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]

[ 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.

[fingersandteeth]

What--?

[It's not signed. He's too startled to remember to sign.]

No... you have to be... oh god, you're not kidding, are you?

Fuck. Fuck.

[hythlodaeus]

[ Hythlodaeus almost begins to sign, but... this is important, isn’t it. His voice is soft and even.]

I speak only the truth and full seriousness... Are you alright?

welp he's too upset to self-censor his language that's def a thing

[fingersandteeth]

That's horrific. I hate Emet and I still-- I mean, Jesus, it would be one thing for someone to screw with him and let him go. It's another thing to know that he has no will of his own.

I mean-- [He shivers.] God, if Melissa's right, my baby sister was tempered. And I don't. Even if it's someone I would be quite happy to see dead, I don't want-- Shit.

Even Emet doesn't des--

Shit.

its gonna be ok steven, somehow.

[hythlodaeus]

[Hythlodeaus' hands shake. He wants to bring them out to touch, to comfort, but he's already seen that that really doesn't work for everyone. He listens to Steven's words, they roll off of him. He's grown used to how others say these things in a panic.]

It is the conscious trade he made, though he really had no choice.

[He clasps his hands together and bows his head slightly.]

It gets... worse. If you would indulge me, if you would allow me to unburden myself this thought. I said it to Tyler, but it only made him angry... But you, I think you might understand.

[He closes his eyes for a moment to still his mind. He didn't want any of this to get away from him.]

Your sister was tempered?

Re: its gonna be ok steven, somehow.

[fingersandteeth]

More or less. She, uh, worked for a vampire. He. Well.

[Shit. He doesn't like that they're having this conversation in a public place.

He lowers his voice, leaning forward.]

Melissa says that vampires can more or less temper people by feeding them their blood. Which I know he did, because he-- I know he did it. I just don't know when. If it was more than just when he--

[Made her a vampire. God. He doesn't want to talk about that.]

He probably did though. For her to let him do what he did the time I know he fed her blood.

Fuck.

[His shoulders are shaking.]

How does it get worse?

[hythlodaeus]

Ah... A ritual such as that is not unknown to me. There is aether, magic, in the very blood. ...What was she made to do?

[He leans in also, since that's what they're doing. Not that anyone is probably listening to them. Maybe they are. They had been signing for the last several minutes and now they're speaking covertly. And they're quite the odd couple.]

It gets worse because I was supposed to be Emet-Selch. He was supposed to be free. I turned down the position on, on a whim, really... And he picked up the responsibility.

[He slowly unclasps his hands and reaches one out across the table for Steven to hold if he likes.]

[fingersandteeth]

I don't know all the details. I didn't press her. Let him turn her into one of him. That tempers you towards the one who turned you, Melissa says.

And then she got killed for good anyway six months later.

[Steven hesitates for a long moment before taking that hand.]

I understand. If I hadn't been— gone, I might have noticed her being tempered. I could have— I could have taken care of him. So he couldn't hurt her anymore.

[hythlodaeus]

There is so much we didn't know. And to forgive ourselves... It will take time.

[He encloses Steven's hand in his, firmly but gently, like he's holding a small, wriggling animal.]

I cannot chastise you for clinging to the past, as it is most of what I do these days...

[He frowns, genuinely, mournfully, for Steven.]

I'm the older one, so... I should have... I was careless.

[He slowly covers Steven's hand with his other one and looks at him through those droopy eyelids.]

She won't be forgotten, as long as you talk about her.

[fingersandteeth]

I will. I'll tell you about her, if you want. She was here, this last weekend.

[He makes a face.]

Emet flirted with her.

[hythlodaeus]

Hades—

[And then he covers his mouth. Oh no, oh no. His guard was down. He. Uh.]

You... Didn't hear that.

Ah, please... Proceed in talking about your sister.

[fingersandteeth]

I have no idea that his True Name is Greek Pluto.

[Said entirely deadpan.]

Charley... She's nine years younger than me. Mom named her for my Tio Carlos, who died the year before she was born. And she was... wonderful. Brilliant in all senses of the word. And such a good heart. She cares about everyone.

[hythlodaeus]

[That is a lot of difficult concepts mashed in there, all at once, for Hythlodaeus' listening pleasure. But... It sounds like Steven won't rat him out, at least not right away.]

...Precisely.

[He slowly lowers his hands, his cheeks reddening as he extends his hansd again. Perhaps the moment has passed, or perhaps Steven will oblige him. This must be the first time he's actually been embarrassed here; it really is not easy to do. But Steven starts talking about Charley, and he's able to focus on something else.]

She sounds wonderful, I mean it... Anyone who can get along with Emet-Selch, well...

[fingersandteeth]

Has the patience of a saint?

[hythlodaeus]

...Is certainly a way of putting it that most would agree with.


[He sighs and folds his hands. Moment's passed.]

Being dead... Isn't all bad. I'm not sure if that is any consolation for you. But suffering is for the living. I've spent my life beholding the Underworld, after all.