15 . JOHNUARY

[necrolord]

Who: John Gaius and company.
What: All around him, John's friends and loved ones begin to shed their skins. Also: Riteoir.
When: January
Where: Gaze and the new city.

Content Warnings: Tagged in headers as needed. Note all the usual warnings of this character.

Comments

[necrolord]

[ Well, here they go. He rallies, but only by rubbing at his brow. ]

I think we've covered that, locally speaking. I've met half the pantheon personally. [ Deadpan: ] We don't really get on.

[anbaric]

True, but acknowledging their existence isn't quite the same as believing in them.

[ at least, by asriel's definition there is enough of a distinction to matter. ]

I suppose I've never seen them as gods. They're like the angels — just another form of life.

1/2 again

[necrolord]

It's a difference of faith, right? We know that they have power... omniscience, to a degree... but worship, that's a personal choice. That bit gets tricky.

[ He splays his hands like a man bowing out of an argument, and tips another wry smile at Asriel. ]

Theology isn't my strong suit. As I've been told often and at length.

[ He says this like it's funny, because it is, considering. ]

[necrolord]

[ He does not expect the sudden jolt of punishment. It shows in him as a slight startle, and a dawning, terrible incredulity. ]

[anbaric]

[ whatever asriel was about to say is abruptly interrupted when he notices john's reaction. it's not hard to guess what might've set it off, given the personal reveals and leading questions. ]

... But that's not entirely true, is it?

[ he says this with a measure of sympathy, but mostly because he realises he's a dishonest person sitting in the same boat. ]

I suppose we've found the catch.

[necrolord]

Looks like it.

[ He sounds almost grimly resolute, and only a little scandalized that they keep finding new ways to fuck with him. ]

We could call it a complicated personal topic.

[anbaric]

Well, you're in good company there. It seems to have led you to the same conclusion, which is really what matters.

[ at least to asriel. ]

Most people handle it in less productive ways.

[ that could almost be a compliment if you squint, but he mostly appreciates john's contributions to his work. ]

[necrolord]

[ This is safe water so long as they're talking about squid overlords, but John isn't unaware of what he's being steered to. He's not in the mood; of all the people he could open up to about the pressures of the throne, Asriel does not seem the sympathetic type. It'd just be embarrassing, honestly. ]

Productive might be generous. I've gone up against a few directly: the Reckoning, Mariana. Didn't leave a scratch.

[ That's half-true, and so he corrects it: ]

The scratch I left was a hell of a lot smaller than I expected it to be.

[ If there's anything he can keep Asriel occupied with, here, it's business. ]

[anbaric]

[ well, it's working, but if john is having any doubts he cares more about that anyway. ]

No, I meant what I said.

[ he's certainly not sugarcoating things for anyone's benefit. ]

Don't get bogged down in the setbacks. You learn something even in failure. I spent my entire life working just to get to a place where I could think about facing my enemy directly.

[ here he can't help but laugh because asriel is at all times aware of their power gap. it would be impossible not to be, since the only thing he's certain about is that he has no idea exactly what john is capable of. that's a very different perspective. ]

You also went up against two of the most formidable Pthumerians in a contest of—... what? Power? Physical strength? The balance here is shifted in their favour, so the fact that you made a scratch at all is impressive. Imagine what you can do once we've levelled the playing field.

[necrolord]

[ John does not generally get pep talks about killing gods. Throwing hands with the Pthumerians has been, on the whole, an everyone disliked that kind of activity. Only Chara has tried to hype him up about a fresh round in that ring, and every time John looks at that black-eyed fucked-up too-old revenant, he feels like he needs to go lie down.

There's a horrible sense of disconnect, as Asriel offers him a sharp laugh and a fierce smile. John feels it again, here and now: the weight of resignation is crushing. But what else does he have going for him, right? What's he going to do instead?

Help her, Annabel said, before the ocean swept her back again. It feels like no time since then, and it feels like a thousand years. That means prying the current powers out of the throne, right? One shitty god to another. At least there's an end goal to that. A promise of morning.

John scrubs a hand back through his hair, exhales a heavy breath, and nods agreement. ]

Physical strength might be stretching it... You don't want to see me in a literal fistfight. But if you can bridge that gap? That's when it'll get interesting.

[anbaric]

It is a collaborative effort, is it not?

[ there is plenty asriel will take credit for without discounting john's contributions to the work, and if they're going to fuss about semantics, he'll stick to this. ]

When I understood Dust, I could break something up into particles and put it back together again. [ a pause. ] Or not. Everything has a weakness; the answer will come.

[ sure, he had to die to secure the last win, but he has even more reasons to believe in their inevitable victory this time. he was handed an extremely potent and dangerous weapon in blood magic. ]

But there's no need to belabour the point. I believe it's your turn to change the subject anyway.