[Voice]

[dissonates]

[There's a brief shuffle, and a strained gasp, before a voice speaks up. Someone's back from a little excursion with John. He doesn't have the energy to lock it.]

...Guy?

Some... help.

Comments

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

[A quiet taptaptap on the door.]

[Action]

[dissonates]

[...ahabuhwha? ...Oh, the door.] What?

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

[Not opening it until he's sure it's okay.]

Um, I brought you your chocolate and cherries...

[Action]

[dissonates]

[...Oh, Emil. Asch shifts his body until he's sitting up properly.] It's fine, you can come in.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

[And now a blond antenna pokes around the door just to be sure.]

[Action]

[dissonates]

[Dammit Emil, stop being such a chickenshit.]

What are you waiting for?

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

[Eep.]

H-here they are!

[He'll just be scrambling in and bringing them over to the bedside table now, being careful not to drop anything on his way over.]

[Action]

[dissonates]

[Sigh. He really is such a spazz.]

Will you relax? I'm not going to eat you.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

I know, but I said some dumb things before and I didn't want you getting angry at me again.

[Action]

[dissonates]

[...Well, alright, he has a point there.]

I wouldn't get angry if you'd stand up for yourself. You have to learn somehow.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

But standing up for myself makes people angry with me too sometimes.

[Action]

[dissonates]

Well tell them to go to hell. It's all about free will, Emil- you can't just let people treat you however they want if you don't want them to.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

"Are you a man or are you a dog"...

[Action]

[dissonates]

[Asch takes an educated guess with that one.]

...Richter said that?

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

Yeah. He said that to me when we first met.

[Action]

[dissonates]

You're not an animal, Emil. No one can bully you unless you let them.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

Unless I let them...

[Action]

[dissonates]

...Just think about it. You're strong enough to hold your own now.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

[He clenches his fists slightly.]

So... you're saying I let the entire town treat me like I was some kind of monster? That I let my aunt and uncle do what they did to me?

[Action]

[dissonates]

[Asch looks away at that. He can't answer the way he'd like to, because the circumstances just aren't the same. And he really doesn't feel like yelling at Emil again.]

...They're at fault, too. But it's still your choice of how to deal with it.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

I wouldn't have stayed if I had anywhere else to go, but I didn't have a choice.

[Action]

[dissonates]

There's always a choice. Even dogs know how to run away.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

But where could I have gone? They were my only family.

[Action]

[dissonates]

Anywhere could've been better, if you were being treated that badly.

[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

... then I really would've been alone.