kaios

[chromatized]

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w-1; trick-or-treating

[kaios]

[ Continued from here! ]

All right, fine.

[ There's a wary look on his face as Ludger picks it up, but Kaios won't make any move to stop him! The pouch is fairly lightweight, maybe the weight of a basic wallet with no coins in it, and it doesn't make any noise. Whatever's in there is hard and relatively flat on one side, while the other side is... complex in some way? Hard to get too much detail through the fabric. ]

[chromatized]

[ oh no, it's interesting! Ludger's curiosity is itching now... ]

Anything I need to worry about? It's not going to explode in my pocket, is it?

[kaios]

No. It won't do anything.

...I'd appreciate it if you broke it, actually.

[ Too bad that won't happen, alas. ]

[chromatized]

[ alas, alack, alay. ]

Sure, I'll give it a shot. What have you tried so far?

[ and as he asks the question, he'll tug the pouch's mouth open and tip the contents into his hand.

... it's a rock! neat. ]

[kaios]

I can't touch it. That's part of why I want to get rid of it.

[ Rule number 1: Do not hand the rock to Kaios. ]

[chromatized]

... Huh. That's weird.

[ um ]

How do you know you can't touch it? Or is it like... you know, magnets?

[ he's going to start idly trying to bend it in half. it's not going too well, probably because it's a rock. ]

[kaios]

[ pls ]

I didn't mean it like.... [ SIGH. ] It's not that I can't physically touch it. It's that things end badly when I do.

...you're probably not going to be able to break it like that. There's magic on it.

[ Okay, reassessing, there are probably worse people to be holding this. This might be okay. ]

w0, sunday

[chromatized]

[ if Kaios pokes his head into the kitchen or passes by the doors, he can probably see Ludger standing by the stove, stirring a pot of something. probably! if nothing else, Ludger can definitely see him ]

Kaios! Hey, are you hungry? I've got enough to share.

slides in here late

[kaios]

[ Ludger in the kitchen again... hello dude. ]

Are you cooking for everybody?

greases the floor

[chromatized]

[ he's here again! incredible ]

Mm, not everyone - I was in a bit of a hurry. But definitely there's enough for you and me.

[kaios]

I meant, you've been in here a lot. [ and yeah, he said it was relaxing for him but also??? ]

...if you're offering, I won't say no. What is it?

[chromatized]

Cooking is something I'm good at. And I'd rather know what's going to show up on the plate than be surprised.

[ sometimes the memories are in the soup ]

Tomato basil soup, with a turkey provolone melt. Ah- could you grab some plates from the cabinet?

[kaios]

Yeah, sure.

[ He's gonna get spoiled here if he hasn't already... but he'll go get plates! ]

You mentioned you liked cooking that night we all got stuck in here, too. [ Which, actually... ] Have you had any more trouble with things being thrown around or hidden?

w2, friday

[chromatized]

[ hello, Kaios.

there is a blanket burrito on a boarding house couch.

it's got a poof of white hair and a pair of eyes sticking out the top of it. ]

Hey, Kaios.

[ oh it's just Ludger, he sounds very sleepy ]

[kaios]

[ It seems they've all chosen to hide out in the boarding house today. Kaios isn't expecting a blanket to speak to him, though... but no, it's just Ludger. ]

...what're you doing out here?

[ Shouldn't you... sleep in your room...??? ]

[chromatized]

Just keeping an eye out. The Freres apartments didn't really have a lobby like this, so I just felt like... I don't know. People watching, I guess?

[ he yawns and curls up tighter in the blankets ]

Julius and I got stuck near the mausoleum last night, so we stayed up as long as we could before we got knocked out.

[kaios]

[ The Freres... apartments...? ] Is that where you were before here?

[ He's loitering. Skulking, even. Kaios rolls his eyes at himself for even having the thought, but then he's going to sit himself, though instinctively his eyes flick to Ludger as he does, making sure he's not going to get told off for it.

(He knows by now that Ludger won't be fussed, would prefer if he sat without having to be invited—but old habits die hard.) ]

I went to the sitting room. I guessed there'd be people there since it's got so many books and that it'd be warmer. ...turned out to be a pretty good guess.

[chromatized]

Yeah, Julius and I had an apartment there.

[ well, is he sitting on the same couch as Ludger? if he is, then Ludger will tuck his legs in, making space. sit, sit...! ]

That sounds nice... Lots of company if you can't leave is good...

[ his words are starting to slur a bit ]

[kaios]

[ He wasn't intending to, but if Ludger tucks his legs in to make room then he'll take that spot, sure! His brow furrows a bit at the way his words slur, though, and yeah he's definitely starting to put a couple things together... ]

You weren't outside all night, were you?

[ :| ]

w4; sometime after cyoa return

[kaios]

[ It seems like Ludger's had a very stressful time, so let's go to the relaxation nook and try to chill out for a bit! Kaios definitely gave Ludger some sharp looks earlier during the whole return debacle, especially when he seemed to want to put others' well-being before his own. Sure, Ludger maybe came out of that entire thing a bit better than many of them (Anaxagoras, for one, and at least he isn't missing any limbs), but from what Kaios could see he still had more than enough going on that needed attending to...

So the first thing he'll be doing when he finds Ludger is giving him a quick once-over. Have all his injuries been seen to? ]

Doing any better than earlier?

[chromatized]

[ can you imagine if Ludger just walked off in the middle of treatment. can you. so many people would tackle him and give him disappointed looks.

anyways, yes he's been tended to - though Kaios might not be able to see, as Ludger has bundled himself up in a few layers. ]

Oh, hey. Yeah, I'm- yeah.

[ he just looks tired. and conflicted. ]

... Kaios, when you were first. Cursed. Did you ever feel like there was nothing for you to do except listen to orders? Like- it was your only purpose?

[kaios]

[ He doesn't really think that Julius would have let him get away without treatment, but he has to check anyway. Ludger's not allowed dying here.

He's a little surprised by the question, but Kaios considers it as he takes a seat of his own... and after a moment, he shakes his head with a little snort. ]

Not when I was first cursed. Back then I thought if I could figure out a way out of it, I could... I don't know. Run away and make a new life for myself, maybe.

By the time we were all brought here, though? Yeah. I'd felt that way for a long time. Why?

[chromatized]

I'm sorry that's where you were at.

[ terrible!!! ]

... Magi - the wish giver. She's... kind of like that. She says her only purpose is to fulfill wishes, that she has no wants of her own.

[ ... ]

Maybe it's foolish, but I feel bad for her.

[kaios]

[ ...this is going to be one of those conversations, huh. Kaios stretches his legs out, looking at his boots for a minute before he responds. ]

...It's not foolish.

[ It's simultaneously gotten easier and more difficult to talk about as the time has passed here, but he doesn't feel compelled to explain. He's explaining now because Ludger is asking, because he actually believes that Ludger cares to know the answer. ]

Those in our position... you have a purpose, and you know what that purpose is. It defines you, becomes the only thing you are. The people that own you don't care what you want. They don't care what you think. Your job is to shut up and do as you're meant to, because that's all they want. [ He shrugs. ] If she says her only purpose is to fulfill wishes, it's because she's been doing it for so long that it's all there's allowed to be.

Those like us... we're not allowed to be people. So you stop being one.

[chromatized]

[ Ludger listens quietly as Kaios lays out the situation. there's some things that he can't understand - his closest comparisons are the spirits back home, and they weren't exactly like Magi or Kaios either.

but he can hear the echoes of personal history in there, so he reaches out to gently nudge Kaios. ]

You're pretty "people" to me. You always will be.