Rules.
Rules - rules - rules.
Of course there were rules. Where there were rules there were laws. Where there were laws there would always be two types of people: People that eat, drink, and breathe the rules, and then those who used them to wipe their ass after taking a satisfying shit. Trying to maintain a stable life by balancing between right and wrong was not easy for Only - he always felt like the harder he tried to be good the deeper shit he would actually end up being in. At the end of the day Only's intentions would always be made in good faith - but he would always second-guess them and that was because Stephan was making a lot of decisions that Only wasn't aware of making.
"Well okay," he said to Inkheart. Stephan wanted to challenge her - to push her back in the sand and snap at her - to force her to read the constitution to him from memory if she cared about the rules so much, but he didn't. He didn't because Only just wanted to be accepted - Only wanted to slide in under the radar as cleanly as possible. He wanted to make as little waves as possible with these strangers. Most importantly, he wanted them to like him - to trust him -
Stephan laughed,
-that is not possible.
Eik was asking him why he left wherever it was that he had come from and Only struggled to remember.
"I don't believe that peace can be achieved by discussing best sellers at book club. I don't believe that Delumine will make good choices in their future if they have no plans."
Stephan wanted to applaud Only for how calm and cool he was at speaking to them so forwardly about his newfound origins inside of Novus. Before here, he existed no where and everywhere all at the same time - before that he was a part of the stars - but for all that silver and luster, it was awfully lonely. The stars didn't speak - didn't think - didn't
do. They just burned and burned like campfire light until they run out of fuel - and then they went away.
"I don't think I am a good fit - I like to steal a lot. I like to fight too - all for the right reasons of course...
--and it isn't like I do it for free, so there's never a threat unless there's a deal made first." He
knew was not a good fit. Stephan had laughed forever when they woke up in Delumine after the Rift imploded and took everyone - every
thing - with it. "Please tell me that the rules don't involve me reading a book once a week and turning a report in about how I feel about it."
A pause happened then, a hiccup, as if Only was a record on a record player playing the same steady tune only to have his needle lifted and put down onto something entirely different. The subtleties of Stephan hiding beneath the pathetic guise of Only glittered - flickered -
flashed like fish in muddy pond water. "Are you a religious girl, Inkheart? " His question was eerie enough that when he turned to look at Eik it could be suspect that the creature he was now was not the creature he had been moments ago.
"And you - do you even know this girl?" He wondered because that is all Stephan could do was ask incredibly strange questions that pertained to nothing in particular.
@Inkheart
@
Eik
.only
si vis pacem para bellum
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For many are called but few are chosen.
