deercountry | 🦅 🦅 🦅

[ a simple observation, but one that has falco’s chest warm and fluttery with satisfaction that his efforts have been acknowledged. it doesn’t broaden his smile, per se, falco isn’t much sunshine, but you can tell in the way he takes a seat, prepares the bag open and off his shoulders and his waiting glance that he’s glad to do more. he’s helpful this way.

he’s careful not to disturb the mouse omen either, doing cute mouse things— perle herself has fluffed up her plumage and hopped onto the arm of the tattered couch to give her boy room to move freely. ]

Not far, [ he considers where he lives, ] I’m staying in Crenshaw.

[ he’s ready to get started, but since they’re on the topic— ]

Where’re you staying?

Nowhere specific yet.

[Once the fire is lit Paul comes to sit on the couch nearby, his mouse hopping up onto the opposite armrest. Paul looks between the two omens, thoughtful, and then bends over to roll up his left pant leg and unwind the hasty bandage over his calf.

It's not awful. The wounds were clean and healing well, so the popped stitches released mostly clean blood. The teeth of the bear trap had been slowed and blunted by his shield, so there's not as much bruising and crush damage as there should have been. It's still ugly, but it's not going to be difficult to restitch the two of the five that had opened. He sits up and nods to Falco - he can go ahead.]

I haven't decided where I want to. I'm new here. Are you?

[ it hadn’t been the worst of lacerations— but falco knew not to make faces, either way. his hands hover once the wound has been exposed, taking an amble look at what was missing and what was needed after carefully aiding in undoing the initial bandages keeping what was left of the stitches safe (and whatever was dribbling out could at least be soaked). first things was first: cleaning, so falco gets right to separating the materials he needs to begin. and begin he does, not overly gentle, but firm enough to remove any excess dirt or dried blood, and mindful of any sensitive bits. a healthy would was a lively one, and he’s glad that this was at least headed in the right direction. ]

It’s been a little over a month for me. [ he supposes he could be new— not brand new, but fresh compared to their long standing veterans who crossed over from deerington. ] I haven’t been staying in one place for too long, either— I check on a few people.

[ there was erwin, but then there was also rose, who he can’t help but to visit and stay with from time to time! the other children, too. paul might as well be one of them, now. ]

Did you get this . . . Here?

[ he asks treading carefully, because the wound was in fact fresh. he’d almost been expecting a battle scar, of sorts. ]

I did. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I stepped in a trap.

[That the trap was set deliberately for people isn't a necessary part of the explanation. There's mild discomfort as Falco works on his injuries, but he seems to have a practiced hand. Paul leans over slightly to watch, humming quiet approval at what he sees.

It helps masks his uneasiness at his growing sense that he should be doing something else beyond this. He thinks back, rifling through his own memories for a comparable moment.]

...do you want to talk about what happened back there? You don't have to, but I'm a good listener.

[ he was no doctor or nurse, but it was clear falco was given at least a basic sense of first aid. without the chaotic battle sounds flinging over their heads, he was also allowed the luxury to take his time and do a better job instead of rushing bandages or a splint. perhaps what added to his acceptable skill was the care that came from the heart— he really did want to do the best he could to make it better, and that showed, right along with the boy looking up at the sound given, and spreading a quick and meek smile whilst returning to his cleaning and applying natural mixes made from the base of vileblood.

they were lucky it wasn’t festering, and he may be mildly nervous of hurting him with the stitches— but they’re only two. he’ll do what he can, and properly prepares a needle and thread. ]

I don’t mind— and you were there, so, [ he nods and pricks the first edge of skin, and believes paul had the right to know. hopefully the numbing property rubbed moments earlier helps in dulling the entry and exit. but he pauses and glances back and forth to the wound and paul just in case it wasn’t. ] that was my final exam. It was a war that went on for four years at our borders.

[ he seems . . . impartial and hardly combative, though, about the sides that waged against each other, even if he was only on one of them. ]

Marley’s military power was weakened four years ago, so they decided to take advantage of the gap and attack— to defend home from expansion. It worked for a while.

[There's no distress on Paul's face, and he nods for Falco to continue his work - the clean piercing of a needle is more than bearable, especially with the prior treatment.

'Final exam' punctures more deeply anyway. He knits his fingers together and braces his elbows on his knees, tilting his head as he listens to the rest. It fits with what he saw, an army broken even as it struggled to fight on. Territorial overreach is a familiar enough story. He can fit it all into a framework that makes a certain kind of brutal sense.]

And then it didn't?

[No judgment in his soft voice, of the events or Falco's matter of fact tone. His mouse hops down from the couch and settles on all fours near where Falco is working, curling her long tail around herself. Paul keeps his leg almost perfectly still for Falco to continue his stitching and his story.]

[ can you believe it? he’s nearly finished his first. not the most beautiful, even though there wasn’t much to actually make neat, but it seemed functional to what it was supposed to do. as falco readies the next, perle preens her breast feathers. he nods at the correct continuation, though. ]

The side I was on, Marley . . . They may have been weakened, but they still have power the Mid-East doesn’t. [ a pinch; he’s got it in, pulls the thread to the knotted bud, ] You didn’t see it, [ and he may be implying that it was for the best, ] but they use Titans.

That’s what the exam was for— for rites to be a Warrior. My older brother was one, I was just a candidate.

[ just, even though it was a title only a handful would achieve. he didn’t care for it, didn’t like it or give it the patriotic flare everyone else did. it was just— oppression and manipulation, all the same. ]

Edited 2022-01-04 13:58 (UTC)

[The falcon catches Paul's eye again. She's the tiniest he's ever seen, even smaller than the desert hawks of Arrakis, but still a bird of prey. Paul wonders what it means that she's connected to this diligent, careful boy. He keeps breathing through the pinching tug of the stitches, humming softly at a sensitive spot here or there.]

So you were training to pilot a Titan? Operate it?

[He recognizes the way the word is stressed as referring to something specific, but he can't quite place the meaning by context. Whatever it is, it seems connected to the distant way Falco keeps referring to what happened, as if he was as much an unhappy outsider to it as Paul was.]

[He leans to the side to peer down at his leg and adds softly:] That's a neat stitch. Good work.

[ yes, and yes to actually describing the titan more like a vessel that’s operated than turning into something— paul may hardly have a clue about where he’s treading, but falco is sure to enthusiastically nod to show him that he’s right on the money, and no one usually catches the mark so fast. what a lucky guy.

falco’s lips pull a little harder at the praise, proud and beginning to glow— not literally, of course! but it’s what’s he’s more suited for than what they saw earlier. if he ever had a chance to choose his own path, he’d want to be a nurse. not even a doctor— a nurse. ]

Thank you, sir. I’ll just clean around it again and wrap it up. [ more cotton balls are on the way! ] Are you military, too?

[ paul knew a little bit about him, and he’s sure piloting titans will come up again eventually— but he’d like to know more about paul, and adds, to support his reasoning: ]

You can think and move quick when it’s chaotic.

[It must touch a nerve, the talk of Titans, and why wouldn't it? Paul will let the subject drop, though he notes the contrast of the boy's pride at being praised for helping, and he doesn't care for this feeling, the one that keeps catching at his ribs and tightening his chest. It's not directed at Falco, but somehow past him, or around him, a sense of - he falls short again, uncertain.

So a change of topic, then. Paul considers his answer, rubbing a thumb over the backs of his knuckles.]

I was trained to be. My House - that's what we call our families, where I come from, although they're bigger than most families - had a standing army. The best in the empire.

[He doesn't sound proud either. Paul is quiet for another long moment after that.]

How old were you?

[ that was a different system— but not unheard of. the closest falco can bring to mind comparing paul’s household power was the tybur family— closely tied to the country’s military and a keeper of one of their greater powers: another titan. it all came back to that, and falco realizes this just after he accidentally (partially) diverged from his earlier mention. ]

When it started? Eight. I was in the Warrior program before that. [ eldian children could be taken as early as four or five. to marley, if they could at the very least hold a rifle, then they were able and trainable. whether they’d handle it or even survive the process was another story.

(partially true, too, that the topic of titans was mildly unsettling, but being distracted by being approved of his work also hadn’t helped— poor paul wants the thick juice). ]

I’m twelve, now. That’s when it ended. [ there’s no relief; they’d gotten out of one war and started another. he decides to add, belatedly: ] There’s a family back home that sounds like yours— They had a Titan, too.

[It isn't Falco's age, then and now, that truly horrifies Paul. It's the way he adds trivia after that for Paul's sake, a little fact extended to him in offering. The reflex to please, even here, and the implications of that, the implications of all of it -

Paul reaches out intending to rest his hand on Falco's shoulder, watching the boy's face carefully for his reaction. He had been hurried in the dream, but he has time here. He'd make time, if he had to.]

I'm sorry that happened to you.

[He's getting better at saying that, with how often he has lately, but he's never said it so softly.]

[ the caring hand on his shoulder did not weigh more than paul’s words. falco doesn’t remember the last time, or if someone’s ever expressed such a sentiment to him before. it startled him, but rapidly mellows at the features from the corners of his eyes down to his lips: so, so soft. he tried to divert, and even then, was met with the very human thing he’s always tried to give, because it was the right thing, of course— and because it was something he yearned for, too.

a common understanding of what that was, and what his feelings were. ]

. . . Thank you, Mister Paul.

[ he doesn’t feel right to brush it off with an it’s okay, because it wasn’t. it never sat well with him. finally, someone gets it. he feels like he’s found something that’s always been lost on time and history, or a cruel culture. that the thought would continue to normalize. ]

I hope I won’t have to keep feeling sorry, too.

[Paul's hand stays where it is, and he presses his thumb down gently, squeezes. He's never been shy of touch, only careful of who he shares it with, and Falco has slipped across that boundary line so softly Paul barely noticed him doing it.

There is out, and there is in. When Paul makes decisions about the distinction, he makes them wholly.]

So do I. [The words softly spoken.] Thank you for looking after me, Falco. I won't forget it.

Now that we're both all right, would you like to show me where you're staying? So I can visit, if you want me to.

[ ‼️

it’s good news after another. falco’s brows had began to raise with the curve of his smile at the pressure of a single thumb, and then completely off his face when the possibility of visits are mentioned. he doesn’t get too many. just a couple he can count on a finger or two, so each addition was a marvel. ]

Of course! If we come back from where we met, it’s not far either. [ he knew paul was jumping about in terms of homes, nomadic still, and falco hopped from some houses to others for the same reason (visits), but it’s nothing a quick talk beforehand that wouldn’t fix missing each other.

the boy returns his vials and rolls of gauze to his bag as diligently as he plucked them out, but was enthusiastic to help paul to his feet and scampers to the door. once it cracks open, perle immediately takes off ahead of them, to the open sky and into a burst of white smoke that drizzles back to the shoulders she came from. ] It’s this way!

Edited 2022-01-14 15:53 (UTC)

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