[OPEN] When you choose an action

[destructiveprinciple]

Who: Avenger (destructiveprinciple ) and everyone else on this island.
When: Backdated to Day 159 and forward-dated through Day 163.
Where: Various places on the island.
What: The next day after his release from the dungeons in the Rulers' castle, Avenger is caught unprepared by the rest of his punishment for attacking and killing the villagers.
Warnings: Angra Mainyu is a warning unto himself, even when he's behaving like Shirou under the influence of the Rulers? Ridiculousness?

[Days 159-162 | Punishment ]
[They held him in the jail for only the length of a day, long enough to be bored stiff and start texting his complaints to the network, before unceremoniously kicking him back out. Angra had waited for further retaliation but none had came. Therefore, he had decided to finish his nap in peace.

The next morning, he woken in an uncharacteristically good mood. There was no particular reason for his uplifting in temperament, he determined through process of elimination, but for some reason, he was in the mood to do unnecessary things like talk to people, chat with them, and see if there was anything he could do to help them out instead of laughing at their struggles and failures. It would be a new experience, right?  And he liked new experiences, didn't he? Sure he did, having grown so tired of the eternal repetition of before.

So whenever you cross paths with Avenger, depending on the day, he's actually smiling and there's nothing smirklike or nasty about his grin.

It's surreal, isn't it.]



[Day 163 | Aftermath]
[It's the day after those... events, when Avenger wakes up sleeping would never stop being weird, even a restless swallow slumber and it finally clicks, what the Powers That Be's interference had prevented him from noticing. They had done that to him and he hadn't had a chance in hell of stopping them. It pisses him off. The note of warning he finds next to his bed—"Be careful with your deeds, denizen and step more softly from now on, or We will not be so kind in our punishment the next time"—is ripped to shreds and the soggy pieces tossed into the sink in the kitchen.

Then he summons his knives.

The end result of the following small fit of ill temper is a wrecked hallway, pockmarked with stab marks, several upended crates of junk and a red sofa with a lot of the fluffy white stuffing falling out of the vicious slashes in the fabric. And one former Servant standing on the side, hazel eyes blinking before he sighs. Cleaning this up is gonna take awhile, he grumbles silently to himself.

So, yes. Avenger is probably going to stay inside his house for the rest of the day and sulk.]

Comments

Day 162, Action?

[gordianknots]

[Waver hates this place for a lot of reasons, but a lack of car to transport groceries is definitely the number one reason on his list today. He's so caught up in grumping that he hardly registers that he's walked into Avenger, and Waver regards him with little more than a grunt and a muttered 'excuse me.']

Day 162, Action!

[destructiveprinciple]

[Normally, Avenger wouldn't be pleased with somebody bumping into him and would make a face at them or step on their foot while he walked away. But he's sidetracked by the bags of groceries hanging off Waver and doesn't retreat immediately. Unbothered by the man's grumpiness, he asked:]

Hey, what are you cooking?

[gordianknots]

--Cooking is hardly what I'd call i--- [Wait, that's Avenger's voice. And it doesn't have a hint of anything but genuine curiosity in it? That can't be right.

Give him a second to gawk.]

[destructiveprinciples]

What, are you just refilling your pantry then? [Okay, while Waver's gawking, Avenger will just. Stand there and wait for him to get over it.]

[gordianknots]

Ye- [okay. Something's wrong. And weren't you in prison the other day?]

--They let you out for good behaviour then, I take it?

[destructiveprinciple]

I don't have a clue. [Start finishing your sentences, Waver.]

[He answered truthfully, almost cheerfully. Something sure is wrong with this picture.] They didn't tell me anything before they tossed me back out.

[gordianknots]

[He will when he gets a hold of his brain and the million directions it is running in, which should be soon.]

Nothing at all?

[destructiveprinciple]

[He shakes his head, the loose ends of his red bandanna swinging slightly.]

Nah. [Avenger would call them assholes, but he's currently got his mouth Disney censored from swearing. |D Anyway. How many bags of groceries are you carrying?] Not a thing. Weird, huh?

[gordianknots]

[three, very precariously balanced]

Weird, yes. How'd you ride out the rest of the day there?

[destructiveprinciple]

[Good to know. He looks at Waver with a strange expression on his face.]

How I usually did whenever I get imprisoned. I waited it out since escape wasn't in the cards, dying of boredom. [And even the Ruler's heavy influence can't stop that flicker of sarcasm from slipping out.]

[gordianknots]

And now you're not even mad about the whole thing? [He's starting to guess at what happened and if so, the Rulers might have done something he approves of for once.]

[destructiveprinciple]

[Angra considers this for like, two whole seconds. The omnipresent hateful anger at the world hadn't been reduced or tampered with any way so he doesn't think anything is amiss.

But he wasn't mad in particular about being imprisoned. Huh.] It was only a day. Not exactly worth getting pissed over.

[gordianknots]

[It takes far, far too much energy not to burst out laughing, because Waver gets it now.] Oh my God. They made you agreeable.

163 Aftermath

[gordianknots]

[Waver's spent the entire day writing. It's enough to make him actually bother to get out of the house and get more paper rather than just wish it up. The exercise and the forced socialization are both nessecary, and the walk does him good.

There's a test in how well he knows the island that he makes it to the shops in about ten minutes through all the dark, and he resolves to walk through the shopping district after making the necessary purchases. It's not too cold of a night out, and there's a certain rightness in being bundled up, walking in the cold.]

[destructiveprinciple]

[There are several kinds of forced socialization to be had on the island. This is probably not one of them Waver had wanted. Avenger had, after tidying up the absolute mess he made his hallway, had slinked off into his bedroom to sulk. But restlessness had again driven him outside.

He had stayed near one of the piers on the port until night began to threaten, wishing up a warm cloak to fling over his shoulders when it became dark, to fend off the worst of the chill and finally walking back to the town. Being rendered as good as human left him as vulnerable to the temperature as anybody.

It's on his way through the shopping center he makes a turn, and—He slows, stops dead in his tracks and gazes silently at the man standing in front of him. The expression on his tattooed face wasn't pleasant at all.]

[gordianknots]

[There's about one second of eye contact that Waver makes with Avenger before realizing that engaging in conversation is a terrible plan and that the last few days definitely weren't permanent.

Of course Waver also knows trying to head back to the house at the moment is a terrible plan, as is abandoning a public space. So he keeps at his present walking pace and pretends not to have seen Avenger at all.]

[destructiveprinciples]

[Hahahahahhah no, denied. You are going nowhere. Avenger, unlike Waver, was not against engaging terrible plans and so he didn't go along with the magi pretending to not have seen him at all.

He lengthened his speed slightly and caught up with him, matching his current walking pace and walks beside him. Since they're in the shopping center and it's not that late out yet, the yellow lights of the stores still flood onto the street. The conservation is opened with;]

Hey, Waver. [Angra knew distantly this wasn't the greatest of ideas. But he was angry. He was angry because he had no means to fulfill his job, no outlet for said anger and the person who had witnessed him behaving like that was right there.]

[gordianknots]

[The speed's worrisome, but the tone, the tone is what makes Waver tense. He manages a polite smile though, and keeps walking.] Avenger.

[destructiveprinciples]

I'm sure you remember what happened yesterday, don't you? [That tone of his voice doesn't change at all. He keeps pace easily, and if Waver attempted to shake him off by speeding up or slowing down, it wouldn't work. At his side, his bandaged hand twitches.]

[gordianknots]

We had a fairly pleasant conversation. [Waver's hands tuck into his coat pockets, and ball into fists. It won't be much, but the action is a comfort.]

[destructiveprinciple]

So we did. [He's looking at Waver sidelong.] So we did, and I behaved foolishly during it, didn't I.

[gordianknots]

You were under the control of the Powers that Be. You're hardly accountable for your own actions.

[destructiveprinciple]

Accountability isn't what's bugging me now. [He glances straight ahead of them for a moment. His smile tightens.] Assholes left me a letter this morning telling me off.

[gordianknots]

--I'm very sorry to hear that?

[destructiveprinciples]

[He continued, almost conversationally.] And that means I can't do a thing to the villagers unless I want to undergo the same treatment twice.

[But... Waver wasn't a villager.]