lostcarnival | yuya needs better friends

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yuya needs better friends

Who: Yuya & Strange
What: teenager goes to check on his stupid grown-up friend
When: shortly after the radio post
Where: Strange's trailer

Strange has decided people are stupid. First Lambert yells at him for not being mad enough, now the Ringmaster yells at him for not being mad enough despite the fact that she first said she thought the conversation was a valid idea and she gave him his stupid fireproof cape back, and now Yuya's going to yell at him for some dumb reason and he's not a Nightrider anymore despite the fact that it makes tactical sense and he's stuck in research of all divisions and everything is dumb and he's going to go live in the woods with Coco as a hermit.

And now that he's gotten all his childish pouting out of the way, accidentally burned one of his shirts, and threw a plate against the wall of his trailer (it didn't help), Strange is grumpily coming to the conclusion that he can't be a hermit and he's going to have to deal with people and he should probably think of the best way to sort all this mess out as best as possible.

Strange has left his trailer door open, partly so that he'll see Yuya approach and partly because his trailer smells like burnt fabric at the moment. Sorry, Syrlya. He's sweeping up the remnants of said broken plate as Yuya approaches.

"Give me a moment," Strange calls out, before trying to finagle the broom back in the corner to sweep up the tiny shards of ceramic into the dustpan. "Alright, I think that should be it. You can come inside." His hair's burning a bit more than normal and Strange is wearing a simple white t-shirt instead of the ruined one, but Strange is desperately trying to look like a man who is collected enough for what will inevitably be a talk that he really doesn't want to do.

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Yuya draws his hand back, tapping his chin. "Why don't you talk to me about Ignatius first? I promise not to yell, and then maybe you'll have a better idea what you want to say to him when you can."

He smiles, genuine enough. Part of his intention is absolutely to distract Strange from actually disobeying the Ringmaster, but it also seems like he really needs to get some stuff off his chest.

Strange frowns a little, like he's not entirely sure that this could be as simple as 'just talk it out'...before giving in. This is Yuya, after all. If he says he won't yell, then he won't yell. And who knows, maybe actually talking about this will make him feel a bit better. Strange hasn't done much talking over the past week, just a lot of yelling and sulking.

"Take a seat," Strange starts, as he walks towards the trailer's table. After all, they might be here for a while. "Apparently someone was broadcasting our meeting with Ignatius through the radio. How much of that did you hear?"

Aka how much backstory does Strange need to give?

Yuya smiles victoriously, spinning on his heels to seat himself at the table. His tail curls around the leg of the chair while he rests his elbows on the surface.

His expression slips a little at having to recall the broadcast, however. "It was right when you agreed to go with him. It got really loud immediately, I heard Rita and Yuzu yelling at each other, and Zangetsu. That was before we found Steven." And before the Rose Queen found all of them.

There was a lot of yelling. Strange sits down next to Yuya, nodding slightly at his answer before, trying to deliberately stay calm, he continues talking.

"The terms of the deal were this: if one of us swore ourselves to him, he'd spare the group. I thought—" Strange catches himself for a moment, before shaking his head. It didn't matter what he thought, did it. What mattered was that he screwed up. "I think he turned me to ash. When he reformed me, I was in the Rose Queen's gardens. He told me that I was to be his soldier and that he respected my decision to offer myself up."

And Strange pauses for a moment as he tries to get an intensely guilty look off his face. Because he can't help it: hearing someone actually say the words 'I respect your decision' felt amazing. And it feels even more amazing considering half the time he makes a decision or proposes an action, it feels like half the carnival's ready to shout him down.

Yuya nods slowly, quiet as he considers what he already knows of Ignatius. He remembers him most prominently from the ritual, offering duels and generally wiping the floor with the carnival members.

His gaze flicks down at that, pursing his lips. "He's still working with the Rose Queen, right? Why do you think he wanted to make one of you his soldier?"

Yuya could guess a few reasons (like that's just what Fae do), but this talk is for Strange to get out his feelings, so Yuya's keeping the conversation as much on his opinion as possible.

"Because I'd be good at it," Strange explains, as if it's obvious. "Ignatius said that he 'read my ashes,' whatever that means. I assume that's his way of doing that looking through memories thing that the fae do. If he looked through my memories, he'd see that I fought in the peninsula, I've adopted my magic for combat, and that I'm a soldier for the carnival."

Well, was a soldier for the carnival. The conversation derailed away from that topic on the radio post but Strange is still a bit bitter at being removed from the nightrunners. Strange frowns a little, thinking as he tries to remember Ignatius's exact words and the gist of that conversation.

"He said it was noble? Being a soldier, that is. And I don't think he's wrong about that. After all, something can still be 'noble' but also be 'damned inconvenient.'" The first time around, Strange was super gung-ho to go to the peninsula. The second time around, not so much. That wouldn't remove any sense of nobility, though. Would it?

Yuya furrows his brow at the mention of the memory reading (that's so invasive), but he quickly shakes it off.

"No, I mean... Yuzu offered herself too, so he was going to take anyone, right? Why was he asking someone to sacrifice themselves in the first place?"

His tone is lightly curious, although he can't help the frown on his face. It doesn't seem like Strange was actually singled out by Ignatius initially. He wasn't a target, which is a relief after Nightshade but Yuya still wonders if abusing changelings is a perspective he believes as strongly as Portland.

Or maybe it was just to have leverage for the Blue Rose, Yuya would believe that too.

Oh. Make one of you his soldier. Not you specifically. Whoops. That's a valid question, though, and Strange frowns as he tries to think back and remember the details of the conversation.

"One of us had to offer ourselves up or he'd attack our party," Strange explains, but in a halting tone, as he's trying to remember the specifics. "So that would mean he was also fine with not attacking our party. But I saw what he did to Lambert and the rest during the rescue mission—he could have easily killed us all where we stood."

But he didn't. But he could. And for someone as show-offy as Strange is, the idea of having magical power but not using it is a little bit confusing. Granted, he's thankful that they all didn't get charbroiled where they stood. But again, why didn't they? Did Ignatius not want any collateral damage? Did Ignatius not want to hurt anyone to begin with?

One thing's for certain: Strange is not vocalizing that line of thought to anybody else except Yuya (and possibly Ignatius himself).

Yuya folds his arms on the table. That makes enough sense, doesn't it? But the last time they saw this...

"The Prince kidnapped people so he could hold them against the Ringmaster, right? The Rose Queen wanted the Rose, but the Summer Court is only after her because of the Winter Queen." It's slightly off topic, but he's trying to piece together the story. Changelings mean nothing to most Fae, but how many of them know the Ringmaster doesn't see it that way?

"Ignatius didn't try attacking anyone first?"

"The Rose Queen wants Steven also," Strange clarifies. "And Nightshade attacked Lambert just because she could when the two ran into each other in Wismuth." Strange isn't entirely certain where Yuya's going with this, if anywhere, but he'll offer up some clarifications and explanations as well.

"But no, he didn't try attacking anyone first. It might have been the same when Lambert and the rest summoned me in the Athenaeum. At first, Ignatius tried to teleport us away. It was only when Zangetsu did something to the building we were in to trap both of us there that he told me to ki—to attack the four of them."

Of course, Strange has absolutely no clue what happened before the rescue team summoned him to the Athenaeum. None of them looked too burned or wounded, at least.

"I know that. Once she had Steven she let the rest of us leave." But then she used him to try and get the Blue Rose, so that wasn't the end of her coming after the carnival anyway.

He lifts his head up a little, resting his cheek on his hand. "I just wonder why he made that deal in the first place, instead of killing everyone or just taking someone by force if he was kidnapping people." He wrinkles his nose a little. "Did he say anything about that?"

"He didn't." But Strange's mind is already starting to work as he comes up with what he hopes is a semi-plausible idea. He frowns a little, gesturing with his hand as the theorizes.

"But again, he took me to be a soldier. If you're going to staff an army, someone conscripted against their will is much more likely to desert than someone who signed up willingly." And considering that Ignatius is a general of the Summer Court, not a common foot soldier, it wouldn't surprise Strange if he thought of that scenario already.

"Is it willing if the other option is dying? You were still planning to desert." That sounds suspect to Yuya, but he otherwise follows the general idea. Maybe Ignatius wanted to recruit people to himself instead of just graze everyone down because the Ringmaster has a bounty on her head.

"Maybe that's one of the things you can ask when you get to talk. What he was trying to do, and why he wanted you. We want to understand him, right?" There has to be a bridge they can build between them, and Strange is probably familiar enough to be part of it. But it's a little more (a lot more) severe than just having drinks, and Yuya's just a little anxious about that part.

"If that's what it was, then... he definitely doesn't understand us, either."

"I don't think he knew about the egg," Strange points out. He's got no idea if Ignatius spotted the fact that Strange had a rebirth when he read his ashes or whatever, but he certainly didn't know that when Strange agreed to sign on.

"And I know why he was looking for us," he admits. "Ignatius was looking for Lapis Lazuli. It was only when he West said she was taken that he made us the offer." Strange is conveniently leaving out that all likelihood, Lapis was going to betray the carnival, but the scowl on his face tells Yuya just what Strange thinks of Lapis (she's awful.)

"But that still doesn't explain why he didn't attack us. And you're right: the best way to find out is to ask him why himself."

Yuya definitely misinterprets that frown to be about the huge fight they had on the radio, and he frowns a little himself.

"I didn't know he was here for someone specifically." That really just creates more questions than it does answers. Namely: why? Was he trying to get collateral, and that's why anyone would do?

"He works with the Rose Queen, like Nightshade. Besides Steven, they're trying to get the Blue Rose. Maybe..." Maybe he had a way to use them to get it, a plan way beyond Yuya's understanding right now.

He glances up to Strange with a small smile. "Now you have something else important to talk to him about, right? Maybe he'll tell you more about what he was planning than the rest of us."

Strange nods. Because Yuya's right. He has something he can ask Ignatius: and it's so nice to have an idea of what to do that in order to build up to the agreement thing. Because Strange has a sneaking suspicion that if he outright, bluntly asked 'hey Ignatius, break my contract please', it would go over poorly. At least this way, the meeting won't be a total bust if Strange doesn't find out anything about how fae agreements work.

He's still worried it might be a bit of a bust, though. After all, he doubts Ignatius would outright tell Strange how to break an agreement nor would he give him any hints on how to do so in the first place.

"I hope so," Strange admits. Not just because of his ego, but because of other reasons. "This might sound fool-hearty, especially since I hope to break our agreement, but I'd like for him to think of me as an ally. I doubt I'll be able to do much, but even the smallest gesture of helping him could mean a lot. After all, he's cut off from everyone he knows and everything he cares about." But, based on Strange's wary expression, he knows exactly how well the rest of the carnival will take this: badly. Oh, Strange is enthralled again, he still adores Ignatius, et cetera et cetera. Whereas in Strange's mind, it's simply him trying to be a decent person.

Yuya tilts his head. "Eh... but ally kind of implies you're working to the same goal, doesn't it?" Agreement aside, Yuya doubts getting kidnapped is going to make Ignatius turn his back on helping the Summer Court, who currently conquer planets and want them dead.

"Maybe a friend would be better." He smiles. "This... isn't the best way we could have done it, but if he doesn't hate us then I want him to see we don't all want him to suffer, either."

Just to have their own suffering cease.

Whereas Yuya thinks 'friend' is better, Strange frowns a little before shaking his head. He doesn't think that friend's a good choice of words at all.

"If I say I'm his friend, then Lambert and the Ringmaster will just start yelling at me again. 'He enthralled you, you can't be his friend' or something like that. At least with ally, it doesn't presume any feelings of that sort."

Besides, Strange still doesn't really know what he feels about Ignatius. He wants to show a bit of compassion and help him deal with these new circumstances, but 'friend?' Strange isn't too certain he wants to go directly to friend.

Yuya is all feelings all the time. He unsurprisingly goes for more charged, less duty-bound phrases.

"I meant more 'become his friend', I don't think he's going to think much of any of us right now..." Yuya scratched his cheek absently, glancing aside briefly. Even Strange, he's only known for a couple days and Strange had every intention of bailing on him by getting rescued anyway.

Then, he shrugs. "Maybe just tell him you want to help make it easier. I don't think we should be any more cruel, anyway." Being kidnapped, torn from everything... that's probably enough. Yuya doesn't think the carnival is full of cruel people, just that everyone is backed into a corner and scared. It's not really what they signed up for.

True, true. Strange nods a little at Yuya's clarification. Because he's right: the likelihood that Ignatius would think that any carnival members were slightly decent is slim to none. And he's got damn good reason to think so.

"We shouldn't. I hate the fact that this cruelty happened to begin with," Strange briefly complains, with a frown. Whereas Yuya doesn't think the carnival is full of cruel people, Strange isn't so certain about that. He adores Lambert, calls him his best friend, but that doesn't mean he can ignore the fact that Lambert is a huge dickhead. "And none of them seem repentant! Has Lambert, Syrlya, or Rita even expressed the slightest hint of regret? All of this," said with a vague gesture, "is their fault to begin with!"

"Uh--" Yuya pauses, lifting his head a little and looking uncertain. "I haven't exactly asked any of them... Rita just told me what happened."

The obvious answer to that is 'ask them yourself' but given how volatile everyone is... Yuya's not sure it wouldn't sound accusatory and end in another argument. He looks at Strange curiously. "Do you think it's bad because it was Ignatius, or if they did that to any of the Fae?"

"I think it's bad because it's torture," Strange responds, as if it's obvious. "Killing someone is one thing. But hurting them just because you can? That's barbaric."

It would have been easier for Strange to accept this had they just killed Ignatius. After all, if he had the opportunity and means to do so, Strange is fairly certain he'd at least make an attempt at killing Nightshade. But what they all did, forcing Ignatius to speak and then forcing him to relive others painful memories? Strange is a bit horrified at that.

Yuya smiles tightly, relieved it's the action itself that's the problem but not sure killing anyone is actually better.

"I... didn't feel bad for him at first." Which sounds bad, so he quickly holds a hand up before Strange can interrupt him. "I was angry! They probably were, too, but it doesn't make it right. What the Fae do, it's not any better if we do it."

He believes that much, as least. He knows that's a perspective others find too idealistic, but when his grief subsides it's hard to justify.

"I don't think killing all of them is a solution, either. There's never going to be any understanding that way."

Strange is about to interrupt, before Yuya stops him. Instead, he frowns a little, listening to what Yuya has to say. He's right, of course. The carnival has to be better than that—and Strange knows that he, personally, has to be better than that. He's accepted the fact that he's not a good person, but let's just keep it at that level instead of taking a nosedive back into terrible.

"You're right," Strange simply responds, with a nod. Strange gives Yuya a small smile before gently teasing, "We have to be better than them. But don't expect anyone else to feel that way. I know that some of the carnival would call you idealistic or naive if you brought it up."

Looking at you, Childermass.

Yuya shrugs with a smile. "I'm used to that."

He met a similar affront in Wismuth when he suggested they appeal to the Harbinger's hearts. But it worked, didn't it? Maybe it is idealistic, but... Yuya doesn't want to do any more harm, not himself.

"I don't think we'll get anywhere by hurting each other like this."

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