Who'd have ever figured I'd be better at handling heat than you?
[Myde laughs now himself--and it sounds real, this time, for the first time since Lea has ever known him. He's genuinely amused at the thought, not clowning around to adhere to some script of who he should be or who he wants the rest of the Organization to perceive him as, not because there's an imaginary laugh track he has to follow. It's true, he looks healthier and happier here, more authentic and human than he ever had in the Organization. He carries himself with a confidence he's never shown before, an ease born of familiarity and certainty--of knowing he belongs, in a way that he never had as the first stranger thrust into a more or less unified group.
They had all shared the same culture and world view, the same understanding and knowledge of the situation, a familiarity with the metaphysics of the situation and with each other that had been completely lost to him. He'd always been an outsider, had never been extended a true welcome to be allowed into their inner circle; they'd argued about him, viciously, as though he hadn't even been there. They hadn't even bothered to help him fully understand why they did what they did; Xemnas' speeches, while full of what he guessed was supposed to be inspiring rhetoric, had just left him confused and frustrated vaguely suspecting he was being fed nothing but a load of bullshit. Vexen had been a little bit better in honestly trying to be informative, for all his disdain--but he never stopped to explain on a level simple enough for him to understand, and had scoffed at his efforts to ask questions.
Eventually, he'd learned to stop asking questions. Eventually, he'd learned to stop trying to connect. Eventually, he'd learned not to open his mouth at all, if it was actually important. For the sake of his own sanity, he'd become a pale shadow of himself, just as a Nobody should, cynical and paranoid and cold, reflecting entirely too much of the others for his comfort. But what else can a still pond do, except reflect what's shown to it?
But he had to fill the silence and stillness somehow--brooks had to babble, and water had to flow, he couldn't just sit stagnant if there were any cracks to trickle through. So..... he'd taken the path of least resistance, and given up. On everything. He'd simply drifted with the tide, gone with the flow, little more than flotsam and jetsam carried along by the current. If he'd seemed a little vacant and disconnected sometimes, a little lost and adrift and entirely uncaring..... well, it was difficult to be grounded, when you'd pulled up your anchor. And if he'd seemed a little cartoonishly exaggerated sometimes, almost like a caricature of humanity..... well, water always did distort and magnify things seen through it, didn't it? He worked with what he had, to protect himself.
Sometimes the best camouflage is to hide in plain sight, after all. Any fish worth its salt knows that.]
If you had any idea how many breaks I snuck in on the clock, and where I managed to take them, you wouldn't think a drink in the hot tub meant anything for sure, either. What're you doing here, if you've got a new job?
[Myde laughs again, a little sheepish and more than a little nervous, but he doesn't deny scanning the exits--it's only smart, given he hadn't known Lea is working for someone new now, let alone what he knows of Axel's..... reputation. He can't be sure how much of it is true, or how much Axel might be prone to lying, but..... well, it may not be coincidence that he's the only one who survived being terminated at Castle Oblivion, the way everyone else had. It could be a trap.
He doesn't want it to be, though--he's so tired of running..... After years of living in fear over the bloodthirstiness of his colleagues and their high-stakes internal politics, he's ready for a break, for something simple. And Lea doesn't really look all that menacing right now, not with a sunburn snaking along his hairline, and his hair soaked, and his tattoos (or were those teardrop things makeup?) gone, and most of his clothes missing. It makes him look human in a way he hadn't really gotten to see Axel before. Maybe if he ha hi heart back, and isn't working for such an asshole anymore, he might not be such a bad guy?]
no subject
[Myde laughs now himself--and it sounds real, this time, for the first time since Lea has ever known him. He's genuinely amused at the thought, not clowning around to adhere to some script of who he should be or who he wants the rest of the Organization to perceive him as, not because there's an imaginary laugh track he has to follow. It's true, he looks healthier and happier here, more authentic and human than he ever had in the Organization. He carries himself with a confidence he's never shown before, an ease born of familiarity and certainty--of knowing he belongs, in a way that he never had as the first stranger thrust into a more or less unified group.
They had all shared the same culture and world view, the same understanding and knowledge of the situation, a familiarity with the metaphysics of the situation and with each other that had been completely lost to him. He'd always been an outsider, had never been extended a true welcome to be allowed into their inner circle; they'd argued about him, viciously, as though he hadn't even been there. They hadn't even bothered to help him fully understand why they did what they did; Xemnas' speeches, while full of what he guessed was supposed to be inspiring rhetoric, had just left him confused and frustrated vaguely suspecting he was being fed nothing but a load of bullshit. Vexen had been a little bit better in honestly trying to be informative, for all his disdain--but he never stopped to explain on a level simple enough for him to understand, and had scoffed at his efforts to ask questions.
Eventually, he'd learned to stop asking questions. Eventually, he'd learned to stop trying to connect. Eventually, he'd learned not to open his mouth at all, if it was actually important. For the sake of his own sanity, he'd become a pale shadow of himself, just as a Nobody should, cynical and paranoid and cold, reflecting entirely too much of the others for his comfort. But what else can a still pond do, except reflect what's shown to it?
But he had to fill the silence and stillness somehow--brooks had to babble, and water had to flow, he couldn't just sit stagnant if there were any cracks to trickle through. So..... he'd taken the path of least resistance, and given up. On everything. He'd simply drifted with the tide, gone with the flow, little more than flotsam and jetsam carried along by the current. If he'd seemed a little vacant and disconnected sometimes, a little lost and adrift and entirely uncaring..... well, it was difficult to be grounded, when you'd pulled up your anchor. And if he'd seemed a little cartoonishly exaggerated sometimes, almost like a caricature of humanity..... well, water always did distort and magnify things seen through it, didn't it? He worked with what he had, to protect himself.
Sometimes the best camouflage is to hide in plain sight, after all. Any fish worth its salt knows that.]
If you had any idea how many breaks I snuck in on the clock, and where I managed to take them, you wouldn't think a drink in the hot tub meant anything for sure, either. What're you doing here, if you've got a new job?
[Myde laughs again, a little sheepish and more than a little nervous, but he doesn't deny scanning the exits--it's only smart, given he hadn't known Lea is working for someone new now, let alone what he knows of Axel's..... reputation. He can't be sure how much of it is true, or how much Axel might be prone to lying, but..... well, it may not be coincidence that he's the only one who survived being terminated at Castle Oblivion, the way everyone else had. It could be a trap.
He doesn't want it to be, though--he's so tired of running..... After years of living in fear over the bloodthirstiness of his colleagues and their high-stakes internal politics, he's ready for a break, for something simple. And Lea doesn't really look all that menacing right now, not with a sunburn snaking along his hairline, and his hair soaked, and his tattoos (or were those teardrop things makeup?) gone, and most of his clothes missing. It makes him look human in a way he hadn't really gotten to see Axel before. Maybe if he ha hi heart back, and isn't working for such an asshole anymore, he might not be such a bad guy?]