[catchall] Laudna

[sixillusions]

I should've apped someone to kiss her I'm a FOOL

Comments

[undread]

I see.

[okay, so they are. and she does see it. she does understand why he holds himself apart better now, but that there's something soft and caring underneath it.]

It's... good. When you find a place that feels safer. [after such a long time of being in pain, afraid, just existing in survival mode. it's not even happiness exactly, but the relief of being able to let you guard down, even to the smallest degree.]

[sixillusions]

[Is it safer? It's hard to say, for him. He certainly wouldn't call it safe--not when their walls have been breached before, when he leaves his room some days to hear that they've lost tens, dozens, hundreds of people almost overnight. If asked, Kanda isn't even sure he could answer what "safe" is supposed to feel like.

But she's right: It's one of the only places where he doesn't have to be on high alert at all times. It's a place he knows like the back of his hand--where he has the closest thing to true privacy he can get, and people who don't expect him to explain himself. And it's the closest thing to a "home" he remembers knowing.

So--maybe "safer" is the right word.]

...Some types of exorcists can't be turned into Akuma. [He says, eventually.] They can still get inside, but it's less of a problem if those guys are around.

[undread]

[this explanation of why it's safer is so funny but she does understand.]

Is there a reason Akuma happen so often?

[she wants to ask, more, about why his history seems to be tied up in what's happening to their world, but she suspects she is not supposed to pry into exactly what happened to him back then.]

[sixillusions]

[You'd think it would be super secure and well-maintained and yet they've been invaded at least twice. They'd have better luck just being WFH in separate places at the rate they're going.

But she's right, this is a much better line of questioning. The fact that it's impersonal makes him relax a little, at least by Kanda standards.]

The Earl can make tons of them at a time if he wants... [Which is SUPER obnoxious considering how hard it is for them to find new Exorcists] ...but mostly it's because humans are always desperate to bring people back from the dead. It's not hard for him to manipulate them.

[undread]

Ah. That seems quite typical, doesn't it.

[here, have a return memory]

[sixillusions]

[In a way, it doesn't surprise him; he remembers the things she'd said before, about fearing groups of humans and their capacity for mindless violence. It makes sense that she would've spoken from experience.

The extent of all this does, a little--mostly because, for all he's seen and experienced, he doesn't often have to deal with conflicts that aren't related to the Order and their mission. He's too well-traveled to be unaware of them, but... up until very recently, he didn't concern himself with anything at all beyond his own goals, and that's only been upgraded by a minuscule amount. Mostly, as he watches this, he looks at the Briarwoods and thinks they're assholes.

Mostly to himself, as it ends:]

Hunh. Like Krory.

[undread]

Krory?

[the memory is painful to experience again, but also numbing; it's from a long time ago. the emotions of the girl in them are almost alien to her.]

[sixillusions]

His Innocence is a Parasite Type. It's in his teeth. He gets stronger by drinking Akuma blood, but no one in his village knew what was going on, so they just thought he was an evil vampire.

[There's more to it than that but he's too lazy to explain the rest... that's the important bit]

[undread]

...I see. Lord Briarwood was a vampire. Lady Briarwood was a necromancer. He was sick, dying, so she turned him so they could both live forever.

[sixillusions]

[He'd been thinking more about her getting chased out of town by angry and confused villagers, but he's incapable of clarifying so he'll roll with this.]

...And they needed you--for a ritual? [Damn imagine if these guys are the cult leaders]