video; un: maine

[slaughterous]

[ The video opens on a close-up of a truly kick-ass vehicle. It's tough! It's rugged! It's got hooks on the front that look like tusks! Truly, this is one bad-ass—

The video zooms out. The vehicle is tiny. A child could ride in it, maybe. But certainly not an adult.

An extremely gruff male voice mutters, ]

What the fuck.

[ Then a woman's laughter rises in the background. "What, Maine, compensating for something?"

The man grumbles, and the feed clicks off. ]

Comments

[castaside]

[ Normally he prefers to relay this information himself, and only to a very select group of people, so he's making all sorts of exceptions, here. ]

Sure.

[ How does he filter... Macaque smiles. ] Centuries and centuries of practice. And focus. And there are times when I can't, so coping mechanisms. Heartbeats help.

You don't really seem like the yelling kind, but don't fire that gun if I'm too close unless it's really an emergency, it'll knock me for one.

[slaughterous]

[ Speaking of heartbeats: Maine's has calmed right down after that adrenaline spike, now beating strong and steady. (Very strong. Like, damn. This guy is healthy as fuck.)

Maine nods; he won't fire a weapon unless necessary. One more reason to get a warning before Macaque pops in. ]

Don't yell outside emergencies.

[ Even when he's angry, he doesn't need to raise his voice. He can communicate it Just Fine.

But he studies Macaque as he mentions, ]

Wash gets shrill.

[ Especially if he's worked up. How does Macaque deal with that? ]

[castaside]

[ A chuckle. ] He moderates himself around me, and warns me if I need to be warned.

Oh, and. I know that you have to tell Carolina, and any other of your team that arrive, about my hearing, but I ask that you not advertise it beyond that. I don't much fancy being hunted. It's a bother. [ And traumatic but he's not going there. ]

[slaughterous]

[ It seems incredible to Maine that Wash could moderate his screechiness that much. Just one more thing that has changed, he supposes.

At the request, he gives Macaque a searching look. As if trying to figure out how much to say, or if Macaque is joking. ]

Wouldn't, [ he says after a pause. ] Important to Wash. Won't compromise.

[ In other words: as long as Wash cares about Macaque, Maine won't do anything to sabotage him. It's as simple as that. ]

[castaside]

[ It's not a joke, he just prefers to be casual about things that bother him lest any enemies know that they bother him. ]

I appreciate it. Six ears is a bad omen in my culture, so you can imagine how that went.

[ Visually, Macaque has two normal monkey ears. ]

[slaughterous]

[ Maine does note those ears! One and two, right where he presumes they should be. ]

Why?

[castaside]

Why is it a bad omen? [ He'd say "because humans are nuts" but the monkeys weren't wild about him and his extra ears either. ]

Six ears is a phrase that means duplicitous. Because if you're having a private conversation with someone else, you have four ears between you, at least most people do, and someone who is spying on you has the fifth and sixth ears.

In my case it's literally true, so I guess they weren't wrong about the context, but in practice that means isolating and/or trying to kill me.

[slaughterous]

[ Maine hums, taking that in. ]

That way you hide 'em?

[ He can only assume that's more magic. ]

[castaside]

That's why.

[ He unglamours his ears and where there was one ear per side of his head, now there are three. Each pair glowing a subtly different shade of purple. They move like cat ears or wolf ears, flicking forward and then back. ]

I can pretty much change the appearance of anything I want to, and not even most gods can see through the illusion. [ Except Buddha that rat bastard. ] It extends to touch too. Someone could walk right up and touch my ears and still believe there was only one.

[ Sure he can shapeshift but glamours are better for long term use. ]

[slaughterous]

[ Maine studies the ears for a moment before returning his gaze to Macaque's face. A few days of adjustment have made a big difference. He's seen enough nonhumans at this point to not be bewildered by extra ears. ]

Why hide them here?

[ Are people still prejudged in Ellipsa? ]

[castaside]

[ Uh, about that. Maine probably isn't asking for the whole tragic backstory thing, but can probably deduce from Macaque's immediate dropping of anything resembling casualness that there's something behind it. ]

Because being judged for what I am is never fun.

And because I don't like advertising my weakness. [ The aforementioned loud noises in close proximity. ]

[slaughterous]

[ Maine's eyebrows rise at the abrupt shift in demeanor. ]

All right.

[ Spoken in the same tone one might say, Damn, bro. Just a question. ]

[castaside]

--Sorry. It's not you. Defensiveness is a bad habit of mine and you just accidentally found one of the triggers.

[slaughterous]

[ Maine blinks, not expecting the apology. Or the explanation that follows.

Does everyone like to talk about their feelings so much…?

He shrugs and waves off the apology: It's fine. ]

[castaside]

[ It's important to Wash that he actually try, so he is. He just isn't used to it. Villain-arcs have that effect. ]

So... where are you going to take that thing off-roading?

[ Change of subject from feelings, you're welcome. ]

[slaughterous]

Segments. [ An obvious answer, but it encompasses all of where Maine means to go. ] Spring, first.

[castaside]

Spring is nice. Windy.

Every segment has its charms. Big forest in the Autumn segment, lava fields in the Summer. That big frozen lake in the Winter has caves.

[slaughterous]

[ An eyebrow quirks up. ]

Lava's charming?

[castaside]

They're good practice. Helped me perfect ice that can't be melted. Or at least is a royal bitch to get rid of.

[slaughterous]

[ Maine hums. Right, Wash mentioned Macaque being a fellow Winter. ]

Why make that?

[ Curiosity, or for some other purpose? ]

[castaside]

Don't you ever train just for training? Just to get good at something?

[ Look at him, he probably did. ]

There's a reason I'm so good at many kinds of magic, and it's that I worked for it. I was only born with shadow powers and the hearing, all the rest of it I earned.

[slaughterous]

[ That earns a searching look. Maine trains his ass off, but it's never been solely to get good at something. He's always had a greater goal in mind. A greater purpose. Even here, knowing the war has ended, he's still working toward something bigger than himself.

After a pause, he shakes his head. Sorry, can't relate. ]

[castaside]

That's a shame. It's worthwhile.

Hell, I even learned the Winter shadow magic even though my own is way more versatile. And there's a reason I have a stack of textbooks in my room at all times.

--Well, that's also so I can catch up on all the shit I missed while I was dead, but mostly because it's fun. [ Also because he's a mushy idiot who likes to know things that are important to the people he loves but we're not saying that out loud. ]

[slaughterous]

[ Whatever Maine might say about training multiple forms of magic (which makes sense to him) or having a stack of books (which also makes sense; Maine reads plenty, though rarely for pleasure) is put to the side. ]

Dead.

[ What. ]

[castaside]

As a doornail. Killed by the one I love, the one of the very few beings more powerful than me, truly a tragedy. [ Yep, still seems amused by this. ]

Then I was resurrected under the thumb of a heinous bitch who wanted me to do her bidding. [ Less amused, now. ] Blah blah something about destroying the world. But she got hers in the end.