[rp] I can walk on water, I can fly...
The smack is unexpected and sharp; it whips Kaden's head to the side, and when he looks up again, Ken's wings are out and his father is scowling.
"Are you questioning my judgment, Minoru?"
This is where he's supposed to say no, supposed to be as meek and scared as his sisters were, as his mother undoubtedly still is.
"Yes, sir," he spits instead. He was never good at shutting up and swallowing his pride.
Another smack, this one just as sharp. "Detail for me why, exactly, you've chosen now to do it," Ken says, glaring down at him.
He pulls the notebook across the table -- the notebook full of the things his father approved of, rather than disapproved -- more in a gesture of spite than anything. It's not as if most of the information in it won't wind up in a write-up for Ken anyway, now that he knows about Iris. What Kaden is planning on doing with Iris. That's not why Ken's angry, though he might have been if he knew how much Kaden had lied in explaining the bonds. No big deal; it'll be worth it in the end.
He's not sure why he had to bring up Justin, after such a good conversation. Maybe it was because things had been going well.
"Right now?" he says, meeting Ken's eyes steadily despite the way his jaw still tingles from the smack and the Calling. "Because I thought that you'd already judged me capable of taking care of myself. Because I thought that maybe, just maybe, my father respected me as an adult and not just some tool to churn out data, like the rest of the family. Because we were having a perfectly civil conversation, which you've gone and ruined, not me."
This time, it's a backhand hit that sends him stumbling; he never was very strong, and he refuses to let his wings out right now. Not in front of his father. "Because what Lily and I do is nothing compared to the rest of the family," he continues, spitting blood onto the island between them.
Ken grabs the front of his shirt, hauling him forward over the island, probably hoping that the blood he just spit out finds its way onto his clothes. It wouldn't be the first shirt Ken's ruined with Kaden's blood. Kaden finds himself inches away from his father's face, his feet scrabbling for purchase on one of the stools on his side of the counter. "That's because some outbred like you aren't going to be able to do what we do, or aren't willing," Ken sneers.
"And whose fault is that?" Kaden snaps before realizing exactly how stupid he's being. Oh well. "Don't blame the experiments when they fail, right?" Everyone knows it's the scientist's fault.
And then he's dragged over the island and thrown against the arm of the couch. "You just don't try hard enough," Ken growls, wrapping his hands around Kaden's neck. Kaden sighs. Second verse, same as the first. As if he hasn't heard or felt any of this before. As if Ken could ever really choke him.
"Never was much incentive," Kaden chokes out. "It's not like you really gave a fuck."
That earns him a punch in the face. His laughter, loud and mean, gets him another. He doesn't even bother to talk back, now, just keeps moving away from Ken when he can, until he's back in the kitchen, pinned between the island and his father's fists. There's no point in fight it. This has nothing to do with Justin or his responsibility anymore, nothing to do with whether or not he's sane and under control. Ken's been waiting to do this since he stepped off the plane.
He fucked up. This is what he gets, no matter how small of a mistake he made, no matter how much he's done to fix it and prove that he's okay again. That it won't happen again.
He doesn't pay any attention to the words his father's saying, anymore. Something about his responsibilities to the family, how much he owes to his father, how much he's done and how much he's ruined everything by making Lily what she is. He doesn't register much of it, to be honest. If there's one thing left that can bring about pain, true physical pain, it's himself or his father. At this point, all that's left to do is concentrate on that, let it take him out of the moment, so that's what he does.
And then some of Ken's words do cut through: "So where's your failure of a Guardian now?"
He thinks to himself, That's a good question. And that's when the panic starts to flutter in his chest. Where is Lily? He knows she has to be able to feel this, and she's never been able to stop herself from running to him when he did this sort of thing to himself. Her Calling isn't that manageable. Which means she's hurt. Or otherwise incapacitated. And it happened while he was having a stupid argument with his father as a parting gift.
That's when he lets his wings out. The Calling surges forward, once, and this time it's mixed in with the panic -- it wants to know what affect this has had on her, what she's done to combat it, and the panic just tells him she's dead, she's dead, she's dead, and he can't deal with either of those. Ken's arm is raising again -- he's saying something but Kaden doesn't hear it. Kaden doesn't hear anything but the blood pounding in his ears as he grabs the nearest island stool and swings it right into Ken's face. It knocks the man back, and before he can get back up, Kaden's shoved past him and is out the door.
He's downstairs in nearly two seconds flat, not even bothering to knock on his way into her apartment. She was down here to avoid Ken -- he hopes she's still in here. "Yoshiko?" he calls, the panic in his voice unmistakable.
"Are you questioning my judgment, Minoru?"
This is where he's supposed to say no, supposed to be as meek and scared as his sisters were, as his mother undoubtedly still is.
"Yes, sir," he spits instead. He was never good at shutting up and swallowing his pride.
Another smack, this one just as sharp. "Detail for me why, exactly, you've chosen now to do it," Ken says, glaring down at him.
He pulls the notebook across the table -- the notebook full of the things his father approved of, rather than disapproved -- more in a gesture of spite than anything. It's not as if most of the information in it won't wind up in a write-up for Ken anyway, now that he knows about Iris. What Kaden is planning on doing with Iris. That's not why Ken's angry, though he might have been if he knew how much Kaden had lied in explaining the bonds. No big deal; it'll be worth it in the end.
He's not sure why he had to bring up Justin, after such a good conversation. Maybe it was because things had been going well.
"Right now?" he says, meeting Ken's eyes steadily despite the way his jaw still tingles from the smack and the Calling. "Because I thought that you'd already judged me capable of taking care of myself. Because I thought that maybe, just maybe, my father respected me as an adult and not just some tool to churn out data, like the rest of the family. Because we were having a perfectly civil conversation, which you've gone and ruined, not me."
This time, it's a backhand hit that sends him stumbling; he never was very strong, and he refuses to let his wings out right now. Not in front of his father. "Because what Lily and I do is nothing compared to the rest of the family," he continues, spitting blood onto the island between them.
Ken grabs the front of his shirt, hauling him forward over the island, probably hoping that the blood he just spit out finds its way onto his clothes. It wouldn't be the first shirt Ken's ruined with Kaden's blood. Kaden finds himself inches away from his father's face, his feet scrabbling for purchase on one of the stools on his side of the counter. "That's because some outbred like you aren't going to be able to do what we do, or aren't willing," Ken sneers.
"And whose fault is that?" Kaden snaps before realizing exactly how stupid he's being. Oh well. "Don't blame the experiments when they fail, right?" Everyone knows it's the scientist's fault.
And then he's dragged over the island and thrown against the arm of the couch. "You just don't try hard enough," Ken growls, wrapping his hands around Kaden's neck. Kaden sighs. Second verse, same as the first. As if he hasn't heard or felt any of this before. As if Ken could ever really choke him.
"Never was much incentive," Kaden chokes out. "It's not like you really gave a fuck."
That earns him a punch in the face. His laughter, loud and mean, gets him another. He doesn't even bother to talk back, now, just keeps moving away from Ken when he can, until he's back in the kitchen, pinned between the island and his father's fists. There's no point in fight it. This has nothing to do with Justin or his responsibility anymore, nothing to do with whether or not he's sane and under control. Ken's been waiting to do this since he stepped off the plane.
He fucked up. This is what he gets, no matter how small of a mistake he made, no matter how much he's done to fix it and prove that he's okay again. That it won't happen again.
He doesn't pay any attention to the words his father's saying, anymore. Something about his responsibilities to the family, how much he owes to his father, how much he's done and how much he's ruined everything by making Lily what she is. He doesn't register much of it, to be honest. If there's one thing left that can bring about pain, true physical pain, it's himself or his father. At this point, all that's left to do is concentrate on that, let it take him out of the moment, so that's what he does.
And then some of Ken's words do cut through: "So where's your failure of a Guardian now?"
He thinks to himself, That's a good question. And that's when the panic starts to flutter in his chest. Where is Lily? He knows she has to be able to feel this, and she's never been able to stop herself from running to him when he did this sort of thing to himself. Her Calling isn't that manageable. Which means she's hurt. Or otherwise incapacitated. And it happened while he was having a stupid argument with his father as a parting gift.
That's when he lets his wings out. The Calling surges forward, once, and this time it's mixed in with the panic -- it wants to know what affect this has had on her, what she's done to combat it, and the panic just tells him she's dead, she's dead, she's dead, and he can't deal with either of those. Ken's arm is raising again -- he's saying something but Kaden doesn't hear it. Kaden doesn't hear anything but the blood pounding in his ears as he grabs the nearest island stool and swings it right into Ken's face. It knocks the man back, and before he can get back up, Kaden's shoved past him and is out the door.
He's downstairs in nearly two seconds flat, not even bothering to knock on his way into her apartment. She was down here to avoid Ken -- he hopes she's still in here. "Yoshiko?" he calls, the panic in his voice unmistakable.