#thread - linus shoves kurthnaga into a locker

[goldoanheart]

"Where... is Elibe...?" He asks tentatively, knowing that there is a whole world beyond Tellius and Fodlan that he has never gotten to see. He is curious, but now, in their current predicament, isn't exactly the time to go chasing after his normally overflowing curiosity.

"You know, never mind that. You... want me to..." It won't be a PROBLEM per say, with the size that they are currently at, but he would still be worried about squishing Linus accidentally, should he not be careful.

Well, it would probably be fine, so long as he watched his step. He had done it before, at least he didn't have to worry about breaking anything due to how small they were.

"Alright then. If you wish for concrete proof, I hope this shall be good enough. I assure you it is completely safe as well." He takes a deep breathe, stepping back a little from the other man to make sure that he won't accidentally get hurt during the time it takes for him to change forms. It had been quite some time since the last time he had done this, but the change rushes over him as easily as it always has, and suddenly he is glancing down at his fellow professor rather than casting his gaze up.

"Rrrrmmmgh..."

And that was the problem here, wasn’t it? Despite travelling to a few different places before they came to Fodlan, Linus heart and head were still back in Elibe. He expected things to be the same everywhere. What happened in Elibe must have surely happened across the rest of the world. Hell, up until leaving, Elibe was the world to him.

So it was a little bit mind boggling to be confronted with the fact that, no, different lands were not like Elibe and things were not universal to how he understood them.

“I mean– Yeah, I thought…,” Linus fumbles, his indignation at being contradicted warring with his genuine confusion. “That’s how it is where I came from. Figured it, y'know…had to be the same everywhere else.” Because, to him, that had made sense, but…now he wasn’t so sure.

“Really? Never heard of 'em at all?”

Jeez, this was a lot to swallow.

“The Eight Generals are heroes back in Elibe. They stopped the dragons from destroying everything, beat them so fuckin’ bad that they up and left Elibe! The Generals made everything that’s still there now. Countries, religion, history – it all comes back to them.”

For him, it was common knowledge. Stuff he’d known since he was old enough to know it. And sure, there were some people who spoke about some magic city where men and dragons still lived side by side, or that Hartmut had the chance to kill the demon dragon and chose not to out of sympathy. But those views were few and far between, even in Bern.

Skepticism was still clear in Linus’ expression, but…curiosity was starting to get the better of him now.

“You can just…show me. Right here and now? That even safe?” Dragons were incredibly powerful, right? That’s what started the Ending Winter…right?

“Fuck it, yeah, show me what ya got, short stuff.”

He could probably beat a dragon. With his bare hands. Yeah.

[goldoanheart]

“Long gone? Is that true for where you’re from?” Kurth had been the youngest until recently, until Ena’s son had been born, but Goldoa was far from dwindling. He could not truly imagine a place where dragons were nothing but legend, something to be feared and put down on the page as nothing more than myths.

“What are the Eight Legends though? I have never heard of such a thing.” That was to be expected, Tellius had its heroes, and other places would surely have their own. Kurthnaga did not expect history to be the same no matter where he looked, but he certainly was curious about the history of other lands. Curious about their legends and kingdoms, everything that he could possibly learn from the people who were at the academy.

“I am not saying that it is lies, but perhaps things are simply different between our lands. Would you require more sufficient proof to believe me? I could certainly show you if you wish.”

“Why yes. I believe we are quite different.” Kurthnaga glances up at the other man as he tucks emerald hair behind pointed ears. He would usually keep them hidden, but this seems like as good a time as any, if only to emphasize his point.

“For one, I am of the Black Dragon tribe. I imagine that would be a good start to prove how different we truly are.” He smiles, though he can’t help but feel that it wasn’t a true smile.

“As for the why, I am unsure. I am not quite old enough to know the exact history of my land from the time it was founded, all I know is that is simply the way things are. Does there need to be any more reason than that?” He had hardly known anything outside of Goldoa until recently, and more often than not, as a child, he had felt he was not getting the full picture from the books he read, from the stories he had been told. How was he, so naive and young, supposed to know?

“But I hope you know that I am different. I may look young, but I promise that I am much older than I seem. Perhaps that can also emphasize our differences?”

[goldoanheart]

"Why yes. I believe we are quite different." Kurthnaga glances up at the other man as he tucks emerald hair behind pointed ears. He would usually keep them hidden, but this seems like as good a time as any, if only to emphasize his point.

"For one, I am of the Black Dragon tribe. I imagine that would be a good start to prove how different we truly are." He smiles, though he can't help but feel that it wasn't a true smile.

"As for the why, I am unsure. I am not quite old enough to know the exact history of my land from the time it was founded, all I know is that is simply the way things are. Does there need to be any more reason than that?" He had hardly known anything outside of Goldoa until recently, and more often than not, as a child, he had felt he was not getting the full picture from the books he read, from the stories he had been told. How was he, so naive and young, supposed to know?

"But I hope you know that I am different. I may look young, but I promise that I am much older than I seem. Perhaps that can also emphasize our differences?"

Linus looked Kurthnaga over again, measuring him up. After a moment, he grins, a dark sort of mischief in his eyes. “Could always find out, if ya ain’t scared to, that is.”

Not likely to happen, but it could be funny to try out. In theory.

Yeah, Linus definitely didn’t know anything about Tellius. For all the places they’d traveled through before arriving here, the name didn’t seem ring any bells to him. And he thinks he’d remember if there was a place with people like him, and then…what, other people? It didn’t really make any sense to him. There were humans, and then there were animals. Sure, there were a lot of different sorts of people out there, but were they really so different that two different names were needed?

Sheesh, talk about complicated.

“Uh…huh. So, like…why, though?” he couldn’t help asking, face screwed up in confusion. “I mean, we got all kinds'a people back where I’m from, but we don’t have different names for ourselves like that. Most ya get are, like, regional things or whatever. You’re tellin’ me that you,” he points at Kurthnaga, then gestures to himself, “And me are…really all that different?”

They didn’t seem all that different to him. Outside of obvious physical features. And personality.

[goldoanheart]

Kurthnaga cocks his head in confusion. Did he really look so small and fragile? Even if he did, those back home had been able to understand that he was much more than he looked, or at least he hoped that they did.

"I don't know if you would be able to throw me so easily. I am much more steadfast than one would think just looking at me. Not like I would let anyone do such a thing anyway." He pauses in thought, crimson eyes staring at Linus and full of questions. Beorcs were such strange creatures sometimes, with the way that they thought and behaved. It fascinated Kurth, because it was simply so different than the way that he had been raised. He couldn't help but be constantly curious at the world that had been built while he was trapped inside Goldoa's walls.

"Oh! I suppose... well, simply put, they are the two races of my homeland. I realize it may sound odd to someone who does not know the history of Tellius, but it just the way that things are. No different than how you would perhaps refer to your own people."

“Don’t go puttin’ big words in my mouth,” Linus huffed, scowling over at Kurthnaga but with less heat in it than there would have been just a moment ago. He could understand people telling you something you did was irrational or didn’t make sense, or whatever – especially a father figure. “We all got shit we don’t fuckin’ like. Jus’ wonder how ya live in fear of papercuts, is all.”

It was supposed to be a joke. Sort of. Linus didn’t get having a fear of blood. It was everywhere. But, it was sort of hard for him to remember that not everyone had the experiences he did concerning something like bloodshed.

As quickly as it had come on, his anger was disappearing. Still licking a bit at the edges, like flame on paper, waiting for the next trigger. But, for now, he was cooling off a bit.

“Well, ya can’t blame me complete for that one!” he pouted, wiping his bloodied fist off on his jacket. Maybe the blood wouldn’t be as much of a problem against the red material? “You’re small, and ya look like if I tossed ya just right, you’d fly across the field like a spear. Wait– Ya never explained what the Saints’ damned difference was between those! What’d ya call 'em? Beersorc? Laruz?”

[goldoanheart]

"I know it's irrational... that was what Father told me as well..." Not like he would have truly shown his fear in front of his father. Not like he ever really got the chance to. But he takes offense at that making him soft. Yes, he does not like violence, or war, or blood for that matter, but he was far from being soft.

No matter how kind and gentle he acted, he still had the blood of a black dragon within him, his father's blood within him. And despite all odds, he was still his father's son. He was Goldoa's king, far stronger than he could ever seem from a mere glance.

"Ah, quite on the contrary. I can survive incredibly well on my own, I am quite much more hardy than... er... a human... I simply happen to be afraid of blood. That does not make me incapable."

Linus’ anger is somewhat thrown off its stride by the abject fear that in Kurthnaga’s tone, confusion hitting him when it becomes clear that he’s not really reacting to him but the…blood? He stalls for a moment or two, not sure if he should let the guy down or if its just an act to get away.

It didn’t sound like it, and with the way he was squirming…

Growling under his breath, Linus let’s Kurthnaga drop from the hold he’d been using to keep the smaller man pinned against the wall with. He was still pissed, and still sort of wanted to punch the other man again, but it sort of lost the meaning when he was already a sniveling mess over a little bit of blood.

“The hell’s wrong with ya? Ya do know blood’s like…in your body, right?” Linus scoffed, shooting a sour look in Kurthnaga’s general direction. “It ain’t likely to hurt ya! Sheesh, soft guy like you. No wonder you’re in a place like this. Ya wouldn’t last a day outside, would ya?”