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Beyond Help
Fandom: Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold
Characters: Ensemble, but primarily Bertrand and Fafnir
Word count: 400
Warnings: Strong language. The entire subtext of the scene is suicidal ideation. Just Bertrand stuff
Notes: For![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
getyourwordsout yahtzee, "pessimistic." Back when I first played EO2U, Bertrand's weirdly aggro response to the Guild Esbat fight and aftermath is when he really won me over. I mean, not that I didn't already appreciate a sarcastic dirtbag, but a sarcastic dirtbag with a death wish is easily +10 points. So anyway, it's been a couple years, I'm poking at that scene again.
Bertrand is furious, which surprises you. He's never seemed to care enough for that - this may be the first time you've looked at him and been sure he wasn't sleepwalking. He doesn't say anything, but a spiky disapproval radiates off him, cold as the ice fields you just left. You look to Chloe hoping she can decode his behavior, but he's not talking to her either. He's keeping his shield, businesslike, in between her and danger, and she's chewing on her lip and shooting him puzzled looks, to which he does not respond.
She's scared. Of him? Of what he might do? You don't know. Should you be afraid?
"You did the right thing," Flavio says, pointedly putting an arm around you and steering you away from whatever private drama is being enacted over there. It's as much as to say that you are still his, before you're anything else. "Don't worry about the old man, okay? He's weird. And he's not calling the shots. You are."
You could ask him if he's worried, but you've known him all your life and at no time has the answer ever been "no," so you save your breath and spare his pride.
Arianna takes it on herself to fix this breach, and hangs back while you and Flavio walk on ahead. You don't hear what she says to him, but he pitches his voice to carry, wanting you to hear his reply: "Fuck yes, we should've killed Esbat. They drew on us first. They wanted to die. It's not complicated." Discreetly Flavio starts walking faster, and tugs you after him. You resist - it's not safe to split up that far in the Labyrinth. He'll take this as a rejection, probably, but you can't help that. Bertrand goes on: "You heard what she said about Scylla."
Arianna says something indistinct; you catch the words "that poor girl -"
"That poor girl is a monster who can't die. Sucks, doesn't it?"
Arianna sounds like she might cry: "Of course, it's a terrible fate -"
"She's beyond our help. Those two weren't. They were looking for someone strong enough to take them down, and somebody wussed out."
Flavio is about to turn on him and defend your honor. You catch at his sleeve. "Dude, come on," he whispers. You don't let go.
"Trand," Chloe says quietly. "Quit it."
So no fight breaks out. But nothing is resolved.
Characters: Ensemble, but primarily Bertrand and Fafnir
Word count: 400
Warnings: Strong language. The entire subtext of the scene is suicidal ideation. Just Bertrand stuff
Notes: For
getyourwordsout yahtzee, "pessimistic." Back when I first played EO2U, Bertrand's weirdly aggro response to the Guild Esbat fight and aftermath is when he really won me over. I mean, not that I didn't already appreciate a sarcastic dirtbag, but a sarcastic dirtbag with a death wish is easily +10 points. So anyway, it's been a couple years, I'm poking at that scene again.Bertrand is furious, which surprises you. He's never seemed to care enough for that - this may be the first time you've looked at him and been sure he wasn't sleepwalking. He doesn't say anything, but a spiky disapproval radiates off him, cold as the ice fields you just left. You look to Chloe hoping she can decode his behavior, but he's not talking to her either. He's keeping his shield, businesslike, in between her and danger, and she's chewing on her lip and shooting him puzzled looks, to which he does not respond.
She's scared. Of him? Of what he might do? You don't know. Should you be afraid?
"You did the right thing," Flavio says, pointedly putting an arm around you and steering you away from whatever private drama is being enacted over there. It's as much as to say that you are still his, before you're anything else. "Don't worry about the old man, okay? He's weird. And he's not calling the shots. You are."
You could ask him if he's worried, but you've known him all your life and at no time has the answer ever been "no," so you save your breath and spare his pride.
Arianna takes it on herself to fix this breach, and hangs back while you and Flavio walk on ahead. You don't hear what she says to him, but he pitches his voice to carry, wanting you to hear his reply: "Fuck yes, we should've killed Esbat. They drew on us first. They wanted to die. It's not complicated." Discreetly Flavio starts walking faster, and tugs you after him. You resist - it's not safe to split up that far in the Labyrinth. He'll take this as a rejection, probably, but you can't help that. Bertrand goes on: "You heard what she said about Scylla."
Arianna says something indistinct; you catch the words "that poor girl -"
"That poor girl is a monster who can't die. Sucks, doesn't it?"
Arianna sounds like she might cry: "Of course, it's a terrible fate -"
"She's beyond our help. Those two weren't. They were looking for someone strong enough to take them down, and somebody wussed out."
Flavio is about to turn on him and defend your honor. You catch at his sleeve. "Dude, come on," he whispers. You don't let go.
"Trand," Chloe says quietly. "Quit it."
So no fight breaks out. But nothing is resolved.