Felfri Part 1 Overflow

[youngtimer]

Continued from here!
Part 1 Top Level

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[buckybbarnes]

"It's...not exactly easy for me to know for sure about scumbags," Bucky said after a moment. "My meter for who's good and who's bad has been skewed...a lot. But..."

He seemed to ponder that for a long moment. "I...suppose. I suppose if I keep an eye out, maybe just...keep looking for people. Watch for bad guys...?"

[i_am_emmet]

I plan on it. But every little bit counts, yup!

[boneshears]

“I didn’t just let him.”

It’s snapped out. Defensive. He tugs the next suture a little too hard, inadvertently, then curses.

“I stopped to… Try and de-escalate. To see if I could talk him down and explain what was going on, once I realised he was real.”

He’s quiet for a long, drawn out moment as he continues closing the wound, trying to figure out how to word it. It’s not a case of him blaming Monty. After the hydra, the doppelgangers - Montgomery being wary of things that resemble him in strange situations was fair after he’d taken a death as a result of the hydra, for one thing.

“Monty didn’t. He didn’t stop until I was-”

He doesn’t say nearly dead, instead choosing to cut himself off.

“He stopped eventually.”

just paying it forward from others,pffft

[youngtimer]

"Well, for one, there weren't any underground secret bunkers - at least, not that I know of." He gestures to their surroundings with his free hand, even as he continues working.

"Normally there's not any particular person in charge of things - everyone kind of keeps to their own. There are two gods left in this world - the Fog, and the Fourth. The other two - Night and Day - died a long time ago, and the ones that are left have been fighting each other for power for a while, but it was always a ... well, more of a game of tug-of-war than an all out actual war. Here in Felfri, though ... the Fourth God is in charge of everything, and the technology is a lot more advanced than it usually is. For starters."

[seacub]

The boy swallows, and finds himself looking toward the phone.

"...right. ...the warning on the phone, which...seemed to mean 'us'," he adds, looking somewhat discomfitted.

"...Two of four died? ...No, a better question I guess is, what does 'god' mean here?"

[youngtimer]

"It's a tried-and-true enough method," Horatio encouraged him with a nod. "I know plenty of people who use it. If you really want to be foolproof, there are a few areas in the city of Vandare that are chock-full of monster-hating jerks."

[youngtimer]

He hisses briefly at that tug on the suture, but bites off the sound so quickly that it might not even be heard. He lets Gabe work in silence, knowing that this must be difficult to talk about at all, let alone while doing delicate stitches.

When Gabe does speak again, he doesn't have to say that Monty almost killed him. Horatio knows them both well enough to figure it out: that neither of them would have pulled any punches in moments of fury and high emotion. And this was quite possibly the worst-case scenario for both.

"Nice work," he says first, in regard to the stitches. "I'm guessing he was too pissed off to even listen."

[buckybbarnes]

"I guess I can give it a try," Bucky said softly, grimacing a little. "...sorry that you have to keep easing down an old man who should mostly have his things together. I do appreciate it, though."

[youngtimer]

"Don't worry about it. People had to tell me all this stuff at one point, too, after all." He smirks. "Besides, I'm a lot older than I look. Probably older than you, even."

[youngtimer]

"It probably did, since this is the Fog God's stronghold." He agrees with a solemn nod. But at Emporio's next question, he frowns thoughtfully.

"It depends on who you ask. Some people think 'god' is just a term for a creature or a being with more power than everyone else, but ... the Fog, at the very least, actually is. She doesn't have a body that anyone's seen ... maybe she really is the literal fog. But she answers anyone who tries to talk to her, even if she doesn't stick around more than a few minutes. She has enough power to cause our changes, and sometimes to make other things happen. The Fourth God, Elias, is actually a boy. His father was a human scientist who found a way to steal some power from the Fog and attach it to his kid ... really, really screwed up stuff. But it's all powered by technology, which is why Felfri is the way it is."

[seacub]

A mute nod. Truthfully, he suspects some bias- even if someone were literal fog, could they be called a 'God'? The powers displayed by those with Stands, even while their users were hidden away, could be described in the same way after all.

Listening to the description of Elias, Emporio pauses. "...So is 'Elias' the one making decisions then, or is it his father..?"

[boneshears]

"He went berserk."

It's a simple enough statement. He doesn't simply mean angry - the sort of angry that he's sure both of them have experienced in their lives. He means berserk, the rage more typically associated with warriors from the viking time period. Gabriel doesn't remember it was what Montgomery had when they were hunters. The relentless fury that only really stopped when what he was attacking was dead.

"I don't think he was even capable of listening."

He swabs antiseptic across the wound, snapping off the gloves and grabs some gauze.

"Unfortunately my clan regenerate our injuries incredibly quickly. No matter how much damage he did - even what should have been fatal - I couldn't die."

[buckybbarnes]

"At this point, I don't suppose that would surprise me either. There's been so many surprises in this place, the idea of a kid who's even older than I am wouldn't be a drop in the bucket at this point." Bucky snorted. "Still. I owe you a lot, okay?"

[youngtimer]

If Emporio had voiced that thought aloud, Horatio would have definitely had some food for thought. Vanya, after all, had enough power in her little finger to be considered a God if you tilted your head and squinted. For that matter, so did he - ancient civilizations could have thought of him as a god of time, Klaus as a god of death... and so on. But since they're on the subject of Elias, his answer is pretty straightforward.

"No, he is. His father's ... well, he's not dead, but he might as well be. It's... a pretty gross story, honestly. Elias didn't like how it all turned out, so ... he made his father a living battery. I know someone who's seen what's left of him."

[seacub]

Ah. Well.

He doesn't press for that then- a slight grimace as he looks away says he can pain a pretty little picture in his head on the matter fine enough.

He can move on then. With a sniff, a nod, and a moment to swallow some fear. He can...

"....what happens now?"

He has plenty for a general picture. For a general idea, of what is, and isn't. But now, this? In this moment?

...

He's lost.

"...What do I...do, now..."

[youngtimer]

"If you say so," Horatio shrugs. "Tell you what. When we're back to the Bavan we all know and grudgingly tolerate, just come help volunteer at the Lighthouse when you can. Or pay it forward when new people start asking you stuff." He gives Bucky a smile and a wink. "It's how I ended up where I am."

[youngtimer]

"Jesus." It's a huff of breath, either from the description of the fight, the sting of the antiseptic, or both. Likely both. Horatio shakes his head, wincing a little. He knows how stubborn both men are, and how very little they do things like Talk About Their Feelings. Or even apologize. Add in the fact that they're in Felfri and the way they would have been Before, and well ... this is looking like a hellscape that he's going to stay on the very edge of if at all possible.

"So how'd it actually end?"

[youngtimer]

Usually, in this exact situation, Horatio would give the kid a care package, get him to the Crowe Clinic, cleaned up, changed into warmer clothes, find him a place to live - maybe Hestia's or the orphanage that Riley works for. Usually, he'd have better answers. Reassuring actions to take.

Right now, he just has clean, warm water, and a cave. Thanks, Elias, he hates it.

"Well, I'm still trying to figure out what the best thing to do here is, myself. But if you tell most people you're new here, they'll be pretty decent about helping you out with anything you need, as much as they can. A lot of us look out for each other."

[seacub]

It's the worst. It sucks. Emporio is...well.

Pretty shaken! (But perhaps not stirred...) There's no hiding the caution and skepticism in his face though. This isn't someone who would normally have let Horatio in, clearly. No, this isn't even someone used to asking for help. At least not...

"...even in war? ...without anything in return..?"

...Not when he knows what most would 'charge'.

[buckybbarnes]

"I think I can do that. I...I wouldn't mind helping people out. Maybe it'll help to make it easier, being able to go over the easier answers."

Bucky smiled a little back. "Yeah, I'll...I'll try to help out like that. Or however I can."

[boneshears]

He winds gauze about Horatio's arm, pinning it in place with a safety pin.

"Stay in the cave an hour or two, take that off after that. The Fog should heal it enough to leave it to the air. Pull the stitches out in 24 hours."

The fight had... Not gone, at least.

"He... Stopped. Suddenly."

Gabe had been halfway through begging for his heart to give out before he'd stopped, like he'd realised what was going on. He had vague memories of being dragged to a cave, of trying to shove Montgomery away in blind panic as he'd started patching him up. It had ended with Monty disappearing and coming back with a not insubstantial amount of alcohol and some painkillers to help him pass out until everything stopped hurting.

"Patched me up. Like he'd snapped out of it, I guess. I... Didn't stay. I didn't feel safe."

[youngtimer]

"Got it." The medical instructions need no elaboration - he's no stranger to this sort of thing by any means, even with the Fog's healing to account for. Now that his wound's under control, his full attention is on the damage done to both of his "dads". Even if what happened didn't seem to sit well with Gabe, Horatio relaxes a little at the end of the story.

"Snapping out of it, though, that's a good sign." He flexed his arm gingerly, testing the range of motion in the bandage and stopping the instant he felt it begin to resist. "Knowing you two, it's probably just a matter of time before he says something or just plain acts like nothing even happened."

[boneshears]

There's a clicking as he fidgets.

"I... Don't want him to just act like nothing happened."

It seems a simple enough statement, but there's a massive reluctance there. Discomfort. Like he's admitting weakness.

"It's... It wasn't okay. It isn't okay."

Then, far more quietly:

"I'm not okay with that. I love him, but... I can't keep apologising when I've done something wrong and having nothing in return. I deserve more than that. I think I deserve more than that."