[He feels an absurd and sharp and stupid sort of hurt at that, one he does not want to think hard on or examine or explain. Makes it easier to rebound into sounding hateful when he says,]
Fuck off. Who asked you? Why the fuck do you care?
Why the fuck do I care, [ slowly, with pauses, ] that both of you are here, now, when the North is collapsing.
[ And when he is super mad about not seeing it coming! And super mad about half the people in his life going on about revolution when he is supposed to be helping maintain stability!
[Does that help with maintaining stability, but also--]
We can stop being brothers at any time. Just say the word and I'll disown you. [And share a face still, but whatever.] Then you can separate yourself from me entirely. And if it's truly work and fucking politics you're concerned about, you'll be able to act on your own, free of any association from me, so it will settle both for you. How convenient.
[ Exasperated, spoken aside but still audible: ] Andraste’s fucking—
[ There’s an answering sound, raspy and catlike, before Kostos refocuses. ]
It is not politics. It is the end of the world. It matters who—who does the burning. And when. And how much. If there is chaos Corypheus will take advantage of it, and your people will not do better under him than a Pentaghast. You can have your own war after this one, I don’t care, but do not let Perakis—
[ —who he’s always primarily blamed, from his great distance, squinting between the lines of his parents’ forgiving tone, but he’s gotten to know Nikos and his opinions at least well enough lately to apportion the responsibility more evenly. ]
Don’t do anything stupid. And do not put me in a position where I have to lie for you. Or for him. I won’t.
[ Won’t specifically for Caspar—will but won’t ever forget about it for Nikos. But that clarification would also cost a copper per word. ]
Fuck you, you-- [All the names and swearwords in the world won't stand for what Nikos wants to say, so he just lets himself cut off, incensed.] Don't talk about him. Don't say anything, just shut the fuck up. I don't want you to fucking lie for either of us. I didn't ask you to. I would never ask you to. Why you think I would expect involvement from you is beyond me. Why you think I would listen to you is equally beyond me.
And your argument? Sucks. Corypheus is just as likely to take a country full of fighting pit vipers as a country steeped in the necessary chaos of revolution. It would be easy to conquer Nevarra. Grab hold of a pretender and fill his head full of stories of power and birthright. Point him at the palace. Watch him go.
[AND ANOTHER THING--]
You know, the least you can do is be fucking honest. Don't pretend this is you, caring about the work of the Inquisition. Especially do not pretend that this is you giving a shit about me. It's a sin to lie in degrees so large. This is you, exercising some stupid authority. Cleansing your reputation after your infinitesimal role in that war of yours. Keeping yourself in good with your current masters, or whatever role the Inquisition is filling for you. Leading Northern Powers. Don't make me laugh.
[ That's so many things. Who said he could say so many things. Or that so many of them could hit so precisely. Kostos listens to it with his jaw clenched, breaking once for a single syllable of protest that doesn't develop into a full word before it's buried by Nikos' other thing and Kostos not knowing where he was going with that syllable anyway.
But, eventually— ]
Don't convince yourself you know anything about me.
[ Never mind that Nikos just demonstrated he knows at least few things. Double never mind that, to the extent he doesn't know something, Kostos is the one who decided not to be known.
He sounds collected, at least, in the sense that later he's going to collectedly have a few drinks and rile someone into trying to break his jaw. ]
If you want to propose the necessary chaos of revolution as official strategy, by all means. Your best bet for an ally here is the Scoutmaster. But until then—
[ The thing he already said, about not doing anything stupid. He's not saying it again. ]
[The clatter that follows is Nikos, throwing his sending crystal across the room. Because you can be thirty and still throw a tantrum if your older brother is a big enough arsehole.
But you can't hang up a sending crystal so it's not like that's the last word or anything. It's a big punctuation mark. Maybe the verbal equivalent of a middle finger.]
[ The last words are, ] I have other people to, [ which are largely buried beneath the clattering, then abandoned, right there, midway through the sentence, because Kostos catches on to the cause of the clatter, and his refusal to be a small, distant, undignified voice mouthing off to a wall means that Nikos is spared from hearing do that for me before Kostos abandons the connection, too.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2018-08-27 03:16 am (UTC)Fuck off. Who asked you? Why the fuck do you care?
no subject
Date: 2018-08-27 05:56 am (UTC)[ And when he is super mad about not seeing it coming! And super mad about half the people in his life going on about revolution when he is supposed to be helping maintain stability!
He is a black hole. He sucks the hate right in. ]
Because you are my brother—?
[ Cl-early. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-08-27 03:15 pm (UTC)[Does that help with maintaining stability, but also--]
We can stop being brothers at any time. Just say the word and I'll disown you. [And share a face still, but whatever.] Then you can separate yourself from me entirely. And if it's truly work and fucking politics you're concerned about, you'll be able to act on your own, free of any association from me, so it will settle both for you. How convenient.
no subject
Date: 2018-08-27 06:43 pm (UTC)[ There’s an answering sound, raspy and catlike, before Kostos refocuses. ]
It is not politics. It is the end of the world. It matters who—who does the burning. And when. And how much. If there is chaos Corypheus will take advantage of it, and your people will not do better under him than a Pentaghast. You can have your own war after this one, I don’t care, but do not let Perakis—
[ —who he’s always primarily blamed, from his great distance, squinting between the lines of his parents’ forgiving tone, but he’s gotten to know Nikos and his opinions at least well enough lately to apportion the responsibility more evenly. ]
Don’t do anything stupid. And do not put me in a position where I have to lie for you. Or for him. I won’t.
[ Won’t specifically for Caspar—will but won’t ever forget about it for Nikos. But that clarification would also cost a copper per word. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-08-27 09:37 pm (UTC)And your argument? Sucks. Corypheus is just as likely to take a country full of fighting pit vipers as a country steeped in the necessary chaos of revolution. It would be easy to conquer Nevarra. Grab hold of a pretender and fill his head full of stories of power and birthright. Point him at the palace. Watch him go.
[AND ANOTHER THING--]
You know, the least you can do is be fucking honest. Don't pretend this is you, caring about the work of the Inquisition. Especially do not pretend that this is you giving a shit about me. It's a sin to lie in degrees so large. This is you, exercising some stupid authority. Cleansing your reputation after your infinitesimal role in that war of yours. Keeping yourself in good with your current masters, or whatever role the Inquisition is filling for you. Leading Northern Powers. Don't make me laugh.
no subject
Date: 2018-08-28 05:13 am (UTC)But, eventually— ]
Don't convince yourself you know anything about me.
[ Never mind that Nikos just demonstrated he knows at least few things. Double never mind that, to the extent he doesn't know something, Kostos is the one who decided not to be known.
He sounds collected, at least, in the sense that later he's going to collectedly have a few drinks and rile someone into trying to break his jaw. ]
If you want to propose the necessary chaos of revolution as official strategy, by all means. Your best bet for an ally here is the Scoutmaster. But until then—
[ The thing he already said, about not doing anything stupid. He's not saying it again. ]
no subject
Date: 2018-08-28 04:22 pm (UTC)[The clatter that follows is Nikos, throwing his sending crystal across the room. Because you can be thirty and still throw a tantrum if your older brother is a big enough arsehole.
But you can't hang up a sending crystal so it's not like that's the last word or anything. It's a big punctuation mark. Maybe the verbal equivalent of a middle finger.]
no subject
Date: 2018-08-28 05:06 pm (UTC)So throwing it was definitely the right call. ]