Everything Falls | Viper + Abel + Vinzent + ... | Library Car

Abel Lazarus

Roadie 🪶Jack But the other context was plain enough—she’d lost consciousness for the last time long before her brother found her at their little temporary camp of a home base. He carried her off from there, but she perished en route to the hospital. There’s no mention of any kind of poison exposure incident anywhere around here, though.

… Hm. So that’s what was happening… It really was a good thing he destroyed that tape then, huh?

It doesn’t seem like a good way to go out. He looks up at Ibah and Jack- or. Jagal as Viper has been calling him? She’s small- especially for 14.

Roadie 🪶Jack Looks like… about seven years ago? Huh.

Hm… Doesn’t that line up with how long Jack’s been on this train? He’ll have to verify with his journal.

Roadie 🪶Jack Apparently just then registering the woman’s presence, the girl winced and scooted closer to Jagal.

Ah. He sees. He reaches over and attempts to tip the book in Viper’s grasp shut so he can question Ibah easier. Perhaps if he’s able to shut it Elucia may be less receptive to him later but that’s not something he particularly cares about at the moment. He isn’t really sure who she is to Jack- so she has no info he wishes to steal yet.

“Ibah, how old was Jac- Jagal the last time you saw him?” This is purely for his curiosity- as well as his desire to make his notes on his fellow… Train boarders? match up. How him to be nosy about things that don’t truly matter after snooping on particularly traumatic things.

Either way for his own personal curiosity he flips through a few other pages- just to gleam any other small details. Nothing that matters much- unless you’d like to make him find anything in particular Roadie.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Abel Lazarus He reaches over and attempts to tip the book in Viper’s grasp shut so he can question Ibah easier.

Viper after the woman scoffs and comments on how Jagal must have fallen off a ladder, she snaps that book shut.

Elucia vanished again when the book closed. Ibah’s gaze flickered that way, but it wasn’t easy to tell if she was relieved or not. Too much else to attend to right now.

Abel Lazarus “Ibah, how old was Jac- Jagal the last time you saw him?”

Way too much to attend to. Multiple people talking to her. It’s fine. It’s fine. If she really got overwhelmed, then Jagal would somehow wake up and take care of it. It’s fine.

Briefly she looked up to search the ceiling before scanning him again with a frown. Hmn.

Vinzent Mayer Carefully, he approached to take a better look at the books.

Three people. Aaaaaah. She drew back, partway into the shelf now.

Ah, she was supposed to be talking. Right, um.

“Two…”

She still seemed a bit distracted, her hands clenched tight. Deep breath. Everybody seemed okay so far. Just… still there.

Abel Lazarus Either way for his own personal curiosity he flips through a few other pages- just to gleam any other small details.

For such a short book, there’s a lot going on—mostly in terms of dangerous travel experiences between her parents’ death and her own—but it’s hard to say what should have stood out. Quite a few mentions of her pet Nazir, at least. And nothing about the Train.

Viper “Well, hello there, Ibah!” She would offer a friendly handshake if she could physically touch the spirit, but instead settles for a curt nod.

She waved a little back. Hewwo.

Viper “Are you Jagal’s sister?”

Nod. It would’ve been a bit silly to try and hide that when they were both right there, anyway.

Viper “Jagal told me about how he grew up on a place called… Hasak? And that his family had a little… shop that sold stuff for the workers and miners. Do you have any more to say about any of that?”

She sort of nodded along slowly, not blinking often enough. He said that, huh…? “Are you…” She didn’t quite make it to the “from there” part of the question, but she’s doing her best. Viper didn’t look like she was from around there, but then again neither did her own dad. She wouldn’t have had to ask if she’d ever been able to handle the shop front, huh? Mmh.

Viper “Jagal keeps stuff pretty close to his chest, but I care about him, and I want to know how we can help him. If you know anything, I’d really appreciate your help.” She bats her eyelashes somewhat, trying to lay on her pleading even thicker.

Her grip tightened. Viper was being nice to her brother earlier, but this was starting to get more suspicious. But what could the stakes have possibly been? They were both right here already, and the others could’ve beat or robbed him all they wanted before she appeared. …Also after she appeared, but she’d try not to think about that. Anyway, there… wasn’t really anything else to worry about, was there?

As far as the question… She tilted her head. How to help him? Mm. Well, he was already asleep. And not bleeding, as far as she could tell. Um.

She just… kinda nodded again. Help.

Vinzent Mayer

Vinzent keeps eyeing the other books that haven’t been opened yet. The question of how close these are to Viper is what makes him hesitate. Carefully, he approached to take a better look at the books.

At the same time, he got some more answers about the man in question. Jagal, huh. On one hand he should have suspected something was odd when “Jack” introduced himself without his last name. But honestly? Jack is such a common name that Vinzent didn’t second guess it very much so.

At least for now, Vinzent would much rather continue to eavesdrop until he deems right to take a book and open it. Because at the end of the day, he just wants to understand Jack/Jagal better. Even if he was never really fond of him.

Viper

Viper glances down as she feels Abel prodding at the book she holds, and after the woman scoffs and comments on how Jagal must have fallen off a ladder, she snaps that book shut. Ibah seemed pretty off-put by the woman being there, so it would probably be better if she were allowed to be on her own.

She tilts her head to the side curiously, looking at the specter.

“Well, hello there, Ibah!” She would offer a friendly handshake if she could physically touch the spirit, but instead settles for a curt nod. “Are you Jagal’s sister?” She asks, glancing between the two of them. It would be quite interesting if so, with her mess of dark hair… perhaps Jagal had some interesting feelings about the fact they both had such distinctive hair. If he even remembered this woman.

“Jagal told me about how he grew up on a place called… Hasak? And that his family had a little… shop that sold stuff for the workers and miners. Do you have any more to say about any of that?” Mostly, she’s trying to gauge Ibah’s willingness to talk. “Jagal keeps stuff pretty close to his chest, but I care about him, and I want to know how we can help him. If you know anything, I’d really appreciate your help.” She bats her eyelashes somewhat, trying to lay on her pleading even thicker.

Abel Lazarus

Roadie 🪶Jack “Two…”

The answer is briefly amusing for Abel- yeah he didn’t think it would get to be that easy did he?

He does open his journal and write in a few things on Jack’s page, though.

Roadie 🪶Jack Quite a few mentions of her pet Nazir

Hm…

Roadie 🪶Jack She just… kinda nodded again. Help.

“… We’re not going to hurt him.” He takes on a slightly softer voice- closer to how he’d been talking to the flour kids last car. “He’s very tired, we’re keeping an eye on him to make sure he’s okay.” Because- well that’s not exactly not true. Gotta keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t notice their snooping.

Realizing he probably won’t be much more comforting to her, though, he shows Viper a mention of Ibah’s pet in the book- hoping she’ll attempt to ask her something about herself and see if that might put her more at ease. She’s demonstrated knowing Jack best- so she should try to keep talking to her.

Also she can lie and he can’t. That too.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Abel Lazarus “… We’re not going to hurt him.” He takes on a slightly softer voice- closer to how he’d been talking to the flour kids last car. “He’s very tired, we’re keeping an eye on him to make sure he’s okay.”

Seemed like all she could do was nod at this point. Those sure were statements. Excellent if true, confusing if not. Not much to say either way. She did seem a little more comfortable with the softer voice, though.

Vinzent Mayer He TENTATIVELY reaches for the book that’s titled Mathias Amundsen.

Also yeah, he does check to make sure that the man is still alright and just napping.

Jack was indeed still breathing! “Alright,” well… It’s a relative term.

When Vinzent successfully secured the book and opened it, yet another spectre rose. Cutting a rather imposing figure (especially compared to most of the group here), the man, with a trimmed goatee and slicked-back hair a bit lighter than Jack’s, wasted little time honing in on the collapsed figure and the spectre beside him. Completely unconcerned with however he’d gotten here, he strode over straightaway.

“What happened? Is he hurt?”

Ibah gravitated toward Mathias with little hesitation, if wide-eyed. He spared her a “hey” with a smile that quickly went taut as he averted his gaze. Her end of the situation was starting to dawn on him, and it was not pleasant to think about. He clenched and unclenched his hands.

Viper “Nah…I’m not from Hasak… jus’ was talkin’ ta Jagal ’bout it.” She answers the girl’s half-question- guessing what she had been about to ask.

Ibah let out a breath. It was nice when people connected the dots right. Usually it was only ever Jagal who managed it. Not that she talked to a lot of other people, but…

Viper “Nazir? What kinda animal is Nazir, then?”

She perked up noticeably, and Mathias gave the nearest bookshelf a brief “oh boy” look as she opened her mouth to reply.

“He’s a qafar hawk! They’re allopatric to the other Parabuteo species but still share a lot of behavioral traits with unicinctus—um, Harris’s hawks, but qafar hawks don’t exhibit back stacking and they’re also closer in size to, mmm, Accipiter striatus than Parabuteo. Mostly the similarities are more about being more sociable than other raptors and engaging in cooperative hunting, which makes them more popular in falconry—not so much internationally because they usually fail to thrive outside of their natural range, but that goes as far south as the UAE I know, because they’re the ones with the largest falcon hospital in the world, not that I’ve ever had to take him there but I’d still really like to… go and…” Her voice faltered. She looked down, scratching her shoulder.

“Where is he…?” She checked the ceiling again, then Jagal, but no hawks suddenly materialized at either location.

Vinzent Mayer

Ugh, Viper was still nearby, but he’ll see if he can take one book to check without much trouble. Although, he’s pretty sure another specter will appear if he opens the one that hasn’t been touched yet.

Mathias’ book is the only one left, right?

Or something, he hasn’t been fully following track of which is which, but if the guess is anything to go by…

Please don’t come for his a– Viper, he’s just checking-

He TENTATIVELY reaches for the book that’s titled Mathias Amundsen.

Otherwise, Vinzent has been content to listen in to what was said to learn more about Jagal.

Also yeah, he does check to make sure that the man is still alright and just napping.

Viper

Sensing movement at her side, Viper’s eyes snap to Vinzent as he approaches and reaches for the book. There’s a moment of brief conflict in her eyes as she barely resists the urge to snap her teeth at him, but eventually returns her gaze back to Ibah.

She looks over as Abel shows her the book, and makes a thoughtful sound before she looks back to Ibah. It was understandable to be suspicious of her really, she doesn’t quite know how she’d feel in Ibah’s situation, but she wasn’t expecting her to give up every piece of information she wanted at the drop of a hat. It had to be slow progress.

“Nah…I’m not from Hasak… jus’ was talkin’ ta Jagal ’bout it.” She answers the girl’s half-question- guessing what she had been about to ask. “I heard ya got a pet. Oh, what was the name again…” Pause.

“Nazir? What kinda animal is Nazir, then?” Viper’s trying her best here with Abel’s prompting.

Abel Lazarus

Roadie 🪶Jack “What happened? Is he hurt?”

“He’s not hurt- I think he just got too tired.”

Watching the whole journey Mathias goes through definitely makes Abel pretty sure they shouldn’t open that next book while any others are open either. It’s… Sad.

Roadie 🪶Jack “Where is he…?” She checked the ceiling again, then Jagal, but no hawks suddenly materialized at either location.

… Abel flips into the book again- looking to see the last time the bird is mentioned before she dies. It doesn’t tell him much about what Jack might have done after realizing she was gone- but. Timelines say he probably got on the train right after. Maybe not immediately but…

He has to say that if he’d found Tsubasa dead he’d. Probably not be worried about any pet when he could get far away from there on this train, huh? It just doesn’t seem like the priority when running away is right there-

And well. Jack sure likes to run away, doesn’t he? After all he did run after biting Abel on the face. Something he remembers while rubbing the scar with slight annoyance.

Viper

Roadie 🪶Jack “He’s a qafar hawk! They’re allopatric to the other Parabuteo species but still share a lot of behavioral traits with unicinctus—um, Harris’s hawks, but qafar hawks don’t exhibit back stacking and they’re also closer in size to, mmm, Accipiter striatus than Parabuteo. Mostly the similarities are more about being more sociable than other raptors and engaging in cooperative hunting, which makes them more popular in falconry—not so much internationally because they usually fail to thrive outside of their natural range, but that goes as far south as the UAE I know, because they’re the ones with the largest falcon hospital in the world, not that I’ve ever had to take him there but I’d still really like to… go and…” Her voice faltered. She looked down, scratching her shoulder.

Viper listened patiently as Ibah started infodumping about her beloved hawk, nodding along to show she was actually interested in the topic before the girl finally seemed to run out of steam. A shame, really, because she was enjoying her little in-person podcast.

It was right now she wished she knew more about birds to actually partake in an effective two-way conversation, but instead she settles for the following-

“You really like birds, huh? Jagal likes birds too, doesn’t he? Do you know what his favourite bird is?” Ibah would hopefully be more at ease talking about something she was interested in. “…We can have a look for him, if you want. I don’t think he came from the book with you, though, sadly…” Viper shakes her head somewhat forlornly.

But it wouldn’t hurt to promise something basically impossible just to try and make this ghost girl feel better, right?

“By the way, you seemed a little afraid of that other lady. Why was that? She was pretty scary… but it looked like more than that.”

Roadie 🪶Jack

(cw oblique implied animal harm)

Abel Lazarus “He’s not hurt- I think he just got too tired.”

Mathias sighed but seemed unsurprised. “All right. Thank you.”

Abel Lazarus … Abel flips into the book again- looking to see the last time the bird is mentioned before she dies.

Seems like the last explicit Nazir mention was at their last camp—certainly nothing to imply anything befell him before his owner.

Vinzent Mayer Vinzent isn’t quite sure if he’ll find anything useful, but he does flip the book he is holding on currently, maybe this will tell him more information about this man and therefore more about Jagal, possibly?

As a whole life account, there was plenty of info to take in; if anything, skimming for what was significant was the real problem. Born in Norway (which would explain why the vowels in this book looked like that), went into pharmaceutical studies after some abnormality of his own metabolism inspired interest, took a personal trip to Azgiran for an herb they didn’t export, met a girl named Amira…

If Vinzent’s focusing on Jagal, though, there are plenty of mentions of the subject’s firstborn son—mostly struggles with Jagal’s sensitive disposition at first, but eventually settling into pretty standard father-son things for their setting. Looks like it was Mathias who encouraged him to take up whittling after catching him messing around sharpening sticks.

Quite a bit of book to try and speedread, especially compared to Ibah’s. Whew.

Viper before the girl finally seemed to run out of steam. A shame, really, because she was enjoying her little in-person podcast.

Sorry, Viper! She just kinda realized she’s not gonna be going to the cool falcon hospital ever. It’s fine.

Viper “You really like birds, huh?

Nod! They made so much more sense than people.

Viper Jagal likes birds too, doesn’t he? Do you know what his favourite bird is?”

Ibah seemed a little less enthusiastic on that one. She scratched, gaze wandering back over to him. “Maybe not…” Unclear which question that was in response to.

Viper “…We can have a look for him, if you want. I don’t think he came from the book with you, though, sadly…”

She made some kind of face for a second—she’d certainly hope he hadn’t come with her, in context!!—then frowned. “Or him…?”

Viper “By the way, you seemed a little afraid of that other lady. Why was that? She was pretty scary… but it looked like more than that.”

Ibah started to open her mouth, then looked down, seeming a little ill.

But the question also summoned Mathias back over. He stooped (could someone that tall really be Jack’s dad?) to get closer to Ibah’s eye level. “Who was it?” Someone bothering you, queen??

It took her another second to speak up. “Auntie…”

He sighed, turning to Viper once he was satisfied Elucia wasn’t still there. “Her aunt’s an archer. Just… picked a poor target for a demonstration once.”

Vinzent Mayer

Ahah! Go away Viper! Even just being stared at was already uncomfortable to Vinzent. He doesn’t want to do anything with her if she’s gonna keep up being an a–hole to him. But maybe he should tell her that he has literally no plans to do anything with what he has learned and to leave him the f-ck alone. He retreated far enough from her but still within the vicinity to listen and open the book right after.

Okay! Another spectre! Another normal occurence here! Vinzent watched as Mathias walked away. Observing the physical features, he had a good guess as to what relation he was to Jagal. And the remaining books… Yeah, that makes sense. He won’t open another that has just been closed, opting to keep the one he has in his hands open until it’s time to close it.

Listening in to Ibah’s rambling about the bird… Huh, so that’s why Jagal was fond of birds, well, that species of bird more specifically. That… Was nice to learn more.

Vinzent isn’t quite sure if he’ll find anything useful, but he does flip the book he is holding on currently, maybe this will tell him more information about this man and therefore more about Jagal, possibly?

Vinzent Mayer

Roadie 🪶Jack As a whole life account, there was plenty of info to take in; if anything, skimming for what was significant was the real problem. Born in Norway (which would explain why the vowels in this book looked like that), went into pharmaceutical studies after some abnormality of his own metabolism inspired interest, took a personal trip to Azgiran for an herb they didn’t export, met a girl named Amira…

If Vinzent’s focusing on Jagal, though, there are plenty of mentions of the subject’s firstborn son—mostly struggles with Jagal’s sensitive disposition at first, but eventually settling into pretty standard father-son things for their setting. Looks like it was Mathias who encouraged him to take up whittling after catching him messing around sharpening sticks.

Quite a bit of book to try and speedread, especially compared to Ibah’s. Whew.

Oh, interesting. He doesn’t mind the extra information, it helps fill some questions. And oh, he was the first born. Okay. Jagal was a sensitive kid, things happened for him to get to who he is today. Ohhh… That makes sense! Well, that would have been sweet. But there was still plenty of things for Vinzent to pick up that uh. Sh-t sure did happen to Jagal for him to become who he is today! But if anything? Vinzent does nod in understanding at the book. Yes, it was quite a speedread. But he didn’t care. He wanted to know some more and while not everything was explained, it was still significant.

Then… He overheard something nearby.

Something, something about archer and a poor target for demonstration. What. Vinzent didn’t get much of the conversation, but um. Hello? His eyes snapped out of the book to look at the ghosts in mild disbelief.

… But back to reading he goes. He isn’t gonna bother people here. And Especially Not Viper! He’ll continue absorbing information in silence as usual! It’s fine.

Abel Lazarus

Well a whole lot seems to be happening around him but it’s not much to comment on personally.

Instead he decides to glance at the death date on Jack’s parents books and try to read Ibah’s book around that point to see what he can learn about it. Especially about how Jack handled it.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Abel Lazarus Instead he decides to glance at the death date on Jack’s parents books and try to read Ibah’s book around that point to see what he can learn about it. Especially about how Jack handled it.

Starting at the date of death, it looked like both parents had died at home while Ibah was asleep that night/morning, not that her brother let her see them once she woke up. She was a little too feverish at the time to know if she even wanted to, and before she knew it Jagal was back with soil staining the bandages on his hands and some more food and herbs for her. As usual anymore, she had to stage a bit of a hunger strike to ensure he ate anything himself—even with two fewer mouths to feed, he seemed to struggle with the concept. And he still ran the storefront, and made enough rope to cover what still hadn’t successfully shipped to them, and went off to the two or so other jobs he’d picked up during the worst of it, despite Ibah’s best efforts. Clearly handling everything just fine.

There’s no mention anywhere around here of other relatives or institutions stepping in or even crossing their minds.

Viper “…I’m sorry that happened, Ibah. I promise I won’t open this book again while ya here.”

Ibah nodded, gaze still down. After a pause, Mathias gently squeezed her shoulder as a reminder that this is where you can say “thank you,” out loud, with your mouth, but it connected neither physically nor mentally. Well. Not like he had much reason to try and get through to her at this point, anyway. How long had she been without him entirely…?

…Anyway. He covered the short distance to his living child to check in on him. Still no change. Well, rest was rest. Mathias had little doubt he’d earned it.

Viper

Well, poor Ibah. She was having a not very good time, and Viper was struggling a little to think of how to get her to properly open up. Maybe it was time to give her a break… soon. When Mathias returns to her side, she raised her brow and winced at the reason that Ibah was so scared of her.

“…Yeah. I get why she’s so… afraid of her then.” Viper trails off, a little awkwardly, then she glances over at Abel.

“…I’m sorry that happened, Ibah. I promise I won’t open this book again while ya here.” Then, she adds very quietly to Abel. “…I wanna try askin’ ’bout what… happened ta Jack, but… I don’t wanna do it while Ibah’s here. Ya think he’ll talk?”

Abel Lazarus

CW: Abuse mentions

Roadie 🪶Jack There’s no mention anywhere around here of other relatives or institutions stepping in or even crossing their minds.

Well it’s not like that’s too strange of a concept for Abel. It doesn’t even register as odd to not do so. It’s not like anyone tried to call regarding his own abuse or the abuse of any family members- and it’s not like anyone would have done anything to a family with the power to bribe people to look away. In fact it makes far more sense to let it stay a family issue- especially if someone cares enough to put effort in on your part.

… He is respecting Jack more, though. Putting in all of that effort.

Viper “…I wanna try askin’ ’bout what… happened ta Jack, but… I don’t wanna do it while Ibah’s here. Ya think he’ll talk?”

He looks at Viper while she talks before looking at Ibah.

“Hey, we’d like to talk to your dad alone for a little if you don’t mind?” He’s keeping that soft voice she seemed more responsive too. “Would you prefer if I just close your book for a little or let you wonder around? If you want to go back into the book I’ll make sure you get to see Jack when he wakes.” He gives her the best reassuring smile he can. Got a lot of practice last car for that.

Viper probably meant for him to just close the book- but he is reading some of it still and he’d like a chance to keep poking through. Plus- well. He’d be pretty annoyed if people kept opening and closing a book he came out of without asking him about it first.

And you know- Mathias might be more willing to talk if they’re showing them basic respect.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Abel Lazarus “Hey, we’d like to talk to your dad alone for a little if you don’t mind?”

Ah, that was normal. Ibah usually didn’t have enough to add, so people didn’t like her still standing there all that much. But that was fine, since she didn’t really want to keep standing there, either. Though this time, if it meant leaving Jagal…

…But there wasn’t anything she could do for him, anyway.

Abel Lazarus “Would you prefer if I just close your book for a little or let you wonder around? If you want to go back into the book I’ll make sure you get to see Jack when he wakes.”

There was that name again, but maybe they just weren’t good at pronouncing his? She couldn’t guess where these people were from, but apparently it wasn’t home.

She thought a second, hands clasped, before nodding. “I’ll… look.” She cast her gaze to the ceiling one more time before quietly stepping away. Mathias watched after her, frowning. But it wasn’t that noisy a place, and there was plenty of space for her to run off if she needed to. Hopefully she wouldn’t stray too far.

And admittedly he was a little relieved not to be staring at his daughter’s ghost.

He folded his arms loosely, peering down at the living instead. “Can I help you, then?” More practiced than gruff.

Vinzent Mayer He flips some pages a bit to see if he had missed anything else, but he doesn’t expect anything super specific.

From some of the details it’s pretty clear his new family was dirt poor by his first-world standards, but there was no convincing Amira to leave her home behind. Still, all was fairly well until the illness struck. There weren’t many pages after that—seemed he very quickly wasn’t lucid enough to do much.

Vinzent Mayer

Vinzent will keep the book open as long as he deems it right until it won’t be time anymore.

He waits. Observing Mathias and Ibah.

And he decided it was wiser to continue keeping quiet, and helping in his own way. If he was asked to close the book at some point? He’ll do that. But for now, since he just opened it, Vinzent will let it be. He flips some pages a bit to see if he had missed anything else, but he doesn’t expect anything super specific.

He will be still attentive should Mathias speak more. At least Vinzent will have the courtesy to pay attention instead of doing two things at the same time.

Vinzent Mayer

Roadie 🪶Jack From some of the details it’s pretty clear his new family was dirt poor by his first-world standards, but there was no convincing Amira to leave her home behind. Still, all was fairly well until the illness struck. There weren’t many pages after that—seemed he very quickly wasn’t lucid enough to do much.

Hm. He sees. Well, for now, he’ll let the book open, until either Viper or Abel tell him to close it. He doesn’t… Really care anymore. He isn’t gonna be petty. It’s not about them. It’s about Jagal after all.

He looked at the ghosts with a small concern before…

…

Did he expect anything?

Viper “He refuses ta trust any’a us. He stabbed me, bit Abel’s nose… which were both kinda deserved, but… Jus’ kinda wanna try’n get some insight inta his mind.”

He definitely remember the stabbed one. And the nose bite… Uh. You two? But… Unfortunately, Vinzent agreed with Viper on one thing: He too wanted some insight in Jagal’s mind.

Abel Lazarus “Hold on- Speak for yourself. I fought Jac-Jagal for stabbing you I did not deserve to get bit and you did not deserve to get stabbed!” He looks at Mathias, ready to attempt to salvage this. “It was a while ago and since then we’re acquaintances- and have Not had any further physical altercations.” Jack has tested Abel on that, though. Admittedly.

Okay, yeah. He vaguely recall something like that based on his past memories of what Abel told him. Not word for word but… The context. And what he witnessed.

And when Abel continued, Vinzent nodded to himself. Yeah, that’s about what he recalled too. Based on what was said to him. Sigh, that’s what happen when he only gets words and not the fuller story. He isn’t even mad, just a little disappointed.

Anyway, hopefully Mathias will still continue to talk to these two, that’d suck if he refuses to continue the conversation further just because some past things unrelated to Mathias’s family has been brought up.

Viper

“I hope so, just a little…I guess…I jus’ wanna know a bit more ‘bout Jagal.” Viper looks down at him. “He jus’… seems so… on edge? All th’ time? Refuses ta sleep or anythin’ until… he quite literally collapses. I’m jus’…I dunno. I worry ’bout him. Is it ’cause of your deaths, do ya think?”

It’s blunt, forward and risky to ask so openly about these things, but she feels like… Mathias is the type of guy to appreciate the directness instead of being wishy-washy about it.

“He refuses ta trust any’a us. He stabbed me, bit Abel’s nose… which were both kinda deserved, but… Jus’ kinda wanna try’n get some insight inta his mind.”

Abel Lazarus

Viper “He refuses ta trust any’a us. He stabbed me, bit Abel’s nose… which were both kinda deserved, but… Jus’ kinda wanna try’n get some insight inta his mind.”

Abel gives Viper a look Immediately. I’m Sorry did you think he’d LOVE to tell people who apparently beat his son up information???? Hello?????

“Hold on- Speak for yourself. I fought Jac-Jagal for stabbing you I did not deserve to get bit and you did not deserve to get stabbed!” He looks at Mathias, ready to attempt to salvage this. “It was a while ago and since then we’re acquaintances- and have Not had any further physical altercations.” Jack has tested Abel on that, though. Admittedly.

“Viper almost bled out and I fought him in defense of her. That’s it.” Well… Okay maybe it’s not better to admit to him his son could have killed someone, but. You know. “The fight also didn’t lead to… Anything more permanent than my nose.” He rubs his nose clearly not very happy with these turn of events- or with Viper bringing it up. Hopefully he gets some pity points for being a poor meow meow with his arm in a sling so Mathias doesn’t figure out how to shut his own book to get away from these A**holes (and Vinzent).

Roadie 🪶Jack

Viper “I hope so, just a little…I guess…I jus’ wanna know a bit more ‘bout Jagal.” Viper looks down at him. “He jus’… seems so… on edge? All th’ time? Refuses ta sleep or anythin’ until… he quite literally collapses. I’m jus’…I dunno. I worry ’bout him. Is it ’cause of your deaths, do ya think?”

Hoogh. Mathias’s brow furrowed pretty thoroughly at all that, but he didn’t seem especially shocked, either.

“Well, he certainly couldn’t have taken them well.” He let out a frustrated breath. Good job being there for your own family like you were always so adamant about doing this time, guy! Now look what happened.

It’s clear his mood wasn’t directed at Viper, at least (for now), but it still wasn’t a pleasant subject. “Sleep specifically I’m not sure, but… He’s always been a nervous child, so I can see how that could’ve gotten out of control with less reassurance. Did Amira…”

He didn’t want to ask, but he was clearly braced for the worst. If he didn’t make it, then…

Viper “He refuses ta trust any’a us.

All right, well, undoubtedly Jagal had had to be a bit more cautious without one of the few adults in his life to vet people first.

Viper He stabbed me, bit Abel’s nose… which were both kinda deserved, but…

…What.

Abel Lazarus “Viper almost bled out and I fought him in defense of her. That’s it.”

Mathias continued to listen, but this very quickly devolved into complete nonsense. His boy? Stabbing? Biting? No no no. Just look at him sleeping there, he’s a perfect little angel. He must have had a rough time of it, sure, but he wouldn’t have gone around stabbing people all of a sudden. He could barely work up the nerve to talk to them half the time. Mathias wasn’t sure what the point of lying about this would be, but it couldn’t have been true.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m… sure there’s been some kind of misunderstanding.” Had they somehow misidentified their opponent completely? Or maybe it had been an accident? That would explain the biting much better. Clearly someone had gotten that poor guy. But Jagal? On purpose? No. Ridiculous.

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