redrighthanded | IC; Duplicity Inbox

[ It's not unexpected. He's gleaned a little about the kind of guy Anduin is from Gilia and Jacob, as well as from the handful comments he was able to force himself to read on the network. Like the citation, he tries to ignore it until he can't, which means Anduin might be waiting a day or so for a response. ]

Anduin

you don't owe me anything

we can talk if you want though

HB

Hellboy,

I would very much like the opportunity, and I appreciate your willingness to speak with me.

Please let me know when you would be next available, and if there is a venue of meeting you would prefer.

Anduin

I've got to be somewhere for another couple of hours
you know Mendacity?

No, but I'm certain I can find my way with direction.

see you later on then

[ Hellboy is there a little earlier than he suggested to Anduin, mostly so he can sink a few before the other man arrives. He's not quite at the point of being on a true bender, not like the time in Mexico or the other time in Alaska, or come to think of it way too many times recently, but he's been drinking with grim determination more for most of the time since that encounter in the market. So far his enhanced healing has been taking care of most of it so he's still functional, though he thinks he might need to work on that after this conversation.

He's visited Mendacity a few times before and doesn't get much interest now, so he's pretty much left alone as he takes up most of a booth along one of the walls, a number of bottles already ranged across the wooden table in front of him. Besides that and a certain air of exhaustion he's no worse for wear for being impaled and partially eviscerated by necrotic magic.

Trusting that Anduin will be able to pick him out in the crowd, he doesn't pay much attention to the comings and goings of other patrons, his gaze on the empty air in front of him as he considers the depths of what he's accidentally stumbled into. ]

[ The place has the feel of a tavern, if a little different in the particulars. So at least it's not an unfamiliar atmosphere to walk into, despite looking clean-cut and wholesome as the day is long.

Anduin doesn't let his attention linger anywhere for too long, searching the bar, then the tables, then finally the booths before his eyes land on the figure he's looking for. It's as Wrathion says. Hellboy isn't hard to find, if you're looking.

Quietly he makes his way over to the booth, observing firs the number of bottles in front of him before his gaze flickers towards the man himself, a faint furrow of sympathy in his brow. ]

Hellboy. Ah. I've come to understand that's what you go by, here. I apologize if that's too forward of me, to assume.

[ He doesn't glance up when Anduin appears in his peripheral vision, only lifting his gaze when the other man addresses him. His first impression is that Anduin is far too young for that shadow of concern in his expression.

He lifts his left hand in a vague gesture at the seat opposite, a silent suggestion that the young king might as well sit down. ]

I've been called worse. Believe me. [ And it's better than using his true name, at least. He tips his beer back to finish it off and sets it with the others. ] You feeling okay?

I imagine so. But I don't intend to be among their number.

[ Slowly, he slides into the booth across from him, that faint hitch in his brow remaining in place. ]

I'm well enough, thank you. And how are you faring?

[ He can't help but wonder. After being stabbed through with Shalamayne, unintentionally injured with holy magic, and then Light knew what else, it wasn't hard to imagine he'd had a significantly worse time of it since that night. ]

[ Hellboy studies him for a moment, then glances away, trying and failing to push aside the memories of the market square that have been beating against the insides of his skull for days. He scratches his stubbly cheek with a stone finger. ]

Fine. I heal fast.

[ He lapses into silence for a moment, his gaze on the rest of the pub, then looks back at Anduin. ]

Look, I don't know.. I can't begin to say how sorry I am. That wasn't.. I don't lose control like that normally. Ever.

[ He lets him start in, lets him pour himself out as much as he's able, before offering a gentle smile in return. ]

Jacob told me as much. He spoke of how gentle you were. How good a man you are. And I trust his sense of judgement.

I believe what happened was the city's influence, and nothing more. Whatever happened, you were done wrong as much as anyone. If you wish my forgiveness, know that there is nothing to forgive.

[ There's no surprise at the use of Jacob's name, though Hellboy drops his eyes to his hands on the tabletop at the praise he doesn't feel he deserves.

Tension hardens the lines of his shoulders as Anduin continues. He rubs his thumb over a faint crack in the side of his stone palm. ]

That's a load of crap. [ He glances up again, a spark of anger in his gaze. ] You shouldn't have to accept what I did to you. That was.. it was wrong.

[ Some might quail under a look that severe, from someone who looks as Hellboy does. Anduin doesn't bat an eye, that gentle insistence remaining in his gaze. ]

I will not hold you at fault for something that you were not to blame for. Neither should you.

[ Hellboy experiences a compulsion to throw something, maybe a bottle or two, or to jump up and turn the table over, sending everything crashing to the floor. To prove to Anduin how wrong he is.

He fights it down with an effort, letting out a pent up breath after a few long moments, his tail coiling unhappily beside him. ]

This is.. [ Another breath, he marshals his control back, looks at Anduin again. ] How many times has this place done this to you?

[ The tension rising in him is easy enough to spot, the rigid set of his shoulders betraying the coil of muscle, the intent to move and do so with force and speed.

He doesn't budge. And when Hellboy finally seems to relent, Anduin nods quietly, feeling a painful twist in his chest for what he can see playing out across the man's face. ]

...I know what it is to be made to hurt people, how difficult it is standing on that side of things. A prisoner inside your own body while it acts in ways you would never...

[ He pauses, before recollecting himself. ]

I remember the guilt. The shame and the horror of it. And if you are angry with me for allowing it to happen as it did, I can understand that.

[ He doesn't expect that angle. His expression goes still and knotted up with a grim kind of sympathy, because he manages to hit the nail pretty much on the head. Except for that last part. Hellboy doesn't wait for Anduin to finish speaking before he interjects, balling his hands on the table. ]

Hey, no -- I'm not angry at you, kid. That wasn't your fault. I just wish it hadn't.. I'd been able to stop before.. [ He falters and clears his throat. ] I'd take it back if I could.

I know. I could sense you fighting against it.

[ He'd seen glimpses, the struggle before the haze took him again. Even before Jacob and Gilia had spoken on his behalf, he'd known he was warring against his nature. But the city had its ways of overwhelming them no matter how strong their will.

Even so. His eyes lower at last. He says he's not angry with him, but. He doesn't know all of it, yet. ]

I could have stopped you, I think. But not without hurting you further. I knew what the price would be to end the madness set upon you, and I thought it would be easier to let it run its course where it could do the least harm.

[ Now, he can decide if he's angry with him. ]

[ He is angry, but not at Anduin. The stone of his hand scrapes against the table as he makes a fist capable of crushing one of the bottles on it into powder. He stops short of doing that, though. ]

You shoulda stopped me. [ Lifting his gaze back up, he fixes his attention on the younger man. ] If there's a next time, I want you to do it. If you say you can. I need you to.

[ He was afraid he might say that. Though his expression is grim, there's steely resolve in his eyes when they lift to meet Hellboy's, and he nods once. ]

I understand. I hope it won't come to that, but I'll do what I can. You have my word.

[ That resolve is reassuring in more ways than one. Seeing it, Hellboy feels a little better about believing Anduin about his wanting to help instead of just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's a hardness in his gaze that suggests it's not the first time he's had to take the more painful road out of a situation. ]

Good. [ It doesn't feel particularly good, though. Mostly it just makes him feel sick. He sighs and rubs his hand over his face. ] Is that what you wanted to talk about?

One of the things, yes.

[ Relaxing ever so slightly, he nods towards Hellboy's side. ]

I also meant to ask how your wound is progressing. When I tried healing you that night, I feared I might have complicated matters.

[ Hellboy doesn't so much relax as let the weary lines of his shoulders pull him back down. He gives a small shrug. ]

It's all right. Usually I can walk it off. This place has messed with that somehow. [ He tugs a bottle over in front of him, inspects it, then sets it aside. ] What's your magic made from, anyway?

From the Light. It's divine in nature.

[ A faint wrinkle appears in his brow. ]

I didn't want to assume what you were, but...I suspect perhaps something about you runs counter to that.

[ Still looking for a bottle he hasn't emptied, Hellboy gives a wry grunt of amusement, gaze flicking back to Anduin. ]

Yeah, guess that makes sense. My father was a demon. Probably like mixing oil and water. Here, try it again. [ He holds out his left hand, palm up, towards the young king. ]

[ Anduin looks skeptical for a moment, before nodding and extending his own hand. Something in the air stirs, a glimmer dancing around his fingertips, before slipping across Hellboy's palm as delicately as he can manage.

Half-demon or no, he doesn't want to hurt him any further. ]

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