(no subject)

[psychedelica]

[ come hang out and drink with him, Belph!!

Night's fallen by the time they go back, of course; usually, he likes to sit outside, but he's gotten a little tired of the evening air and the garden scenery at this point. So tonight, instead, he comes to greet Belph with a bottle of sake and plans to go elsewhere. ]

Split this with me.

[ referring to the bottle, of course... ]

Comments

[psychedelica]

[ it's a platonic love confession... bro!!

also, if that's Belph's definition of "not that interesting," he must have incredibly high standards. There isn't much that can surprise Hikage anymore; still, he arches an eyebrow. ]

Do you feel guilty about it? You shouldn't.

[axilium]

... I don't feel guilty about the past.

[maybe he did as a child, when he discovered the truth. but in the end, what's done is done.]

Still, greed doesn't end, you know? It's never enough for some people...

[it might not make much sense out of context; he's talking more to himself. his tone is distant for a moment, before he returns to reality.]

The fact of the matter is that I'm one of them now, whether I want to be or not, and I benefit from their current regime. My entire life's been built on their corruption.

[well, hikage might be able to understand. chances are, he knows very well how shitty rich people are.]

[psychedelica]

You can't choose who your parents are.

[ he would know. Even without context, he can understand the gist of what Belph means; bits and pieces of his memories continue to return in a trickle as he talks about them, his head stinging. Those with money are never satisfied. They'd let a little girl die without her medication rather than part with a tiny fraction of their wealth.

His face wrinkles in distaste; he feels the old anger bubbling up inside of him, and it feels strangely cathartic. It's been so long... since he was angry about this. ]

Life is unfair that way. [ even so... ] But you have a chance to live a different life now.

[ a pause. ]

Everyone keeps telling me that, anyway... It shouldn't be any different for you.

[axilium]

Funnily enough ["funnily"], I don't think my parents were bad people. I'm pretty sure my dad killed himself because he couldn't take it anymore.

[cheery thought! belph says it breezily enough, at least.]

... Well, we'll see. I don't know what I'll do if I return home—the entire world is under my family's influence, after all.

[psychedelica]

[ That's not something Hikage can begrudge his dad for when he did the same thing. Despite wishing to know more about Belph, he finds himself with depressingly little to say about what he shares now that he's learning about him. He's never good at these things. Luckily for him, he's sure that Belph isn't seeking comfort or pity from him either. ]

You don't have to go home.

[ he doesn't know where else they could go, but there has to be another place, right? Hikage doesn't realize that he's starting to include himself in this third option, too. He takes another drink, then shakes his head. ]

... You're a depressing person to drink with.

[axilium]

[in a way, belph has thought a lot about his fate after this game, and not a lot at all. he doesn't say any of that to hikage, though.]

Guess we're both very un-cheery people to drink with, then!