trusthell | Paper Faces on Parade

Paper Faces on Parade

[ Okay, so, assuming everyone got a crossword and an invite on Tuesday, one would assume that pretty much everyone knows that Misa's planning something. A sign on the door of the music room will indicate as much, a nice big "KEEP OUT PLEASE ♥" to make sure everything's set up just right before the festivities start. The tables are set up just right for snacks and all, the stage is set, the room is even decorated with hand-made streamers and lots of bright ribbons from the art room! When Misa goes hard, she goes hard, apparently. The floor isn't exactly a dance floor, but it should be nice enough that people can dance if they want to, and though she had a really hard time pushing everything around to make the perfect amount of space, it looks like it's about as good as it's going to get.

The guests'll be happy to know there aren't any penalty snacks this time around; nothing set out on the table looks gross or horribly out of place like at Truth or Dare. Everything looks pretty cute, actually; between the desserts and the actual cocktails set out, she and Aqua kind of outdid themselves in terms of meal planning. As for the host herself, she'll obviously be running around too, making sure everything's going okay; one would think that between prepping the food and the party itself, she wouldn't have much time to get herself all dolled up, but a model always has to look her best! And Misa certainly isn't giving anything less than 110 percent, between her short black dress and her ma-- jesus Misa save some glitter for everyone else

In any case, the party is definitely intended to be a late-night affair! And all are welcome, so feel free to come in and dance the night away! Misa even has a bunch of masks in different colors made for people who didn't have time to make one themselves, so don't be shy to grab one and have fun! ]

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[...the smile that petting a goddamn metal gear thing produced fades a little, there...]

...I won't lie and say I haven't thought about it at all. I'm not going to pretend I don't have any regrets, because believe me, at this point in time, there are more things I regret than things I don't.

At the same time... well, I wouldn't trust the Kingmaker further than...

[...he could throw him pretty far, thinking about it.]

...Misa could throw him, and I think it's a little conceited to think I could actually make things better and not worse.

[Oh, well that's... It's good that he's not considering the incentive, but at what cost, honestly.]

Tarrlok...have your dreams not been treating you well?

[He knows that the trials have weighed a lot on Tarrlok's mind too, but this...the decline seems to be a little more than that.]

You have every right to not want to discuss it, of course. But I am willing to listen if it will help at all.

[Does that sort of thing even help? Colress isn't sure, this is sort of new to him. But it's worth a try.]

...no, they really haven't.

[...he hesitates a bit before continuing, because while Mettaton was... well... they're acquaintance level enough that Tarrlok doesn't really have that much of a kneejerk no reaction about tanking their relationship, but man.

Colress.]

...

Haha. Well, now I'm actually sure that the Kingmaker didn't do anything to my abilities.

[That comment actually takes a moment to sink in. The Kingmaker didn't do anything to Tarrlok's waterbending? How is that--

Oh.

Oh no.]

That Amon person...don't tell me he took them?

[His heart basically sinks at the thought. He knows how much Tarrlok wanted his abilities back.]

...well, I'd be doubting your qualifications if you couldn't pick up on it quickly. That's probably the worst thing that happened that wasn't actually...

[...he thinks about it...]

...no, I think it was still my fault in the long run.

Tarrlok...

[Colress isn't entirely sure how to proceed. Obviously there's more to the story, but...

He can kind of tell that this conversation is one big minefield.]

Why are you blaming yourself for that? What...what happened?

...

[Honestly? He's been wanting to tell someone the actual truth for a while now, and he didn't elaborate all that much to Mettaton, but... damn.

Damn. As much as he wants to get it all of his chest and let all these secrets go...]

...it's kind of a long story. If you don't mind that, I'll go ahead, but I don't want to just impose on you.

[Colress pauses briefly, then nods slowly, mentally preparing himself for some possible Tough Shit. If there is any time for him to remain neutral, it's now.]

As I said, I am willing to listen. I do still stand by that.

[...]

Do you want to take this somewhat a bit more private, then?

[If it's a long story like Tarrlok says, maybe they should go sit down somewhere?]

...you know what? That... sounds like a good idea, actually.

I can't imagine anywhere else is occupied right now, so perhaps the library?

The library sounds acceptable. ...Shall we, then?

[Hoo boy, this is going to be a wild ride, isn't it.]

Yes, let's. If you want anything to eat, be sure to get it, because it'll... be a while.

[...he doesn't go for anything, though. He'll just... head towards the door, though he won't leave yet.

May as well do it for accountability, anyway.]

[With a nod, he...goes to grab a couple things, just in case they both end up needing sugary things after this is all over. Who knows.

Plate in hand, he joins Tarrlok at the door.]

Off we go, then.

[yeah, probably.

He nods, and so they head down to the library. He's pretty quiet on the way down and doesn't really speak until they've made it to the library.]

...I guess it's best to start at the beginning, isn't it? I imagine it'll make some things make a little more sense, because you... well, I'd probably have to interrupt myself to explain some things.

You remember when I was talking about offshoots of different kinds of bending, right? Like how firebenders can control both fire and lightning?

[It's definitely a solemn trek down, and Colress too remains silent along the way and as they settle down in the library.

He nods to everything Tarrlok is saying, showing that he's listening completely and understanding everything.]

Indeed I do remember. Earthbenders and metalbending, waterbenders and icebending...

[He's wondering where this plays in though...]

...Water is actually more versatile than you'd think. We've only discovered the exact ratio recently, but it's something like... the human body is eighty percent water, isn't it?

...

There are ways that you can learn how to bend that, as well.

[...Oh...

Colress pauses. Then, uneasily,]

...That form of bending listed under your profile's "dislikes". Is that what you are speaking of?

[He's seen it a dozen times during his viewings of the bulletin board, but considering it was under Tarrlok's dislikes, he chose not to bring it up in their discussions. It was only courteous.

...But here it is. Why?]

[...he laughs kind of bitterly.]

...honestly, I'm really kind of surprised more people haven't asked me about that one. There's no way I'd tell them it was something I could actually do before now, since that sort of thing getting out would ruin me... but that doesn't really matter now, since it already happened back home.

You can perform it...?

[The gravity of that reveal takes a moment to hit Colress completely. His reaction isn't overly strong, but there's definitely an "oh no" look going on. His voice lowers, revealing the concerned tone to it.]

And you...used it anyway, despite disliking it? I take it it must not be favorable to do so in general...

...yes, I did. Initially, it was something I was forced to do, because...

[...he laughs a little bitterly again.]

...alright, this might be where it starts sounding like one of those melodramatic novels, because my father was Yakone an extremely infamous mob boss back in the day. He'd actually figured out how to use bloodbending when it wasn't the full moon, which was previously thought impossible, and used it to... egregious effect.

He was eventually stopped by Avatar Aang, who took his bending and arrested him... but well, some of his fellow gang members broke him out of jail, altered his appearance, and allowed him to escape to the North, where he settled down and had a family.

...of course, when my brother and I started waterbending, he probably figured it was the right time to get revenge on the Avatar. To this day, I really have no idea if he was planning it the whole time or if... he'd genuinely had thoughts of living a peaceful life beforehand. I thought it had to be the latter, but the more I think about it... the more I'm not so sure people change that easily.

[Colress maintains a neutral expression while listening with complete attention to Tarrlok as he tells a...really serious story, honestly. Just...good lord, what can he say about this. When Tarrlok pauses in the story, he take a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking.]

I...assume he chose to pass down the technique to you for that purpose, then.

[Using others for ones ambitions...he just frowns slightly, thinking about that.]

...yes. Basically, he wanted to teach us to bloodbend so that we could get revenge on the Avatar for him.

[at least neither of them are named "natural harmonia gropius"]

I was never really good at it, because I'd hesitate when I was doing it. Truthfully, I hated every second of it. We... had to train on animals when we'd go out hunting, because it had to remain secret... and it's not like animals can tell anyone you're using some illegal bending technique to painfully move them around.

My older brother Noatak was actually great at it, which... always surprised me. Before all this started, he wasn't really the sort of person you'd expect to enjoy that sort of thing, you know? He liked to make sure people were treated fairly, but he just... really took to it. So... he got all the praise and expectations heaped on him, while I got treated...

...

Roughly how you'd expect.

[Thank Arceus for that.

Colress' slight frown turns deeper as the story continues, a slight pained expression coming across his face because he can definitely tell how hard this all was for Tarrlok. Even knowing what is on Tarrlok's profile's dislikes, he could tell Tarrlok likes animals from how kindly he treats Klinklang. This is just...

Not to mention the next bit. Not only did he have to learn something like bloodbending when he clearly hated it, but he had to compete with his brother.

Colress shakes his head ever so slightly.]

Tarrlok...I am sorry.

[It's the most he can say right now, because what else can one say? He merely wants to let Tarrlok know that he's listening and he cares. This is just awful.]

[...he takes a second to go ahead and eat a cookie because really, he wants to get this out but fuuuuuuck.]

Right. So. Eventually we were going to have to practice on humans, and preferably benders who could probably break out of it. ...I don't need to explain who we ended up practicing on, because suffice to say he wasn't content with us practicing on him.

[...deeeeep breath.]

I don't know what gave him the bright idea to do it in a blizzard, but it wasn't quite as bad when we left... and he wasn't the sort of person to change his mind for anything. Noatak... complied. It was a deeply unpleasant experience, and one I doubt I'll ever forget. Having seen what it'd do to other creatures was one thing, but actually feeling it...

At that time, I didn't think I could subject anyone else to that, so I told my father I wasn't going to do that to anyone, much less my brother. ...that went about as well as you'd expect, and I'm not sure what my father would've done if Noatak hadn't stopped him with his own bloodbending.

[...god. what happened next is even more fucked up looking at it now. deeeep breath.]

...he wanted us to run away together and leave everything behind. It... made sense, didn't it? If we stayed, who knew what would happen...

...but I didn't want to leave our mother behind. She and I... were closer than Noatak was to her, I think, but... the point is, I hesitated. Usually, he understood, but... I guess my weakness in this moment was the breaking point, and he told me as much.

We... never actually found him after that. We couldn't do anything but assume he was dead.

[Oh dear lord, it somehow managed to get even worse than that. While Colress tries his best to remain expressionless through it all, he can't. This is so distressing and horrible, and he can definitely tell it's really hard on Tarrlok too.

He feels like he should say something here. If he can just put aside his need to be so neutral about these things for one second--]

I hope you do not blame yourself for that, Tarrlok... You are more than allowed to make your own choices, even if they did not line up with what your father or brother desired.

[He hopes he's not overstepping his boundaries there- maintaining a the delicate balance of a friendship is completely new to him. But he does mean what he said. Tarrlok is hardly weak, going through something so awful and then having to make a split-second choice that his brother might not have liked.]

...it would've been nice to hear that when I was eleven.

[SURPRISE, HE TOTALLY DID.]

I guess I shouldn't, but... I really have to wonder if things would have gone differently. I know how things went, though -- it... definitely broke Yakone. He gave up on his ambitions of revenge and left me alone, which... I wish I could have appreciated that, really. It came at too high a cost, though. There was the obvious fact that my brother was, for all we could tell, dead in a snowdrift somewhere, and if that wasn't hard enough on my poor mother, Yakone died a short time later. I'm... sure it was just...

[...he doesn't want to think about the fact that his brother may have wrecked his dad's internal organs or something holy shit]

...grief, or something. My mother didn't know anything about what Yakone was really like, and as far as I know, he... never really said a harsh word to her or anything, so she... took it hard.

...

Maybe I shouldn't have thought it was my fault, but... I definitely took it to heart that my weakness in that moment effectively wiped out half my family. I'm not going to say I never blamed my father, because I absolutely did. I wanted nothing more than to spit on his memory by working my way up through the ranks and become a legitimately powerful player in Republic City politics so that I could wipe out the criminal underbelly of the city that he represented so that it could truly flourish without being overburdened by all the crime and corruption that plagues it to this day.

...you could say that I achieved the letter of that goal, if not the spirit.

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that was supposed to be somewhere not somewhat, I am a pro

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