open

[inkindled]

WHO: Matthias, Nikos, Salvio (tbd if Doki, Val, and Darras will get open stuff. how did I get all of these characters) + YOU
WHAT: just open stuff, man
WHEN: NOW
WHERE: various
NOTES: tiny bit of self-harm but it's so small and it gets fixed so fast

Comments

[exsecutus]

Yes, but we don't spar, and we aren't friends, so how do I get the opportunity.

[sulahnan]

Maybe you can take the glass out of a mirror and pretend to be his reflection.

[ Apparently approaching sated, Batty stops snuffling for the fruit and turns his attention towards Nikos. He tries to climb more onto Athessa's side to stretch closer, but alas. He's not a stretchy bat, he's round and snub-nosed and can't come close to reaching. The most he's managing is making Athessa take stumbling steps to keep from falling with the shift in weight. ]

Batty. Batty? Batty, no.

[exsecutus]

[He would have offered her the very constructive critique of what a stupid suggestion, except then there is a gigantic bat looking at him. Nikos' eyes narrow suspiciously.]

Why don't you sit down.

[sulahnan]

He'll stop when he realizes you're not Kostos. Probably.

[ Her expression is long-suffering as the bat manages to change his hold on her enough to reach one leathery wing in Nikos' direction, wanting to climb on him. Athessa sighs and gently pulls that wing back in check, moving close enough for Batty to sniff at Nikos without climbing on him. ]

Either that or he can already smell that and thinks you're better than he is.

[exsecutus]

I don't need a fucking bat to tell me that.

[Nikos leans away instinctively from the questing snout of the bat, but doesn't actually move. Uncomfortable, on him, looks like disgust. Probably there is a little genuine disgust in there too.]

You can't tell me he submits to this.

[sulahnan]

Of course he does. I might even go so far as to say he likes Batty Batkins.

[ Batty doesn't seem satisfied with just snuffling, continuing to try and wriggle his way into changing steeds. ]

Which I guess can't be said of you. Not an animal person?

[exsecutus]

Good for him. While my brother was practicing kissing on pigs and getting all friendly with animals, I was living a different life. We are actually different.

Keep it to yourself.

[Batty. Honestly.]

[sulahnan]

No, really?

[ Well there's some bitchiness back, anyway. ]

And here I thought the only distinction was the taste.

[ Take that as you will, Nikos, but since Batty is still being a pill, Athessa is inclined to just let him accost another Averesch at will. ]

[exsecutus]

[If only he could appreciate the bitchiness but there's a fucking bat in his face. Nikos holds his ground while trying to curve himself away from his tormentors. His scowl darkens.]

Please don't tell me about my brother's taste. Is this supposed to change my mind about this creature?

[Is he above slapping a bat in the face?]

[sulahnan]

I might've been referring to his taste in fashion, but no. If you'll stop being a baby about it, maybe holding him would change your mind.

[ She can't really shrug per se, with all the bat-wrangling she's doing, but she raises her eyebrows at him. ]

If not, your loss.

[exsecutus]

[A baby? He snorts.]

I doubt it. And I will drop it if you try to force this on me.

[sulahnan]

Good thing he hangs on tight, then.

[ And then she really does just let Batty do what Batty wants, which is to grab onto one of Nikos' shoulders and monkey-bar his way from elf to Averesch. Without any assistance from Nikos (because really, would Nikos even), Batty ends up hanging on him like a babybjorn. Chittering and snuffling and making a soft little rumble that's almost like purring. ]

One thing, if you will: feel how soft his fur is. Then I'll take him back.

[exsecutus]

[Oh, for fuck's sake--

Nikos--usually slumped in the shoulders and habitually found leaning against something--straightens. Better posture makes him look even more like Kostos, but he wears it more stiffly, like a frame from which you might hang the wash. The giant bat hangs off of his shoulders.

He does not look down at it. He stays perfectly still. He looks pissed.

Flatly:]

I'm not going to feel how soft his fur is.

[The bat rubs its weird nose against him. For fuck's sake.]

[sulahnan]

Why not? Don't you want me to take him back?

[exsecutus]

[Clipped, as he stands like an awkward scarecrow:]

I don't negotiate.

[sulahnan]

[ She scoffs, stepping closer and reaching for Nikos' hand. Well, more his wrist, planning to lift it and maneuver his hand to the bat's fur. ]

[exsecutus]

[Sluggish from the hour and the little tendrils of hangover that are wound around his brain, distracted by the presence of a great big fucking bat hanging off of him and rubbing its nose on him, Nikos nearly misses her going for his wrist. Good reflexes and latent instinct save him; he snatches his hand away just in time to dodge her grip.

Unfortunately he overdoes it, and the force of the movement wrongfoots him, and he steps backward, teetering, and the stupid bat shifts with a weird bat noise and Nikos slaps his hand against the wall, in bird shit, but it is just enough to stop him from falling on his arse and getting crushed by a bat, and probably landing in bird shit, so, it's okay.

It's not.]

[sulahnan]

[ Well that was unexpected. She figured he wouldn't let her take his hand if he could prevent it, but...well.

Athessa manages not to laugh outright by pursing her lips into a tight line, but the mirth lingers when she crosses her arms and shakes her head at him. ]

Alright, ya berk?

[exsecutus]

[On one hand, he can't be mad, because if Athessa fell backwards into a wall like that and put her hand in bird shit, he'd laugh. On the other hand, he absolutely can be mad.

Nikos settles instead on seething annoyance, which falls somewhere on the scale between mad and not mad, and snaps out--]

Take the fucking bat off of me and I will be.

[sulahnan]

Alright, fine.

[ Now though, she does laugh. As soon as she reaches for Batty, he hooks onto her and releases Nikos, apparently satisfied with the minor menacing he accomplished. ]

But ya know, things that can't bend always break.

[exsecutus]

[Nikos lingers a moment, to make double sure no one is going to chuck a giant back on him when he least expects it. When it is clear that the danger has passed, he snorts, and shoves away from the wall.]

Thank you, grandmother. Any other wisdom?

[He scrapes his hand against the corner, cleaning it off with a few rough swipes.]

More things should break.

[sulahnan]

[ For someone who is constantly assumed to be far younger than she is, there's a fun novelty to the joke skewing in the other direction. Even though yes, she knows, it is a joke.

She still has a good chuckle about it as she takes Batty back to his perch. ]

Oh yeah, like what?

...Other than Kostos' face.

[exsecutus]

[He rolls his eyes. How dare she try to appeal to him with violence against his twin brother, who he typically wants to do violence to. How presumptuous.]

That saying of yours would be better directed at institutions. Not people. People change all the time. It is the bastions of power that declare themselves unbendable monoliths. Unable to change to suit real needs.

[sulahnan]

Like the Chantry.

[ A far cry from a silly man refusing to pet a cuddly bat, but she doesn't disagree. Clearly. ]

[exsecutus]

[He gestures, like ta-dah.]

The Chantry. Governments. Monarchies. The systems of title and inheritance. What little change is managed has only ever been the same system in a different robe.