HWYLRYN ✴

[calamitish]

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[calamitish]

[ a sigh and a sip of his cup. ]

I know what love is, you know. I'm quite familiar with it actually, it's one of the things people chain the most in their hearts.

But saying it to me and saying it like that...why? [ he's in a better mood today, despite the insults that actually got under his scales. yes, he won't forget. but he didn't get as far as he has by letting his emotions control him completely (ironic).

the game is more complicated now, but there's more of a thrill to it than there was before. surprises aren't something he'll ever be able to say he truly hates. ]

[coldseep]

( "it's one of the things people chain the most in their hearts" boy you can say that again (guy who loves too much and literally cannot take it anymore)

He tilts his head a little curiously. You've seen his dragon form, so it's not hard to draw parallel between how Hwylryn holds himself and how he emotes as a dragon - the particular way he tilts his head seems one such holdover; its twist is meant for a body more serpentine than this.

He hums, the tune quiet, brief, and melodic. He probably doesn't have a satisfying answer for Ish. )

Because I want to. ( Why does the ocean roll? Why does the wind flow? Because it does. ) Because that's how I feel, and I want to express it. I can only ever be what I am. And I wouldn't ask anyone to be anything but what they are. So if my feelings are unwelcome, whether out of disgust or indifference...

( He shrugs! That's fine by him. He doesn't say things because he wants anything from anyone. He will feel what he feels, and say what he says, without expectation from anyone else.

His head turns upright, the motion languid. )

Has love hurt you, the way humans have?

[calamitish]

[ he doesn't answer that for now, opting for the other question instead. ]

No. And even if it did, I wouldn't want pity. [ he spits that out, takes another sip to clean his tongue of the taste. ]

[coldseep]

( hehe )

I think an animal sees every creature with its teeth bared once it's known hurt.

( In other words: I think you're projecting with this whole pity thing, but that's okay, too. )

I can say love has hurt me. ( Cheerfully, though the tension in the air - that stillness - doesn't shift to match his tone. He's aware of this, of course. ) Humans have, too, in some ways. I haven't come to resent either yet, though.

( Yet, Ish has... for whatever reasons. He was quite unhappy with humans in their projection conversation, and he's squicked (?) by love, regardless. So he is curious, but, in the same way he's fine with Ish sidestepping certain topics for now, he also doesn't seem like he wants to chase this right now. )

[calamitish]

I couldn't care less if they try and hurt me. Physically, they've tried in a multitude of ways and while I won't say it's pleasant, it hasn't broken me.

[ bristling a little, because this is something he takes seriously. ]

If you can say it, then you're more awake than most are.

cw: reference to suicide attempt

[coldseep]

Well, I'd have to be. I was trying to remove myself from the cycle of love right before I was brought here.

( pretty way to say "provoking his friend into murdering him because hwy thought it would be too pathetic to take himself out" but it is what it is, and hwy knows it.

Doing it himself or making someone else pull the trigger doesn't change what it is, or that he's a pitiful thing. His twin and Balthazar would scoff at him, he knows. )

If it isn't because they've hurt you, what do you think they've done that would warrant their deaths?

( Ish already said that's not his motive or purpose with all this, and if that's true, Hwy's really just curious. )

[calamitish]

[ he hums at that, but focuses on the question for now. ]

What else is there? Hurt someone I love.

[ he can say the l word, everyone clap!!!!

well, in this instance. it's special, or rather, he's picky on how he says it and how it should apply to him. ]

[coldseep]

( As someone who spent so many thousands of years holding onto a grudge against the people who killed a beloved and finally executed that revenge... yeah, fair enough. )

Then what's stopping you from acting on that feeling?

[calamitish]

Who's said I stopped? Because I haven't killed anyone here? There's pointless slaughter and then there's having your cake and eating it too.

[coldseep]

Ah, is that why you don't do it yourself?

( Hwy seems as he always does, but the effects in the air about him shift - it shimmers, like heat over asphalt. It's tension.

It's not mad, exactly, but it's taut. He's thinking of Tiamat. It's hard on the heart. )

Has it been satisfying?

[calamitish]

I prefer to watch and observe, it's what I was made for. But I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty and it's cute that some people think that.

[ he has been Listening. as host, he is unfortunately immune to weathervanes of his mood, but his expressions as they tend to be, are as striking and bright as lightning itself. ]

Of course! Why wouldn't it be? Why would I feel remorse or regret?

[coldseep]

( He shrugs, leaning back on chair. )

You said it, not me.

( "Made for," huh... )

You can't make much in the way of connections, can you? And to put on the same song and dance week after week requires a specific sort of passion.

( Some wizards can do it! But only if that's their specific wizard obsession. He doesn't know if that's Ish's. )

Was this a duty your goddess assigned you?

[calamitish]

[ his smile drops. ]

No. [ sorry he's sir ignoring everything else for different reasons than usual. ]

[coldseep]

( if only he were a strong-hearted otome heroine who would smack him into answering... alas, he is but a hwy )

Would she approve of this?

[calamitish]

[ again, a one word answer: ]

No.

[coldseep]

( Hoh. )

Is the end result of this that important to you?

[calamitish]

I'll give you this one because it's basically a gimme, but those answers are worth way more than a pear and a cup of spirits.

Yes.

[coldseep]

I figured.

( Yes it was a gimme, but as Ish has probably realized, Hwylryn is not particularly efficient - he is conversational.

And this is a conversation, of sorts. )

I did have something I wanted to trade for.

[calamitish]

Oh? Then go ahead.

[ he drops the curtness and adopts his previous cadence like donning a glove. ]

[coldseep]

There's someone from my home. Akira. I just wanted to know he hasn't been pulled in to participate. And that he won't be.

( guy who wants to escape the cycle of love has resigned to the fact that he's still stuck in it until he's released from life's grip )

[calamitish]

And what do I get? No turning the question back on me, either.

[coldseep]

Oh? And here I'd thought you'd set the terms. You're the one with all the power, and we don't have much to trade, right?

[calamitish]

There's really not much I want on a concrete scale, aside from what I'm already working towards. Are their things I like? Sure. But commanding people what to do is boring. It's far more interesting to see what they'll do of their own accord when they're not worried about what anyone thinks of them, or when they're willing to put forward part of themselves in pursuit of desire.

[ did you miss him being wordy. ]

[coldseep]

( making up for his lack of word count in those three one word tags )

You know, you're pretty fun to talk to.

( He figured that might have been it, but - here we are, conversational. It took him however many comments to bring up the trade, and he's not about to improve his pace. )

Mmmm . . .

( He considers this for a moment, combing through what he has, and what he can let go.

Finally, he sets down his glass and brings up his wrist with the bracelet. He taps the gemstone. )

This can still be ground into poison, right?

( He's not trading this but he'll be able to contextualize it better if he has a sense of whether it still has its non-magical properties or not. )

[calamitish]

[ tilting his head. he assumes that hwylyrn already knows he wouldn't want a bracelet, so he continues. ]

I assume so. I'm not any kind of healer in the proper sense of the word, but your clothes came with you as is. [ accessories are part of an outfit, it is written. ]