[avalon] IC Inbox

[emet_sulk]

I am currently not available at the moment.
If you were directed here by Hythlodaeus, kindly inform him that any messes he creates are his responsibility to clean up.

If this is Hythlodaeus: Please act like a bureau chief for once in your life and stop referring complaints to me.


(A place for private network messages or overflow threads from Isle of Avalon!)

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[emet_sulk]

He rolls his eyes as he walks them both to the stairs that descend into the store (and by extension, the front door).

"As long as it isn't 'cute' or exorbitantly priced, 'Daeus, I will wear whatever scarf you choose."

Is that...him trusting Hythlodaeus' judgement? Good heavens.

[weenwoon]

Predictably, Hythlodaeus lights up at that - in part, yes, because it's a way to distract his friend, but also because of the sheer freedom of the statement.

"Whatever I choose?"

[emet_sulk]

He manages to work up a wan smile. It will mean trouble, he knows, but somehow he cannot find it in him to snap at his friend. Seeing the other man smile...it is a reminder that a promise of home awaits him.

"Whatever you choose."

[weenwoon]

"My! What is a man to do but swoon at such display of trust and affection?" Hythlodaeus laughs, leaning onto Hades's shoulder playfully - but for all his mischievous demeanour, he is not ungrateful. And while he certainly will pick out something terrible that still does not violate the rules his friend has set, there is also an opportunity to give a sincere gift there, as well.

"Ah, speaking of which - Irhya has invited me to go clothes shopping with her."

[emet_sulk]

"Did she now? She has an impeccable sense of aesthetics. Mayhap she'll finally put you in some decent clothing so that I'll be less embarrassed being seen walking with you."

He doesn't mean it of course. How Hythlodaeus (or anyone) chooses to dress is a distant consideration.

After letting them out of the shop, Hades pauses to lock the door. The cold, winter air immediately assaults him, warded off for the most part by his coat. He turns back once he's done, glancing up at his friend.

"Where to...?"

[weenwoon]

Hythlodaeus only laughs in response to the quip, lightly nudging Hades in the ribs.

"Is that so? You do not have enough trust in my ability to embarrass you, my dear Agesandros. I've plenty of other ways to make being my partner unbearable, as you well know."

When Hades locks the door Hythlodaeus does not answer right away, instead spreading his arms and taking a deep breath of the frosty air - theatrically so. Unbeknownst to Hades, it's a way for Hythlodaeus to give himself a little time to think as he ponders over a destination to choose - he doesn't want to come across something that would bring Hades's grim thoughts back.

"Why not simply the park? The trees are quite beautiful under the coat of snow."

[emet_sulk]

"The park, then."

He offers his arm to Hythlodaeus. "Do not breathe so deeply of the cold air. If it were any colder, you might hurt yourself."

[weenwoon]

He takes that arm happily, leaning onto his partner.

"Hmm? Now that sounds as though you speak from experience."

[emet_sulk]

"It is." He starts towards the nearest park, not in any great hurry. "In Garlemald, the winters can grow so harsh that the air seems to freeze in your lungs. Many have fallen ill simply from staying outside overlong."

[weenwoon]

"... Goodness." The information, indeed, is a little harsher than Hythlodaeus expected. "I assume they had little means to warm themselves?"

[emet_sulk]

"Initially. But then the people discovered the rich ceruleum fields that lay beneath the ice. It provided the fuel they needed to maintain their fires during the longest nights." He watches the path ahead as he speaks. "They had such strong wills to live in spite of the hardships they faced. How could I leave them alone?"

[weenwoon]

Briefly, Hythlodaeus wonders if this is a good topic, given how upset Hades was about mortals earlier - but at the same time, he often speaks of the Garleans with fondness. Perhaps a reminder of the better side of humanity is what he needs right now.

"You did always seem to prize stubbornness, even when away from me and Azem."

Though it's a quip much like a lot of their remarks to one another, it's also a tacit encouragement to elaborate more on the nature of the people Hades ended up leading.

[emet_sulk]

"Hmph. Someone needed to curb your flights of whimsy."

He interlaces his fingers with Hythlodaeus', squeezing gently. "They endured eight hundred years in that harsh land before I decided to shape them into a military force. Though they lacked any sort of control over aether, they built a city amongst the peaks. Sometimes I would look over it as their emperor and feel as though I was home again..."

He trails off, expression dimming. "I suppose it will have been razed by now during the war of succession."

[weenwoon]

Hythlodaeus does not quite reply to that last part - the more violent ways of the mortals are still a mystery and a shock to him, nor does he want his friend to dwell once more on cruelty and suffering.

"Selfishly, I cannot help wondering if that lack of proficiency with aether did not remind you of me. Though you might oft grumble, you've always had the urge to take others under your wing."

[emet_sulk]

"You have aether, Hythlodaeus, and you know how to use it. You simply chose not to." He eyes his friend in tired exasperation. "Do not downplay your potential. Please."

You were not useless.

at least he was useful for [spoilers] :)

[weenwoon]

"But if I do not, how am I to have you do things in my stead?" he replies jokingly, bumping his shoulder against Hades's gently.

"That aside... would you tell me more of the Garleans?"

hey now >8(

[emet_sulk]

He wrinkles his nose even as his heart flutters happily. Silly fool. But as ever, he is willing to indulge.

"They were once farmers occupying the warm, southern region of the continent of Ilsabard," he explains. "Their lands were fertile. Despite not possessing the ability to utilise aether, they eked out a humble living tending the fields. But their neighbours, jealous of their prosperity and disdainful of their inability to wield aether, drove them further and further north until they had no choice but to settle in the frigid and barren mountains.

"They had fought every step of the way of course, but without any meaningful way to combat the native magic of the other races, they were left to scrounge for what they could in the harshest region of the land. With their discovery of ceruleum - a type of fuel formed of aether liquefied underground - I was able to set them on a path towards technological dominance."

:3

[weenwoon]

Hythlodaeus nods carefully, not commenting on the animosity between the races - that's still a strange and confusing subject to him, and not one he wants to explore right now.

"Oh? I confess, it's surprising to hear you took an interest in advancing technology. 'Tis not quite your field of expertise, is it?"

Hyth is not disposable!!

[emet_sulk]

"There were only three of us capable of remembering anything," he says with a sigh. "Though it was more like two at times. I had to learn to take on the others' roles."

And then when Lahabrea had died... He shakes the thought out of his mind and leans against Hythlodaeus.

"They developed new disciplines of medicine. With surgery, one could recover from nigh on any physical illness."

Or Is He :)

[weenwoon]

He smiles softly as Hades leans on him, and then moves to give him a quick kiss on the cheek - a brief touch of warmth among the winter's chill.

"That sounds like a worthwhile pursuit. And all by a people with no access to magicks... Were you at the helm for those developments as well?"

HE WILL PLUCK YOU FROM ZODIARK'S EMBRACE HIMSELF IF HE HAS TO

[emet_sulk]

"I was the one who gave them the idea to develop the ceruleum engine which they would then use to power war machina. It was enough to give them the edge in battle," he murmurs. He hadn't enjoyed warfare, but seeing the Garlean people finally standing tall with hope in their eyes...how could he not feel moved?

wow what are you gay

[weenwoon]

... Ah, and it still comes down to this. Hythlodaeus sighs internally, but decides not to dwell on it overmuch.

"Did you enjoy leading them?"

he's just jealous Zodiark got Hyth all to himself for 12,000 years okay :T

[emet_sulk]

Did he? He shifts a little more securely into Hythlodaeus' side as they slowly walk.

"...Yes," he eventually says softly. "For the first decade or so, I did."

you could have come to the moon to visit, smh

[weenwoon]

Hythlodaeus can only guess what happened after that first decade, but right now he would much rather focus on what good Hades can remember.

"Tell me some of your fonder memories. It heartens me to know you yet found some happiness in that world."

but then he would have been emo :(

[emet_sulk]

He falls silent as he tries to remember more pleasant times. They are always moments, brief and fleeting, like the lives he lived amongst the people. Not like the long stretches of fondness he recalls in the unsundered world...

"I... When I was newly crowned emperor of Garlemald, I would sit with the soldiers around the fire and eat with them during campaigns. Such was their reverence for me that they named the soup we ate that night in my honour." A pause. "The people also named a park after me - after Solus. Despite being a military nation, I couldn't bear seeing children without somewhere to play. In Solus' later years, there was a playwright whom I favoured with my patronage; I gifted him an airship so that he might take his talent to the rest of Ilsabard and beyond."