foolishwren | 112. [Video]

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Current Location: Mahogany Town

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112. [Video]

_{[It's Christmas morning, either before or after the presumed present-opening-- late enough for the sun to be that warm yellow glow as it comes through the windows.]

[The video comes on as the 'Gear is set down on a shiny counter top, and then there's a clunk as a big tall glass of some Christmasy nutmeg-dusted drink is set down in front of it. It's followed by Heather.]}

If anyone ever told me I'd be getting up early to train on Christmas morning, I'd be like pffffpchcpt.

... But damn if I don't feel pumped as hell.

_{[She scoots to the side a little bit and beckons to someone offscreen.]}

Hey, c'mon, get in the shot! Don't be shy.

_{[After a little more coaxing, the one she's talking to scoots into view and shyly waves a big red punching glove. It's a Hitmonchan with mostly-shut, squinting eyes and a rather lumpy head.]}

Junior here's been helping me out ever since he evolved. We're just grabbing something before we head back to the hotel.

... _{[She pauses and leans over to glance at a SECOND glass, which is sitting in front of the Pokemon.]}

... I hope Pokemon can have this stuff without getting sick.

_{[Because she hadn't exactly asked before getting two. :I]}

... Well, the Pokemon Center's right next door.

_{[She lifts the glass, and the Hitmonchan does the same.]}

Cheers!

_{[It seems like a wrap, and she even reaches over to turn the 'Gear off... but then:]}

[CRASH THUMPPA-THUD BOOM]

_{[There are several screams and the tinkle of breaking glass as a flying Stantler comes smashing through the restaurant like a juggernaut]}

.... Well that just happened.

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No.

It's not anything I ever asked for.

_{[Her expression is almost pained. It's something she puts out of her mind most of the time, because thinking about it... just brings back all the ways that it had been forced on her. All the people who had wanted to toss a set of reins on her and steer her for their own purposes. Weird that being God should make her feel so powerless.]}

... And besides... where I come from, gods can still be hurt.

It never is.

[He says this very quietly. He might have grown to prefer being a homunculus to being a human, even now, but at the same time...half the reason he hates his father is because that bastard created him in the first place. Created a monster that should never have existed and had no place in the world instead of just letting his son stay in the grave.]

The people who do want things like that...they either don't know what they're asking for, or they're insane. I've met a lot of them.

[And he's worked for one for his entire life, too.]

Yeah.

_{[Venom enters her voice.]}

Or both.

_{[She's only known one person who wanted that. Dahlia might have sought it by trying to control her daughter, but Heather's pretty sure that deep down in her sick, twisted mind, she would have been perfectly happy to wield that power herself.]}

Sounds like you've run into that sort too.

[Yeah, that venom is kind of a giveaway.]

You could say that.

Fortunately, the apple fell really far from the tree so you'll never hear that sort of shit coming out of my mouth.

_{[... Given that everyone here who's ever interacted with Harry Mason has probably seen how supportive and caring he is, it's doubtful that he's the parent she's talking about.]}

Wouldn't think I would.

[And no, even though he hasn't spoken much to Harry, Envy wouldn't have pegged the man to have any delusions of grandeur or desire for that sort of power. He pauses before continuing.]

My mother's like that, too.

[He's just guessing on the mother, for all he knows she could have had a different father too, in her past life, and it be him she was talking about. Although unlike Heather, there's no venom in his voice--for him, that sort of angry bitterness is directed at his father.]

_{[There's a pause. He guessed correct, but now she's looking at him in a new light.]}

... I didn't know.

I'm sorry.

_{[Maybe the woman he's talking about wasn't like Dahlia outside of the hunger for power. But either way, that's bad. That's bad and she'd never wish it on anyone.]}

Hey, don't worry about it, it's...

[How to even put this.]

It's not like she's really been my mother in a long time, I only call her that if I want to piss her off. She gets all... [He draws himself up, putting on an expression and tone that's exactly like a prim, annoyed old lady. He can imitate that much even if he can't change his face or voice.] Now, Envy, you know very well that homunculi don't have mothers, stop being so ridiculous at once.

[He lets that drop, looking like himself again, and shrugs.] She's my master. I could've left if I wanted to.

[He sounds more like someone trying very hard to convince themselves. Because no, he really couldn't have left.]

_{[She listens, and something in her expression darkens as he does his imitation. It's not that it's... like Dahlia (or rather the fuzzy, grainy memories she has of Dahlia), not exactly. Dahlia Gillespie was never prim or classy. She was strange and off-kilter and took a weird pleasure in being so.]

[But that condescending tone that was entirely unique to a mother speaking down to their child... a child that they didn't care about...]

[It made something inside her tense up and wrinkle its muzzle into a fearsome snarl.]}

You could kill her if you wanted.

_{[The only things that made monsters of their children for their own benefit were monsters. And monsters are okay to kill.]}

[For a long moment, Envy goes very still. Surprise and something that looks like fear crosses his face. It's not just fear of Dante, although that's certainly part of it, they're all afraid of her. But it's also fear of the idea of her not being there. He lets out a breath, and the fear is gone again, hidden.]

[He shakes his head.]

I know I could. It wouldn't be hard, if I was careful enough. But I've got my reasons for staying.

[It's probably telling that while he was surprised that she just went ahead and suggested he kill his mother, he wasn't bothered or horrified by it and is treating it like a valid option that just happens to be something he can't do. He is giving her an odd look, though, like he's seeing her in a different light too.]

_{[It's a side of her that honestly not many people here have seen. Not even the people she got really close to before they disappeared.]

[Barely anyone but Harry knows that Heather-- or some incarnation of her-- killed Dahlia Gillespie.]}

If y'ask me, there's no reason good enough to stay with someone who uses you.

But maybe that's just me.

_{[Her tone isn't exactly SCORNFUL, because hey, if he has a reason she believes him, but it is a tad incredulous.]}

I never cared if she was using me, I knew she was. She might have been manipulating the others, but it didn't work on me.

[He really does believe that he wasn't being manipulated. If he already knew that what she was offering the others was a lie, then how could she trick him with the same thing?]

[Even though she already did take his revenge away, he still doesn't want to believe it. Four centuries worth of denial is a powerful thing.]

I needed a power source and a way to reach my own goals, and I got those from her. Besides, I doubt I'd be seeing her again even if I did go home. So it's not a problem anymore.

_{[She makes a noncommittal noise that nonetheless demonstrates her feelings on mothers that use, regardless of whether or not Envy didn't care.]}

I guess...

[He nearly snaps at the noise she makes, if only because Dante is a touchy subject, but bites it back. He doesn't want to argue about it or talk about her more than he already has. Heather's only the second person in Johto he's even mentioned her to.]

...Sorry. That yours was like that too.

[He sighs, rubbing at the back of his head.]

Hell of a conversation to have on Christmas morning.

Nothing to apologize about. Anyway, she's dead.

_{[She offers a slightly wan smile.]}

... Sorry for bringing the whole thing up, myself.

Nah, I'm glad you told me.

[There are very few people to talk to about anything like this, or that he'd want to talk about it with. And now he knows her better than he did before, too.]

You didn't have to, you could've just left me wondering forever.

I guess I'm kind of sick of not telling people things and then having them disappear on me.

Better to get some things off my chest, y'know?

Yeah.

[He's one to talk; he hardly tells anyone anything about himself, even people he's close to.]

I'll try not to go anywhere.

... I'd appreciate that, yeah.

Losing people has been getting pretty old.

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