Quatre (Accidental video)

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

*Albedo's phone is lying discarded on a side table in Albedo's apartment room, recording him sitting with a length of cloth bandage within arm's reach, a knife in his left hand and his right hand unusually bare. He curls his fingers briefly, pressing the tips of his long, pointed nails into the red 667 tattoo on the middle of his palm before opening his hand again and slashing the knife across the number. Instead of reacting in pain, he closes his eyes and lets out a pleased moan.*

Ahhh...that ought to do it. How frail this body is, though, that even this much is the limit of what I can safely inflict.

*The video ends as he reaches for the bandages and starts wrapping his hand, although he clearly has no practice in such things.*

Comments

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

No, it didn't take 14 years, but it did take a good while. He shattered the link very badly and then with all the standards gone...We were both pretty messed up for a while.

[He's silent for a moment, obviously thinking about how to word what came next.] As for me Albedo, for a long time I was terrified of you, scared of what you had become, what you could do, and what I had tried to do to you.

After I worked through that, I knew that it had to be Rubedo who made the first move on that part. You two had to fix yourselves first.

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

*It's his turn to be silent, staring at Nigredo's hand on his wrist as he processes what he just heard.*

To think...the stoic Nigredo actually paralyzed in fear of his own actions.

*He's trying to joke it off, but there's no smirk. He knows he picked that fight when he could have avoided the URTVs' failsave. He never really regretted attacking his younger brother before, but it was something he'd avoided thinking about ever since his mind had been freed of the amplified fear and anger of contact with U-DO.*

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

[Of course Albedo would focus on that part of the story.]

Stoicism does not mean the absence of emotion Albedo. We may have been soldiers, but we were also children with all that entails.

[He closed his eyes] Just children.

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

*He doesn't want to focus on what he'd become. He's ashamed of how easily he gave in.*

We were all foolish back then...mindlessly following orders or else acting on thoughts and desires half formed from incomplete information.

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

We were. We all trusted a man so obsessed with his own fear that he'd sacrifice the universe just to deal with it. He was father and general, no wonder all we could do was obey.

There wasn't anything we could do, any of us.

[To be fair, under all of this he doesn't really blame you for what happened. He knows U-DO is a powerful force and to the mind of an already disturbed child it must have been overwhelming.]

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

I must admit that I'm a little jealous that you had the opportunity to end his life twice, though. I've been wanting revenge against that man for quite some time.

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

It didn't do me much good the first time. Think of it more...finishing something I started. You did startle him a bit when you showed up though.

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

It was rather satisfying to take the wind out of his sails, even if deflating that oversized ego of his is an exercise in futility.

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

He was very angry when you absconded with Abel and the zohar. [It had been that burst of anger from Yuriev that had allowed him to realize things were moving again in his dark prison. A flare of sorts.]

I think he was counting on you being dead so that Jr. would be at half power.

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

I always was nothing more than a disappointment to him, eh?

*He's very much enjoying this fact. He'd be disgusted for Yuriev to be proud of him.*

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

[Gaignun has to laugh a bit at that.] Yes but in the end you were his undoing. Kind of fitting, don't you think?

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

It's his own fault for being so arrogant as to assume that the unwanted extra is of no consequence to him.

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

He did fall pray to his own arrogance a lot, didn't he. [Mocking Yuriev! Yay for hating daddy to avoid awkward situations.]

Besides, he honestly thought you were dead.

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

Well, he was hardly wrong about that, was he? His mistake there was in failing to realize that others aside from himself could return from the grave to deal with unfinished business.

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

I guess when you're a centuries old body hopper, some of your reasoning capabilities start to falter.

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

Perhaps he got senile in his old age.

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

Hah, if only. That certainly would have made things a lot easier.

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

It would explain his inability to realize when his rambling has lost all semblance of meaning, however.

*Pot, this is kettle.*

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you can only listen to a monolog on god for so long before it just all starts to blur together.

[Of course poor Gaignun couldn't tune him out, it's hard to ignore someone when their thought process intrudes on your own and you get all their back ground images.]

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

One of the more embarrassing elements of being contaminated by U-DO, although I doubt he's capable of realizing how foolish he sounded.

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

True, whenever he started to go off his infection would flare a bit. [This is said absently as he rechecks the bandage binding. Just to make sure you know.]

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

*Oh, of course. His eyes drift down to Nigredo's hand, just to find out what his brother is up to.*

Aren't you lucky he didn't decide to ruin your image with that nonsense?

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

[Gaignun's hands stilled at Albedo's words. Storming the Durandal and slaughtering almost all of it's occupants, Yuriev had used his form for that. Dmitri's iron control had made him watch as the people died by the hands of the person they trusted most to take care of them. Not to mention hurting Mary...

He took a sharp breath. It wasn't his image he had been concerned about but the failing to stop his father had stung sharp that day.]

Not with that nonsense no. He used his own form for that. [He was glad that he was already looking down so maybe Albedo couldn't see how white he'd gone.

[fractured-white.livejournal.com]

*He might not have the link anymore, but Albedo has plenty of experience recognizing when people are upset and what bothers them.*

What's the matter, Nigredo? Have I struck a nerve I wasn't aware of?

[namedforcat.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about it Albedo, it isn't important. [Avoidance mode is a go.] Alright, I think I've got it tight enough, do you think you can remember how to do this when you change the bandages.

Oh yes, you will need to change them periodically since the blood will likely soak through for a while. I think you'll only have to use the disinfectant once or twice though if you keep it clean and covered for the most part.