eachdraidh | 2 ☼ video / open to both courts

[ zuko is not going to tearbend. ]

[ he may have found toph's shard, tucked safely away where no one, not even reynard, would be able to steal it, and her metal bracelet, worn around his thin wrist, but he will not tearbend. he knows what it means. toph never abandons him, not even when he's annoyed her until she starts calling him sparky just to see him grit his teeth and steam pour from his ears. toph's the one thing in drabwurld that actually stayed — and it's his fault she's gone. even though it's completely and utterly irrational, guilt eats away at him for leaving her alone, believing his own treachery to the unseelie court would only require him to complete a personal quest to see to it his honour is restored. but toph's gone — save for her metal bracelet, the one he never really had seen her take off. had they stripped her of that before they'd taken her, too? he doesn't plan on keeping her bracelet, determined to give it back to her once he finds her again. but it's better to be worn on his person than to be left in his suite, the imps' feet running closer and closer to his door with each passing day he lingers in drabwurld — either at the station or in caer scima. ]

[ his expression is a permanent scowl. two imps can be seen running from him outside the castle of caer scima, their behinds burnt and some of their hair still caught aflame. they keep shouting we don't know where toph is!, but it only seems to make zuko angrier, hands balling into tight fists. in toph's honour, he sends a blast of fire along the grass, slithering quickly toward them like a serpent, to see to it they shriek and jump high into the air. ]

Toph's gone. The imps didn't take her, but I don't believe them.

[ he's not sure what to even believe anymore. he can barely believe in himself, and that's already a can of worms he's trying to shove the lid back on. ]

[ petulantly, he utters, ] Whatever. [ it's not like it matters; he doesn't even know if anyone outside of those in the unseelie even know toph. do they just think he's saying tough? she'd laugh at that; he grits his teeth. anyone would find their life was made ten times better just by her being around. they'd arrived in drabwurld together, they were meant to leave together. ]

[ it appears as though he's about to blast a tree, or even his own locket, held as though another is merely directing it, but he doesn't. much louder, ] I hate this place.

[ and he leans forward to grab his locket and tosses it as far as he can, shooting a thick burst of flame at it as the imp that had been recording him scampers away, its body seen blurred by the camera tumbling into darkness. ]

[ for anyone at caer scima, zuko's in the bailey, sitting against a willow tree, sulking. either he wears his frown, arms crossed against his chest, or he's looking at his locket, as if contemplating burning it until it's ash, even though it seems almost indestructible against his fire. if toph were here ... well, she's not. and he's not chasing any imps or playing practical jokes (nor is he going to the feast later today to do such a thing) on anyone because of that very reason. ]

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[ He only spends an hour or so at the feast before making himself scarce, unnerved by the fairy folk and their strange friends and lured into a quiet alcove to investigate the magical locket. Hiccup is filled with the urge to talk to Toothless but he hasn't got his companion with him and the sheer loneliness is horribly overwhelming, so when he views something on the locket that loosely parodies his own (grief, loss, anger) mood, he takes himself down into the large bailey to look for the scarred one, skin of mead in-hand. His pegleg makes no sound, for once, as he crosses off the path and onto the grassy lawn as the figure is espied at the base of a large, mournful-looking tree. It's hardly a stealthy approach despite being six-foot and he comes to a halt within a respectable distance; the glare fixed on the locket in the other man's hands speaks volumes.

He suddenly feels very, very tired, surrounded by massive old trees that make him feel reedy and fifteen again. It's already turned into a long night. The open air makes his voice seem very small to his own ears. ]

You looked like you might be out here a while when I saw you over the ... pictures, the ones in the lockets.

[ And I don't know what else I'm supposed to do with myself. I'm probably in shock, isn't that just great. Fully aware he sounds oblivious to however the mechanics work with the fairy trinket, Hiccup offers the pouch, unable to hand it over unless the other man invites him to move closer and do so. He shrugs. ]

It's just mead, if you're thirsty.

Edited (repeating words why self) 2014-10-01 02:26 (UTC)

[ mead. tea. isn't it all the same thing? uncle may pout and shed a tear over the fact that the pouch contains no tea, but he wouldn't turn back a companion over his choice of drink. a good drinking partner is one who makes the conversation easy, the spirits light, and perhaps the tea will be tasted on his tongue, even if it's mead instead. it's easier for zuko to say no to things — no, he doesn't want to listen; no, he doesn't want to fight; no, he doesn't want any company. but the three long years he'd spent in uncle's company, and in his own, has taught him that no is sometimes the wrong answer, even if it feels right. letting his anger and grief dictate his movements will see to him burning right up again. ]

[ and he is a little thirsty from all that bending and anger. but he doesn't take to the man before him because of his offer. it's uncle's voice in his head, making little to no sense, that sees to the fire within him simmering down. it's not a please, sit, but it's an unspoken one, if he wishes to hear it in his movements or even his willingness to engage. ]

[ he's been here two months and he still doesn't understand the lockets. he looks down at his belatedly, before tossing it to the side, as though it's merely a rock. ] I don't want to be out here at all. [ it sounds sulky — and it is — but it's the truth. he doesn't want to be here, not in drabwurld, not without mai or uncle or katara, aang, sokka, and toph. if ty lee were here, he'd be happy. but he's not; he's never happy, and maybe that's finally becoming a problem. ]

[ nodding toward the little pouch, ] Did you get that from the feast? [ since he had had plans to scavenge through everything, stealing with toph as they prepared for their own little mission with the future kids from seelie. but that's now null and void. ]

[ If Zuko expects mead to taste the same as tea, he's going to have an interesting evening. It's rather strong, not exactly the stuff a Berkian would sniff at but neither did it make his eyes want to shrivel up and die when he took a whiff, so Hiccup finds it passable. ]

I know, I think.

[ He has to seriously doubt anyone wants to be here, in the aelfen realm. (It's not a wise decision, according to Gothi, to even eat or drink with the creatures in such a place, but then again Hiccup has to also doubt the village elder has ever been kidnapped and exalted in one afternoon.) The locket being cast aside gets a glance, but no more. The guy before him is about the same age as Gustav, although far more sulky than Snotlout's teenage relative.

Hiccup tips the pouch, taking steps to put him near enough to hand it over at last. ]

Yeah. I doubt anyone'll miss it, they'll all be drunk off their faces in no time. I'm sort of hungry but I can't eat tonight. [ On this, his first night here. ] So, drinking it is.

[ zuko takes it, only because it's the polite thing to do. he doesn't think he's ever had mead before. uncle's never really had it, so he's never truly been exposed to it, despite how many taverns they've been to. but he doesn't drink from it, taking a moment to look at it. ]

[ at least the not-so-quiet whispers he's heard of new arrivals weren't lies. zuko thinks he should be there, in case anyone from his time and his home happen to be at the feast, alone and confused by their new surroundings — and annoyed by the imps. but he can't bring himself to go back to the place where he had first found toph. he knows he'd look for her, to see if she's around to prank sokka or scare katara or even protect him from the wrath of mai. ]

[ the impression he gets from his newfound companion isn't one that he's brand new, still shiny from being plucked from his own home. zuko's hungry, but he knows he'd only burn his food to charcoal or pick at it. ]

The food's good. [ if a little weird. ] I think they only have feasts every two months. You might have a friend there.

[ Hiccup wanders to one of the low-slung branches of the willow, idly turning over a leaf in his fingers without plucking it. It gives him something to do with his hands, now they're empty. ]

The only person I was with when they brought me here will be able to root me out no matter where I go, he knows my scent. Anyway, I'm not really in the mood for big social hoo-hahs, I'm just taking some time to myself.

[ His hand drops to his side as he gives the scarred one a look of open interest. ]

What about your friend, the one you can't find? Won't she be there?

2 ☼ video / open to both courts

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