subordinacy | week 4 ( monday )

But... maids don't act like that...?

She's a maid.

And she's acting like that.

[a beat]

I don't really know what to tell you, Setz.

[..............

HE'S JUST GOING TO IGNORE THIS ENTIRE THING and change the subject. And hope the maid goes away.]

... By the way, if you want to ask about the vampire thing, I don't mind. Now that you know, it's not really a secret anymore...

[this is probably a safer topic than maids???]

Ah-- I did want to ask a few questions, but I thought it might be rude. . .

[he's never met a vampire before, sooooo]

Don't worry about it. I've kept it a secret mostly because I don't need people knowing they can incapacitate me by throwing enough garlic in my direction.

[maybe he won't tell Setz about the time Ranpo suggested they do just that, even though it was mostly in jest :/]

I don't blame you. This is the kind of environment where you don't want people knowing your weaknesses.

. . . is that why the sky is different where you come from?

[are you sure :/]

Yeah. We used to live in the same world as humans... but a long time ago, vampires split into two factions: those who hated humans and those who no longer wanted to fight with them.

The latter ended up creating an artificial world for vampires to live in, away from humans. My... father [you know, the dick (even if he wasn't one at the time)] was a part of that group. I was born in the world they created.

[I'M SURE :/!!!]

Ah. . .

[that's impressive?]

How did they manage to create an entire artificial world?

... One of the vampires then had the ability to turn dreams into reality. It [sort of] cost her her life to create our world, but in a way... it could be thought of as her dream.

[oh. . .]

It must have been, if she sacrificed that much to create it.

[...]

Yeah. Well, the entire thing is... complicated, but that's the gist of it. The world negated our need to drink blood, which is why I haven't...

[Needed, uh, that. Akira gets the idea, hopefully.]

We haven't had contact with humans for centuries. Most vampires don't even know about their existence. I'd only met one before this Game, actually.

[he does, no worries]

How'd you wind up meeting a human, if your entire species resides on a different world?

My household had access to a portal that leads to the outside—to our original world. When I was little, I... snuck through it a few times. I wasn't a very cautious child.

[that actually gets Akira to grin]

Neither was I.

[he relates]

I bet sneaking out helped expand your worldview, though.

... Well, I couldn't explore too much. I would've been in grave danger if I actually encountered any humans, as red eyes, where I'm from, only belong to "monsters". They would've given me away.

Looking back on it now, I was very lucky that the only human I met was a boy my age.

Obviously, the humans from that world haven't seen real monsters.

[Setz is the furthest thing from a monster in Akira's eyes]

Tell me about him?

[He blinks, a little surprised by the comment—but he appreciates it.]

... The first thing you should probably know is... [How to start this.] He had red eyes, despite being a human. The reasons why are pretty complicated, so I won't get into that, but they meant he was ostracized by those around him.

So we... became friends quickly. [Because they both had no one else.] But then he was going to be sent to an orphanage, and we were worried about being separated, so I...

[Ugh, this sounds worse when he recounts it as a teenager.]

I brought him to my world—the world of vampires. [He cringes a tad.] Which I suppose was a rather drastic move, but... I was six.

[All he'd cared about then was not losing his first and only friend.]

[. . . and of course, a six year old would make a decision like that, faced with the possibility of losing their one and only friend. Akira empathizes; he's experienced crushing loneliness himself, after all. that part of the story-- the parts Setz doesn't mention directly, but heavily implies-- he understands]

[but he feels like this doesn't have a very happy ending]

What happened after you brought him to your world?

[...]

The location of the portal... it was by my family's vacation home. Our actual home was in an entirely different region altogether.

[And for a long moment, he doesn't say anything. There's a lot of thoughts going through his mind right now, but... well, best to stick with story.]

... As soon as I got back, we were to return to the main estate that instant, on my father's orders. [And at that time, his father's word was absolute law.] I had to leave Lark—my friend—behind. I made sure he was with someone I knew would take care of him, but...

[He closes his eyes, briefly, as he lets out a sigh.]

He'd tripped and knocked himself out towards the end of the journey to my world, actually. I don't know what he thought, waking up to find that the person who'd brought him there had abandoned him, leaving him in an unknown world with a stranger.

[Setz's first major misstep in life; his first major regret.]

[. . . oh. Akira can't speak for Lark at all, but he can imagine. . . a six-year-old child being terrified to wake up in an unknown world, with a complete and utter stranger, the one familiar thing that brought him there having vanished into thin air]

Did you ever see him again after that?

... Ten years later, when he was sent to the same school I attended.

[There's a sort of flatness in Setz's voice that suggests this was not a happy reunion.]

[oh dear. Akira's next question may not be necessary]

Did he recognize you?

Yes. Appearance-wise, I hadn't exactly changed much.

[Everything else, though?]

Ah. . .

He was pretty upset with you, then.

[that's not hard to surmise]

... I wouldn't say upset. For the most part, I think he just... wanted to pretend that I didn't exist. Not that I could blame him...

But... he'd been happy. [So much he'd forgotten all about Setz, whom he didn't need.] I guess that was why he didn't hate me for it.

[And though a part of Setz curses the world, that he hadn't been able to be a part of that life—that happy childhood—he's glad he could give Lark that much.]

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