Yuri Lowell (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trueknight) wrote2012-01-18 05:30 pm
trueknight) wrote2012-01-18 05:30 pm
101 // [Action / Voice]
[ Action ]
[For the past few days, Yuri has been spending most of his time out of the house. He'll make an appearance in the morning and show up just in time for dinner at night, but other than that, he's been noticeably absent. And any time it may have been questioned, he's simply said that he "lost track of time". ... Several days in a row, apparently. And this day is shaping up to look like a repeat of the previous ones.
Really, he knows what he's doing is obvious. He knows it's suspicious. He knows he's going to get called out on it eventually, and he knows he's going to have to explain things, as badly as he wishes he could just pretend absolutely nothing happened between himself and Judith years ago in Luceti. But unfortunately, it's getting to a point where he can't help it. He was handling the whole situation worse and worse as time went on. The first day didn't feel quite as bad, but that was mostly due to the surprise of it all - and expecting to hear any time over the journals that the Malnosso were pulling some other kind of stunt. But the next day and the day after that just made him remember the past, along with the son he had before the Malnosso gave him away to a family in another enclosure - and that didn't help anything for him in the least. Maybe those he told about his relationship and Jonah were right - maybe he really should've tried to resolve all this earlier, instead of pretending everything was fine. Maybe then, this wouldn't be affecting him as much as it is.
Too late now.
He'll find a way to deal with this - to get around how he feels about this situation, so he can act normally around Judith and the rest of his housemates again. He will ... but before he can even start to, he has to make a decision about whether he should tell Judith about the past they had the first time she appeared. And if he does, HOW to say it, and when. Which leads to why he's been disappearing so much - he doesn't feel he can really face her until he figures this out. But at this point, it's been days, and he knows he can't keep doing this without making things look more suspicious than they already do.
He had to use today to make up his mind as to what he's going to do. Any longer than this, and things would get much worse - or she'd find out on her own or from someone else, which would really make things go south quick. That's the last thing he wants right now. Or needs.]
[Thankfully, he's been spending his time in the same sorts of places, making him fairly easy to find. In the morning to the early afternoon, Yuri can be found at the battle dome, though he seems to be doing more "hanging around" than fighting. During the mid afternoon, he can be found walking the perimeter of the village. He may do this several times, in fact. From then until it's close to nightfall, he can be found at the barracks, practicing some basic sword movements. ... Though, like the battle dome, he's doing more hanging out than practice while he's there.
Anyone is welcome to bother the guy at any of those places. He does look pretty distracted, especially to someone who knows him decently enough.]
[ Voice ]
[During the afternoon, Yuri decides to make this day seem less suspicious than the past few by actually appearing busy. He told the guild he'd do this later, but ... this was the best he could think of. It doesn't hurt to do this a little earlier, anyway.]
... Well, first off, welcome to Luceti to the new guys. Not exactly some primo vacation spot, but things could be a lot worse here. [Yep. Sounds good. Perfectly fine mood, nothing weird!] That aside, there's something I wanted to bring up, and not just for those who've just showed up.
Some of you have probably already heard me go on about this in the past, but I never really got around to explaining it recently. What I'm talking about is Brave Vesperia, a guild we have established here in Luceti. It's a sort of "odd jobs" kind of guild - tell us what you want to have done, and if it's not for something suspicious, we'll do it. [There's a pause, as if he's purposely trying to word what he says next in a certain way.] We've ... mostly been called on to do construction based things. ... Like building new structures, or house expansions. But that's not all we're here for, so feel free to ask us to do anything that might help you out. We're a pretty flexible group.
That aside, we're also opening up recruitment for the guild. So, if you're interested in joining us, just tell me your name and some basic skills you have. I'm Yuri Lowell, it's current leader, so I'll probably just process you on the spot. [Because he's just that much of a hard worker. And not just trying to keep himself as busy as possible. Not at all!]
If anyone has any questions, just send them my way.
[... That should be fine. Hopefully that alone will keep him busy enough to get his mind off of other things, at least for a few hours.]
[For the past few days, Yuri has been spending most of his time out of the house. He'll make an appearance in the morning and show up just in time for dinner at night, but other than that, he's been noticeably absent. And any time it may have been questioned, he's simply said that he "lost track of time". ... Several days in a row, apparently. And this day is shaping up to look like a repeat of the previous ones.
Really, he knows what he's doing is obvious. He knows it's suspicious. He knows he's going to get called out on it eventually, and he knows he's going to have to explain things, as badly as he wishes he could just pretend absolutely nothing happened between himself and Judith years ago in Luceti. But unfortunately, it's getting to a point where he can't help it. He was handling the whole situation worse and worse as time went on. The first day didn't feel quite as bad, but that was mostly due to the surprise of it all - and expecting to hear any time over the journals that the Malnosso were pulling some other kind of stunt. But the next day and the day after that just made him remember the past, along with the son he had before the Malnosso gave him away to a family in another enclosure - and that didn't help anything for him in the least. Maybe those he told about his relationship and Jonah were right - maybe he really should've tried to resolve all this earlier, instead of pretending everything was fine. Maybe then, this wouldn't be affecting him as much as it is.
Too late now.
He'll find a way to deal with this - to get around how he feels about this situation, so he can act normally around Judith and the rest of his housemates again. He will ... but before he can even start to, he has to make a decision about whether he should tell Judith about the past they had the first time she appeared. And if he does, HOW to say it, and when. Which leads to why he's been disappearing so much - he doesn't feel he can really face her until he figures this out. But at this point, it's been days, and he knows he can't keep doing this without making things look more suspicious than they already do.
He had to use today to make up his mind as to what he's going to do. Any longer than this, and things would get much worse - or she'd find out on her own or from someone else, which would really make things go south quick. That's the last thing he wants right now. Or needs.]
[Thankfully, he's been spending his time in the same sorts of places, making him fairly easy to find. In the morning to the early afternoon, Yuri can be found at the battle dome, though he seems to be doing more "hanging around" than fighting. During the mid afternoon, he can be found walking the perimeter of the village. He may do this several times, in fact. From then until it's close to nightfall, he can be found at the barracks, practicing some basic sword movements. ... Though, like the battle dome, he's doing more hanging out than practice while he's there.
Anyone is welcome to bother the guy at any of those places. He does look pretty distracted, especially to someone who knows him decently enough.]
[ Voice ]
[During the afternoon, Yuri decides to make this day seem less suspicious than the past few by actually appearing busy. He told the guild he'd do this later, but ... this was the best he could think of. It doesn't hurt to do this a little earlier, anyway.]
... Well, first off, welcome to Luceti to the new guys. Not exactly some primo vacation spot, but things could be a lot worse here. [Yep. Sounds good. Perfectly fine mood, nothing weird!] That aside, there's something I wanted to bring up, and not just for those who've just showed up.
Some of you have probably already heard me go on about this in the past, but I never really got around to explaining it recently. What I'm talking about is Brave Vesperia, a guild we have established here in Luceti. It's a sort of "odd jobs" kind of guild - tell us what you want to have done, and if it's not for something suspicious, we'll do it. [There's a pause, as if he's purposely trying to word what he says next in a certain way.] We've ... mostly been called on to do construction based things. ... Like building new structures, or house expansions. But that's not all we're here for, so feel free to ask us to do anything that might help you out. We're a pretty flexible group.
That aside, we're also opening up recruitment for the guild. So, if you're interested in joining us, just tell me your name and some basic skills you have. I'm Yuri Lowell, it's current leader, so I'll probably just process you on the spot. [Because he's just that much of a hard worker. And not just trying to keep himself as busy as possible. Not at all!]
If anyone has any questions, just send them my way.
[... That should be fine. Hopefully that alone will keep him busy enough to get his mind off of other things, at least for a few hours.]
[Action]
Anything specific?
[Action]
[Action]
... I see. [ ... ] It probably doesn't need much saying, but a lot happened the last time you were here. I'm not so sure you'll like what I have to say, but ... just hear me out till the end, all right?
[Action]
[Any hint of her smile gone away, Judith positions her foot against the wall and leans deep into it. Still maintaining eye contact as best she could, all she says is simply;]
Go on.
[Action]
... Might as well start with how everything began. Anywhere else would be pretty awkward.]
... The Malnosso can mess with people's heads here whenever they want, and very easily. At least once a year, they like to mess with us to the point where we fall for someone on sight, or even whoever we happen to speak to first on a certain day. [ ... ] About three years ago here, that happened to you and me.
[He pauses here for a moment, mostly to try to gauge her reaction, so he can tell whether he needs to explain more about that last line or if he can just go on without needing to get too deep into it.]
[Action]
[Her foot returns to the ground; her voice is slow, but calm.]
You're hesitating; that's unusual. It was more than the Malnosso simply messing with heads, wasn't it?
[Never mind her own feelings on what was to come. She was already unhappy knowing that she was here for so long and can't remember a thing but...better not let her mind make conclusions.]
[Action]
He's already started this. No point in sugarcoating it, even if he's still not sure if this was a good idea or not.]
Yeah. It was much more than that. [ ... ] After the Malnosso finished messing with everyone, we ... decided to keep things going. That lasted nearly two years, before you were sent home.
[He's trying to cover it up as much as possible, but it's fairly obvious - he feels extremely awkward and unsure about saying all this, and maybe even a little worried. Even though he feels he has to, thanks to that now two and a half year old bundle of guilt he had taken away from him coming to mind every time he sees Judith, the last thing he wants to do is drive her away or make her feel uncomfortable being around him.]
[Action]
[Her muscles, shoulders, tense. Judith shuts her eyes for a moment to process.]
Two years...[Never would have thought she could settle down with somebody, make any sort of commitment like that. Even the weeks in one place were getting under her skin.] I'm sorry I can't remember them.
[There's a lot of questions that are just sitting on the tip of her tongue and the front of her mind, but, instead, she just catches his eye. It's still his turn to talk and she sure as hell wants to hear what else he has to say.]
[Action]
[... She's looking at him. And he can tell it's in a way where she knows there's more to this whole thing. Given how he's been saying all this information, he's not surprised that she can tell.
Considering she hasn't backed away or looked at him with disgust or anything of that sort, he's honestly considering this as "going decently well". ... Decently. After the years he spent with Judith in the past, if there's one thing he can tell easily, it's when she's tense. Should he ...?
... Maybe he should. It was because of Jonah that he wanted to bring this up to begin with, after all. He doesn't want to - or at least he was hoping to tell her one thing at one point, and another thing at some other point, but ... he knows he'd just end up continuing to semi-avoid her if he continued to keep the main issue to himself.
He closes his eyes, trying to choose his words carefully. He really wishes he could just be blunt and straight-forward with this, just to get it over with, but ... well, this was definitely going to be a heavy bit of information.]
During those two years, something happened that we didn't plan for. We knew this wasn't a good place for it, but especially back then, we all felt that we could just ... bring him back with us, whenever we found a way to go home on our own. We weren't the first people to have that happen to us in Luceti as it was, and that just made things feel more ... hopeful, I guess.
[ ... ]
He was a little over a year old when he was taken away by the Malnosso, on the same day you were sent home. They said he was moved to another enclosure here, but believing their words is the last thing I'll do.
[He stops himself there, fairly abruptly. He can feel himself starting to get angry about having failed so horribly to protect his son, and that's the last thing this discussion needs right now.]
[Action]
[Trust her to be blunt while Yuri beats around the bush. And despite herself, the words are harsher than she wants them to be, raw surprise and stress packed into four single, small words.]
[A step towards him. Immediately, her mind is showing her all these things - ten years ago, buried grief. Her father, her mother's grave. Temza before the war. The family that went away when she was nine years old.]
[And she has a son?]
If....[What on earth can she say to that.] ...
[Action]
... That's all I have left to say. There aren't any other surprises past that.
[Action]
[She shuts her eyes again, inhaling deeply. Yuri's gone silent as the falling snow.]
...what's his name?
[It's unreal. There's no memory whatsoever of two years in a relationship - with someone like Yuri, to have their games turn into something serious - and a child she doesn't know at all. It makes a strange pain in her heart, one that does not make sense to exist..]
I would ask why you didn't tell me sooner, but I think I understand why. [...]
[She turns back to staring off into the distance. Logically she shouldn't feel...but then there isn't anything logical about this dynamic. Years passed for him that didn't exist for her and, with them, all the experiences and emotions.]
[Action]
We named him Jonah.
[He doesn't respond to her second statement. If she has an idea as to why he took so long to say anything, then that's good enough - the last thing he's any good with, after all, is expressing any sort of feelings he may have. It's too bad that he's like that, really - if he wasn't, then maybe this whole thing would've been easier for him to say and react to.]
[Action]
[Should she feel guilty for not being upset he's gone... she never knew him to begin with. It's hard to miss a person who doesn't exist in your mind.]
[Judith sighs. She doesn't know what else to do. Too much happened much too fast; it's hard to roll with the punches when they keep flying.]
This is a lot to comprehend at once. I'm not sure what to think.
[A step forward, uncharacteristically stiff and rigid. All she knows is she needs time to think about what he's said, what it means now.]
[Action]
[He continues to stay right where he is, eyes still closed. At most, he can hear her whenever she takes a step, but past that, he's trying to get his own thoughts in order.]
[Action]
[Halfway through her next step, she stops. Turning to look over her shoulder, she sees him just standing, his eyes closed, face back in shadows.]
..Are you going to stay here? It's awfully cold.
Come back to town at least.
[Action]
...
He sighs lightly to himself, smirking just a tad.]
... All right. I guess I wouldn't get much out of staying here, anyway.
[With that, he'll finally move off of and away from the wall.]
[Action]
Only pneumonia.
[A tiny smirk of her own, even if it felt forced to give.]
[Action]
[He'll walk over to where she is, though he'll still stay a little ways away. While he has finally mentioned the elephant in the room, and is trying to seem as if he's more or less all right now, he still feels incredibly awkward around her.]
[Action]
[Trying to smile and walk casually, as ever, it's all off...her mind a million miles away.]
[Action]
At the very least, there is a slight sense of relief that he managed to get from all this - he really thought this whole thing would end much worse, not that he thinks it's all sunshine and daisies from here on out.]