more ways to break.

[dovahfahdon]

[ Two men settle around a table, low and wooden, rough along the edges. Alain Ebon has made it months ago, but the other man across from him likely doesn't know that.

There's a beat, a moment. Alain thinks to offer. ]

Is there anything you'd like to eat?

Comments

[dovahfahdon]

[ This child. He wishes he knew how to comfort him. Comfort is not what Nigel needs, however. ]

Ask what you wanted of my past.

[putrefaction]

[His price paid, Nigel proceeds. The asking is something straightforward, cast in a different light.]

Your former life, the one your mother wanted you to live... What caused you to escape it?

[dovahfahdon]

[ The question asked is worded strangely, and Alain frowns in thought.

The expression wipes away as something shrouded slips over his eyes. ]

...If I was to die anyway, I would rather die on my own terms. I would rather break through the play at familial bonds and despair, and move by myself-- For destruction or salvation, both existed as the same.

[putrefaction]

[The explanation is straightforward and complex both. Nigel blinks.]

If you were to die...?

[dovahfahdon]

If I was to die.

[ The sentence isn't cruelly stated, but there is a weight now, that there wasn't a moment prior. A warning, perfectly placed, along with the Dragonborn's unfathomable gaze--

Is this truly what you want to ask? ]

[putrefaction]

[He isn't a fool. None with a mind can miss the weight behind the sentence. The man finds himself torn between choices, however.

To question or shift. He has no desire to push boundaries, but...]

...What do you mean?

[dovahfahdon]

You are the first one to ask of my past and gain answers. I want you to understand that.

[ That nothing he speaks now is casual. ]

I left that place, my kin, my masters, my mother, my sisters, and all that I knew for places unknown. Because I wasn't willing to be sacrificed to the gods of progress that the main family held. To be parts in experiments--to be a subject in a test. To lose all individual value and worth because of talents and gifts.

[ The shrouded expression stays. Stays. ]

Does that answer your question?

[putrefaction]

[He does understand. Perhaps more than can be possibly expressed.

Experiments. To lose all individual value and worth because of talents and gifts. For their apparent differences, they hold more similarities than can be named.]

...Yes. It does.

[Nigel falls to silence, any other inquiries set to the wayside.]

[dovahfahdon]

[ The child falls to silence, and Alain is nearly glad of it. There is nothing comfortable kept within his past, and nothing in him casual enough to speak of it. He lets his own mind shift, lets it shift to wonder.

...To something Nigel said, that Alain had accepted at the moment because of the subject. Of affection and love. Need and its like. Something he is now curious about. ]

That man and you.... You are married?

[ Because that's what people do in Skyrim, Nigel. They get married. ]

[putrefaction]

[In a fit of pure nerves, Nigel bursts out in laughter.

To his credit, he has absolutely no intention to laugh at the Dragonborn. The downfall, perhaps, is that he could not stop laughing, to the point where breaths become struggles and eyes grow blinder in their tears.

Finally, he sucks in air, choking down the sound with the force of his will.]

I don't-- Haha, sorry, sorry! Don't think Alan and I are marriageable material, pfft, hahahaha!

[Oh, god, someone kill him now.]

[dovahfahdon]

[ Laughter is natural, panicked as Nigel's is, but as it goes on, Alain becomes concerned. Is the child cursed? He moves close, reaches to touch--

And the other makes out words. Strange, irregular words. Alain leans back, frowning. ]

One does not need certain attributes to marry. It's only if there are common merits both holds to marry, or if both care about each other deeply.

[ Stare. ]

Which are filled, in your case.

[putrefaction]

[Laughter dies eventually. Humor as well. In the end, Nigel has only his apathy.]

I'm envious, really. Marriage is so straightforward in this world. It's more complicated where we come from.

[He inhales sharply.]

I can't just marry him.

[dovahfahdon]

[ The frown continues, brows creasing in disagreement. ]

How marriage could be complicated I cannot even fathom. Even so, I'll still claim the same.

[ An eyebrow raises-- Are you really going to argue with him over this? It's something perfectly simple. ]

You can marry him. You likely should.

[putrefaction]

[It is likely for the best that Alain cannot fathom the complexities of American marriage. The claim, on the other hand, causes Nigel to feel conflicted.]

I should? How do you figure that?

[dovahfahdon]

It isn't natural to want to solidify a bond with one you're closest with?

[ ...If only Niall heard you say that, Alain.... ]

[putrefaction]

[He would be ecstatic, just saying.]

...Perhaps. Would that make things better between us, though?

[And kill the insecurities built from proximity.]

[dovahfahdon]

[ The child gets a solid look. ]

It would make it harder for you to run away.

[putrefaction]

[Anyone else? Nigel would play the sardonic clown. Alain? Is scary and therefore deserves a bout of awkward.]

Um. You noticed.

[dovahfahdon]

[ Anyone else, Alain would quickly lose his patience with and cease the conversation. His This child is another story. ]

I noticed.

[putrefaction]

[It angers him for reasons unsaid. That he can be so obvious shows in his features.]

I can't help it, and it's not like I run away permanently.

[dovahfahdon]

And yet you create pain. And the loss you seem to hate.

[putrefaction]

Yes, Mr. Blatancy-Is-What-I-Do-Best. I know that.

[Oh, wonderful. He just insulted the Dragonborn. Have more affect in his features before he stares at his feet.]

...Sorry.

[dovahfahdon]

[ Staring.

Staring for a long, long few minutes. The Dragonborn disapproves. Understands, but disapproves utterly. ]

...Is it your nature to lash out with words when hurt? It's a habit you'd do well to break.

[putrefaction]

[It's a chastisement that works. Nigel nearly flinches, in fact.]

I don't know, Alain. I really don't. Probably?

[Maybe.]

I'm sorry for being so rude.

[dovahfahdon]

[ What a hopeless child. The Dragonborn sees the cracks and fissures, watches them well. Alain has siblings, three younger, and he is reminded of them all. For even their bright moments had remained shadowed, casting a veil over all that they did. He's reminded, and does not want to be. So he moves differently, for there is no risk here that a child close to him--

Will be sacrificed, taken, used against him--

And despite Nigel not being as young as his sisters, as small, Alain still steps forward, touches the other's dark hair before slipping arms around the other in a light embrace.

It is a breach of bounds. But they are family, all the same. ]