Fire Emblem On Forums: Mortal Transgressions (IC)

[Chevaleresse]

"You're certainly taking the goodwill of those around you for granted! You insult me, you insult Shin, you insult Lizaveta, but somehow you expect me to believe you're 'just telling the truth?' You're a sad, angry little man who refuses to accept that he's not any better than anyone else. You accuse me of being blind but you can't even take a moment to consider that maybe everyone here has their own story. As soon as someone confronts you with that you withdraw into your pathetic shell and insult anyone who says there's more to the world than what you can see through the cracks, yet you claim that this gives you a better view than everyone else. No, I will not excuse you, because your behavior is inexcusable. How dare you act like you're in the right?"

[Aurorix]

Baldur just starred in silence back at Justine. He didn't know what to say back, how does one respond to that? He was the one actually in the shell? His confusion was plastered on his slightly gaping face. She maybe right... in a way about withdrawing himself. Still it doesn't change how he feels.  "Look, never did I once say I was better than anyone else. So tell me when exactly did you hear me say that? Is speaking my mind suddenly a great sin now?"

[Chevaleresse]

"You haven't said it, yet you keep looking for reasons to put everyone else down. It's what you refuse to say. You won't apologize to me, won't apologize to Lizaveta or Shin - as if you have some kind of right to say and do these kinds of things. Like you're above doing so, like you're better than us. You didn't have to say it; you've made it abundantly clear without doing so." She crossed her arms. "If you don't want people to assume you think that way, then perhaps you should act like you don't."

[Aurorix]

"Oh, so you just don't want me to speak my mind? Fair enough. I can do that if you can limit your uncouth speech. Also I do plan to apologize to Liz for harming her earlier, probably sometime tomorrow. As for Shin, until he starts shaping up I have no plans to apologize to him. As for being better than everyone, I know for a fact I'm probably the worst member of our group so you don't have to worry about that. If that's all of your concerns can I please go now?" He put his left hand on his hip.

[Chevaleresse]

Justine rolled her eyes.

"There's just no getting to you, is there? I'm not limiting anything about myself because you think you know how a woman should and shouldn't speak. I'll simply be less polite the next time you decide to insult me." She turned away from Baldur with a dismissive gesture of her hand and began to head out of the room, towards the exit of the building.

[Shauntaro]

Upon finishing dinner, Shin immediately left for his room, shut the door and hoped to whatever force that's out there to allow him to close his eyes and end the day, despite normally being averse to sleeping. Maybe a reset of sorts would be what he needed the most. He took off his equipment and set them on the empty bed-frame, and collapsed onto the mattress he'd move onto the floor.

He lay there...

..for what felt like an hour, maybe even more.

But it seems like every force was intent on keeping him from escaping the thoughts plaguing his head. He could only stare at the ceiling as the calm moonlight radiated through his window, calmness he so desperately wanted. But all that was coming to him we're the muffled yelling from the outside. It was faint, but pleasant it was not.

..he somehow felt like he had a hand in that as well.

This long day seemed to have no intention of ending, it seems.

[RedMageCole]

Arthur and Simeon just... watched as the whole fiasco happened, honestly somewhat too aghast to respond. As Justine walked off, Arthur without a word got up and headed after her, with Simeon crossing his arms and simply thinking to himself. He briefly looks over at Baldur for a second, but goes back to thinking to himself.

 

...

 

Arthur followed Justine outside, trying to approach the subject as gently as he could; there was a noticeable softened tone to his voice as he approached, knowing he had also similarly insulted Justine... yet he didn't think he was nearly that aggressive.

 

"Justine... I know I am perhaps not exactly close to the first person you'd confide in, but... his behavior toward you was unreasonable. People should always have an open mind to others... that's something I've been wanting to learn well myself."

[Chevaleresse]

The dancer sighed, not quite turning to face Arthur just yet. She wasn't sure what she was planning on doing when she got outside, anyway.

"I thought he was. I had hoped that we could come to some kind of mutual understanding, but words don't seem to have any effect on him. I thought. . . I thought better of him. Of Virtuous." She was quiet for a moment before finally turning about. "If nothing else, you've at least admitted you have a fault, and apologized. It would be silly for me to hold it against you." Justine shook her head. "You know, I joined Virtuous in part so I could be who I believed I was, without having to worry about being judged or outcast for the way I speak, or the way I act." 

[Powder Miner]

Lizaveta’s eyebrows raised into her hairline at Mim’s almost sheepish admission that her father would have Fey killed if she abandoned the fluffy girl. Well, that changed her mental estimation of Mim’s class from “small merchantry” just to “merchantry”, and that would change her tactics when she talked to Mim about the Manifesto of the Peasantry,  which she of course eventually would, though not right now.

 

Still, Lizaveta recovered from her surprise there relatively quickly, and responded to the rest of what Mim had said.

“Ahah, well, it can seem scary but I wouldn’t worry! Aside from, apparently, the obvious exception, people in Virtuous are generally pretty open! Ferdiad and Kane especially. To be honest, I’m kind of glad to have all of you guys joining too, it lets me feel like the lone new girl a bit less to now have been here longer than several people, heheh. I’m looking forward to meeting you all, though.”

Though maybe less so for Crimson.

[Aurorix]

Baldur let out a deep sigh, he had completely forgot that Simeon and Arthur were both still here. The Prince had already run off which left left him alone with Simeon,  "I'm... sorry you had to see that..." The butler spoke in embarrassment,  "Hey Simeon, if you don't mind me asking what do you think of me? Please, don't be afraid to be honest with me."

[Swordstar]

"Oh good! Yes, I'm excited about meeting everyone, it seems like they all want to make friends for the most part."

 

She flopped down on the ground, aware of the yelling below and trying to ignore it.

 

"I do want to know more about the goals of this group though. I mean... I know vaguely. But I was never too involved with politics back home. With it being a kingdom and all, there wasn't much reason to. We were much more focused on our work. So while we heard of Virtuous once or twice, it wasn't something big."

[RedMageCole]

Arthur patiently listened to Justine's words. He never acted like it, but he could be a very patient and understanding listener when he was able to. He wasn't always able to listen, of course... but in this case, he felt able to listen and understand.

 

"...And you should be able to be who you want to be. It doesn't bring others great harm, so why should it be any concern to anyone what you act like? You have a good aura around you, one that helps others to be motivated... so what if things you say bother him? That should be something he needs to work out." Arthur paused, thinking to Baldur's kindness to him, despite everything that happened. "...and for everyone's sake, including his own sake, I hope he does. Such anger is damaging to everyone and oneself... I should know that better than anyone as the-" A sudden stop to Arthur's words, as he awkwardly looks away for a brief moment to collect himself and continue. "...one of the angriest people of this group. And now that I was able to open my eyes to you and the rest of this group... I..."

 

Another awkward pause from Arthur.

 

"I like having... people who are willing to talk to me, and I don't want to see any of you get hurt."

 

---

 

Simeon mumbled to himself awkwardly after Baldur spoke, but shook his head and looked up at him.

 

"Tis alright, but it should be somethin' you should strive to work on in the near future. I ain't gonna do ye any disservice, nor am I gonna skimp on your request... but ye should work on it. In all my years of smithin', you learn a few things of life... one of 'em is to treat a lady with respect. Sometimes she may not respect ye, and that's alright... but ye wanna give 'er the benefit of the doubt when ye can. I won't pretend to know her or ye more than either of ye do, but if she wants to act in a manner that may seem unpleasant to ye, ye should not only let 'er as long as it ain't botherin' anyone, but also not let it judge yer entire perception of her. She's quite a nice lass to talk to; very passionate and willin' to talk yer ear off if ye let 'er. If ye don't wanna interact positively with her, that's alright, nobody's gotta like everyone... just don't put 'er down because ye don't wanna."

[Powder Miner]

A slight twisting of Lizaveta’s mouth perhaps gave away what she thought of the “with it being a kingdom and all” bit of things, but she responded nonetheless, more seriously now.

“Well, I’ve got my own political reasons. But I think that Virtuous as a whole is kind of trying to do two things. The first is that there’s a lot of tensions Perus has been whipping up, especially with Ria and Vini (that’s where I’m from) and we’re messing with the people warmongering in order to stop the whole world from erupting in war! The second thing we do is to do the right thing, and stand up for people who can’t themselves. That’s why I’m here, and that’s... well, it’s what the prison break thing was SUPPOSED to be but it did seem like you guys had that pretty well in hand, honestly. I think we’re lucky almost all of you joined anyway.”

[Swordstar]

"Well good. That sounds like something I can get behind. I don't want Ria getting involved with any sort of war..."

 

She frowned, thinking about Crimson. His father... He had to be involved in all of this. No wonder Crimson was getting involved in the group. It was an easy way to get back at his dad... Still, it couldn't be easy, could it? Crimson getting involved in all of this. Well, it was his place to worry about, not hers. He knew what he was doing, being a prince and all.

 

"I'm glad that you found a group to support your beliefs. And, I have to say, we did appreciate the help. As much as we were doing well, it was always nice to have support. Besides, I'd rather have met you than not, so it all worked out in the end, right? It was something good for both of us in the end."

[Powder Miner]

“Yeah! The prison break was my second operation with Virtuous, first if you count the fight we got in along the way as the same. I was really excited for it from the start, honestly. Perus fucks over a lot of people who don’t deserve it, especially in those prisons and— well... I’m ranting to you and you were there. Erm. But... yeah! I genuinely feel good about helping break that place open.”

[Aurorix]

"It's not that I don't like or respect her that I said what I said. It's precisely because I respect her as a team mate that I wanted to let her know so she could change. Not only does annoy me personally but I was taught that one should never talk in that manor. If one does it destroy's their character and I've seen too many good people get defamed and shunned for it. I just.. don't want that to happen to anyone in our group. Though it seems I'm just doing more harm than good..." He lets out a sigh,  "I suppose I should just buy a shovel to help dig my grave."

[Swordstar]

"Well you're free to rant if you want! I like hearing about what people are passionate about, just like I enjoy talking about the things I care about! If you have something that's important to you, you shouldn't apologize for it. That's the way I see it at least. Well... Unless you're being rude about it. But that's a more general thing. Which is why I was glad to see Crimson apologize to Justine. He's a good guy, he just..." 

 

She sighed.

 

"Well, I think he has a lot of baggage. He seems so sweet around me and then he just loses it around the next person. Hopefully being in the group will be good for him... But yes. Never apologize for the things you're passionate about!"

[rokubiraijuu]

By the time he's satisfied with his repairs, it's getting close to the time for lights out. Picking himself off the floor, he stretches and arranges his things before heading out to the spare linen closet — which was quite sparing, at the moment — to gather a few extra supplies. He ought to make sure everyone else is properly settled and not lacking anything important. Some things, unfortunately, would have to wait until they purchased more supplies tomorrow, but it would be wise to at least get an idea of what everyone wanted.

 

The first door he stops by is Shin's; he doesn't recall if there had been a consensus on whether he would be sharing his room with anyone, but regardless, he knocks gently and waits just outside.

 

"Shin? Pardon the intrusion. I'm merely making sure everyone is doing all right. Is there anything you require?"

[Chevaleresse]

Justine smiled.

"I appreciate that, Arthur." She sighed slightly, then shook her head. "I shouldn't waste my time on people who want to judge me for petty things like the kinds of jokes I make. I hope he learns to look deeper than that, eventually." She walked slightly closer to the man. "And. . . If you need to talk, my ears and mind are always open." She paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face. After a moment, she made her decision; she'd never been one to play it safe, after all. "I have been wondering, though. . . what exactly about what I said earlier struck so deeply? If you feel you can speak of it, of course."

[RedMageCole]

Simeon nods solemnly, patiently listening to all that Baldur said.

 

"Mmm... ye, bein' brought up like that, it's understandable ye'd wanna teach similarly to the ones ye care about... but ultimately she is an adult, and she's forged 'er own path in life, and knows the consequences of it. Either way... ye're all criminals, ain'tcha? What's wrong with havin' a little fun with yer personality? We're all gonna be goin' to jail if we get caught, why not live it up a little?"

 

Simeon gives himself a chuckle.

 

"That's just one way of seein' it. But don't say anythin' about diggin' yer own grave; havin' some shame is good, but diggin' yer own grave before ye're even dead is a silly proposition. Nah... Instead, find somethin' to try to make up for it. Self-searchin', cookin' breakfast, whatever ye find best. Myself... I've upset my fair share of people I care about, and I'd always build somethin' nice. Somethin' that takes me a while to make, to show I am genuine and serious about makin' up for what I did. As for ye... maybe ye don't wanna make up for anythin', which for now is fine, but somewhere down the line ye might wanna consider it... and try to avoid repeating the mistakes of the present."

 

---

 

Arthur gave a slow nod to Justine, then whispered a bit of thanks when she slowly approached and offer her own ears. He stood in silence for a little until Justine's question hit him; he immediately recoiled just a tad, but he didn't go into any fits of anger, but rather looked nervous.

 

"P... perhaps I should get it out. It's only fair that you know..."

 

"...There was... a girl... who..."

 

Arthur started to shake all over, similarly to how his rage built up before, but rather than angry, he just seemed frustrated. Anxious, even. Even somewhat terrified as he looked at the ground, his fists balling up.

 

"We... could have had... everything... but then that bastard... I... Rose, I'm so sorry... I'm sorry, I'm such a..."

 

Arthur let out a short gasp, as if he was just being brought back to reality, being pulled up for a breath of air after being on the verge of drowning to death. A small pool of tears start to form around the bottoms of his eyes.

 

"I can't... I can't, I'm sorry..." Though his words were as quiet as before, it was clear he was addressing Justine this time as he briefly looked up at her before looking back down.

[ElfCollaborator]

Lenore thinks for a minute, before shaking her head at her roommate.

 

"I prefer to work, occupy my hands. Idle hands do the devil's work, so they say, and it keeps me focused."

[Powder Miner]

Lizaveta frowned slightly; she’d only been around Crimson when he was being INCREDIBLY angry. But it was probably best not to argue with Mim on that.

“Well... if you don’t mind... I have done a lot of studying about them in the last couple of years, and they’re really horrible. They’ve basically been sucking the money and resources out of the rest of the world for their benefit, and whenever somebody gets in the way of the personal wealth and power of one of their bigger figures, even a little bit, poof, just like that they kill them or jail them and THEN kill them. There’s a lot of people who are in trouble like that, and I want to help as many of them as I can! This is only the start!”

 

[Chevaleresse]

"Oh, Arthur. . ." She hadn't been sure what to expect, but nearly bursting into tears hadn't been what she expected from him. Though he had already shown a surprising amount of depth. . . Still, that wasn't worth pondering at the moment. Without hesitating, she closed the rest of the distance between the two of them and pulled Crimson into a tight hug. "You don't need to. Not until you're ready. I understand." 

[Swordstar]

Mim smiled.

 

"That's awesome. It's really cool to hear how much you want to help people! I think anyone that's willing to stand up for the weaker people who can't do it themselves is a great. It's nice to see that we ended up with a good group of people. Well, at least a mostly good group..."

 

She trailed off awkwardly, staring down at the ground and then quickly changed the subject.

 

"Speaking of good people, do you want to help me help Shin? I feel like... Well, I feel like some people have obviously accepted his current situation, including himself. And I want to try and push him to take care of himself. I think he can do it, he just needs support!"

[Twinwolf]

Cecily... well, she was, to put it lightly, furious with Baldur. For... well, just about everything, but particularly what had happened with him and Justine. The only reason she didn't go and give him a piece of her mind was that she was honestly unsure she'd be able to restrain herself from feeding him to Myrdwyn - so she'd give some time to cool off before she did that, at least so the wounds wouldn't be physical ones. 

 

Instead, Cecily went up to the top floor to let herself cool a bit, running into Kane while he was up there. 

 

"Oh, hey. You need help with anything?"