Kira's hardly taken off Ty's coat since he found it while unpacking the brick house for the winter. It hadn't been mentioned or included with his second letter, which had unfolded around a photograph of his younger sister--but been stuffed at the bottom of the sled, under piles of jeans and a slew of hideous belts. The same coat, sporting evidence of the same blood stain, that had been taken off him when they'd left him for dead in the street. And there had been his cards in the pocket, if nothing else from that day.
How was he to know they'd already been there? He'd presented them all to Mark, without in-depth explanations of their relevance, and given the coat one last scrub before working it into his day to day wardrobe.
He sits hunched in it by Mark as he speaks, waiting for the opportunity to weigh in. Once Mark caught him on the other side, his willingness to play along notwithstanding, he'd known he'd have to explain his actions eventually. They didn't seem like a malicious or vindictive group, but--that could change. Better to get ahead of it in an organized setting.
"They didn't mention punishments in mine, but it felt a bit implied," he starts, getting up with his hands in his pockets, each one around another piece of home. "Some of you seem to have known me before, so I hope you'll understand that I wouldn't normally take anything, but choices are easier when they don't feel like you really have one." Pulling the photo of Chiyo carefully from his pocket, he holds it up to the light: "They sent me another letter a few days ago, offering me this for my cooperation. It's a picture of my sister. It even has the place and date written on the back."
For Mark
When things started to calm back down, the villagers talking to each other after asking their questions, Kira drifts back into Mark's orbit. He's been a good sport about it all, which was hardly warranted, and Kira has to wonder--how much of it was because of before? What had he done, how had he lived, to secure any standing with these people?
Given a few weeks to absorb it all, curiosity starts to bud in all the bitterness.
"Hey," he says, catching Mark at the arm, the photograph still in his other hand. "Thanks, for letting this play out. I didn't go into it hoping for much, but--these things aren't nothing, to me."
OTA +Mark
How was he to know they'd already been there? He'd presented them all to Mark, without in-depth explanations of their relevance, and given the coat one last scrub before working it into his day to day wardrobe.
He sits hunched in it by Mark as he speaks, waiting for the opportunity to weigh in. Once Mark caught him on the other side, his willingness to play along notwithstanding, he'd known he'd have to explain his actions eventually. They didn't seem like a malicious or vindictive group, but--that could change. Better to get ahead of it in an organized setting.
"They didn't mention punishments in mine, but it felt a bit implied," he starts, getting up with his hands in his pockets, each one around another piece of home. "Some of you seem to have known me before, so I hope you'll understand that I wouldn't normally take anything, but choices are easier when they don't feel like you really have one." Pulling the photo of Chiyo carefully from his pocket, he holds it up to the light: "They sent me another letter a few days ago, offering me this for my cooperation. It's a picture of my sister. It even has the place and date written on the back."
For Mark
When things started to calm back down, the villagers talking to each other after asking their questions, Kira drifts back into Mark's orbit. He's been a good sport about it all, which was hardly warranted, and Kira has to wonder--how much of it was because of before? What had he done, how had he lived, to secure any standing with these people?
Given a few weeks to absorb it all, curiosity starts to bud in all the bitterness.
"Hey," he says, catching Mark at the arm, the photograph still in his other hand. "Thanks, for letting this play out. I didn't go into it hoping for much, but--these things aren't nothing, to me."