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 Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:40 pm
The space was small, dark, and far from inviting and there was nothing that the corrupt could do about the lack of inspiration within the room. At least for now, until funds were more available, he decor was what it was. Bare and minimal. A well worm desk flanked by a chair on either side, neither matching and both looking as worn as the desk. A bookshelf sat snuggling against a nearby wall, leaving just enough room for maybe three people to maneuver around and not feel claustrophobic or as if they are invading on another’s personal space.
The only bits of personalization came in the form of books that scattered the shelves and a small pile on the desk next to a pen and pad. Some of the spines text were worn out, making it hard to decipher the contents within, but others spoke of war tactics, psychology, and teaching. It was the books on the desk that were the most odd with their spines glaring out information on the history of theatre, methods of acting, and directing.
It was these specific books Helio had himself engrossed in. A pen was balanced between fingers as he read through a passage, scribbling notes for himself in a scrawl that was left to be desired. He had no other pressing work to deal with, and his own studies were of importance enough that he decided he’d take time in his small, dark office to get some work done for classes. It was a quiet space, no outside noise from traffic and passerby’s and it kept him available to others as needed. Not, that he expected any sort of company or pressing business. As it stood he had no subordinates of his own to nurture and if he was needed General Faustite would normally just summon him to his own office.
At least that’s how it’s been so far. Though, there was the caveat that the office he now occupied was still new for him and his General. Having a place of his own in negaspace was a welcome adjustment, but an adjustment of mere days thus far.
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:42 pm
Wolframite was adjusting to a great deal since returning home to the Negaverse. While a lot was familiar and unchanged, a lot regarding himself had. Almost every other moment he was glancing at his claws or glancing up as he felt a ear pivote and finding it bizarre. There was more surface area to him now and he felt off his own axis with the addition of the weight to his arms and the weight to his backside.
But as physical weight had been added, another was dissolved completely. His civilian life and that of all his memories as a person we're gone and with it any responsibility to anyone not involved with the Negaverse. While he had the faintest glimmers of living as a person, knowing he must have grown up someplace and had lived somewhere once he purified, none of the information came to him and he felt a relief in that forgiving ignorance. No expectations. No paperwork. No thoughts of where to live as someone other than who he was. No figuring out what to do with himself outside of patrols. No everyday toil that mattered for nothing in comparison to the duties placed upon him. It felt warm but it was also a pressure. He had a lot to make up for.
Fiddling with his hands, he glanced at the back of Faustite as he lead the way. Just a short time ago he was his equal in power and his superior in experience, but now he was little more than a captain grateful for the guidance and trust the other had given him despite his past. Following along, he looked about, not familiar with this part of Headquarters.
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:45 pm
Faustite issued no knock. Newly-turned Wolframite in tow, the general entered swiftly and without pause for courtesy. Light competed with light in setting off the violet hues that so defined these spaces. There, Heliodor, situated in a closeted familiarity. Around him, little more of the same -- holdover furniture, a bookcase, a whole lot of nothing. And Heliodor, making something from that nothing. Faustite passed a discerning eye over that something.
Studying. Quaint.
"Heliodor." The name a statement, a command, a call to attention. Faustite approached that desk in steady step. Hands framed the back of a chair. "This is Wolframite, your peer in rank and superior in years. He can teach you combat aptitude.
"And Wolframite," a tilt of neck turned attention, now down to the cherubic wolf-boy of a youma, still learning every strangeness to his second chance, "Heliodor can assist you with your daily needs. Interpersonal connections. Humdrum activities like necessities purchases." Ey glanced, then, to Heliodor, measuring the grasp of eir language. What precision did Heliodor detect, now, with so much time spent out?
Already had Faustite explained the basics of a debit card and bank account, weekly funds allocations to cover basic needs. Next in introduction would be Tiberius for engineering assistance devices for those claws, for all the ways dexterity failed him now. But Heliodor was a perfect first contact in team closeness, in peerage and in civilian savvy. Wolframite would depend on another until he learned to glamour -- and that dependence, especially weighed in exchange with combat lessons, promised an eventual co-reliance.
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:46 pm
Heliodor was startled from his studies at the abrupt entrance into his small office. A mark from his pen across several rows of his notes denoting how absorbed he had been in his work. Without pause or complaint he put the pen down and rose to his feet as his mind caught up to the fact that it was his own General making such an entrance.
Helio said nothing as Faustite introduced the man in his tow. A curious eye noted the differences in appearance that normally marked a normal human being. Half-youma. he noted to himself. Not that it mattered, really.
A nod in understand.
“Welcome, Wolframite.” He said calmly, with a small smile that counteracted the all seriousness that was his General. “Glad you could join us again, and like General Faustite said, I’ll help you with whatever you need and I hope you won’t look too poorly upon my own combat skills.” A wink and mild joke or tease to try and soften the introduction that felt cold and impersonal. “You are welcomed to my office as you need. I can give you details on when to expect me here.”
Eyes shifted from the petite, almost child-like wolf half-youma to the ever pale visage of Faustite. Funny how he had thought Faustite was small, but in comparison to Wolframite, Faustite looked much the normal. At least Heliodor didn’t feel like he was ever craning his neck downward. “So I know where to find, is he to be quartered in the barracks?” He thought he knew the answer but best to be certain. The last thing he needed was to be seeking out this newly returned recruit and not be able to find him. Some help Heliodor would be in that instance.
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:49 pm
He glanced to Faustite's who made very quick introductions and wondered briefly if Heliodor would be just as rigid as Faustite's often got when conducting business. The newly-corrupted captain had already predicted that once inside the Negaverse and under Faustite's care that he would need to out a strong face in order to convey to everyone that he was keeping a strong hold on a traitor's leash to ensure no repeats arose. That wasn't to say Wolframite didn't know Faustite's wasn't all commands and curt heel tapping but he felt a degree of paranoia in that his residence in the Negaverse would mean there would be little chance to see anything but a strict treatment again.
It was one thing to be his friend in some distant field in the woods. It was another when you were a defective subordinate under the Negaverse 'I judgemental gaze.
Looking to Heliodor, he was reminded of Al the new recruits he wouldn't know now that he had returned. In the years he was a knight, a new wave of officers had come and ranked up and he was more out of touch as before.
Out if habit he offered his hand to shake but glanced at his massive and dangerous hand and pulled it back sheepishly. Instead, he gave a curt nod. “Thank you for your help. And I won't judge your combat skills if you don't judge mine too harshly. I'm going to need to train a lot in order to get use to the changes. I used to have a long ranged weapon. I'm going to have to change my approach now.” He admitted with a smile.
His golden eyes turned to Faustite. “I didn't know captains had offices.” He turned to look at Heliodor again. “What specialization do you work under?”
There was also the concern on how he would request necessities when he had no money. He didn't wish to be anyone's financial burden.
“Is there a way I can earn my way for my purchases without placing that on anyone else?”
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:50 pm
"Of course you can." A hungry smile followed the statement. "Hierarchy is still our most superficial layer. Learn to make trades. Pay out favors. Energy for currency — as long as currency lasts." Turning the chair about so its back faced Heliodor, Faustite straddled the seat. Flame twisted about beyond grate and wooden slat. How calm and cordial Heliodor was, how uncertain Wolframite was. How familiar that position still felt more than a year past turning youma.
Faustite plucked a pen from Heliodor's collection, tore a paper from one of the notebook stacks, then flattened it out on a clear patch of desk. A small selection of books were brusquely pushed out of the way to make room for proper elbow and wrist. Faustite began to write an outline henceforth, his pen ever moving in sharp letters and steep angles. "Understand that we're limited in what we can teach you. Your freedoms are hamstrung per the sovereigns." What furtive remains of the coronal tendril burning out power and fight still lingered like a curse. Like an assurance.
"I can't teach you to glamour for some time yet. You can't have subordinates. Can't patrol alone. Consider it a test of your cleverness to pay your way otherwise." Piece said, Faustite spared Heliodor a glance, subtle, yet something in it hungered.
That gaze returned to the page. Short notes stacked one atop another until ey created a page that looked attacked by harsh letters. The bottom steamed, then curled black before Faustite tugged it away from the furnace. There was always more to learn.
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:51 pm
Though the offered hand was pulled back the gesture was noted. “As of yet I am not officially under any specialization.” He commented with a wry smile. He supposed that was something that would need to be taken care of soon enough, but that was for another time. Right now his focus was Wolframite and his General who was now perching himself on the wooden chair with it’s back to his abdomen
Wooden. Chair.
He marveled at the chair’s ability to not take up flame immediately upon contact. Perhaps it was a testament to Faustite’s control of it? Books were pushed aside after pen and paper were heedlessly gathered and Helio moved to make sure the books weren’t deposited to the ground in Faustite’s need. Grabbing them, the senshi stacked them all neatly on a shelf away from possible harm. Those books were needed and cost enough to make Helio cringe at the idea of needing to replace them due to negligence.
Faustite was quick to answer questions and fill in Wolframite on the going on while at the same time explaining to Heliodor the parameters that surrounded the new half-youma. It sounded quite familiar and the pang of losing freedom still created a small knot in his stomach. So he’s on constant watch to make sure he doesn’t turn traitor again.
Eyes trailed from Wolframite back to Faustite just as the General pulled back his gaze from Helio. Curious. Was he thinking the same as Helio? No. The look spoke volumes more than just a knowing look of understanding. Then it hit him and he purposefully shifted away from the bookcase and back towards the desk. Not that it took much movement
He turned his focus to the paper, noting the familiar scrawling text built oh-so carefully with notes.
The smell of something burning caught his attention just as Faustite moved to save the paper from the depths of his flame. The smell of burning didn’t alter. In fact, it seemed to grow more steadily and take the scent of something else. Almost...toxic with a hint of wood…
As calmly as he could muster with a hint of distress apparent. “You’re setting the chair on fire.” So much for a testament of control. Why did I even think something like that could be controlled?/color]
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:58 pm
He considered this and raised his claws up before they slowed to a crawl in order for him to figure out just how exactly he could hold his own chin in thought and decided that crossing his arms was a easier option. “So if I need a master to take me for a walk, then that limits my energy collecting quite a bit if they aren’t up for letting me go out past just fulfilling my quota. You - wouldn’t happen to be against me pickpocketing, would you? I always found it easier for civilians to think they were knocked out and mugged than just fainting and it would make currency easier to get.” He said, wanting to hear Faustite’s verdict on the matter incase that was something since forth frowned upon in their faction.
Aside from that, he didn’t have any remarkable qualities he could think that would be worth a trade. Since he once against forgot about his civilian life, any skills he might have were unknown to him, and he only remembered his qualifies as a fighter. This left combat training only if that was worth anything nowadays, and maybe whatever menial work that anyone in the Negaverse might have that they thought themselves above it to do themselves. That was probably limited only to those living in the barracks and who might have some funds of their own to spare as he doubted anyone in the Negaverse had duties outside of their quotas and outside work he would be too limited to take on.
“Do I still have access to the Rift?” He said, glancing at Heliodor’s chest as he spoke about the nightmare-scape of youmas. Being half-youma himself, he wondered if he would be able to traverse that land freely. “- Or will I need an escort for there as well so that I don’t get into any trouble?” Just like a corrupted senshi. If he wanted to spar and stretch the limits of his new body, could he train in the colosseum with the other youma or would be need to be asked permission even inside the Negaverse? His eyes glanced at the books that Faustite pushed aside and Heliodor rescued from gravity’s wrath. Maybe he should invest in some reading material if he would find himself in his own room more often than not. It seemed the Barracks might be the only place he’d be allowed to wander without reprimand.
The news of not having glamor or subordinates wasn’t too offputting. He wasn’t in a rush to go back to pretending to be human and making up a lie for his life. It felt unsettling to him and a task he wanted to put off for much later. He didn’t want to take on anyone either until he was given the trust that he wasn’t going to jump ship again and he wanted to be at his own best in order to see to the best of someone else. That meant training to become familiar with himself and adapting to being back under Metalia’s control.
Ears turning, he tried to glance over Faustite’s shoulder to see what he was writing but couldn’t make sense of the quick scribbles on the page. However, he couldn’t help but smile a little despite himself. He could at least see the page. He could see everything. The thought alone warmed him deeply.
“Do you have anything you personally want to see from me, Faustite? Not just keeping my head low and being a good boy. Not just training Heliodor in fighting, sir.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:58 pm
Faustite rose at once, the questions a distant thought, the smoking chair far more demanding of attention, while flame eyes searched for a solution. Eir hand poised, Faustite spotted Heliodor's half-finished tea. It would do; onto the chair it went. The besieged wood heaved a sizzling sigh.
Crisis averted. For now.
Relegated to standing, Faustite weighed finishing his outline or dictating to Heliodor. Neither sufficed; the moment was broken. Back to earlier questions ey would go. Theft earned little more than a shrug; murderers made no claims for morals.
More important was the question on boundaries. "Broach the Rift if you think it safe. I suspect youma can't smell the traitor on you. You have leave for it -- for anywhere in Negaspace." What could they know of something returned to them like Wolframite? Unless a youma recognizes him, recognizes his absence, meticulously assembles a conclusion out of his sporadic presence there, what more did he have to fear? Surely Laurelite would pass on no such message. Little reason had she to deny him another chance after spending so much energy reforming him.
Faustite retired Heliodor's mug to his desk. "I expect much from you as I do from Heliodor." Another glance spared, this one studiously surveying. Eir gaze ticked-ticked-ticked over face and mouth and jawline and cut of shoulder and sloping neck, down to active hands. "I expect Heliodor to bring his business acumen to Negaverse benefit. I expect him to run a staffing agency and collaborate on a way to screen displaced workers for powered potential. I expect him to place himself in a branch, bring up a team of his own, propagate strategies to fund the war effort -- in capital, in energy, in bodies.
"I have as many expectations for you." A hand found shoulder not far from collared neck. "You will place in Special operations. You'll watch the watchers. Hone your skills and spearhead the forefront of the war with skill unmatched. You will show such staunch loyalty that you will persecute at Laurelite's side. You will help me clarify the reality of half-youma.
"One a business mogul, and the other a soldier's soldier. But much must come before those dreams."
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 5:00 pm
Good thing I had forgotten about that cup of tea while studying. He thought as the liquid dripped from the back of the chair now well charred. I suppose I’ll need to get that replaced too. I will need to find a chair made of a metal with a high-resistance to melting. His attention followed the state of his General, now forced to stand. The scrawled notes still lay on the desk with a few splatters of tea ruining bits of ink.
More questions came. Answers were given and Heliodor opted to remain studious throughout the exchange. He took mental notes for himself, later to be made wrote so as not forgotten.
A brow rose at Faustite’s studying gaze and comment. Before an acknowledgement could be made, Faustite continued on with his list of expectations. A list quite long and one in which Heliodor was quite aware was going to take some time. But, the groundwork was at least laid and there was obvious forward movement with his goals in mind.
“We will do our best to meet those expectations.” Helio said with a smile before eyes turned attention back to Wolframite, arms crossing loosely across his chest.
“And, I will be available to you for your outings. You can be assured we will make sure your quota is met and I certainly won’t begrudge you being overzealous and seeking out more if the opportunities present themselves.” A quick glance at Faustite. “Opportunities should never be wasted and left for want if it can be helped.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 5:01 pm
He had been watching the events around them play out and found it funny to see Faustite’s seriousness and sharp focus to his obliviousness to lit a chair that, if he was used to being here, should have been made metal long ago to accommodate his chest oven. Then without so much as a question or thought, the tea being dumped on the chair that now gave off an odd smell of herbal and charred, treated wood in the room. Heliodor seemed to not be bothered or react much to any of it as he worked around Faustite easily to save the books and paper and set them neatly aside as if this was just as simple as someone knocking over a cup of water on accident. I guess with how life would be in the Negaverse, it could be considered that. Still, the newly-created officer covered his mouth with a curved claw to hide the amused little smirk as he swallowed down a chuckle. This was quickly dropped when the phrase of smell the traitor on you was dropped and his ears snapped back at the tone. Not untrue, it was a sharp stab into the gut and he tried not to answer the small pebble of pride lumped in his stomach that wanted to say something to his defense. He already made his case to Laurelite and wouldn’t be seen as worth it unless he had made a good argument. Traitor or not, what mattered was that he was here now to make use of a chance he should have never been given.
The hand upon his shoulder sparked movement in his tail and returned his ears upright. He looked up at the officer as he explained the path chosen out for him, and he had no issues with where it went. Faustite allowed him to be here in the first place and he surrendered himself to his decisions. Regardless of how he might feel about something, he knew that he had to not voice anything of any personal interest and take every order as his own without hesitation and with the only mindset of what was best for the Negaverse and not himself in any sense.
“I look forward to working with you Heliodor. I will be hoping for extra credit if I can be allowed it, but I’ll be listening to your orders first and foremost while on patrols. If there is anything I can help you with, just tell me.”
He looked back to Faustite. “And I leave it to you then. I’ll be this soldier’s soldier. I know now how to do it wrong. I’ll work hard to do it right. I’ll be nothing more but a fighter who consumes orders without hesitation or objection.”
There was something that nagged him, and he narrowed his attention on Faustite as the man explained what use he had for Heliodor as well. One man who helped feed more agents would have a clear influence over the new recruits, and if Faustite had influence on Heliodor then he had a branching network that reached out to many officers being funneled into the Negaverse. Then, in regards to him, having a trusted officer Faustite hoped to have as the model example of unquestionable loyalty beside a Queen would also place him in touch with soldiers and anything Wolframite might overhear. Who else was under Faustite’s command and what exactly was he aspiring towards?
“I have a concern. Since I had just attacked the Dark Mirror Court and they might consider me dead now, they will be furious to know I’m still alive and back with the Negaverse. Since I’m recently adapting to a lot of changes and not the same rank of power I was before, I’m in no condition to take on an entire group of them if there should be word to hunt me down. For now, would it be better if I went by another name? Something that I could be called to officers and those I meet that wouldn’t trace me back to the officer I was and who the Dark Moon Court knows. Not until it is decided it’s the best course to take, unless you think that isn’t wise to do. I don’t want to come off as deceitful or up to anything by using another alias that might make the Negaverse suspect me of anything.”
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Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 5:05 pm
"Bold of them to antagonize the Negaverse, then." Hand slipped from shoulder, head cocked in a coy smirk that melted as ey turned from the wolf. Faustite's footprints mashed charred flakes into powder against the floor. Wolframite's request was a consideration, albeit a small one -- a captain had ability enough to teleport when in burgeoning danger. But Wolframite squandered some time among Knights; he must have squandered the reflex to teleport as well. Or he never learned to err with caution, even as a general. "Vitriol will do." You had enough of it.
"But I have my own concerns. You lost half a life twice. Heliodor hardly survived a single transition. You underwent two." Halting by the half-harrowed chair, Faustite busied emself with picking the brittle, blackened fragments from it. A quick glance confirmed eir subordinate's newfound studiousness. "Heliodor, share some of your troubles when you find a minute." How much still plagued him? And how much could still be hollowed at need?
Faustite cast another look over a narrow shoulder. "And Wolframite, tell me if any sound familiar." Doubtless they would.
Doubtless they've all suffered through their private funerals. Their forgotten losses, taped to their backs, pulled tight the skin in every gesture and twitch. Anyone could see damage if they looked hard enough.
With Heliodor's chair newly trashed, Faustite settled into a wait by sitting on the desk edge. The outline was snapped up, readied, waiting its turn in discourse. There would be time.
There would be time, there would be time.
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Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 12:50 pm
Helio nodded to Wolframite. It was interesting the difference he could see in this newly returned recruit compared to his own self when brought into the Negaverse fold. Almost night and day. Actually, not almost. Very much night and day. It was going to be interesting to see if the compliance was going to continue or if perhaps time within the Negaverse would begin to eat away at Wolframite. After all, he had left once before, surely there had been a reason for his betrayal?
Faustite was quick to take up the voiced concern, meanwhile Helio gathered up his now empty cup of tea, moving it safely out of range of being knocked from the desk. He deposited the cup on an empty bookshelf, a shelf obviously being used as an extension of the desk when needed what with papers and notebooks stacked there as well.
Then a loaded question was dropped on him and Helio gripped the edge of the bookcase for a moment, eyes downcast. A moment passed before he turned his gaze back to their new member. With a heavy sigh eyes shifting to Faustite who perched himself like a mechanical bird upon the edge of his desk. "I almost feel like I am being thrown under the bus here." He remarked with a mild air of frivolity despite the heaviness in his eyes as he turned back to Wolframite.
"There are times I wonder what I would have become has I not been recruited by Faustite here. What roads were cut off from me? I wonder what my family is doing. Did they even care that I disappeared? Do they assume I am dead at this point?" He shrugged heavily.
"Finding my niche here wasn't easy and I am still trying to fully understand what I can contribute. The uncertainty of not really knowing has eaten away at me. Compared to when I first came to be here, I at least have a direction to look now which is a relief.
Honestly, part of my trouble is I remember too much of my past compared to others who were brought in forcibly. I can only assume I had reasons not to be completely opposed to my corruption, but my memories of that day are not intact. The memory loss is disconcerting as I am not entirely sure yet what I've lost and what I haven't, but I'm working on just accepting that it's not really important."
He paused, teeth meeting his lower lip in thought. He could keep going. Dive deeper into his problems but he also wasn't quite willing to go into a soul searching discussion with someone he knew very little about. Plus, he was a bit hesitant to dive too far what with Faustite sitting there looking prepped and ready to strike should something be misconstrued or spoken in a way that could be taken wrongly.
"It's the hauntings of what could have been that really get to me, truthfully. That and my loss of self identification. I am rebuilding myself and it's hard and scary to do." He finished.
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Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 1:57 pm
Heliodor's calm denonor shuddered under the line of direct questioning. A command to offer up any personal struggled that they hadn't overcame or obstacles that made doing their work harder. Now more visibly troubled by this than a little chair or a overturned teacup, the man regained balance and addressed his concerns.
Still standing a step into the room, Wolframite stared back as Helio chewed his lip flush red and tried to place agony and frustration into words. Even through it all, he didn't stutter and remained steady in his delivery.
When it seemed that was all, Wolframite flicked his attention between the two.
"I'm already dead." He said simply.
"I died one lifetime ago and died again. Gevudan already mourned his loss. Lamented the changes and agonized in his regret of all that was lost when he purified and lost as he ******** up the rest. Being upset now isn't even beating a dead horse. It's kicking a petrified one."
"I lost everything so what is there left to care about of Then and Before? I gambled twice now. I risked memories and the person I was to change again. If there was something enough to hold onto not to risk that, then I wouldn't be here, would I? I destroyed what I cherished. Why try to glue together ashes?"
He smiled at that. "Who can say their slate is clean as mine is now? Devoid of the human past and what need for it? I won't be living there in that world anymore. Can't even if I had the desire. And I have purpose because Faustite has direction for me and the Queen has a debt I need to pay."
"It is different for you Heliodor. You have a life that can serve in Destiny City. You think of the world there because you have to live in it and encounter these questions daily. You need that history to fool others. Mother. Father. School. Memories. Gevudan was very upset about it too. To have lost half of himself. To be a liar."
He went still, somber, but perked up soon after.
"But I don't have to care about any of that anymore. I'm absolved of the mundane world."
He turned to Faustite. "You shouldn't be concerned. Do you think I'm incomplete now? What are you worried about? If you wanted to ask about what troubles I might face, why as a corrupted senshi. You are a half-youma. Wouldn't your experience be more similiar to mine? Can you tell me what your faced?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 3:20 pm
Faustite cocked a brow at Vitriol's spirited rambling. Next to Heliodor's slow, dolorous plod, the creature looked nearly manic. Rabid, even, with the happy disconnect Faustite half-expected out of emotionally broken corrupted senshi or youma haphazardly echoed human emotions. Heliodor cited what-ifs and relationship losses as his sore spots, while Vitriol claimed his lack of care. He faithfully missed every ounce of subtext. Faustite relaxed; eir shoulders opened and ey looked at the wolf with brows furrowed and an attentive brightness in eir eyes.
"You miss the point and call me inept. How quaint." Perhaps the dog learned better when not directly engaged. Perhaps he understood the value of questions asked — not for the information they gave at a glance, but for the information they implied — when someone else's life sat under the microscope. Certainly he ascertained that a corrupted senshi and a youmafied officer have different paths than one another, but he dug a gulf between himself and Heliodor when he focused only on what set them apart from one another.
Neither were general or eternal; there was room to grow yet. Faustite steeled eir jaw before speaking, the muscles pulsing as they pulled toward the corners of eir throat. "Heliodor, when I told you to explain your troubles, I asked for more than that. Understand," Faustite shifted and clasped hands at the fore, rested elbows on Heliodor's beleaguered table, "that I was asking about your cogency, your reasoning skills, your team-mindedness.
"There are answers in your answers that you never gave. For example," a hand parted from its twin to gesture toward him, "you use relationships to define yourself — you remember your past, your preferences, your old occupations. But you cite a loss of self-identity. You already have a new name, but you struggle because relationships formed a necessary core of how you define yourself. Another example: those relationships determine your self-worth — your body language crumbled like a beaten youma when you asked if your family cared about your disappearance."
Faustite turned eir gaze on Vitriol. Venom built with each sentence until eir reprimand culminated in a show of sarcasm. "You brushed aside your teammate and superior as soon as you could open your mouth. Clearly you share nothing with each other. Clearly Heliodor cannot compare to you. The question was faulty and the interviewer daft. Better that you run the show." Faustite drew emself together, all arranged limbs and pyres, all volatile attention thrown about the room like accelerant.
Until that attention cooled inexplicably. "I won't punish you for it yet. It's an old world seen with new eyes.
"To answer your questions: I judge your camaraderie damaged, your reasoning sufficient for combat, your self-awareness remedial. Crude, but not incomplete. Tell me this before I answer with any of my experiences: why are you asking?" The general tilted eir head almost imperceptibly, then leveled Heliodor a mute look.
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