[Open] The Boys Are Back In Town

[thorndergod]

WHO: Thor, Anders, Open to any!
WHAT: An open log, gonna put up prompts for people as they come up, or people can pop a prompt in for me if they want either dude.
WHEN: Early-to-mid whatever December is
WHERE: All over the place
NOTES: None at the moment.

[Hit me up on Discord at Nadat#4647 or Plurk at Nadat if you'd like something!]

Comments

[eruit]

To Hanzo, duty is all he has left. It was his duty and his burden to raise his dragons, raise his magic, and strike down his brother. It was his duty to rid the clan of someone not fit to be a part of it. It was his duty to commend himself to the position of leader, as it was his duty to flee once he realised the impact on his spirits. It is his duty now to be true to the Inquisition, to lend himself to them in whatever way is possible.

The hug is unexpected and it shocks him, clearly, eyes widening for a moment as he stares at the wall behind the other man. Tomo and Kenji dance out of the way as Hanzo does not resist, his hands limp at his side, accepting the embrace as it is but not returning it. He is not entirely sure how: he has not been embraced by many people. It has been many years since he was this close to a person he did not intend to kill.

"There is nothing passed the Inquisition," he admits, voice low and calm. "This is the path I have chosen to earn my redemption. It is in their hands now. They can punish me or they can use me, but my future is theirs to dictate."

[thorndergod]

When the hug is not returned he eventually pulls back, enough to search Hanzo's face. Redemption. His gaze flickers to the spirits and back as he tries to get a grasp of this. Hanzo is not suicidal, but he clearly has no driving need to live either. Has this been there the whole time, or is it new, brought about by the defeat? The whole time, Thor decides. It's why Hanzo had not thought about going back, and did not lay claim to their people.

"What do you so need redemption from?" He would never have asked such a direct question in Tevinter. He would have had Loki dig for the answer, and maintained a discrete distance. But he also never would have gotten this close to a potential rival magister there.

[eruit]

It is not something that Hanzo thinks many people are aware of - those inside the Shimada household know what happened to his brother, but those outside? Allies of the house are entirely unaware and it was designed to be so. The murder of an unfit son might be somewhat more acceptable in Tevinter, but it was not something to confess to anyone with ears. No, it might have been his duty but he cannot celebrate it. Even ten years later he feels the weight of it, cotton in his mouth as he tries to find the right words to speak.

Lifting his head, he stares at Thor, eyes dark and intense.

"What do you know of my brother, Genji Shimada?"

[thorndergod]

"He had... questionable tastes." The same has been said of his own brother, until the people saying it had fallen very ill. Then it had been conveyed in whispers and looks. But Loki had not vanished the way Genji had.

"And associations. And then he disappeared around the same time you did." It's not a lot of information. The Shimada hadn't been direct competition or allies, which means they'd never been high on the priority list for observation. That Hanzo asks about it now... Thor doesn't know what that means.

His voice is factual, eyes focused on the man in front of him. Hanzo will explain or not, but Thor can't deny that he's suddenly very curious about a man he's never met.

[eruit]

Hanzo snorts, then winces.

"That is one way of phrasing it." And not an incorrect one. Genji was uncontrollable, desperate to find any means of displeasing their father and the uncles, the elders, who helped care for the Shimada line. He would do whatever was possible to ensure their wrath was swift and vengeful, no matter what Hanzo did to protect him, to aid him. Sometimes it would be taking a beating on his behalf, sometimes... It would be nothing.

Powerlessness is something he is altogether too familiar with.

"He did not disappear." The dragons swirl around Hanzo, aware of his mood, careful as they twist and move around his tattoo, his torso, trying to comfort. "He did not simply fade away, and he was not sent to some cousin to live his life in silence. The elders of the Shimada family ordered for him to die. It was the duty of the leader of the family to ensure that the punishment was carried out, that he would bring no more shame to the line."

His eyes turn, sharp, to look at Thor. He was the leader. There is no ignoring the confession here.

[thorndergod]

Sometimes reading between the lines takes a effort. This time, it does not. Thor looks down, weighing this. He has to speak with his father about what Loki is. If he's to be given that order, could he follow it? Could he kill Loki? He thinks the answer is no. He doesn't know what he thinks about that.

"To many of our people, you did the right thing," Thor says slowly. Finally he looks back up, clearly troubled. But Hanzo is too. Redemption, he'd said. "I cannot agree with them. But as you seek redemption and to do things better now, I can still be your friend, if you wish it."

There is no way that Thor can keep from feeling a little judgmental, but he understands the pressure of their society. A son that could perhaps destabilize the entire house would of course be seen as a liability.

"And I would suggest a return to Tevinter eventually all the more. The elders of your house likely do not feel the need to redeem themselves for that. They continue to benefit from his death. You may be the only person who can put House Shimada in an honorable order."

[eruit]

To Hanzo it had been an easy choice. He had been raised to believe this was the only option for him, that this was the path that he must follow or lose everything. He had been a child moulded into the fit of a Tevinter heir, to be the perfect Magister when his time had come. The idea of doing anything other than what they had ordered was foolish indeed.

In hindsight, he knows some of the truth. He had been broken, he had been battered, he had been ruined by expectations laid on his shoulders. The idea of doing anything but wilting under that pressure had been inconceivable. He had been the perfect son and thus he had followed the perfect line of expectation.

"To many of our people I did the only thing worth doing." He lifts his head, gazing at Thor, unwavering. Once he had felt no shame in admitting what he had done, but he realises the faults in it now. He realises the discomfort. He has to manage that in his own ways now.

Waving a hand, Hanzo breathes out.

"If it is what the Inquisition would ask then it will be done. House Shimada may be of great benefit to them and I would not deny them the chance to make use of that tool."