[closed] Along for the Ride

[lotusmesenpai]

Who: Kanda, Lavi, & Steinbeck
Where: Traveling from Leith to Old Town
When: W3D6
Summary: Kanda and Lavi received a warrant to escort a scarback from Leith to Westerley, along with his supplies.
Restrictions/Warnings: Usual Kanda disclaimer - language.

Comments

[graftage]

He should get his rest. These are crazy times.

[He follows, hands clenched at his sides. He hardly wants to fall into a fugue of delirium now. He can't allow himself to do that. The Resistance is relying on him. No disease or otherwise would get in the way of that.]

I can survive better than most people. [He says, with a huff.] How have you been doing? It seems you've avoided most of the chaos.

[lotusmesenpai]

Whatever. Just don't die on my damned ship.

[Ever the polite, sociable one, this one.

But then he turns to shoot a sidelong look at Stein, a brow arching because people don't normally ask how he is doing.

This guy really is a weird one.]

...I'm fine. We keep busy so it's easy to avoid the shitshow. [A beat, before his own question slips out.] Why didn't you just go back to the monastery when this shit started?

[graftage]

[He raises his hand in a mock salute.]

Sure thing.

[He laughs - it really isn't the time to laugh, but he's doing so anyways. What a mess of contradictions he is.]

Oh, there? [He tilts his head, his eyes narrowing into a knowing look.] I wasn't needed there, and there were people in need of help during the whole thing. We Scarbacks work for the people. If there's a chance to help, we'll take it, regardless of what happens to us.

[lotusmesenpai]

[Kanda's mouth twists into a faint sneer as they cross into the rec-room, before he shoots Stein a sidelong glance.]

So what - how will you bleeding for them make people go any less crazy?

[Because whatever this illness is - that's exactly what it's doing. Breaking down the sanity of its victims in slow degrees, twisting minds and burning bodies from the inside out.

So how the hell will prayers to some damned trees affect that.

...It's pretty clear that, despite his recent visit to the monastery in question, he's no less sold on something as foolish as faith.]

[graftage]

It's a sign of our faith. Through our wounds, we take on the strength and knowledge of something far powerful than we are. We're vessels, so to speak. Not to say we're prophets of any kind, but we have a connection to the Mother Tree through our rites that we try to impart to others in whatever ways we can. And when people believe, they can overcome even the worst of wounds, just like we do.

[He knows Kanda will just shrug it off, or make some snarky comment. He knows most people can't understand the Scarback faith, why they do what they do. That's fine. Some people are willing to remain in the cave instead of searching out the light.]

You'll understand, in time. [Steinbeck says, pausing a moment to collect himself, wipe the sweat glistening on his brow.] It's not something people realize right away.

[lotusmesenpai]

There's nothing to understand and eventually they'll realize - it's all bullshit.

[The words are stark, but there's no real bite to them. Just his own personal observation. Shrugging at that, he waves towards the couch area dismissively.]

People need something to believe in beyond their shitty little worlds. They want something else to be there because their minds are too weak to accept their fucked up reality as it is. You guy just give them a focus for that escape. But hey, if it helps while you're hanging like a slab of meat for a butcher...

[To him, faith in gods or a great tree is nothing more than a self-inflicted delusion, there to give the mind a place to hide when the world around them begins to overwhelm.]