Sage Family Matters [Closed]

[strokeofgenis]

Characters: Genis, Raine (perhaps Solomon later?)
Date: 9 February
Location: Raine's room @ The Midnight Hotel
Situation: A "nice" homecoming of sibling "fluff," wherein Genis says hello to Raine, and Raine teaches Genis all about the horrors of Tu Vishan. It'll be great.
Warnings: None for now, though relationship discussions may happen at some point?

After the help of several individuals, Genis had finally managed to make his way from the Keeliai University in the centre of the shell to the Midnight Hotel and, ultimately, to Raine's room.  Already, from what little he'd learned from both the kedan and from the foreigners, Genis... wasn't going to like this place. Asking questions of the kedan had gotten him some dark looks, and while it had netted a few cryptic answers, the only real answer he had received was that he wasn't exactly welcome in this town.  Genis wasn't usually accustomed to biting his tongue, but he had done so slightly better than usual, which is to say that every idea that entered into his head wasn't directly said.  But despite this, Genis was doing his best to behave.

Genis trudges up the stairs to the third floor and then immediately finds Room Eleven on the right, which is where he had heard that Raine was staying.  With his escort to the Hotel gone, he's all alone for the second time since coming here, and it's an odd feeling being separated from everyone he remembers.  The last time that had happened was on Derris-Kharlan when they all had been separated just before the final fight with Mithos.  It is made all the more discomfiting due to the sudden new world that he had been thrust into.  That couldn't be helped though, and so... he stands in front of the door, just a little out of sorts, hesitating to knock.

But his hesitation doesn't last long.  He clutches his kendama forcefully, his knuckles white as he grips it.  Once he finally makes up his mind, he knocks loudly at the door, the sound of his knuckles on the wooden frame echoing through the halls.  He's not certain if Raine will be in--she could be at the clinic, of course--but he's really really hoping that she's there... if only so that he doesn't have to face the possibility of being lost in this strange new world alone.
 

Comments

[strokeofgenis]

Raine's feeble protest falls on deaf ears. Right now, it just isn't... something Genis wanted to deal with. Genis is more or less heads down, not looking up at either of the two adults. It's ironic that Genis is just drowning with internal inconsistency when he practically lambasted the whole of the shell for suffering the same affliction. All he wants is out, out of the room, out from the stifling walls, out where he can just curl up into a ball in a corner with his kendama to help ease the pain.

Solomon's offer, however, doesn't quite have the same effect. He looks up briefly, though he doesn't give him a full gaze; he's only looking at him from the corner of his eye. But before he can even reply, Solomon is already out the door, leaving him and Raine alone. But it doesn't help the environs at all; it's still just like that trap he fell into up on Derris-Kharlan. But nonetheless, Genis pauses for just a moment, not reaching for the door.

Without turning back to Raine, he just just stands there, head down. "He can do whatever he wants, but I can't stay here. I can't be here right now. I swear I'll burn the door down if I have to."

Yes, she's his sister, and he still does care, but he just can't. He just can't.

[ruinsprofessor]

Solomon's choice was probably the wiser one, and she makes a note to thank him for it later. Raine takes a deep, purposeful breath, and folds her arms across her chest, watching her brother. She knows that set to his shoulders; that's not something worth contesting. "All right," she says, back to something approximating cool and even. "You shouldn't be alone in Keeliai right now, however, especially if your magic hasn't returned. Either I'm coming with you, or you should keep to the Hotel. I can arrange a place for you to stay with Anton, if you like."

Does he know the Hotel rules? That's another thing to make sure of, but right now Raine isn't sure he'll listen to her on much, if anything. Instead she presses her lips together, waits there. She just wants him safe; he has to know that much.

[strokeofgenis]

Genis knows the Hotel rules, and while there is a little vagueness about exactly the strict letter of the law about violence, no one ever mentioned burning doors, just burning harming the constituents of the Hotel. But he knows Raine well enough that she wouldn't let it come to that. Yes, there were times when Genis needed to be corrected sooner than later, but there were other times when Genis' anger wouldn't be cooled that easily. This is, unfortunately, the latter case, and Raine thankfully knew as much.

As upset over everything as Genis is, he knows deep down that Raine is right. He knows just from the experiences of the last few hours that Keeliai isn't safe. As big as he wanted to seem some days, there's something of a terror out there with the huge glut of people that could conceivably have it out for him. And he is... weak, deep down. He masks it well, but he knows, and it gnaws at him. No, she's right. She's looking out for him. She's there to help him. Raine is still his sister.

But she's a sister that's just unfamiliar enough to keep the hair at the back of his neck tingling.

"Fine," he says. It's a slightly softer voice that he uses now, but he's not back to the openly familiar self that he was just minutes ago. "I won't leave the Hotel for now. But whatever you want to do is fine."

[ruinsprofessor]

"Thank you," Raine says, and there's a hint of relief in the previously neutral tone. The fact that her brother will not be wandering the city disempowered until all hours of the night is a greatly reassuring one, even with the evident strain. "I won't stop you."

He knows where to find her, now, if and when he wants. Raine is reasonably sure Genis will settle down eventually, but... until then, she's going to worry about him. She still doesn't understand exactly why he'd react like this -- has she changed so much? -- but when he's cooled down, they'll sort it out. Raine settles back against the desk in her initial position, and makes no move to follow, though it's difficult.

[strokeofgenis]

It's perhaps best that Raine isn't going to follow Genis out the door. Even if she had, Genis would have been either shockingly quiet or boisterously upset, and even he didn't know which it would have been. But with the headache starting to fall down upon him, perhaps it's best to actually not just bypass what's left of the Welcome Centre downstairs and actually talk things over with the management of the hotel.

Genis reaches for the door and opens it, but before taking his leave, he does look back. There's a solemn look in Genis' eyes as he looks at Raine. He lingers for a few seconds, obviously touched and obviously in great need and want, but eventually his fist tightens around his kendama. It's space and solitude he wants; he needs focus, and everything in this room is just chaos.

He turns away from Raine and closes the door behind him and heads down to the common area on the second floor. He doesn't even want to deal with the rest of humanity right now. He doesn't even want to deal with finding his own room. He just wants to be alone and to shut the world out.