garbagechild | IC Contact

_{[Tired of standing there in that weird arch, Wrath finally sits down. His head is still tilted.]}

If we talk up here, Lust will wake up and be cross.

_{[But scratching at the door until she let him in was okay, apparently.]}

Edited 2017-10-07 07:03 (UTC)

_{[Henry makes a humming sound. That was true. He doubted Lust would be that annoyed but Wrath didn't seem to be too into the idea. Henry finally stands and fumbles around for the hallway light. He didn't want to trip again.]}

You wanna go downstairs? I can make waffle sandwiches.

_{[Honestly, she probably wouldn't be.]

[But Wrath has probably driven Lust to scolding more than once during his 'it's 3 AM time to run up and down the upstairs hallway at breakneck speed' sessions.]

[He does, however, perk right up at the offer of FOOD.]}

Mm, yes.

_{[AND HE GOES RIGHT DOWN THE STAIRS. On all fours.]}

_{[Henry jumps a little when Wrath SCAMPERS by. He leans to watch and make sure he makes it to the bottom of the stairs before carefully following. He heads over to the freezer to grab some frozen waffles and chocolate syrup.]}

What did you dream about, Wrath?

_{[Once successfully on the lower floor, Wrath hops right into one of the kitchen chairs. He's definitely been acquainted with the freezer waffles-- they work the same way as toast does!]}

The Gate.

_{[He answers this matter-of-factly, almost as though Henry should just... know what he's talking about, but his voice is a little smaller than normal. He's still got a a little of that nightmare in him, making his heart race and muscles tense.]}

_{[With a ca-CHUNK the first set of waffles disappears into the toaster. Henry occupies himself by squeezing the syrup bottle and causing it to make little farting sounds. It was the little things that could ground him and keep him from drifting off into that other world.]

[Henry glances over his shoulder at Wrath, his brows scrunched in sleepy confusion.]}

The backyard gate?

_{[Wrath shakes his head, digging at a smudge of something-or-other that had been left on the table after whatever Lust had made for dinner earlier. She was always very tidy, but some had escaped her notice.]}

No.

The Gate.

I escaped from it a few times.

But it always wants me back.

_{[Henry's brows peak up in confusion. This sounded like something he should know. The Gate. The Gate...he thought...he had snatched those words out of the air once when his friends were talking. So long ago. But he had to be honest.]}

I'm sorry. I don't understand...is it a place back--

_{[He started to say home but he has a feeling that his friends consider THIS home now.]}

--back where you're from? The other world without Pokemon?

_{[He's right.]

[The Homunculi didn't have a 'home' back there-- they never had.]

[Here was the first place that had ever happened.]

[But Wrath shakes his head again. It didn't feel like it was from "back" there... it was from a space beyond it, beyond all places, between all places. Coming here had allowed him to eventually lull himself into a sense of security from Master and some of the other particularly frightening aspects of that world...]

[... But never from the Gate.]

[The Gate feels as close as ever.]}

No.

It's where I was before I was born.

I wasn't supposed to leave.

It will take me back, if it ever finds me again.

_{[He sighs, slouching over the table with his bony elbows bent out, chin resting on his arms.]}

I see it sometimes when my eyes are closed at night.

_{[Henry listens. He honestly hasn't asked Wrath too many questions. He just...didn't do well with kids. He never had things to ask before but now...how could you not ask questions when somebody tells you they remember the time before they were born?]

[The toaster popped up suddenly and Henry's spine stiffened like a pole. He fetched up the waffles, slapped one on a plate, smothered it with the chocolate syrup, and placed the other on top. The plate is scooted Wrath's way and Henry readies his own sandwich.]}

That sounds...scary.

_{[It sounded dumb to say something so blunt as he toed the very edge of a very deep pit of curiosity.]}

I don't remember anything from before I was born...

_{[The snap of the toaster startles them BOTH-- Wrath nearly pops up in the chair just like the waffle did in the toaster itself.]

[But the food being pushed over in front of him is enough to placate his jangling nerves for the moment, and he wastes no time before taking a big crunchy bite out of it. He'd honestly eat these things frozen if you let him, but toasty and covered in sweet stuff is a big upgrade.]}

Ith scary.

_{[He agrees through a mouthful of chocolate goo and waffle, fortunately swallowing before he continues.]}

The first time I was born, she didn't want me, so she put me back.

It's so dark.

I hate it.

_{[Henry drums his fingers on the counter, his eyes going from Wrath to the toaster, determined not to be startled again.]}

The first time...

_{[Right. Envy had explained a little about what he was. Like a Frankenstein. Or a zombie almost. But. Different. And clearly able to turn into a dragon because why not. But Envy never talked about it like this.]}

I'm sorry, Wrath...I have nightmares like that too--about bad places I've been. I wish we could both get away from that stuff.

_{[He steals another quick glance back at the toaster.]}

For the record, I'm glad you were born.

_{[Thank god Wrath can't turn into a dragon. There would be no survivors.]

[The boy is still munching away on his 'sandwich', but he looks surprised at Henry's compassionate declaration.]}

Why?

I upset you most of the time.

_{[He doesn't sound accusatory or defensive, just matter-of-fact. It doesn't take the sharpest tack to be able to tell that Henry is often on edge while speaking to the street urchin/wolverine fusion who comes and goes in the house. Not that they haven't come to an understanding and had generally good interactions ranging from neutral to positive, but still.]

[This is, ironically, one of the first times they've ever truly sat down and talked about something.]}

_{[Henry gives a helpless little shrug.]}

Just because we don't get along sometimes doesn't mean I don't like you or think you don't deserve to be here. Being alive is...really special.

_{[Henry runs his hand over a small lump of wax from one of his many frenzied rituals that was left behind on the counter.]}

I'm still learning to get along with people. It can be scary.

_{[Wrath listens, and for the VERY FIRST TIME... seems to intensely relate to exactly what Henry is saying.]

[He straightens up, rolling his shoulders in an expressive shrug and shaking his head.]}

Yeah, half the time I have no idea what anybody wants.

_{[Henry, in turn, snaps to attention. That was...such a human thing to say. Of course Henry considers all his housemates human but the conversations he's had with Wrath tend to be pretty stilted. He's never been around kids enough to watch that incredible transition take place where they stop spurting out random statements and then start sharing thoughts.]

[He's never really thought about what Wrath thinks about--specifically him considering other people's wants and needs.]

[The toaster pops up and startles a small strangled noise out of Henry.]}

Me neither...I think that's part of it. I won't know the right thing to say, they'll get angry, they'll laugh at me, or they'll just be one more person who thinks I'm too weird or stupid to talk to.

_{[Wrath generally doesn't spend a whole lot of time thinking about other peoples' wants and needs... mostly because they're always so confusing, and never seem to make a whole lot of sense.]

[It's so easy to get frustrated trying to untangle the ridiculous bundled web of "what humans want".]}

Most of the time people get angry at me.

When they laugh it isn't so bad.

I'd rather be mad than scared.

_{[Henry assembles his own sandwich in silence before joining Wrath at the table, sitting across from him.]}

Maybe...they just expect you to know things. And they don't know about...you know. How things are just different for you. And it's not fair for them to do that.

_{[He rubs an arm self-consciously, smearing chocolate syrup up one sleeve.]}

I'm guilty of that sometimes. I've been scared a lot lately and it's easy to get mad when I'm scared but that's not an excuse.

_{[Wrath nods again. He's noticed the way Henry's temper had gone from mild simmering irritation that was easily ignored to shouting more and more lately. Hadn't thought about it a whole lot, but he'd definitely stayed out of Henry's way more.]}

Sometimes when people think I should know things that I don't know, they ask me if I was raised in a barn.

But I wasn't.

I was raised from the dead and also there weren't any buildings.

_{[He pauses, mid-bite, and nearly snorts due to just...how blunt Wrath's little add-on to that statement is. Once he swallows, he shakes his head.]}

If they can tell you're a new-comer to this world they shouldn't expect you to grow up just like them. I met someone once who used to be a pony. Now she might have been raised in a barn but...the barn's not the thing.

_{[Henry stops himself before he makes things confusing.]}

It's just a thing people say when they're so sure everyone else thinks just like them that they think the only reason you wouldn't know the rules is because you grew up in a place without any. In a barn. Like an animal.

_{[He frowns down at his plate.]}

What a mean thing to say to a kid...I never thought about it that much.

_{[Wrath watches Henry muse, jaw working with mindless rhythm at his snack. It could be spooky, but weirdly enough they seem to be reaching some kind of understanding here, even if it seems to take the human awhile to reach his meandering point.]

[Once he finally does, Wrath nods slightly and shrugs his bony shoulders-- yeah, mm, that sounds about par for the course.]}

I guess some humans here are the same as back home after all.

_{[He says this mildly-- because truth be told, being compared to an animal is pretty flattering after the things he'd been told he was in the past. Nothing like looking up into the revolted eyes of a grown woman and hearing the words "This is my mistake to fix" in reference to you.]}

If I've learned anything from meeting so many people from so many worlds, I think humans are about the same no matter where you go.

_{[Henry stares down at the goo pooling in his plate.]}

I'll try to be easier to understand from now on. Maybe...maybe I can let you in on some human secrets too. Make them think you're a super expert.

_{[That doesn't seem so surprising either. A little depressing, but...]}

Human secrets?

Most human secrets I know are about when humans do bad things.

_{[:T like FORBIDDEN TRANSMUTATIONS THAT RAISE THE DEAD.]}

_{[Henry shakes his head and puffs out a hollow little laugh. While he isn't thinking of the same things Wrath is, he kind of gets it.]}

The secrets I'm talking about are how to pretend you've been paying attention to an entire conversation when someone asks you a question. Or how to keep people from asking you questions when you're busy. Or how much of a tip to leave at a restaurant.

Oh.

I could use some of that knowledge.

_{[He pauses, briefly wondering why Henry specified 'restaurants'. The only context he'd heard the word 'tip' used in was getting a hot tip from some informant somewhere.]}

(no subject)

no_ufo_ending - 2017-11-15 17:21 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

garbagechild - 2017-11-19 01:53 (UTC) - Expand