perfectmatch | week two

[ A love that must end - for her health, for her future, because to exist together for too long would surely doom her. This, he understands, and he hates that he understands it; he wishes that he didn't know what this felt like. The details of their situations differ quite a bit, but their sense of betrayal is surely similar.

Betrayal. Dare he give it that name? Messmer doesn't want to consider it; he lets his focus shift to the serpent's, looking up at Verso from its place on the table. It doesn't make a move for the food. Instead, it merely lingers nearby, unblinking eyes reflecting his image back up at him. ]

And what choice didst thou make, when you saw her once more?

[Such a regal-looking creature, looking up at him calmly. Verso places his plastic fork down, then offers both hands close, palms-up. He can’t tell if it wants attention, or simply wishes to observe, but he doesn’t mind giving it a choice. It grants him focus in the here and now, when speaking of the recent past isn’t easy for him.]

My team… my last Expedition. We finally found a way to reach her. Needless to say, she didn’t want to return home.

[She had even declared she wasn’t going crazy.]

So we fought her, defeated her. Forced her to go back.

[ the snake's tongue flickers, and, after a moment, it slithers towards his hands, placing its head in its palms. There's a twitch in Messmer's fingers, but he ultimately does nothing to stop it, merely curling his hand into a fist. ]

Verso, [ he says gently, his voice hissing slightly on the S, ] thou art brave indeed.

[ He knows that if (when, some little part of him insists even now, when!) he sees Marika again, he would kneel before her without question - he'd pray to receive her blessing, her love, her approval. Verso had the strength to confront the truth and tear himself from the path his mother had laid out for him. Now he has the courage to speak it aloud. It's admirable - enviable, even. Most days, Messmer can't even bring himself to think about it. ]

[…Despite the topic at hand, it’s a cute moment. He lets the snake’s head just rest there for a moment, then gently strokes its head with the pad of his thumb, feeling the smoothness of its scales.

The fondness for this red reptile, while still present, will take a backseat as soon as his reply leaves his lips. Messmer seems to think him admirable, and that requires correction.]

It wasn’t bravery. It sounds like the end of a grand quest—

[And there is more to the story, something that might paint him as truly wretched, but… maybe that’s a tale told later.]

—but in reality, it was selfishness. I was tired of being miserable. I loved her, and I ached for her, and I still miss her, but… in the end, I wanted to rest. I wanted to be free of it.

There layeth thy courage, though thou acknowledge it not. Such is thy nature.

[ Thou hast done what I cannot. Of course, he doesn't say that - he doesn't even linger on the thought for more than a handful of seconds - but there's a solemnity to his expression that wasn't there before. The snake is a snake; it doesn't react outwardly to Verso's ministrations, but it also seems perfectly content to continue receiving them, idly flicking its forked tongue.

To choose freedom over love is a brave thing, indeed. ]

Yet, my counsel is mine alone. [ if he doesn't think it's brave, then he's entitled to that feeling, too. The situation is complicated - much too complicated for Messmer to decide he knows best. (He rarely does.) ] ... A grave matter thou hast entrusted to mine ears, for sake of "similarity."

[ it sounds ungrateful, once he's spoken it. ]

Friend. It shall be kept close.

[And Verso is perfectly content to continue petting it. He's only ever owned dogs, but he's always been fond of animals. Messmer's snakes seem gentle enough as long as they're treated respectfully, but one could say that about nearly any creature.

Friend.

Coming from Messmer, somehow, it feels like a milestone. He doesn't know why a weight lifts itself from him, as though it were not relief enough to have merely told him something difficult from his past — but it is a relief to have it accepted, and to win a simple, but meaningful, title of friend. Finally, he lifts his eyes to meet his gaze.]

It means a great deal to me that you think so.

[That he's brave. Verso will never very kind to himself, but it's easier to try to believe others, instead. It means that maybe he's doing something right.

His lips can't help but quirk wry, though, feeling the need to add-]

I wanted to point out something similar between us, so you... don't feel alone during this entire time. And that you feel like you belong here; if I do, after all, why shouldn't you?

Hmph. 'Tis no petty matter of belonging.

[ yes, he doesn't belong, but he doesn't really care about that, beyond not being interested in bogging some poor romantic heart down with his presence more than is required to win the game. Verso's intentions are good, of course, but once again, Messmer feels the magnitude of his wicked deeds is underestimated by everyone around him. It would be best for him to speak on it; at the same time, it feels like bringing up the true nature of his leadership and army would be spitting in the face of what Verso just told him, grinding a boot down on his fragile trust. The inevitable can be postponed a little longer. Evidently, both of them have time to spare. ]

Our similarities doth fade quickly past the surface. [ instead, he decides to offer some information about himself in return - an eye for an eye. ] Well cursed was I born - a wretched first child, full possessed of evils meant to fell her. Yet, Mother did raise me with full love. Her gifts she used to heal me, and by her grace doth my soul persist. I suffer this farce merely to once more hear her voice. That is the wish I would make.

[Not a petty matter of belonging. Maybe not, but Verso believes that Messmer can't possibly feel happy being detached from the group. Feeling as though he is other. But maybe that's presumptuous of him. Maybe he's projecting. But he's such a sorrowful soul, and Verso cannot rightly believe that anyone wants to be lonely, no matter their reasoning for being here.

Our similarities doth fade quickly past the surface. Well, he has no reason to doubt Messmer on that, but he wonders why he says it. The following remark about being cursed is neither new information nor does it run contrary to Verso's "curse" of immortality and copied identity in sentiment... so maybe it's something else?

...He really does love his mother, though. And it sounds as though she loves (loved?) him, as well.]

That wish is as valid as any other. [ ... ] But just because you're here for a different reason, that... doesn't mean you have to be lonely while doing it.

week two | dates

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