[open] // it gives meaning to each moment

[fionnuisce]

Characters: Waver and open
Setting: Floor 3
Format: Either
Summary: Some people get depressed, others get angry.
Warnings: Standard Individuation warnings plus one for Waver's terrible language.

[Waver had generally ignored the four shadows that had been trailing behind him at varying distances the past few days. There was a lot on his mind, and some spectral nonsense ranked very low on his list of priorities.]

[So it caught him completely off guard when one spoke. Not just spoke, spoke in a voice he knew. As haughty and disdainful as it had been ten years before, the words spoken caused the lecturer to freeze in place and drop the book he'd been holding.]

['Blood determines a mage's strength.']

[He spun around, automatically scowling and ready to throw a punch right into the speaker's smug face...but the one he knew to have owned that voice was nowhere in sight. Just the same shadows, yet now one seemed to have shifted. It was far from a perfect silhouette, and yet it carried the air of that superior stance, that arrogant and cold magus Waver had hated so much--]

['Is this what your precious 'hard work' results in, Waver Velvet? You're nothing. You were destined to be nothing. Now the entire world is nothing--and it's entirely your fault. A proper magus could have prevented all this. If a real aristocrat had taken this title, he could have saved the world long before it was in ruins--not scramble to repair what no longer exists.']

[What? This was some kind of sick joke, right? Was this supposed to be some kind of poltergeist that spoke in his predecessor's voice? Waver staggered backwards, leaning against the bookshelf as though bracing himself against some form of attack.]

Really, this is it? Now I'm starting to think your illusions aren't even trying to look real.

[A second among the shadows spoke up at Waver's sarcastic dismissal, using the lazily spoken tones of a teenage boy.]

['Geez...I must be as stupid as you think. I really thought you could do anything, Professor. But I guess I couldn't expect a third-generation magus to save us. I bet you're glad to be rid of me, yeah?']

[Green eyes narrowed and turned cold. Don't argue with it. he told himself. Now you know this isn't real. With whatever ironclad logic he'd used to make that deduction, Waver did little more than shrug, pick up the book he'd dropped, and turn back to the shelf to disregard the shadows once again.]

['Don't you dare ignore me, Velvet.' The third was the voice of a teenage girl, her voice prideful and cold as only aristocracy could be. 'You let me die. I gave you everything and you let me die-!']

[Waver had largely tuned out the guilt-tripping poltergeists by now. He knew damn well that listening much longer would only hurt. Merely registering those last two voices had caused a distinct pain to settle in his chest with no sign of leaving. Oh, well. it would be over soon enough, just like all the other experiments. He'd just have to keep busy until--]

['I thought you better than this, Master.']

[If Kayneth's voice had left a crack in his metaphorical armor, it was that one which broke it completely. The sharp and cold shell of Lord El-Melloi's persona had shattered in no more than seven words, and for a moment Waver Velvet was very, very vulnerable.]

['You were the one for whom I would have done even the impossible. And this is how you repay everything I sacrificed? An entire world is dead and ruined while you alone survive. I thought you the kind to lay aside your own life for those more deserving, but I was wrong. You're a coward now just as you always were.']

Dia--

[No. Waver stopped sharply, cutting himself and his current train of thought off entirely. This was not real. He'd determined that mere moments beforehand, so clearly Jason or the tower itself had brought out the heavy artillery. His one real weak point.]

[Most in this situation would give up, he knew. Scream, cry, argue or beg forgiveness in the face of such pressure. With the hatred of Kayneth's words that still lingered in his mind a decade later...with the guilt of letting down Eskardos and Ismene both...and with the pain of his only friend calling him a coward, it would have been easy to break.]

[But Waver Velvet did not break. He snapped.]

Will you piss off--?! I am not in the fucking mood for this, so get lost and let me carry on with my day or I'll call a goddamned exorcist, do you comprehend that?!

[Completely enraged for the first time in longer than he cared to remember, Waver snarled in a voice he didn't even fully register as his own.]

If you really wanted me to believe this nonsense, you'd have Eskardos babbling like a brainless idiot instead of stringing coherent sentences! And honestly, none of you could even cobble together some form of projection? Our big threat this month is talking goddamned smoke?

[He folded his arms, tone cooling from 'fury' to 'critical sarcasm' as was his typical coping mechanism. Get angry and then belittle whatever made him angry to hell and back.]

I'm insulted that you thought it would be that easy. All four of you get out of my sight before I really get pissed off that you're talking so much in a library.

[Stopping after that frustrated outburst, Waver shut his book with a snap and placed it back on the shelf, lighting a cigarette with shaking hands and walking straight past the shadows like they'd never been there to begin with.]

[Later, he'd wonder if he just shouted eldritch abominations into submission. But for now, all four shadows trailing just behind him, there was someone he needed to talk to.]

Comments

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid pauses, looking around as well.]

That...is odd. Yes, even when I dash off and leave mine at the other end of the Tower, they are usually pretty quick to catch up. I wonder what is taking them so long this time...

[He smiles slightly.]

Did you have a Kayneth in your pack? Maybe he started fighting with the Waver that was following me...

[fionnuisce]

You know, I might completely believe that. [Waver laughed quietly at the idea.]

But if that's not the case, I wonder what got them to stop.

[oathshackledbird]

I don't know.

[Diarmuid is quiet for several moments thinking things over.]

Do you think it has anything to do with us being together? They are ghosts from our worlds telling us things we don't want to hear. Obviously, their words hurt more when we are are alone as opposed to with those whose words we would put more value in than theirs. Maybe they are saving time and energy since they know when we are together, their words won't hurt so badly?

[fionnuisce]

Divide and conquer, that sort of thing? It makes some measure of logical sense. After all, one's more likely to doubt without another to talk sense into them.

[Irritated, Waver's hands went to his pockets.]

How very troublesome. If that's the case we should try to stay together. Or at the very least, check in with each other regularly until this madness is over with.

[oathshackledbird]

Yes, exactly, because lets face it. How many people in the Tower, when faced with this kind of thing, will end up holing up somewhere to cry or try to play it tough and not tell anyone how much they are hurting? The only question is...what is the purpose? Is it just to keep us from working together to plan more things or...

[Diarmuid's voice cuts off when there is a flicker in the glamour systems. It lasts only a few seconds, but the flash causes him to notice something that he hasn't before.]

Waver....maybe it's just a trick of the systems flickering, but have you looked at your collar color lately? It might just be me, but the color of your collar seems lighter than it was the last time I saw you. Not by much, but...

[His hand comes up to touch the collar at his throat.]

Does mine look different to you?

[fionnuisce]

Lighter?

[Waver generally tried to ignore the glamour failures by now; he preferred to let them go by unremarked upon. But when Diarmuid mentioned the collars, his eyes lowered to his Servant's neck with a look of critical analysis.]

...I think it is a few shades off. What do you think that means?

[oathshackledbird]

Nothing good is my guess.

[Diarmuid's lips press into a thin line. Unconsciously, his fingers drum on his collar.]

I highly doubt you suddenly started skipping your collar checks. Could the new procedures Jason started this month have something to do with it?

[He falls quiet a moment and then shakes his head.]

That doesn't seem right. Surely we would have noticed before now if that was the case...

[fionnuisce]

I would assume Jason responsible in some capacity, given that this is his month last I was aware. How and why specifically are unfortunately beyond my ability to guess.

[oathshackledbird]

It's got to either be the changes to our collar checks or something the shadows are doing besides yelling at us. After all, I am sure they are his experiment for the month.

[Diarmuid frowns and then shakes his head.]

I dislike not knowing more, but whatever the cause, you are probably right. We should spend as much time together as we can.

[He suddenly grins.]

Oh darn...I have to spend time with you...

[fionnuisce]

Fate worse than death, that. Maybe that's the real evil of Jason's experiments this month.

[oathshackledbird]

No, the fate worse than death is being stuck with that other Waver and forced to listen to him yell constantly.

[Diarmuid gives Waver a mock look of long suffering.]

He swears so much when he's angry, and I don't know that I have ever heard 'bloody' used in so many different and...creative ways.

[fionnuisce]

Give me a week with Eskardos and you'll hear a thousand new applications of a very colorful vocabulary.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid winces slightly.]

That bad, hu? Have you ever thought of casting some kind of silence spell on him? Surely there is one...

[fionnuisce]

I did once, just to see how he'd react. Then I remembered he's vastly more proficient than me with magecraft. That little idiot just undid it.

[oathshackledbird]

Well now...that was rude of him.

[Diarmuid crosses his arms over his chest.]

You're his teacher. He should have at least humored you for a little bit before undoing it. I might just have to teach him some manners once we get back home.

[fionnuisce]

Yes, well...he's got an odd sense of humor. Try not to be too hard on him.

[oathshackledbird]

I promise. I won't kill or maim him.

[Diarmuid grins.]

I'll just...adjust his sense of humor a bit...

[fionnuisce]

Try adjusting his brain, if there's even one in there.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid laughs.]

You know, I can do many things but I'm not a miracle worker. Some things...aren't fixable. His brain might be one of those things.

[fionnuisce]

Point taken. It'd take some kind of divine miracle for Eskardos to learn common sense.

[Siiigh.]

Ah, well. If it can't be helped, it can't be helped.

[oathshackledbird]

My apologies for disappointing you, my friend.

[Diarmuid bows to him with an over exaggerated flourish.]

How ever will I make it up to you?

[fionnuisce]

I suppose you'll just have to owe me one.

[oathshackledbird]

Such a terrible fate. It's not like I don't already owe you so much...

[He smiles gently at Waver.]

Not that I mind in the slightest.

[fionnuisce]

You should be careful. I might start calling in favors someday.

[oathshackledbird]

What makes you think I'm not looking forward to you starting to do that?

[He winks at Waver.]

I can't wait to see what challenges you throw at me.