WHAT... is your favorite color? ][ open

[baguablade]

Who: Cain (baguablade) & you!
What: A questing we will go...
When: January
Where: Olympia
Warning(s): none

( a: disturbing the dead )

[ The crypt is hardly the most welcoming of places, but Cain and his partner are making do. Sure, there's the general unfriendly atmosphere of cold stone, disgusting dripping walls, and so many twists and turns that Cain's head is spinning. Not to mention the way the whole place is rigged as a death trap. From the spikes that had nearly taken off Cain's head at the front door, to the giant rolling boulder that had nearly squashed the two of them until they managed to duck into a lucky crack in the wall, to the alligator pit, the less said about that, the better.

Deeper in, and the traps only get worse. Cain's a bit fraught, streaked with dirt, completely on edge from having to keep an eye out for the next fun thing that'll try to kill them. He's given up on even trying to keep a hand on his sword hilt; there's no point when the danger comes from the environment rather than an attacker.

Still, despite the many perils, he's pretty sure they're close to finding the Ivory Hogs' cache. The layout of the tomb makes an odd kind of sense, a layout that's maze like in more than just its confusing turns. There's a center to the passages, Cain's quite sure, and they're near it — and the treasure. But that just means the traps laid for trespassers are getting more dangerous.

Cain pauses midstep, his hand stretched out to the side to stop his partner, too. ]

Did you hear something?

[ Was that a low, moaning howl? Or maybe the sharp click of some sort of mechanism arming itself? ]

( b: a day in the life - closed to yona )

[ Cain's a little wary of any partner recommended to him by Voss. It's nothing to do with Yona, personally. It's just that he trusts Voss a significantly shorter distance than he can throw him, and that extends to anyone Voss trusts. Still, Cain's willing to give Yona the benefit of the doubt. He knows better than to think that appearances like Yona's mean that she's harmless, but Cain himself is here, working for Voss for his own reasons, hoping that despite the shady nature of who he's received his task from, the information he's gaining will let him discover just what kind of corruption is lurking in Olympia's upper ranks.

Besides, Yona's earnestness is catching. Cain's not sure he's ready to trust her entirely, but he's usually pretty good at reading people. He'll take the risk; after all, if they get caught, they'll both be in trouble here.

Which is why Cain's shown up with two hooded cloaks, conspicuously bearing the symbol of the Royal Guard, one of which he's currently draping over Yona's head, tugging it down to hide her face in the shadow. He's awfully good at it, his expert appraisal as he pulls the hood to a bit more of an angle speaking of lots of experience. ]

There. [ He's also brought a pair of handcuffs, which he holds out to Yona. ] What do you think? Should I play a fellow guardsman, or am I a prisoner you're escorting to the cells?

Comments

[baguablade]

No.

[ An immediate answer, one that Cain doesn't have to spend even a second thinking about. No, there's not a single reason that he shouldn't trust Percival. No reason that he thinks he can't. That's never been the issue.

No, the problem is that Percival trusts him. Maybe. Maybe he doesn't, with this reaction, after how they left things last time Cain asked Percival to trust him. But... he knows that he's not a noble knight like Percival is. He's not noble at all. He's not someone trustworthy, and yet he wants Percival to trust him anyway.

He's afraid, he realizes. He's afraid of having Percival see too much of him and losing that trust, and the realization has him shaking, taking a quick, sharp breath before he can bring himself to say anything else. ]

No, never. I trust you.

[tzaraisen]

[ The answer comes unexpectedly quick, with no hesitation behind it, and it's a stark contrast to how Cain has tiptoed around... everything else. ]

Then why do you refuse to confide anything in me?

[baguablade]

[ How can he possibly answer that question? How can he answer that question without revealing everything of himself, all the jagged pieces that he knows he holds within him, broken when Torhid fell that never quite healed over? How can he answer that question without giving away everything that he's afraid of letting Percival see?

But he owes Percival an answer, and though reluctant, he doesn't shy away from that, even if he can't quite meet Percival's eyes. ]

...you care. You care so deeply.

[ He doesn't know if Percival will understand what he means. No, he doubts Percival will, and that's why he gives that answer. He refuses to tell Percival things, because Percival cares, and Percival will seek out the truth, and see all those broken edges, will see that Cain isn't noble and pure-hearted. He'll see that Cain is reckless and likely to get himself killed at any moment, and Cain's not sure what Percival will do — but he does know that it'll hurt Percival, the last thing that he wants to have happen. ]

[tzaraisen]

[ Percival may be perceptive, but he can't read minds. And though he suspects that Cain might, just might hold valid reasons for acting the way that he does, for withholding so much, Percival's patience has grown too thin.

It still feels like a lack of trust, and if Cain wants to keep that sort of distance between them, perhaps he should honor it. ]

I grow tired of your excuses. [ He sighs, apparently worn down enough that he doesn't try to decipher that cryptic statement. ]

Rest. Or head back into the city allow them to finish what they started. It matters little to me.

[ A blatant lie, of course, and while he might have been stopped from heading out tonight, there's no guarantee he'll try to retrace Cain's steps some other day. They were both, apparently, much too accustomed to moving freely, with no one to answer to. ]

[baguablade]

—I'm sorry.

[ All that he can offer Percival, now. He is sorry. Sorry that he doesn't want to get Percival involved, that he doesn't want to expose Percival to Takasugi and get Percival embroiled in the trouble Cain's gotten himself tangled in. Sorry that he can't find it in himself to trust Percival so easily as he'd like to about this, not when he needs to be able to move about freely and he's not sure that Percival wouldn't try to stop him.

And he's sorry that all of this is hurting Percival, most of all.

Cain sighs, shoulders slumping. He just feels tired now, more than anything else, even more than he had dragging himself home right after he'd been stabbed. ]

Will you at least sleep, too?

[ All the reassurance that he can offer. If he goes to bed, will Percival, also? ]

[tzaraisen]

[ It may not seem like Percival takes the apology into consideration, but he does. Enough so that some of the bite to his temper is slightly diminished, even if the battle of stubborn wills remains at a tense tie. He remains quiet, leaving the question hanging for a moment while he returns to the cabinet and replaces the first aid kit. ]

Perhaps, in a moment. [ As much as he feels he needs to hold on to this anger, he can't. That is starting to be a common theme around Cain. ] Go.

[baguablade]

[ Cain lingers, staring at Percival, studying him. There's so much more he could say, so much more that he wants to say, and at the same time, doesn't want to at all. But at least Percival seems to have softened, some of that anger bleeding away. It's enough, at least, that Cain feels like they can leave things for now.

He wishes suddenly, viscerally, that he still had the right to reach out and touch Percival's cheek — nothing more than that, just that briefest of touches, to feel the warmth of Percival's skin, to reassure himself that Percival is there, whole and well. But he doesn't have that right, and it's no one's fault but his own, he knows that.

Finally, Cain nods. He can at least trust Percival this much, some small way of making it up to the other man, even if it doesn't begin to make up for everything. ]

Good night, then. [ He adds, trying for his usual humor, wanting even a flicker of the normalcy between them: ] Don't stay up too much longer, or you'll run into Vane when he wakes up for his morning exercises.