a pathetic sight, something his size on the floor with his head in his hands in the shadows between towering shelves scaled towards his height and not human average, back pressed against the cold rows of books.

The sharp scent of blood is probably fine too. Ignore it. Everything's fine here.

Comments

[aetherweaver]

He leads the other away, out past where Konrad is. He's not sure how far the man can hear, so he keeps going until he's certain he wouldn't be able to hear. "... Not foolish. Not pitiable. Just... hurt, I think."

Quietly, he stops and looks at Kai, just studying him for a moment. "I've seen civilizations fall for lack of hope. Destroy everything and each other. Try to invade places for scraps of land or resources. I'm not saying everyone can work together - I'm not that naive. ... But until I see proof that someone is irredeemable, I will continue to reach out to them. And hope that one day, they can reach out to others."

[bashasasdemon]

Kai makes a doubtful sort of noise, but he won't outright argue. "He might be hurt too badly to recover from it," he just says quietly. He feels like that himself, a lot of the time. Konrad seems to have it worse.

"I never said you were." Nara'a doesn't strike him as truly naive, not really. He reminds him... well. He's not going to think too hard about who Nara'a reminds him of. "I'm not going to say you're wrong. I just don't want you to be too disappointed if it doesn't happen. And to watch your back, just in case." He's quiet for a moment, not looking at the other man. "...Hope can get you through a lot. But sometimes you still need to prioritize what you hope for."

[aetherweaver]

"Oh, of course I watch my back." He smiles at the other. "I'm feared by many for a reason." He pats the sword at his side. "But there are limits to even my abilities, and I'm aware of that. That's one of the reasons I try to reach out to everyone I can. No one can walk alone, even if the world should fall around them."

There's a brief haunted look in his eyes as he thinks of being alone, lost and afraid. ... He's been there, done that. He doesn't want to go back. "... I appreciate you caring, though."

[bashasasdemon]

Oh, Kai knows that look all too well. He's been there, too. After a moment, he tentatively reaches out to give the man's shoulder a little squeeze.

(It feels tentative, not in the pressure of the squeeze but simply in the way he moves. He avoids touch because other people don't want to touch demons, and he moves like he half expects to be thrown off or screamed at.)

"You're not alone," he says, and unfortunately for him, he means that. "...I don't think he is either. One of his 'brothers' is here too."

[aetherweaver]

In response he leans into the touch, grateful for it in the moment. It feels warm - there's a caring part of this man, he knows. "Thank you, Kai." He reaches up to put his other hand on the one on his shoulder. "And I'm glad. He... needs support."

He knows he does too - that the weight of everything will crush him on its own. But what other choice does he have? "How are you feeling?"

[bashasasdemon]

Kai shrugs, letting his hand drop after a moment. "I've had worse." Maybe not in terms of immediate damage, but the Library healed him enough that he didn't actually have to deal with most of it. "I am going to have to figure out if there are any other clothes. I don't think I'll have much luck getting all the blood out and I don't want to set people on edge." Again... he's dealt with worse.

[aetherweaver]

"I understand." He has too, but that can be talked about later. "And we can at least get most of the blood out... failing that I might be able to make something in the crafting room."

It wouldn't be 'finished', and he can't make anything fancy, but...

[bashasasdemon]

"I hope it won't come to that, but... thanks." He's not too proud to refuse help like that. Most of the time.

But for now, he'll take them back towards the living areas. He doesn't know if they're going to talk about everything now or later, but he does want to get the blood off of him.