asgardmeridiem | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Vanitas (

occulthymns)!
What: Euri gets sick, and surely Pyro and Vanitas can combine their skills to form one competent caregiver! Right?
When: Day 296.
Where: Mushroomhouse.
Rating: PG probably for Pyro's mouth.

[The day had started out terribly. Draco was gone - probably grey - which left her to handle the shop on her own. Not a big deal under normal circumstances, but she had felt a little under the weather the night before and the next morning it was a full blown cold.

To top it off, the damn store had apparently been broken into sometime in the night. Perfect.

Euri only stayed long enough to clean up a little, but with her cold worsening she has to lock up and retreat back to the mushroom, sniffling and just knowing Vanitas isn't going to react well.

By the afternoon she's changed into some comfy pajamas and retreated back to bed with Dog. The cold has turned into a full-blown fever and flu, but it seems to be steadying out. Not like last time....

Regardless, she's made a quick call to Pyro. Even if she doesn't get any worse Vanitas isn't exactly the most caring person ever. He'll need some help, and hopefully her being sick will temper both of them a bit so they get along. Five or so minutes after the call she'll be wandering through the mushroom to find Vanitas and let him know the good news.]

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Great. Thanks.

[But yes, he owes this girl his life. She's actually tended to him a lot of times, through near-death and worse. Goddamn, getting close to people is annoying.

He gives Vanitas another long look, then spins on his heel and starts back down the steps with heavy, sulking footfalls. He intends to make tea and that is fucking it.]

No problem.

[He's not sure if that was an actual point for him, but he'll take it regardless. Of course, he also just agreed to make soup, which he actually has no idea how to do. He knows most of the ingredients of course, but not the actual... process of putting them together.

Eh, how hard can it be. It's only soup.

He gives Pyro a few seconds' head start, before following with one glance back towards Euri. The hope that it really is just a cold in the very forefront of his mind.]

[Oh Vanitas, she's already dozing. So cute!!]

[He's already got the things for tea out and the kettle on the range. As promised to himself, he's done nothing for Vanitas - not getting out a pot, mushrooms, or any of those other things she said he'd need. His back is firmly to the door of the kitchen, offering no conversation whatsoever.

When he heard about a friend coming back, he was not expecting another self-appointed guardian asshole. Should've known better - Oswin has one, and now apparently Euri has two. At least he knows who this one is, so he can attack the issue head-on.

Once he stops sulking.]

[Sucks to be you.

Though on his side, Vanitas isn't exactly thrilled by Pyro's presence, either. He's not jumping to any conclusions yet, because so far the evidence of involvement is pretty slim. But Euri is Euri, too, so if there hasn't been anything going on, he's sure there will be.

He's not really sure how he feels about that. Not until he knows more about this clown, anyway.

The silence continues as he enters the kitchen and makes a quick mental checklist. First, he needs a pot. Check. Now he needs water, right? No, the soup stock comes in place of the water...

Or does it. Shit.

In the end, he goes for the second option, because Euri had named it specifically, and while he's hunting around for where she keeps it, he finally glances at the other male and breaks the silence.]

So, what's your story?

My story? [He glances over with his eyes only, no movement of his head.] How much do you want?

Whatever.

[He gives a small cock of his head back.] This' your chance to impress me.

Alright, chapter one: I don't give a shit about impressing you.

[He takes down the teapot for something to do.]

Chapter two: I'm a mutant. There was a genetic shift that caused a jump in humankind's evolution, and we were the result. Without the gods' stupid power blockers in place, I'm a pyrokinetic.

Chapter three: you don't own Euri any more than Kaz did or I do, so whatever's between us is our business. Her and me.

Anything else?

[He just raises his brows slightly at that, managing to keep his expression neutral and non-offended in response. That definitely pressed a few buttons, which was really all he wanted. To see how he'd react.]

Is your first instinct to run, or fight.

[It's a blunt question, and it doesn't take him long to come up with it--practically on the heels of Pyro's inquiry.]

I never run.

[He hasn't since the attack on the school, anyway. And especially not since watching Logan get gunned down. He's been facing everything headlong since that day.]

Hnh.

[It's a strong response. Unless this guy was as good at hiding his real emotions as he was (which he very much doubted), it was better than Kaz, at least.]

I'll remember that, next time there's a crisis.

[Not if, because around here it was pretty much a given. But after that, he falls back into silence, and finally finds the soup stock he was looking for, dumping it out into the pot before he turns on the stove.]

I'm out of school, man. I don't do tests anymore.

[In other words, stop gauging him. He's had enough judgment for one lifetime.]

You say that like you've got a choice.

I've got lots of choices. [One hand slips into his pocket, feeling for the brass knuckles there.] But I think you care more about making sure Euri's alright than you do about getting in a dick-waving contest with me, so you'd best back off.

[The motion goes unnoticed, for now. But after he's got the right burner turned on, he glances at the other again.]

Making sure she's alright's been my aim, from the start. This is part of it. In case you haven't noticed, she's not always the best judge of character on her own.

Yeah, I got that. [His disgusted look is not directly for Vanitas this time.

But he has to think for a moment then. How much does this guy really deserve to know? Who set him up as watchdog, and why should Pyro answer to him? Not many people know how deep things run with Euri, because it's not something he shares readily.

But after what they just went through, nothing's getting in his way now.]

And she gets things no one else here gets about me - what I am, what made me who I am, and why it's not something that has to be fixed. She gets why I can't just sit back and let the gods mess with people like us. She bitches at me, sure, but she still gets why I do what I do.

That's not something I take lightly.

[He stops looking for more ingredients to listen, body partially turned away and stilling that way.

It's almost an exact echo of what he would've said, had the tables been turned. Which still doesn't mean he trusts or even likes this newcomer on more than a superficial level, but. If he can get that, then maybe he'll be okay.]

Fair enough. [The response comes after a pause, before he starts rummaging around the spice shelf for anything that looks good.]

She's got that effect on people, doesn't she.

Apparently. [The kettle finally boils, and he gets the tea ready to steep.] Did you start out fighting with her?

Occasionally. [He's reluctant to say anything about their own relationship, but if he doesn't he's sure Euri will, eventually. And there's some things even she isn't totally aware of.]

If you wanna know the truth, I had a grudge against Kaz. At first, I thought--where's she even keeping the mushrooms now, anyway?

[There's some clanking and shuffling of jars, as his whole over-confidence in his cooking abilities starts to unravel.]

Occasionally. [Pyro snorts.] We had a full-scale war going, bigger than fucking Ragnarok. Still don't get how this happened.

[And now he's interested. Turning away from the teapot, he gives Vanitas's back a curious look.]

You thought what?

[Finally, he finds some of her dried mushrooms and tosses them into the simmering broth. He has no idea if she uses these or fresh ones, but whatever. They'll have to do.]

That I could use her to get to him. So what changed? Obviously you didn't kill each other.

[Pyro's face darkens a bit as he finally pinpoints the real turning point. The moment when he started thinking of her as more than just an annoyance.]

Shared nightmares. A present from Freya after her brother went kamikaze to end the first battle.

She got to see shit nobody was supposed to see, and - I guess she just reacted the right way.

Ah.

[Well, that explained lot. There's mostly silence as he just tosses a few spices into the soup, and gives it a stir.]

[He likes that the questions stop there - no nosing into his business about what kinds of secrets they shared or anything like that. Vanitas is a dick, sure, but it really does feel like he's just getting the 'what are your intentions' speech from a dad or something.

If those really happen outside of movies.]

What about you? Kaz is gone now. How come you're still sticking around?

[That gets him another glance, and this time it's even more veiled. Vanitas is understandably reluctant to give too much away, but after Pyro revealed that much, he doesn't have a reason to. Unless he just feels like being more of a secretive asshole.]

Let's just say... my motives changed.