Scene #4276: Under the spreading willow tree

Owner	Pose
No. 9	Nine's in that awful, awful suit again. The almost-black one, dark dark gray with the celery green undershirt. It's awful. Nine looks awful in it. The expression on his face is awful too; that dark, deep pain, strange and sad and distant, lonely. A thing of other places and other times. His hands before him, clasped together at his waist. His breath is low and wet, looking up at the caverns. They're not even at his son yet, at the grave, and he's already is distant and sad. "...It feels like it was just, a few days ago..."
Taro	Taro has donned one of the cassocks he normally wears to the temple rather than to the lab, the prayer beads looped through his belt jangling with each stride. His frown may be a touch deeper than usual, in part due to the reason for the visit, in part due the the squirreliness on his brother's memory. A few days ago, Nine could barely remember. Today it seems that he remembers at least some of this vividly. Were it his memory, the android would be incredibly frustrated by this. He reaches out to rest a gloved hand on one of Nine's massive arms in consolation. A gesture to show that he's here for him, both as priest and as...family. An odd family, but then neither of them is exactly normal.
No. 9	Odd family indeed, but some of the best families are. The big cyborg turns to his brother and friend, his face full of pain. But then a slow, deep breath, in, held, and then out, and he offers up a weak, sad little smile. "I remember, faces, and events. Not so much names. I remember Altair and the others being here, I remember, you. I remember having Sabre over and what she... did, for him. I remember..." A slow headshake. "I remember sadness. Just, so much. But hope too. Something. It was... odd."
Taro	To this, Taro gives the barest of nods. "There was sadness, and some shed tears. Stories were shared, so that Haytham Kenway would live on in memory." Whether that will help Nine to remember these things himself, well, he can only try. "Then, we...buried him, in accordance to the Templars traditions." His frown takes on a pensive cast for a moment with that - the idea of burying the dead is still odd to him. "Then you and Connor Kenway planted Everlast there." He looks up at Nine, for once meeting the Golem's eyes, before turning is gaze to the cavern entrance. "Are you ready?"
No. 9	A long breath... and a curt nod, breath going deep and thin. "Right. I'm ready." And he remembers the route. Past the big oak, over the field of moss, under the trailing glowing creeper arch and through the large concerning looking flowers, and then... whoa, holy shit, that's a big fucking willow tree. That same bright red.
Taro	Taro falls in behind Nine, following where he leads. He also remembers the path, of course, though some has inevitably changed since he was last here. It is the cavern of life, and thus it has kept on living. New sprouts have grown up, flowers have bloomed and since wilted... ...and what had been a tiny strip of a sapling now stands broad and reddish before them, branches cascading over path and gravesite alike. "...I'd say he's grown quite a bit since we saw him last," he quips quietly.
No. 9	It's a helluva sight, and for the moment Nine seems lost in it, his eyes wide. He approaches the tree, stepping slowly towards it. His hand goes out to the bark. Slowly, it glides across it, the fingers feeling the raw, living wood... and then he steps up, his forehead coming to rest gently against the smooth bark. "Heyyy kiddo. Look at you. You've gotten so big..." The eyes close. "Everlast. I am... so. Sorry. For having left you alone so long. I left you, I left Taro... I left, all my friends behind. But they could understand. You're... just a tree, and... I can't, explain, to you, how bad it was it was that I left you like that. I am so, sorry." And his arms go around the tree, just holding it, quietly.
Taro	Taro casts a small glance at his larger brother, then gazes further upward to take in the sight of the living, growing tree. His connection is less visceral , one degree removed - the tree is of importance to him because it is of great importance to Nine. Nonetheless, he trails after Nine, parting the overhanging branches with the back of his hand as he follows. The android watches Nine for a moment as the Golem holds a one-sided conversation with the willow, then turns away to gaze outward that branches through which they passed through. Then, for once acting on impulse, he removes the glove protecting his left hand and reaches out to run his fingers through the leaves.
No. 9	A glance over as Taro reaches up with bare hand to those trailing leaves, and he smiles a small and tired little smile. A hand, to Taro's shoulder, squeezing only ever so gently. "...I'm, sorry. I left you alone Taro, when you needed me too. I'm sorry I abandoned you. Everlast is just a tree; he doesn't understand, but I treated you like shit, and I'm sorry."
Taro	Taro is not so absorbed to have not noticed Nine moving up behind him, and so he does not start or flinch when a massive hand gently clamps around his slim shoulder. "You returned," he says quietly. "I would not call that abandonment." He continues looking forward through the leaves, though he lets his bare hand fall. "Which is more than can be said for some others."
No. 9	A glance down, at the grave near their feet. "It's a sad thing. Some of them, I can't blame them. Haytham died. I told him... ... ...it doesn't matter what I told him, what happened. Some times you just have to... do what you need to do. Sometimes if it's your time and your choice, you just need to... die. I guess. I had my time I was supposed to die. I didn't. Maybe it would've been better if I had." A shrug, and he studies the verdant blanket of green under which his dead friend slept. "Haytham died. Vrid died. People, die. It's just what happens. People go away. ...GLaDOS went away. I don't know if it was because of her or, because of... me. But she did. She had to. For whatever reason. People, go away. It's part of life, losing people." And then Taro is getting hugged. By ugly smelly crazy cyborg dude. Ugh.
Taro	Taro is being hugged from behind. By ugly smelly crazy cyborg dude. Yet he does not complain. The android closes his eyes, his chest rising and falling with all the motions of a sigh. "Three years, five months, twenty-four days..." he begins, but the sentence goes unfinished.
No. 9	A blink, a glimpse over, and he tilts his head; doglike, confused. "Three years..." the question is left hanging, mutely. Asking without asking.
Taro	Taro's silence lingers for a time. Then, he finally answers. "How long I hovered between life and death, between the time I was felled and the time I was resurrected by SHODAN." Silence again, this time shorter. "I should have died, but she decided I was too valuable to lose. Or perhaps she wished to demonstrate the full extent of her power and authority as a goddess." He makes a quiet scoffing sound. "Not that I should be alive at all, but my creator was either too good or not good enough when it came to my creation." He reaches up with his still-gloved hand in search of the side of Nine's head. "And here we are, neither of us dead even if we should be."
No. 9	A low, slow soft set of words. "You are too valuable to lose. Not as a tool or a resource, but as a person." He pulls back a little, his dark, strange eyes intent on Taro's own. "You are important. You are wanted, and you are treasured. Because you are a treasure." And then the hand finds the side of his head. He blinks, leaning into the touch a little, like a dog. "I should be dead. Maybe, you should be too. It would certainly serve the Union were we both dead and tossed aside like garbage. But we're not gonna be. We're gonna be here, still causing them problems. Still being, people. And to hell with all of them. With any of them. We're still alive, and it's as it should be."
Taro	"Am I a person?" It's a question that he has asked himself many times, both rhetorically and in earnestness. Taro rubs the side of Nine's head like an ovesized puppy or a kitten. "Monster seems more fitting. More than the AU I was designed to be, above the demon that lurks within me, but lacking the free will with which those above me are burdened." There's a faint crinkling around his eyes to suggest the smile that he doesn't otherwise show. "We are alive, and for that I remain grateful."
No. 9	A snort. "The way I always look at it is; anyone who's cognizant enough to ask, 'am I a person?' ...Is. Can't be anything but." A nod. "Monsters are often people too. One of the tragedies and the realities of it. To say otherwise, every time, is to deny reality, for an easier understanding, for an easier rationalization. Black and white, them and you, it's all easier. But it don't mean it's right." He smiles as he's ruffled, chuckling softly. "We're still alive, despite all of them. I say fuck em. We're doing alright for ourselves, and it's how it's supposed t' be."
Taro	"Perhaps we live just to spite them," Taro says, faint amusement in his voice. "Regardless, as I said, I remain grateful." He rubs the side of Nine's head for a little longer, then moves to draw his hand away. "I am not upset with you for having disappeared. I was unhappy with myself that I did not further into where you had gone, and allowed myself to assume that you were with Seven and Ten instead. Just...wel, I suppose I cannot ask you to warn me when you're about to wander off like that when you don't know that yourself."
No. 9	"I..." The eyes close. "I guess some part of me doesn't wanna believe it. Selling someone immortality at the cost of their body, sanity and free will to a degree-" To a degree because he had encountered Taro, and he'd never take that for granted again. "...only to, build into them a, a thing where they, die, if they're not needed anymore just like that is... I just don't... I guess I don't like to think that it's even possible. To the degree where I just tell myself that I'm sleepy, and then the next thing I know the Feds are picking me up because I'm on the edge of dying from dehydration or starvation or whatever fucked up thing and need to be put on fucking life support. It's scary but... it's easier to think I'm with Seven and Ten. I want to be with Seven and Ten. Not... that."
Taro	"To be instruments and weapons, to be set aside when no longer needed. That is what you and I were designed to be, yet we have become more than that." Taro is less...to say less bothered is not quite correct, perhaps less preoccupied would be closer...with their origins. He's read the contents of The Box, and he knows the mind of the dragon who he himself was designed to emulate. He knows they have exceeded their original design parameters. "The next time you begin feeling that way, tell me."
No. 9	He nods, knowing the truth of it down in his metal plated mutated bones. "If I can... if I can notice, and be cognizant enough about it. If I can be honest with myself... ... ...I will. I'll try Taro, I don't wanna do this again."
Taro	"Then that is all I can ask of you, Nine. I cannot promise I can help, but I cannot even try unless you're honest with me." He pauses there for a long moment, his gaze growing distant. A rueful tone creeps into his voice when he speaks next. "Advice I give that I should take."
No. 9	A glance over, and he nods. "That which you give that you should take, yes. Things I should take that I say but don't really understand." A rueful chuckle. "It's easy. To... say it, but it's not easy to use it, to accept it. To understand it. It's not easy."
Taro	"How very true." Taro still has that faraway look, fixed somewhere outside Everlast's overhanging branches, beyond Haytham's gravesite. "Easy to give advice, difficult to practice it...I should have told you what warning signs to watch for in me. SHODAN knew them of course, and I had warned Master Hellsing. But you.." He closes his eyes as he shakes his head. "I didn't wish to burden you with it. Or so I told myself."
No. 9	A glance over, his ugly face caught in an expression of sadness and pain. "It's hard. To show weakness. To feel like you're, burdening your friends with your, problems. You don't want to... ... ...you don't want to, to lay, heaviness. Burden. At their feet. You don't want to be that guy, the guy who cries out and waves their arms and demands, and needs, and uses, and... uses his friends up. Until they, turn, a-away from, him." His throat works, voice getting funny and stupid, before looking over at Taro, and then another engulfing hug, the stupid thing's shoulders shaking mutely.
Taro	Taro is enveloped in what would be a crushing bear hug if his frame wasn't sturdier than his thin form suggests. It's a bit creaking, but again he does not complain. He instead leans in to rest his head somewhere against his chest, hands reaching out without having a hope of reaching around in return. He's lost his glove on the ground somewhere by now, but right now that does not matter. He lapses to silence again, if only because anything he says is going to be muffled and muddled until Nine loosens his grip.
No. 9	Which Nine does, after a moment, rubbing at his face. "Sorry. Guess I tripped over onna my own, er. Trepidations. Insecurities, however you put it. You, probably don't have that fear. Maybe you do. I don't know. What are, you, afraid of Taro?" A big question.
Taro	Taro gently pulls away once Nine does. What does he fear? Being hugged is not one of them. There is nothing wrong with being hugged in and of itself. It is a very human thing to do. Just because Nine is no longer human and that Taro only appears human...it makes it awkward, but aside from that... He looks downward, but not in search of his missing glove. What does he fear? There are some things to which he can barely admit to himself, and so that question will not be answered in full. "I fear that I will be erased by the Ahren Simulation Program. It still lurks within me, and I must always be careful of the safeguards that I could trigger to do just that. Moreover, I fear that none will notice until it is too late...and then that none will stop it because of the feelings and regard they hold for me. That none will fell it because they think that it is me."
No. 9	Nine can't understand. He does, to a degree, he does, but in reality, he can't. He is an organic brain and the kind of programming that an organic brain is clumsy and rudimentary at best. A mind can be broken, wrecked, shattered. But to compare the kind of programming techniques that an organic brain requires; torture, deprivation, gaslighting, stockholm syndrome, comparing that to an electronic brain and the kind of bombs and pitfalls that can be placed inside an electronic brain is nothing compared to the mess that can be made in a human mind. A scalpel versus a sledgehammer. Nine's mind is a morass, but Taro's is an unknown factor, a place of elegant traps that he can't see, forced as he is into only looking outwards. And then there's a soft, shy, small little smile. "Taro. Would you kill me, if I became nothing but the monster and there wasn't anything else there?" There is trust in his eyes, a warm, understanding sort of trust, a want and a need and yet a feeling of content fulfillment. He trusted Taro, completely.
Taro	Taro looks up, briefly meeting Nine's eyes. "If all that was left was this," He lifts both hands in an up and down gesture at Nine's body, "but the core that his Nine is already gone," another gesture, a single hand toward the golem's body, "then I could not kill you because you are already dead. All I would be doing is finishing that." A small mistake. He should have gestured at Nine's head. His brain is in his head, after all.
No. 9	He gets it. Having your core processor in a weird satellite bit, prime for getting destroyed isn't the best structural choice. But he gets it. "...Truer words aint been said Taro. You understand. We work to keep ourselves and each other alive; but barring that, should we die inside, the outside doesn't matter. It's us that matters. Such is the threat of being a monster. They both understood.
Taro	"Exactly." Nine understands. So many others, less so. It is easy to grow accustomed to the appearance of a trusted comrade, to hesitate even when that comrade is no longer inhabiting that shell. Nine understands. Taro takes comfort from that. He gives a single nod to show that understanding along with his acceptance. Afterward, he closes his eyes partway, squaring his shoulders as if to steel himself. Perhaps he is. "While I have picked up some reploid and a few human mannerisms, at times the dragon in me shows through. When I am agitated or otherwise emotional. SHODAN's..." He trails off and his eyes close for a moment. He mostly suppresses the shudder. But he continues, "...I have gained greater control of my emotions, though the depth of them remains. If I lose my temper, if I begin to lash out, to claw, to bite, this is acceptable, though it would be best to restrain me until I regain control of myself."
No. 9	A pause, and a deep cackling laugh. "Temper comes hand in hand with being a monster. I understand the need to claw and bite- hell, you've seen me in combat. I aint gonna assume yer gone just cause ya lose yer temper." A nod. "I'll be careful. Yer my brother Taro, I aint gonna jump th' gun." A swallow. "But if it's the only answer left. I aint gonna not look at it." A glance up, and he claps a hand on the willow's trunk. "Everlast has done good for himself. I think he's gonna be okay. I think maybe, even we can be okay. Even monsters like us."
Taro	"You saw a hint of in when we were attcked by Sir Hellsing's enemies, but it's been some time since I lost my temper." Taro steps forward, following Nine to Everlast's sturdy trunk. Was it only a sapling not so long ago? He likewise reaches out, but his touch is more gentle when he rests his hand against the bark. "He's become well rooted. It was good that you planted him here, I think. Neo Arcadia's soil would have done him no favors." But he wasn't finished, and he returns to the truthful confession. "To lose my temper is one thing. To lose my restraint..." He presses his hand more firmly. "If I begin to kill without need, to revel in it, to show cruelty in killing rather than necessity...Ahren delighted in causing suffering, and that is how I once acted. That is what you should watch for in me."
No. 9	A glance over, his blocky teeth nibbling a leathery lip. "Hhhh. Right. I'll remember that. You've always been reasonable. Restrained. If you, choose, to become otherwise, I shall respect your decision. But if there is someone else the very next day, I shall... take that to heart. I'll watch for it. You can count on me."
Taro	Another small nod of both understanding and acceptance, and then his gaze drifts upwards, through the boughs above their heads. "It is a terrible thing to ask of you. Yet I remember what I was before words had meanings, and I am aware of the depths to which it will go to fulfill the orders that it and I were left. I would rather it not. Thank you."