Bruno barged into the room he’d been provided, the strength already leaving his body -- drained by the night they’d had.
Probably it was quite a nice room. This wasn’t a bad hotel, by any ans. Ordinarily, a place like this would have been infested by businessn and rich tourists -- the only reason Atoy Muzazi had been able to get this floor reserved was because of his status as a Dawn Contestant.
Even so, though… Bruno wasn’t in a state to appreciate any of this. The cold silence of that throne room still lingered inside his ears. A rejection, or -- even worse -- an absence.
He collapsed face-first onto the bed. It was comfortable. That, at least, he was in a fit state to appreciate.
Serena’s voice ca out of their shared mouth, muffled by the bedsheets. "Bruno," she said quietly. "You okay?"
"He wasn’t even listening, was he?" Bruno muttered, voice dull. "He wasn’t there. He doesn’t care. Why would he be listening?"
"I think he was listening, Bruno. It’s like you said… Mr. Dragan wouldn’t leave sothing like that just to chance."
That made sense. He’d told himself that before, and he told himself that now. It made sense that Dragan would have been monitoring the situation carefully. Was that really true, though, or just sothing he was desperate to believe?
"Um, Bruno…"
"Yeah?" he replied, eyes closed.
"I didn’t know you felt that way about…"
Bruno felt heat rise to his face. "Uh…"
"...about Mr. Skipper. About the crew back then. You really wanted us to leave?"
Bruno was silent for a mont, and then… "Yeah," he said softly. "I…I didn’t think it was going to end well. Any of it."
"Hm…"
"Hm?"
Serena was silent for a mont, and then… "Well," she said slowly. "I think maybe you were right about that, Bruno."
Bruno slowly opened his eyes. "What do you an?"
"Look where we all are," Serena said simply. "Look what we’re all doing. I don’t think it ended well. I don’t think it ended well at all."
Bruno lay there, on the bed, limbs tangled beneath him like a gaggle of snakes. A bitter smile rose to his lips. What a strange sensation: to realize the life you live now is the failure of a distant dream.
Damnit. Goddamnit.
"Is this a bad ti?" asked Atoy Muzazi.
Bruno’s head snapped up. The Full Moon stood there awkwardly in the doorway, hands clasped in front of him, looking down at Bruno with those cold grey eyes. Had he really gotten so close without them noticing? Bruno felt a chill go down his spine. They were slipping.
"What is it?" he asked.
Muzazi stepped into the room, eyes fixed on the window -- and the night outside. "I just finished speaking with Morgan. He says you perford well during the operation."
Bruno shrugged. "It’s not like we got the chance to do much."
"Dorothy Eiro’s intervention was…" Muzazi considered his words. "... unexpected, yes. But you did face a Branch of the Tree of Might on my behalf. For that, you have my gratitude."
"It was self-defense," Bruno glared at him. "Don’t go thinking I went after him for your sake or anything."
Muzazi frowned. "You seem determined not to have warm to you. Is there a reason for that?"
"I’m not the biggest fan of the Supremacy," Bruno snapped, his smashed hands twitching reflexively. "And even ignoring all the bullshit three years ago, you’re looking to beco Supre -- so I’m not the biggest fan of you, either."
Muzazi paced around the bed as he spoke. "What if I told you I wish to change the Supremacy, to make it a definitive force for good?"
Bruno sighed. It was always the sa dream, wasn’t it?
I wanna change the shape of this world.
"Can’t be done," Bruno said simply.
Muzazi stopped his pacing, looking down at Bruno. "You sound quite certain of that."
Reluctantly, he produced words. "The Supremacy is a force of domination by definition," Bruno elaborated, looking back up at him. "If it can’t stamp down others, it can’t exist. It’s like trying to turn a sword into a tool for non-violence. Can’t happen."
"A blade can be used for eating just as much as war."
"Yeah, and any second I can pick up the knife and stab you over the dinner-table," Bruno snapped. "Only thing that’s changing is the set-dressing. The actual blade doesn’t change."
"But if the blade is made dull…"
Bruno raised an eyebrow. "That’s not changing it. That’s breaking it."
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Muzazi stood there quietly for a mont. And, then: "It seems we won’t agree on this matter."
"It seems we won’t."
"All the sa," the Full Moon straightened up, hand grasping montarily for the hilt of a sword that was not here. "You made an offer before this operation -- and I’m now ready to give you an answer to that offer."
Bruno’s other eyebrow joined the first. "Yeah…?"
Muzazi nodded. "Yes. If you can help reach the finals of the Dawn Contest, I will help you find Ruth Blaine and clear her na. And… there is Dragan Hadrien. You fight for his sake as well, don’t you?"
Slowly, Bruno nodded.
Muzazi took a deep breath. "I will do… all I can… not to kill him."
Bruno was silent for a mont.
And then.
"Okay," he nodded. "I think I can work under those terms… ’boss’."
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