pikohan:
Ludger isn’t sure what to make of Kratos’ initial reaction to the explanation. He doesn’t look very pleased, even as he shows so much care with the chick, but maybe that’s how he always looks..? Julius used to look really intimidating when they were younger, too.
Even if Kratos doesn’t approve, maybe Ludger could still convince him to tell him the monster’s habitat. Sure he doesn’t know what their nests look like, but aren’t mothers usually protective of their young? Maybe she’d see him and attack him and he could just.. give her her child and get the hell out of there?? Okay, it’s not the greatest plan, but he’ll figure something out.
It’s only when Kratos’ next words pull him from his thoughts does he realize that he was getting ahead of himself. If he heard right, that means..
“Thank you,” he tells him, accompanied by a genuine smile that becomes a bit sheepish as he takes the offered clothing. He.. didn’t realize until now that he was running around in soaked clothes, despite that being exactly what happens when you climb down to rushing water. “Right, I’ll be quick.”
He spares a quick glance at Presea. Unsurprisingly, she hadn’t moved or spoken since they entered the campsite. “Wait here with Kratos and Noishe, okay?”
Even as he leaves to change somewhere more privately, the girl doesn’t respond. She simply walks closer to the older man and the dog, stops, and waits as directed.
Kratos has experience with the soulless. He has seen them wandering the halls of Welgaia. It is not a time he wishes to share, but he has wandered the alongside them, his own soul bound to a command that was not his. He has experienced the process, and the cultivation of that which kickstarted the process.
Still, he is surprised when the girl steps into the firelight.
“Please,” he says, voice soft, yet firm, “take a seat.”
The soulless are people and should be treated as such. But lacking autonomy, they would not act in their best, most comfortable interests.
The girl needs a key crest. She needs a key crest quickly. A key crest and time.
Observing her taking a position beside Noishe, he takes a chance. “You may pet him if you wish.”
Then he personally scratches behind one of Noishe’s great ears, prompting the protozoan to arch his head into the touch.
Presea follows the command perfectly; that is, the most optimal place to sit seems to be besides Noishe, so that is where she does.
The following offer is different. While her crystal is imperfect and faint parts of her former self tend to guide her actions, she does not have true desires to act on. The girl she used to be loved animals, that is a fact. The soulless girl is aware of this.
She is also aware that it does not matter now. The creature beside her is a monster, one that has already been tamed, and any attempt of appealing to it would be pointless.
"Understood," she says in a quiet and monotone voice, but she does not move.
Presea stays there in silence until Ludger returns. She continues to sit eerily still as he kneels before her and Noishe, perfectly aware of the look he gives her and the way he forcibly adjusts it before he gathers the cloak wrapped chick in to his arms.
There had been pain in his expression when he looked at her. She does not understand why. It does not matter.
"You already look a lot better," Ludger whispers to the chick, adjusting it in his arms to try to keep it comfortable. "Don't worry, you'll be home soon."
















