caughtinanetwork | 001. [video] intro.

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001. [video] intro.

[Gives the SFC a gentle flick, giving the camera a wry smile. Seems like he's managed to get rid of all signs of his wet arrival, minus his damp clothes. He's trying very hard to forget the whole incident for your benefit.]

So what, all I get for gracing you all with my presence is this booklet and this horrendous tunic? No welcome party, no parades, no nothing? Geez. Not to mention there's water in places you don't deserve to even know about.

[He pouts his pretty boy pout, looking very hurt indeed.]

Ah, well, I'll forgive you this time. I'm sure that there should be plenty of hunnies out there to cheer me up, yeah? We can have a party of our own now that the great Zelos is here!

Oh, and Lloyd and friends? That includes my dear, voluptuous hunny, my darling angel, my cool beauty, and my precious little one-- If you're here, you're invited, too. Don't leave a man hanging, hmm?

[With a wink and a grin, he turns off the feed.]

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It may be my fault you returned without your memories, anyway.

[This is a punishment, she's almost positive of it. She bows her head to Zelos briefly.]

I'm sorry if that's the case. You did always tell me to not meddle quite so much.

How would it be your fault?

[Genuine curiosity now. But that does sound like him, yes.] Don't sweat it too much, I'm not good at following my own advice, anyway.

Because I'm doing my best to unravel the little experiment they have going, here. I have not exactly been an obedient test subject, and I would not be surprised if they saw fit to punish my friends for such a thing. One would think it would be simpler to remove my memories instead, but some documentation we uncovered suggests that what the scientists are searching for is an emotional reaction. They're sick, so they wouldn't necessarily do what is the simplest to punish someone - they would do what would hurt the most.

I guess that's a possibility, but you can't say it wasn't worth it-- ...right?

[This is getting more and more pathetic. He drops into the chair he found and runs his hands over his face.]

In any case, whatever will be, will be, so there's not much we can do about it.

Edited (WHAT ARE COMMAS) 2013-03-28 19:32 (UTC)

Was it?

[Right now, without results, it doesn't feel very worth it. She doesn't have a choice though, she can't afford to just be sent home without her memories. She has to figure it out.]

At any rate... I still have all of the things you had when you were here last. Clothing, preferred bath items, things like that. I can pick them up for you if you would like.

[He might as well shove his foot all the way down his throat. There's too much he doesn't know, and while his mouth has never been to good to him, he knows when to shut it up.]

Uh, sure. Or I could come with you, doesn't really matter.

[Would Zelos want to do that? She had some pictures of him still, though she had moved them all to her own room the previous night just in case. But still, she hadn't moved his things from the bathroom, she hadn't changed the set up of his room at all. Wouldn't it be eerie to go somewhere and find things set up exactly to your tastes?]

That would be fine as well. I just do not want to make you too uncomfortable.

Well-- [His eyebrows furrow slightly, confused. What could be so uncomfortable about going with her? Unless--

Well, that would explain why she had the stuff in the first place.

If he has to choose between seeing his old self and sticking it out here, he doesn't even have to think twice about it.]

Hadn't thought about it like that. I guess I'll just stay put, then.

[This is so awkward. He talks like Zelos, he looks like Zelos, but he doesn't know her at all.]

Ah, well, you are welcome of course, I just have not taken down the pictures or anything like that... I do have a lot of space.

[It's too quiet in her house now. Other than the currently comatose Guy, it's empty. Since she's used to living with Zelos (who has said on more than one occasion that if he shuts up he'll die), the silence honestly gets a little deafening.

And to think she used to complain to him about the noise.]

It's not any trouble for me to pick the things up, though. I could be there and back in about fifteen minutes, my home is close to here.

[Pictures, well. More proof of things he doesn't remember, more expectations to live up to that he can't. So if it's not the title of the Chosen overshadowing him, it's the life of a past version of himself?

To think he might have believed for a second that he might be able to breathe more easily in this place.

He gives a shallow nod.] I don't mind the wait. If you don't mind going.

I will be back shortly, then.

[Zelda stands, heading out and back toward her home. It's hard to gather up his things and put them in a box. It's like really admitting he's gone. But he's not gone, is he? He's here, he's still Zelos... he just doesn't remember. He didn't remember her when he was turned into a child either, but he still came to trust her relatively quickly. Oddly enough, it had been when she scolded him that he seemed to relax - probably because that was when he figured out that she wasn't trying to weasel something out of him.

She folds his clothes up carefully, she gathers up his bath things, and she places them all neatly in a large box that she puts into the sylladex Darkleer made her so she doesn't have to carry it. Christmas gifts and other small things like that she keeps. He probably doesn't want too many reminders of the things he can't remember.

Soon enough she's back to the Welcome Center, though it only looks as if she's carrying her harp. Zelda moves to the table, strumming her harp briefly to open her sylladex so she can retrieve the rather large box. She knows he'll be able to carry it with far more ease than she could, his crystal gives him strength.]

Hopefully this helps you settle in a bit.

[He gets restless while she's gone. While this was the first place he went to when he arrived, he feels more inclined to read up on his surroundings just to pass the time. He brings a few reading materials back to his seat and waits.

Once she returns, he doesn't see much on her. He figured his old self would have a lot of stuff. When the box appears, he leans forward to inspect it. But he won't open it yet. Not here.]

Hopefully. [Tries to catch her gaze.] Hey, uh-- Thanks. And I'm-- sorry. That it ended up like this. I really don't think it's your fault.

You do not have to thank me. Previous association aside, I believe we are all allies in this place. We should look out for each other.

[She doesn't try to look away, though looking at him makes it difficult to hide how much this hurts.]

It isn't your fault, either. Please don't forget that.

[Zelda clears her throat, deciding to change the subject and distract him from trying to somehow comfort her.]

Ah, there is one other thing - Mithos is here. Previously you two had come to a sort of truce since he helped fix Lloyd's key crest when it went out of control. If you stay out of his way, he should not harm you.

[It's weird, really, to feel genuine concern from someone he doesn't know. For the most part he's kicking himself for doing this to another person and not being able to do anything about it. Maybe he'd be better off gone?

Inwardly, he sighs. He's supposed to be done with running, isn't he? ] I'll try not to.

Yeah, I heard. If I have my way, I'll be able to ignore him as much as possible. We've seen enough of each other to last a lifetime. Or two, I guess.

Edited 2013-03-29 01:49 (UTC)

I'll continue doing my best to keep him calm.

[It's strange to be able to say that to Zelos openly. Before he was adamant about her staying away from Mithos, making it clear that she was to be involved with him as little as possible and even fighting with her over the matter. That's difficult for her to do, though - in a lot of ways, Mithos just seems like a lost child. The Zelos now shouldn't have any objections, though.]

Has he done anything worth mentioning? Besides, you know, continuing to exist.

[He trusts that she should be able to take care of herself, and that Mithos' power should be capped. If Lloyd is here, at the very least, he trusts that at least one person here is capable of taking care of the kid. Not to say that he's the least bit happy that Mithos is alive and kicking, but.]

He has not, actually. The biggest thing of note he's done since arriving here in Vatheon was helping Kratos repair Lloyd's key crest. I do believe he almost got in a fight with Lloyd once but he hasn't killed anyone, and that fight was nearly a year ago.

[He also got in a fight with Zelos once that Zelos never told her about. Shame on Zelos.]

Ah, Kratos is not here any longer, so don't worry about that. Thank the goddesses, that man was beyond irritating.

Hmph. Getting away with the little boy act, I guess. Not that he's not still just a kid, but you know what I mean. [Waves a hand.]

You got that right. Pushed so much crap onto Lloyd, it just pissed me right off.

Not exactly. He has made no secret of his age or his crimes, but there is simply no point in fighting here. We all come back to life within five days if we are somehow killed, and he is simply too powerful to be killing repeatedly - not to mention the fact that there are penalties for people who murder. He seems to be getting along better with humans for now, so there may be hope on that front.

[Zelda looks a little confused at that last part.]

Truly? He seemed extremely protective of Lloyd during his stay here. If anything, I would say that he pushed unpleasant duties on you instead of on Lloyd... perhaps you expressed your irritation at him for doing such a thing so he did it to you instead.

[He's quiet for a moment. As much as he hates the brat, he knows that he is also very similar to a certain red-clad brunet. People can learn to change... Zelos is definitely trying hard to. Maybe the kid can, too.] Well, I guess I'll have to see for myself. In small doses.

There were a few... unpleasant duties, yeah-- [His voice falters and he grimaces, but he pushes on:] --but those things had to be done. Of course, Kratos could have done it himself, but it would have given away the game. [His hands ball into fists.] I don't doubt that the guy cared about Lloyd, he was just absolute crap at showing it. Jerked Lloyd around for a good while, then forced a battle to the death on him. Though I think he knew from the start that he was gonna get beaten, but then he would have forced Lloyd to watch him die. If not for Yuan, that would have been a lot more scarring than it had been.

[Kratos did what with Lloyd now? Zelda's face screws up unpleasantly before she forces herself to put on an impassive expression. A battle to the death? He planned to have his own son kill him? She's heard snippets of that part of the story, but never the whole thing. Most of Zelos' confessions had revolved around his betrayal, not the things that other people did. She'd weasled some more information out of him about the World Tree and the way the two worlds worked, but she never pushed for a full explanation on why he hated Kratos so much - because honestly, she didn't like the man either. He was a stubborn know it all that kept far too much information to himself to the last second.

And he always tested her wards in the middle of the night, that jerk. People who are not angels need sleep!

Hearing that he very nearly put Lloyd through something like that ignites her irritation with him all over again. She's come to think of Lloyd like a younger brother over her time in Vatheon, or perhaps even like a son (which is understandable, considering she did literally mother him for a week). How could Kratos have done something like that?]

...it certainly would have been.

[Kratos should be glad he isn't here right now. Or maybe he would feel soothed by having Zelda yell at him over something like that, it's hard to tell. He's a freak.]

[Of course he feels vindicated when he sees her reaction. God does he hate that guy. Parents who don't know how to be parents shouldn't even bother with kids. Ever.

However, he's mostly made his mind up about Kratos. Even if the guy's a shit dad, he's still Lloyd's dad, and so, if he really did see him again, he shouldn't give him too much trouble.]

Even if Lloyd claimed to be prepared for it, it still would have been-- [He doesn't even want to think about it.] Ugly.

But, since he's not here, I won't have to worry about it.

[She simply nods, shifting awkwardly. What else is there to say? She'd owed him an explanation for her actions the previous day, but saying more than this would feel like she was pushing herself on him, trying to force their friendship to happen again. From her end, of course, that friendship is still there. There's not anything he could say or do to erase it, the lack of his memories simply makes things uncomfortable. He's still Zelos.

Knowing him, he almost certainly doesn't know that just being Zelos is enough.]

Zelos...

[Zelda lowers her head.]

I'm glad you're here. Whether you remember the past year or not, you are a person I am glad to have around. You are still yourself, that is enough. Please don't feel badly for what the scientists have done.

[He can't help his eyes widening, the sudden dryness of his throat. What is he even supposed to say to that? Words of reciprocation would be clearly false, but never had he imagined that he would be on the receiving end of such sentiments.

Licking his lips, he shrugs before working a smile onto his face.] Of course. You don't have to-- to worry, or anything.

[He stands. They've had enough of this conversation, he thinks.] Uh-- thanks. For-- being so... patient.

[It's a struggle to not laugh wryly at that reaction, but she manages. Zelos always did hate sincere displays of emotions. On some level, she'd been hoping he would react that way, so that this incredibly difficult conversation could be over. It was a little manipulative of her perhaps. Certainly it had been unfair, but it was something she'd wanted to express regardless.]

Take care.

[Zelda moves to start a fresh pot of tea. There were likely to be more new people showing up today, she might as well be ready. Hopefully there wouldn't any more difficult surprises.]

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001. [video] intro.

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I still haven't worked out where he lives yet /o\ there's a residency post, right?

plurked it at you

thanks!

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