hadriel | psa [video]

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psa [video]

[ Arya sits in a grassy patch outside one of the spires. She keeps one hand on the sword in her lap, and every so often, looks fretfully up at the sky. ]

The dragons have come. I am guessing most of you have never seen a dragon, so you might be afraid of them. And want to kill them.

[ Arya frowns. A loud, powerful roar sounds from off-camera. Arya sighs. The roar doesn't help her make the point she's trying for. ]

And I understand your fear.

[ She leans into the camera. This is serious. ]

But you must not kill them. They could very well be the last of their kind. Dragons are dangerous creatures, but impressive ones. Killing these dragons could not only mean their deaths, but the death of all dragons. So keep yourself safe. But let them be safe, too.

[ Suddenly, the lighting becomes brighter. In the distance is a red-hot flame. ]

Shit.

[ Arya mutters, and cuts the video there. ]

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I'm sorry, Pell. Here, let me.

[Flick takes a towel and wets it and starts to wipe off the soot, before he just steps back and looks at Pell.]

You're covered in it. Let's get you washed up. You know, I think the last time I did this, you were in althaia.

[Flick patted at Pell's cheek gently. Pell was a lot more worldly than Flick, even with the age different. Flick was sheltered. or was that just good old fashioned Saltrock indoctrination?]

[ He lightens up at that, a faint smile curving his lips. ]

It was. But may I never go through anything that painful again.

[ The counter gets a little knock, even though it's stone and not wood. And then he's pushing off of it, heading for the downstairs bathroom. ]

You really want to try and save the dragons?

I think there's been too much death. I don't know if saving the dragons is going to help that. But at the moment they're as helpless as we are, trapped in a foreign place, away from home. And if you think about it, we're not that different.

[Flick followed Pell downstairs to the bathroom, bringing the cloth he had with him.]

When you think about it, we're not that different, Wraeththu and the dragons. We just not so obviously dangerous.

[ Once the water's set running Pell pulls off his shirt and starts unbraiding his hair, sitting on the edge of the tub while Flick speaks. He's following, but not agreeing yet. ]

You think we're competing species? If a less majestic one.

I think we're just as dangerous and it's foolish to think otherwise. It doesn't really matter Pell, humans, hara, dragons. We're all dangerous. The only difference is some of us pretend better. And some of us don't breathe fire.

[Flick took off his own shirt, intending on helping Pell scrub, because that's what friends were for. Besides, in this place they could all use a little more skin to skin contact.]

And some of us can't communicate to keep others from destroying buildings.

...though I guess I've destroyed a building before.

[ He strips down the rest of the way and gets in the water, letting the tap run over his hands. Ugh, the soot is under his nails. It's easier to bemoan that than think about a way to spare the dragons. But after another moment he sighs and passes Flick the soap. ]

Alright, if I'm on your side... we'll have to feed them. Give them a reason to stay out of our space and in theirs, wherever that winds up being. You're right, I don't even know if anyone here could kill them.

[Flick paused, stopping right in the middle of pulling a leg out of a pants hole to look down at Pell.]

You destroyed a building?

[Wow. If that's what Pell could do with training, what could he do with Thiede? Flick shucked off the remnants on his clothing and knelt by Pell, resting against the floor. He took the soap and wet it, rubbing the bar against Pell's skin and rinsing off the soot with a wet towel.]

Pell? Thank you.

It was our combined strength, not just me. We had to escape the Irraka with a prisoner of war and they had no magic... it was enough to make them fear us.

[ He waves a hand at the gratitude, instead leaning into the scrubbing. ]

Don't thank me, I'll likely get us killed. But there's meat in the shops, that no one in the city will eat so it won't be missed. We can try and lure them over the river with it, towards the places no one ever goes.

Why won't anyone eat the meat? I suppose there goes my hopes of ever cooking some beef?

[Flick spooned some water over Pell's skin, rinsing off what soot he could before going after him with the soap again. He leaned in to press his lips to the top of Pell's head. He winced automatically when his friend said our. Cal. Too bad Pell didn't just leave call there and take whoever the prisoner of war was. They'd all be better off.]

"Prisoner of war? You've been through a lot."

Unless a cow wanders through, there go your chances. The meat found in the shops was tainted awhile ago, it turned people into nightmare creatures. I wasn't around for that but since then we avoid it at all costs.

[ He sighs at the touches and the little kiss, wrapping his arms around his knees and letting Flick take over completely. There are some bruises under the soot. ]

A lot in a short time, when I think back. We weren't really gone that long. A few years. But I've seen much of the way hara live. Or don't live, as the case may be.

I guess I'll have to branch out in my cooking then.

[It wasn't like he hadn't had to be creative before, living with Lormy, Mima and Lileem on the Esmeralda, they had to trade what they could get. Flick continues to wash off soot, trying to get a glimpse of Pell's skin underneath, and ran a hand through his hair. Pell always had a thing for his hair.]

You pressed a lot into a short amount of time.

We did a lot of traveling. It's strange now, to be in one place but not have it be one I could settle. For a time I thought Galhea... but it wasn't to be for me.

[ He splashes some water up over his face, sinking lower into the tub now. The ghost of Cal and that last night together after they fled sinks into his memory the same way. He shakes it off. ]

Wash my hair, Flick?

I heard you had gone to Galhea too.

[And now wasn't the time for his friend to find out that Cal had gone back. Even if Cal himself and Seel hadn't told him it would have been obvious. Tyson looked just like him. It was disgusting for Flick to think that anyone would have actually wanted to do that with Cal. But, he knew Pell felt differently. He spooned water onto Pell's hair and reached to find shampoo or soap, lathering it in.]

Seel's in Galhea, you know.

[Flick said, trying badly to be casual and to keep the bitterness out of his voice.]

Seel's in Galhea, you left Saltrock... where's Cal?

[ He holds very still as Flick washes the soot out of his hair, trying not to sound too pathetic or plaintive. ]

Do you know, Flick?

[Flick was silent for a while, and he may have massaged Pell's scalp a little too hard before reigning himself back and washing the soap and soot out.}

No. I don't know. [His voice was flat.]

Ah.

[ Pell wilts, even as he tilts his head back to be rinsed. There's pain in his eyes. ] It's unlikely he could have made it back alone, the way we came. I just worry that he.... might have done something extreme.

[Flick sighs, and continues to rinse out Pell's hair, washing out more soot. He rinses more than he needs too, trying to prolong the inevitable. Cal. Why did it have to be Cal? Yes, Pell, Cal did do something rather extreme.]

He did come back to Saltrock for a bit. But then he left. I'm not sure where he went. I think...I think Cal's sick Pell. And he needs more help than he could get at Saltrock.

[ Because Cal consumed Pell's being for the past few years. Even in death he's obscenely in love with the har, flaws and all. ]

...sick..? Where better is there go to?

[It was that kind of love that Flick thought was a sickness. Corrupting.]

We couldn't help him. I tried. Seel tried. He was very hurt after you....after you died.

[ This has been Pell's worst fear since waking up here to discover that he isn't dead. What of Cal? Would he regress to Uigenna? Would he be a broken shell? Worse, would he be just fine, though that'...wasn't the outcome, obviously. ]

Why do you hate him so, Flick? I can feel it when our skin touches.

[Flick drew away, falling in on himself. Even talking about Cal makes him feel wrong.]

He made me do something horrible Pell. I think he turned me into a bad person.

I don't think so. No matter what someone makes you do, no one can turn you into something else but you. And you're still Flick.

[Flick drew his knees up to his chest.}

You don't think our actions taint our souls? I think there's something horrible in me, Pell.

They may, depending. But it takes more than just that to change who you are.

...And I could be quite crude right now.

If it's a difference between crude and self recriminations, I'd take crude. Make me believe?

psa [video]

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