Open and Closed prompts

[hythlodaeus]

Who: Hythlodaeus and YOU
When: July, on a Wednesday
Where: Around Goldenrod
Summary: Hythlodaeus is making friends and learning sign language :)
Rating: Mature. I don't trust Hythlodaeus' friends.



Painting Portraits

[His dear friend and house mate has tried to impart the value of a dollar on Hythlodaeus, and that they need way more of them. To his credit, he is trying now. Armed with several sheets of nice paper and a set of water colors, he's seated on the ground with a little sign advertising that he will paint a portrait of you and your pokemon.]

[There is no price listed, and while he's not painting a portrait, he will be doing little paintings of muscular, anthropomorphic horse men. They are very, very good]


Menacing the Radio Tower

[After his little lunch date, Hythlodaeus finds himself a little bit at a loss. He still has his art supplies, and he's still mad... So maybe he just needs to work off a little energy. If you're coming or going from the Radio tower, he will affix you with an intense stare for several seconds before looking down at his paper and drawing... a terrifyingly photo realistic portrait of you.]

Steven

[On the very worst Wednesday after a particularly terrible weekend, Hythlodaeus is at the right place at the right time, though not quite looking like himself. He seems to have left his mask and robe at home, instead wearing a simple short sleeve button down and a pair of khaki chinos.]

[He still stands out, a lot, since he's still eight feet tall with long white hair, but hey! At least everyone doesn't think he's a ghost now. He's just a werid guy standing there with a couple of cutieflies buzzing around him. He seems to be spacing the fuck out, staring at some far off point as he stands and waits.]

Comments

[hythlodaeus]

[ Hythlodaeus meanders over to the counter, ordering and paying with a wad of crumpled dollars that he pulls from the bottom of his pocket. The counter person hurriedly tries to unball the money, it is entirely too much. After a moment of making all of that entirely too difficult, he comes back with a mug for each of them. Once seated, he frowns, stands, adjusts his trousers and sits again. ]

Trousers are terrible. Why does everyone seem to wear them?

[But as much as he has trouble with money and fitting into modern clothes, he has something else on his mind.]

So, what was it you smoked last night?

[fingersandteeth]

Pockets, I guess, [Steven signs back tiredly.] And because everyone else is.

Why are you wearing them?

[He takes a long sip of his tea before adding,] Specially treated persim berries. Why? Do you want to buy some off me?

[hythlodaeus]

Emet-Selch told me I needed to find work... And I doubt anyone wants to hire a man who looks like a ghost.

[Considering that he was a ghost up until it all ended, and plenty of people saw him... Also Steven hasn’t seen him sign “Emet-Selch” before, which he has decided to make by sticking “Angel” and “Forgiveness” together.]

I never needed pockets before.

[The cutieflies begin to float out to investigate Steven. ]

Yes, I would love to purchase some. I’ve been researching intoxicants that can be safely synthesized and extracted from Pokémon.

[fingersandteeth]

So going to Saffron and Silph Co didn't work out, then? [Steven signs lethargically, ignoring the cutieflies as they investigate around him. Of course he remembers his first run-in with Hythlodaeus and that damn hug and buying the man a train pass to make him just go away. It had gotten him the preserved banana token he'd used to summon his Phantasmal Bastion.] Too bad.

[He's not going to say a word about the inappropriateness of 'Forgiveness' + 'Angel' as another name for Solus in Sign, even though he very much wishes to.]

Well, if you discover any let me know. I'm sure Jack [the name-sign he uses here is an Auslan fingerspelling J that shifts into the sign for 'handsome'] would love to try what you come up with. As would I.

I'll bring a dime bag next week Wednesday--though honestly, I can't take credit for the method. Jack taught me and someone in this world taught him. Evidently it's a tried and true method of getting high that the locals have been using for a long time--with the caveat that production is somewhat time consuming, so usually someone who cooks it usually only cooks for themself.

But I made rather too much of it the first time I tried, so I sold some of the excess at the curry cookout and now I have a few people with whom I have arrangements.

[hythlodaeus]

To be honest... I have not yet gone there. It has been hard for me to leave Emet-Selch's side in his state.

Who is "Jack"?

[The Cutieflies buzz around for a moment, then float away to go nestle back into Hythlodaeus' hair.]

If you teach me this method, I may be able to refine and improve the output. Ah yes, and everything here does cost money. I made a bit from my drawings today...

[As he pulls out the wad of cash from earlier, carefully unfurling and counting it.

Is this enough?

[It is a lot of money.]

[fingersandteeth]

Jack is my [he hesitates before choosing the sign] boyfriend. We live together.

[Holy shit that is a lot of money.]

Yes. That's enough for multiple dime bags, plus your lessons on how to cook it.

[hythlodaeus]

[He notes the hesitation and leans forward to smile.]

How sweet... That must be why you call him handsome, then?

I have a boyfriend, too.

[He beams at Steven's assessment before pushing the crumpled stack towards him]

Shall you teach me at your home or mine? ...Or Emet-Selch's, I should say. I stay with him, of course.

[fingersandteeth]

[Steven straightens out the bills before folding them together and tucking them neatly away. This will more than make up for all the money he'd shoved at his future self and the other visitors over the weird weekend.]

That's a good question. I can't think that Solus [yeah, no, he can't use the sign for 'Emet-Selch' with a straight face] would particularly want me in his home, but at the same time I don't know how willing Jack would be to have you in ours.

Also, wait, who's your boyfriend?

[Except.... he's got a terrible feeling he already knows.]

[hythlodaeus]

Solus is not his name. That is a character. Perhaps...

[His lip quirks mischievously. ]

Call him like so, if Emet-Selch is too difficult. [ He signs an “H” that goes into the word “spirit”. He sighs, frowning for a moment.]

Old habits die hard. Before I died [HADES] was my boyfriend. That was tens of thousands of years ago for him. Somewhat less time for me. We haven’t... yet solidified anything. There are circumstances.

But surely we can use my home to do the cooking!

[fingersandteeth]

[HADES] then.

[He'll just file away 'H-Spirit' into his memory for now. Maybe tell Tyler about it.]

Circumstances like how he's been hitting on Dirk Strider? [He signs a D that goes into the word 'puppet.']

[hythlodaeus]

[He can’t help but giggle at Dirk’s name sign. He brings his hands down to resume. ]

The subtlety of the slang here sometimes confuses me, so I’ll be blunt. They’re... [ As he searches his memory of the dictionary and Tyler’s own signs—] fucking.

[But he doesn’t seem particularly upset or bothered by this. ]

quotes andrew marvell because he can

[fingersandteeth]

Are they?

[Okay, Steven is far too amused by this. His hands positively bounce along as he adds,]

And here he kept telling me that his thing with [H-spirit] was utterly platonic. Well. I suppose someone had to be the one to try that long-preserved virginity.

[hythlodaeus]

[ Hythlodaeus can’t help but laugh at all of that. ]

Platonic! My, my. Well, when I spoke to Dirk, he seemed to have issue with his attraction to men. Apologies, I just learned this word: “Homophobic”. [Which he fingerspells incredulously.]

In either case, if he was a virgin before he certainly isn’t anymore. Knowing [H-spirit]...

[He dissolves into shoulder shaking laughter.]

[fingersandteeth]

Ah, well, Dirk is what one might call a 'self-hating gay.' But yes, 'homophobic' is the more proper term for it. You should hear his ideas about what preferred sexual positions say about people--he's very dismissive of men who enjoy being fucked.

[There is something downright gossipy about the flow of Steven's hands from sign to sign--which is only enhanced by the smug smirk upon his face.]

But no, no, do tell me about [H-spirit] and how he's utterly debauched Dirk in a way no smuppet [the sign he uses here is 'sex'+'puppet'] can compare.

[hythlodaeus]

[ He mimics back “self-hating gay” to cement it in his memory. Hythlodaeus is grinning in his smug little way.]

How conflicting! Well, [H-spirit] is rather exclusively a— [He fumbles for a moment to think of the equivalent— ] receiver. Please understand, in Amaurot— if it was possible, we tried it. [H-spirit] is rather insatiable himself... He prefers to goad men into becoming aggressive, which I believe was also his tactic here.

[fingersandteeth]

This explains so much about [H-spirit], [Steven muses... well, not actually out loud.]

I'm sure that would appeal to Dirk. He's the type to rise to those goads.

[hythlodaeus]

He certainly is quick to anger! I know that quality intrigues [H-spirit]. He used to be a much... calmer, more reserved man. He shows his affection with his ire— after all, he won’t engage with anything he believes to be below himself.

So... I don’t want to ruin anything between them. [H-spirit] is having so much fun; it warms my heart. I figured I could simply “outlive” his boyfriend.

[fingersandteeth]

I'm well-aware of [H-spirit]'s disdain for those he considers lesser, [Steven signs, more sober than before. There's a pensive frown on his face.] In a way, it's the foundation of our quarrel. I wanted to like him when I first met him, but he treated me like I was worthless and I felt like little more than a slab of meat in his presence--and subconsciously, he also reminded me of [here he uses the sign for 'sinner'] who had captured and controlled me for many years.

[hythlodaeus]

I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you each understand one another better now. I can’t say that I agree with all of his beliefs and opinions, as flamboyantly as he parades them at times... but underneath all of the pomp is just a sad, scared man. As most men fundamentally are.

[ He sighs and drops his head into his hands for a moment, spooking the cutieflies slightly.]

Nearly everyone I’ve met since arriving has some deep cut that never healed. We each wear it on our outside as much as we like to believe that it is tucked away. And it seems that all we can do is accidentally stick our hands into one another’s ill-healed wounds.

[He sips his tea, now tepid, as he takes a moment to reminisce.]

[H-spirit] is an interesting fellow. He hated me for years when we attended the Akadaemia together.

[fingersandteeth]

A little, maybe. I'm in the uncomfortable position of pitying [H-spirit] now, even as I still hate and fear him. But I am doing my best to understand that fear so that I can... set it to the side, I suppose, when I need to concentrate on working with the man. As I'm sure I will have to in the future.

Just as I'm doing the same with my fear of you.

[He shrugs.]

What changed between you two?

[hythlodaeus]

And I'm still wrestling with my anger with you. As much as I do not know how to express it, it affects me. Yet my assessment was correct; speaking with you thus has cooled my anger.

[His hands drop for a moment and tremble. There's so much he wants to talk about, but... Can he?]

Everything, really. I died, and he walked the stars in loneliness for eons. When we spend time together, it is as if little has changed... But when he expresses his hurt, it is so much more raw than it ever was. And I simply cannot reach him. So I want to shield him from pain, as much as I can.

We used to share absolutely everything, but now there are secrets between us.

[fingersandteeth]

And it's help me get past my fear.

[He watches attentively as Hythlodaeus signs and there's something almost gentle about the way his hands move in his reply.]

It was like that when my sister, Charley [for her he uses a finger-spelled C that moves into the sign for 'brilliant'] was here. I used to tell her everything too. And I couldn't. Not about what happened with [H-spirit] and the stairs. I didn't want her to be ashamed.

If there are secrets between you and [H-spirit], it's probably because he's ashamed of something he did.

[hythlodaeus]

Overcoming your fear is a proper and noble pursuit.

[He remembers, when he first arrived in Goldenrod, he had mentioned a sister in the past tense. He hadn't wanted to pry then.]

...He surely is ashamed. If not for his tempering, I doubt that he would have been able to stomach... [He trails off, his hands landing on the table. They hadn't spoken about this. He should technically not really know anything about it. But there were odd circumstances.]

Many others have told me that I would be disgusted with his thoughts and actions, and that may be true. But thoughts and actions are simply that, they are not the person himself. And I truly believe any person can change, given that his needs are met.

[fingersandteeth]

It is. And if I am going to be part of the Court of Fear, then I ought to understand my own.

[His hands pause for a few moments before he adds,]

That's... a very forgiving attitude to take. Is that why you decided to punish me by blackmailing me into meeting with you?

And-- what is tempering?

[hythlodaeus]

[ Court of Fear sounds like some straight bullshit that if he engages with he’s gonna be back at square one. He tucks that into the back of his mind to round back to. ]

This isn’t meant to be punishment. I meant what I said. I want to be friends. You may see it as punishment, but... I do truly believe that people all have more in common than not.

[ He shrugs. ]

Tempering is the natural product of raising a Primal. You saw Amaurot, did you not—

[ His hands slow as he recalls. ]

Wait, that’s right. You put my body after the First Doom. I did not die then. It was only after they dealt with the Third Doom— As you had seen, the laws of nature had become reversed.

To fix this, we decided to summon a primal. [Which he fingerspells, then signs as “manufactured god”] Half of us gave our souls, and those thirteen, Emet-Selch included, conducted the summoning.

The summoners became tempered to His will so that He could fulfill our people’s prayers. Emet-Selch, [H-spirit] does not have his own will anymore.