002 ⚡ Video

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

[ Abel sits on top of his bed, legs tucked beneath him. It'd look meditative, if he wasn't surrounded by candy wrappers and a half-sewn lion plushie. ] I'm having trouble fighting a certain type of...Shadow. Visceral Mara, I think it's their name. [ Or so says this dossier. ]

...I need a partner to fight these things. I promise I won't slow you down. [ Abel trusts he doesn't look like someone who can't fight. ] I've been doing well against the Shadows that aren't immune to physical attacks.

I'd...appreciate any sort of help. [ He grabs at the phone, blocking the camera's view with a scarred, blurry palm, until he mutters something in French. ]

I almost forgot. [ His tone shifts into steely seriousness. ] ...there's a woman Juri Han who arrived not too long ago. Please, try to avoid her, and if you can, don't fight her. She's... [ A pause. ] ...not your typical fighter.

Thank you.

Comments

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

[ His shoulders sag. ] What happened to all that...purple energy of yours? Or was that part of the eye? [ WHY CAN'T I HADOUKEN. ]

[byeontae-geomi.livejournal.com]

It was all part of the eye. It helped me manipulate the flow of energy to create those things.

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

And now it's gone. [ Abel scratches at his hair in frustration. ]

[byeontae-geomi.livejournal.com]

Not exactly. I can still use it to see a normal visual spectrum. The Drive itself, though, isn't functioning. It's still a fake eye, when you get down to it.

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

[ Which makes her a bit weaker, but...doesn't help me in this situation. ] I'm sorry. [ Why am I apologizing? ]

[byeontae-geomi.livejournal.com]

Getting soft on me, prince?

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

No, it's...a habit. [ A bad habit that I...can't seem to break and just...feels right. ]

[byeontae-geomi.livejournal.com]

You need better habits. Like casual sex or binge drinking. Something more fun.

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

[ ...yeah, and crush their pelvis. ] No, thank you. Those are...things the mercenaries did often, they're not for me.

[byeontae-geomi.livejournal.com]

That's your problem, Abel. You have the potential to be so exciting, but you force yourself to remain boring.

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

W—what? [ She knows about that? I force myself to be boring because...I can't lose control. ]

[byeontae-geomi.livejournal.com]

What? It's obvious.

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

[ His clipped words betray the facade of calmness he's trying to portray. ] What. Is. Obvious?

[byeontae-geomi.livejournal.com]

You're restrained. You're afraid and therefore you restrain your true self.

1/2

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

[ She doesn't...h—how...am I...that obvious?

Abel remembers when he berserked for the first time—a reddish tint to his sight, the taste and scent of blood on the air...exciting, how he smashed and tore people to pieces with a smile on his face.

I...I shouldn't...I'm not...

What's the point of strength if it turns you into an animal? All this time, training to restrain the beast inside, a facade of control employed so long...

And she knows. Just like that, Juri Han figures out his darkest secret. How afraid of losing control he is, of seeing not his own scarred, craggy face but Seth's smiling proudly back at him, laughing... ]

2/2

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

None of your business, Juri Han.

[byeontae-geomi.livejournal.com]

Except it is. My business is you, remember~?

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

Well then, tell Seth he'd find out a lot more about me if he'd bothered to speak with me.

[byeontae-geomi.livejournal.com]

Eh, the dickless wonder boy is too busy sitting on top of his heap, growing too fat. I'm more interested in something else right now.

[grapplings.livejournal.com]

[ Dickless. Wonder.

...why...did she...have to...remind me of that? ] You mean this isn't his doing?

[byeontae-geomi.livejournal.com]

How about you digest that while playing with your partner, hmm~? -Click.-