Living Forever?

Living Forever?
Date of Scene:	29 December 2012
Location:	Traverse Town - Outskirts
Synopsis:	Will and Avira have a very awkward and slightly heartbreaking conversation. The next stage for Will's journey to the "whale" is set as Avira promises her help.
Cast of Characters:	Will Sherman, Avira

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Avira has posed:
SOMETIME EARLIER AT THE VALKYRI HEADQUARTERS: /awkward conversation/ over the radio. About men. All conversations about men were awkward.

RIGHT NOW...

"Uggh guys are confusing." Avira grouses as she sits upon the beach, her knees brought up to her with her furry arms wrapped around them. Most people leave her alone though the occasional curious bystander sneaks up on her to peer at the strange-looking mutate.

Avira looks like she may have seen better days and keeps toying with a white crystal on a chain around her neck. The crystal glows slightly with a soft white light. Wound around her wrist is another piece of jewelry, this one with a pearl.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will, about this time, is walking the beach...

Why? Because...shut up is why.

Sometimes he ends up in places he hates to be, right now he is in one of these places, walking along the beach for whatever reason. The talk with Faruja was...helpful and not helpful at the same time. The rat was...a zealot at worst, annoying at best. Rubbing his head, he looks up to spot...

Avira. He takes a breath, and walks towards her as she sits curled up on the beach. "Penny for your thoughts?" he asks, actually not silly for once.

Avira has posed:
Surprise registers in her when she hears Will speak. The hobo can see it in her body as her muscles tighten and her fur stands on end. It is at least some consolation that she doesn't leap up into the air and flee Will's presence. She'd practically done so the last time they met.

"...Will." she greets evenly, lifting her head to look at him, "...they're girly thoughts, you're better off not knowing them. So uh..."

Avira keeps her eyes on him, studying him carefully. She's still wary. She still can't get that image of him with that look of malice on his face out of her head.

Will Sherman has posed:
"You..?" he says, with a slight grin. "I don't believe it." he tries and make a joke...but he hears the discomfort in her voice. He looks away after a few moments, and sighs. "I don't expect you to...forgive or even look at me the same. Just...please understand that wasn't me. I didn't even know about it...I don't really /know/ anything about myself..." he sighs, "I just.."

Avira has posed:
"It happens. Sometimes." Avira says in a self-depreciating manner. "Anyway, that's my business and I don't want the whole world to know." She's careful when she speaks, trying not to radate the 'go away' feeling at Will. In spite of their latest interactions.

"No." she says after a long moment of silence, "It wasn't you. It wasn't the Will I know. Who /are/ you? Are you that Will? Because All I want is that Will back."

Will Sherman has posed:
"I am...Will." he says simply. "I can't be anyone else...what you saw that night, is Loki," Will says, with a tone of depression. "I...never knew much about myself...how I came to be...what I was. Now...I do. I want to go back...but you can not. I can't go back to being ignorant, and it's dangerous now that we know." he says, pained. "I had...I had to watch everything Loki did. I screamed...I raged...I did everything I could to try and stop him...but.." he sighs. "So yes...I am that Will."

Avira has posed:
"I'm /trying/." Avira says suddenly, frustration in her voice. "So don't say that I can't. So you saw it all? Behind those mean eyes?" Avira curls into a ball a little tighter, recalling that day was difficult for her to face. One of her clawed hands reaches up and grasps her crystal, squeezing on it hard. "I just want that back. I want that you-ness back, not this evil god thing, not this strange person trusting /Riku/ of all people."

Will Sherman has posed:
"You didn't see what I did of Riku's...past. What...darkness got a grip on his heart. Trust...no. Not after he took my home, I want to help him, sure...but trust? I can't trust him now. I want to help him because I know there is godness there.." he looks towards Avira, "Just like I know there is still goodness there too." he says, with a frown. "I'm...also afraid, Avira. I'm afraid...to let go. If I...let myself go at Riku...not holding back everything I feel..."

"I don't know if I'll come back. What if Loki gets out again?" he says, lowering himself to the ground. "I don't want to hurt my friends...I don't want to hurt people."

Avira has posed:
Avira makes an odd noise Will's probably never heard from her before because it's very animalesque. It sounds a little like a growl or a groan, mixed with clicking. Maybe it's a noise of annoyance? But despite this sound, she does seem to be listening.

"...back at the light. When the Shadow Lords attacked it, was that the first time you'd ever really...attacked someone? Instead of standing back and doing your thing with the strings?"

Will Sherman has posed:
"No. I have had to defend myself before...but not like the fight for Manhattan. I don't like using those skill on people..." he pauses, "I mean. Despella and that monster I fought fighting against Baron...but..." he shakes his head, "That whole night...I was fighting so hard. I fought with everything I had. I had to...and then.." he sighs. "Then I violated my own ethics by picking up the shotgun." he says.. "I guess I can't afford the luxary of holding back anymore...or the luxary of fear of hurting people. Not when...people can make worlds disappear."

Avira has posed:
"We all fought with everything we had that night." Avira says distantly, looking away from him and staring out over the horizon. "Violated what ethic? Of not using a weapon? Times like these, Will...you'll have to adapt."

She looks to him, a hard look in her eyes, "Especially if you plan to stay in control of yourself. It takes work...and you'll have to adjust. Adjust so you fight, but don't kill. I see it now..."

Avira looks resigned, "Things won't be the way they were, will they? We'll all just have to deal with it."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will rubs his face... "Things always change. Always..." he says with a sigh. He looks at her, and places a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry...though. I know you won't stay this way forever. Unless you want to, of course. I dunno...but I have faith that it'll work out." Will smiles at her, "And your right. I have to adapt too. I have to change...that's why I am going to do this thing. I am going to find out more about me...and save Manhattan."

Avira has posed:
At least this time, she doesn't shudder under his touch. There's still a bit of wariness, but given all that's happened lately...well, it's actually more than just Will causing that. "I don't want to be like this forever. I want to be human again." Avira says quietly. "So...so the thing is you need a ship, right? I know someone. I can get in touch with him, though the last time we met I was human. But I think it'll work out."

She still seems distant and doesn't look back, staring out over the horizon.

Will Sherman has posed:
Command: HUG.

Will applies a friendly hug to Avira. "I trust you, alright? We'll fix this..." he reassures. "But...with what we saw...the evil of the shadow lords...I don't think we can stop with Manhattan."

Avira has posed:
One of Avira's arms unwinds from her knees and she reaches up to apply that arm to Will, hugging him too. "Thanks. I...I trust you too. I trust that you won't let yourself lose control again." She touches her nose to the inside of his arm before pulling away.

"...I don't plan to stop with Manhattan. I've already...readjusted the aims of the VALKYRI. We are opposing the Shadow Lords at every turn."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will smiles, "I'm glad to hear you say that.." he says looking at her. "Because I am pretty much tired of these evil <GOOSHONKS> messing with our stuff. And man...they just prattle on and on and on. Evil darkness this and evil darkness that.." he makes an 'evil' voice which is just Will sort of croaking.

Avira has posed:
Avira gives Will the thousand-yard stare, remembering the incident with Maira...in the coliseum. Her shoulders sink. "Yeah...and they're wrong. They're all very wrong. I...I don't want to talk about this anymore, Will."

Her free hand squeezes her crystal, which glows just a little brighter. "We need some good change for once."

Will Sherman has posed:
"I understand." Will says, slowly. "I...understand." he shakes his head. He can see the darkness, it's...something he can't stop seeing when he looks at her. Instead, he looks down and then back up at the ocean. "Yeah. But it only comes if we work hard for it. I think that we will...now that we understand what we can lose if we don't." he pauses... "I really hate the ocean."

Avira has posed:
It's unnatural to see this much darkness with Avira. Like before, it's clinging to the light that Will would know her as, obscuring and clouding it. The light itself has not shrank nor grown though.

She is happy to switch topics from their devastating losses as of late to something else. "Why, Will? Why do you hate the ocean?"

Will Sherman has posed:
"I don't know. I just...do." Will says, honestly. "Well...I guess not entirely. I woke up on a beach. My first family found me and raised me...our home was on the beach...it was.." he pauses, "The first people I outlived. I spent those years close to the Ocean...and when they..." he shrugs, "I guess maybe it was because it reminds me I am different...that I'll pretty much outlive everyone I ever know."

Avira has posed:
There is just NO subject they can talk about that wouldn't make this convesation painfully awkward, is there?! Another frustrated noise escapes Avira. "So your aversion to the ocean is a product of classical conditioning." Avira says in a detatched tone, retreating to her SCIENCE. "Understandable. What a shame we need to cross it to find your whale."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will pauses...

"You were in acadamia when you fell into Rabanastre, were't you?" he asks, thinking about this. Oddly, he seems to have followed everything Avira said...more or less. "Ha. When you say it like that it sounds silly...but." he shrugs, "I bet you could write an entire paper on the <GOOSEHONK>ed thing that is my long life." he shrugs, "But...you know. I don't regret it...you know, knowing people. There is sadness when the time ends, but...through everything the time I spend with people always gives me such good memories. I have met so many people in my life...and I have made that time apart of me. I know...weird huh?"

Avira has posed:
"I graduated from New York University three years ago. Bachelors of Science." Avira admits. "It's been a while but...no, I hated writing papers. I think I'll pass on that one." A small laugh esacpes her. "Hardly silly, it's quite real and something hard to undo." She trails off, listening to him talk about outliving the people he knows. One day he'll even outlive the TDA!

"Weird indeed. It sounds like you've learned to handle it all pretty well."

Will Sherman has posed:
"You have to learn," Will says, "Actually...it took me some time, I admit. It was really my wife that helped me. She met me when I was...at a very very low point in my life. A little after my first centry...when I kinda realized I wasn't going to age...or die. She...made me see the beauty of people, and that even though I'd seen much of the ugliness..." he shrugs.

"There was a warmth that I could only get by understanding people...by meeting people...by continuing to be a part of the world." he says, "Even after she passed...it was that lesson that never left me. I guess it's why I so strongly want to help people and use my powers to help...that and the Boss.

Avira has posed:
Were Avira a more callous person, at this point she might make a Highlander reference. He too also had to deal with outliving all of his loved once, as showed in the first movie.

Instead, she is kind of humbled by his words. All she really does now is lower her head a little, unable to really say anything in response.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will smiles, "Don't worry about it. Our time together is still...quite young. Your story, I think, has a lot more chapters in it," he says with a nod. "But kinda puts a whole new spin on me huh? I guess it's why I don't tell many people about stuff like this.."

Avira has posed:
"...can't say I'm looking forward to the day I'm just a story, but.." Avira stands now.

But who wants to live forever? Not her. Avira manages a sad smile. "But at the same time, I understand you a little better now. The...you-you."