[fourth wall]

[wipesfaith]

[Jean is out and about doing who the fuck cares what. It's fourth wall...what were you expecting, actual plot and character development? Just come bother him.]

Comments

[wipesfaith]

I'd be a dumbass to let this place make me soft. [He has to wonder if the person he was not too long ago would have let this place turn him into a lazy, complacent bastard. He doesn't doubt it.]

...It's called Luceti, by the way.

[corruptedambitions]

Luceti... [The name feels foreign in his mouth. Too foreign. He takes another huff from his cigar as he considers the situation at hand.]

What're we supposed to do here?

[wipesfaith]

Wait to go back. [But that makes it sound like he can't wait to go back, which...well, it isn't entirely true.] "Make the best of it." You do what you can.

[corruptedambitions]

Heh. That doesn't sound too different from what I usually do, then.

["Make the best of it" is like his own personal motto. No matter how much shit gets flung at him, he needs to keep going.]

[wipesfaith]

Then you should have an easy time here.

[A pause.] Guess it's time for me to "run on home" now and let you be on your way.

[Although their exchange had grown less abrasive, this guy - this guy who's supposed to be Marco - just rubs him the wrong way. It's not who his friend is, and he's really not interested in making small talk or answering more questions.

Or asking any questions of his own.]

[corruptedambitions]

[For a few seconds, he just watches Jean. The young Jean who's so different from the Jean he's known for so many years now, yet in some ways is still exactly the same. Or already the same, he supposes might be a better way to word it.]

Right. Stay out of trouble, kid.

[wipesfaith]

[He's already walking off, but he looks back over his shoulder.]

Yeah, but not because you told me to.

[corruptedambitions]

[The laugh Marco gives in response is bitter- he's not even trying to hide it. Not even a younger version of Jean will take his advice anymore. It's a shame, because he's pretty sure Jean used to take it. Perhaps that means he's the one responsible for that change, not Jean himself.]