[Video]

[whatwas]

[The PCD clacks and the view shakes a bit, but finally centers on Horst's happy face. He's up on a roof, with four bottles of liquor and a chair.]

Right, you bunch of nutters, I'm going to sit up here and watch you all run about.

Tyki, you want a drink? I'm up here in the sane corner of the world.

Comments

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

You have a difficult time with your own head, don't you?

[He doesn't expect an answer--not a truthful one, anyway. And he doesn't want to dig any deeper.

It does complicate the idea of going back to Kurotsuchi, though.]

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

Not at all.

[A lie, and not even a very good one, for all that it would've once been true.]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[He laughed, and shook his head]

You are a terrible actor.

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

[Twitch.]

I don't need to be, I'm a scientist.

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

A scientist needs to know his own mind or his results become biased and therefore worthless. Believe me.

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

I'm aware of bias. And I'm not studying myself, so it doesn't matter.

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

No, but you're studying something that--

Never mind. Never mind, I don't care.

Cheers.

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

[Finally sighs at that, but shakes his head, drinking a bit more.]

So what did happen with you and Yuca?

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[A muscle twitches in his jaw. He soothes it with whiskey.]

Which time?

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

[This was all probably a bad idea, but-]

Start at the beginning, then.

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[He stares at the silent PCD on his lap, at his bottle, at the city.]

I don't know what you want me to say. Which...which story am I telling you?

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

Whichever you feel like telling.

[Doesn't particularly care either way, but it was something else to concentrate on, drinking again without trying to taste it.]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

...You start, then.

[Yuca is a touchy subject for Horst--he challenges a lot of ideas Horst had about himself and he doesn't like thinking about it. Something they have in common, apparently.]

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

What do you mean, I never said I was telling anything.

[Automatically defensive, though he would've appreciated that it was a subject that neither of them liked working through.]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[It only confirms the suspicion further, and he grunts.]

How long have you not wanted to think about him?

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

[Almost protests that, but he doesn't have a penchant for honesty so much as a lack of most filters.

That, and he's a terrible liar.]

A while. A few months, I suppose.

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

Hm.

[What else can he say? So he just watches the city and tries not to think about this, either.

God, he misses Merlin now.]

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

[Doesn't mind the lack of questions, at least, and stares sort of blankly out at the city himself.

If this was what being sociable was like, it was a very strange experience.]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[Of course, Horst would've argued that being sociable was easier when it wasn't done with someone interested in the same person you were.

Without a word, he passed Kurotsuchi another bottle.]

Does he know?

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

[He finished the first without noticing. Strange; he was usually never this careless. But Kurotsuchi usually didn't drink either, and at one point he hadn't been as fatalistic.

So he takes the bottle, though spares Horst a suspicious look at the question.]

Know what?

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[He reflects this is like a conversation with Johannes. ...No, Johannes is still more difficult.]

You know what.

Does he know why you don't want to think about him?

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

I don't.

[A bit confused, honestly.]

And no. Why? [Mostly because he doesn't know himself.]

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

[He looks at him again, and frowns]

What is it that bothers you about.... Why can't you talk about him?

[law-of-reason.livejournal.com]

[Stares at him a bit, before frowning back, still speaking a bit defensively.]

It's complicated. I don't know- it hardly matters, doesn't it?

[ahandsomedevil.livejournal.com]

Yes.

I'll answer that question you asked if you answer this, fair enough?