(cw hand trauma)
A bad day? That explained absolutely none of this.
Easier said than done, but Mathias had enough on his plate right now, anyway. He would simply not be entertaining the possibility that his son had devolved into some kind of violent feral being in his absence.
Abel Lazarus He looks back at Ibah’s book- reading more of the time following his parent’s death’s to see if his personality is more in line with Mathias’s version of him or the version Abel knows.
Well—a little of both. Really no sign of violent tendencies at first, unless you counted continuing to constantly chafe his palms raw making rope (naturally Ibah was forbidden from helping out while she still had a fever, though she’d tricked him into sleeping and secretly contributed more than once). Only months later, after Ibah’s short-lived recovery spurred them to pack up and find the right doctor, did his personality start to shift from “overprotective big brother” to “paranoid big brother (with a knife)”. Apparently, despite few mentions of any sorts of firearms in the area, the roads and alleys of Azgiran weren’t particularly safe for a couple of stray orphans. There’s even a detailed account of Jagal’s first kill(s), meaning Ibah was right there to witness it all, at the age of 12. Fantastic.
Viper “Ever struggle with any kind’a… visions…?
Like from God??
Viper Hallucinations? General paranoia outside of the chronic shyness?”
…Okay that made more sense. Mathias just frowned further. Were there any less concerning remarks they had in regards to his son? “No, nothing of the sort. No family history that I know of, either.”
Abel Lazarus “I’m sorry, sir… It seems she did die around when you did. I’m very sorry.”
Of course she did. Around the same time, even? G-dd-mmit. He kneaded his forehead, as if it would remotely do anything to help him. At least he was good at keeping up a public face.
Abel Lazarus “… Her book is here too if you’d like to see her.”
“…….” Hard to say if that was a good decision or not. Might need to mourn a bit before jumping to the ghost conversations.
