"Listen I know it's a lot to take in for you, just keep in mind this is Raven's life, something he's lived and been living through." Tidus said, the other's eying not going unnoticed.
"Raven's -life- would appear to be something all together different from what it seemed..." Swan muttered softly into his whiskey before taking another draw from the glass.
"When one chooses to put their head in the sand I'm sure it would..." The Wolf snipped at the other.
"My head has not been in the sand. I, we all were under the impression that he was an Archon in Pandae not swashbuckling over the countryside invading enemy territory and what not..." Swan said somewhat flippantly. The alcohol taking it's toll on his good manners and normal restraint.
"Clearly it's been in the sand if you felt he was an Archon this whole time. You look like you have connections. You found me didn't you, but you didn't think to check in on your own brother?" Tidus asked dryly.
"Check on him? Whatever for? I never thought I'd be lied to by my little brother!" Swan huffed indignantly.
"He's your 'little' brother. You're his older sibbling, the more responsible one or so I'd assume. It's your job check on and protect your younger kin. You think people don't lie particularly to their families? How many skeletons do you have in your closest now, Silver? I bet there's a bunch." The Wolf commented, drawing from his drink.
Swan huffed. He did indeed have a few things he had not told his family. "That's different. I may have a few secrets that I have chosen to keep private...but not my entire life! Look at that...that..." He blustered gesturing toward the dummy. "He did that with his hands? I served as an Archon in Pandae and they definitely don't teach you how to do -that-...just what exactly did my brother do in the army? I'm assuming You know. YOU seem to know just about everything he chose to keep from his Family!" Swan said, his tone of voice growing hot.
"I know because I gave a shit you pompous ingrate moron..." Tidus growled,eyes narrowing across the table. "Tell me then what is it that you can justify to keep from your family?" He continued, swirling the liquor in his glass. "Archons in Pandaemonium, stay in Pandaemonium... tell me could you fight an elyos without your weapons? Could you save a villager with those lovely smooth hands of yours that don't seem to have ever held a sword in their life? Can you use the aether to save those you promised to defend and protect or are you just full of hot fucking air?"
"I...I never claimed to be able to do any of those things. Yes, I served my required time in Pandae as did all my other broth..." He stopped mid word. Choking as he closed his eyes. He shook his head, looking away. "I'm sure Rave had his reasons. I know he did. He isn't the sort to put his cares on another...He takes them...He takes them from others and onto himself, always, always there to listen." Swan paused, blinking back the tears that gleamed in his eyes, his voice starting to shake. "I never once asked him about his problems...not once. To busy unloading mine. What kind of big brother does that make me?"
"So, Raven wanted to do more then serve the minimum time. He wanted to be able to make a difference I imagine. That's why most tend to..." Tidus cut his thought short, backing off some when he heard the change in the others voice. "It doesn't matter what kind of brother you were. What matters is the kind of brother you are to him now..."
"A better one. I wasn't there for him before. I'll be there for him now. If he'll let me." Swan said trailing off at the end and sounding somewhat dejected.
"Good, you might very well be just what he needs, Silver." The snow-maned SIn conceded, finishing his glass before placing it back on the tabletop.
"...Silver..." Swan said with a soft chuckle. "Don't let Rave hear you call me that. He'll never let me live it down I'm sure. He has quite the wicked sense of humor, but I'm sure you already know."
"Humph, you're worried about Raven never letting you live it down. I may not tell him, but you're stuck with it when it comes to me..." The other quipped, faintly swaying in his chair.
"Please don't. He'll fill the house with spoons, floor to ceiling knowing him or worse..." Swan moaned.
"That would at least keep him occupied I suppose..." The Scout remarked, smirking at the thought.
"It would at that...but please, spare me." The chestnut-haired male laughed.
"We'll see." He ribbed and then took a slow breath. "When do you plan to leave with him?"
"I had intended on taking him home as soon as I found him, but now...I'm not sure." Swan sighed as he ran a hand over his face.
"You don't have to either. Make sure you're prepared for it when you do though."
"We have a villa outside of Morheim. I had planned on living there while deciding whether of not to rebuild. It's not far from the city. Father had it built down where the air is warmer and the grass green. Mother did not take the Winter's well. She wasn't from Morheim." Swan said. "Prepared? What should I do to prepare a place for him? How do I make him comfortable...feel at ease?"
"You'd be best to ask him, just understand his behavior will be odd at times." He said after giving it a thought for a moment in his haze. He paused before continuing, a quiet tone to his words. "You have to understand I have had Raven here, under suicide watch... He's coming around but one must be cautious of his frame of mind..." Tapping his own skull with a claw.
"Su-Suicide!?" Swan balked.
"Yes.. when I found him, he was at least contemplating taking his own life.." Tidus never was good at breaking news.
"Sh-Should I hire staff to keep a watch over him? Is it safe for us to leave him alone for so long right now? Is he medicated? Will I need to acquire some means to keep him restrained should he...he...try to..." Swan asked anxiously as he ran a hand thru his hair.
"No, you have to trust him, to some extent, at least. Pay attention to his mood. Honestly, if someone has that much desire to end their life, no matter how many people you have keeping watch will make the slightest difference to his suffering nor keep him from it attempting again. If it's what he really wants, he'll find a way. I've given him no medication for his condition, it's not my place nor do I think it's wise... He has had some to treat minor wounds, but that's it..." Tidus would shake his head gently closing his eyes as he held out a hand.
"Minor wounds? He's hurt himself as well as tried to ...kill himself?" Swan put his head in his hands exhaling slowly.
"Not exactly, he made no real attempt on his life but he was wounded by the broken fragment of mirror he had picked for his purpose. He required some stitches... The rest was from the training dummy... You try punching solid wood to that state and see how you fair at the end." The Scout explained, squinting as he thought. "He's a good kid. He just needs help to make sure he doesn't get too lost in the dark."
"...Lost in the dark...Poor, sweet Rave, always smiling, always so cheerful and bright." Swan sighed sounding slightly broken himself. "How did this happen to you?"
"High risk mission, there were too many and I was caught." The Scout's blue eyes flicked over to the Swan at the question.
Swan was taken slightly off guard by the other's open admission to a question he had not intended to be directed at him. The door opened, however, he decide to seek more information in hopes of gaining some insight on what had happened to his brother while also giving this heavily scarred male an outlet of his own should he wish to talk about things he had been keeping inside.
"They caught you and then..." He asked softly, leaving the question open.
"We had a picnic..." He scowled at the other. "They kept me there to get information from me... It was a week at least but it's hard to tell exactly time blurs like that."
"So you're not sure exactly how long ...that." Swan floundered. He wanted to let the other feel free to say what he was willing to say while not trying to sound like he was prying or digging into places he should not delve.
"What you see right now, this... was just the last time, those fuckers would break my bones, put my skin to the lash. Tear me apart, then heal me just enough so I couldn't return the aether if I wanted to. I'm sure if they didn't heal me at all through the process and I'd not died from it I'd not look like myself at all." He blinked at the other for a moment, then growled a little at the thought of it all.
"So -this- " He gestured toward the other. "all of -that- is just from one time? They had done all of this to you before and then healed you?" Swan could not keep his eyes from going wide at the other males words. The alcohol dulling his sense of propriety.
"...Yes.." Filling his glass back up again he was going to need it "...I recall them breaking a part of my face, ribs arms legs... One Sorc found me most useful as target practice between sitting..." Groggily drawing a mouthful "...but fuck me... It was one of them... Who got me out.." A chuckle coming from his mouth though the laugh was threaded with pain.
"One of -them-. An Elyos?" Swan asked in disbelief. "An Elyos saw to your release?"
He'd nod, hooded eyes recalling. "Yes, she... I spared her when I found her in beluslan, terrible assassin she was too much heart a novice at best. The daughter of one of their big shots... Aion sake she wasn't.." He'd pause recollecting himself "..I let her go, told her if I saw her again I'd kill her. It wasn't long after that before I was sent to eltnen. At some point she heard news of me and repaid her debut, practically dragging me out of that place... She should have left me."
"To repay a debt in such a way...she must have had a very big heart indeed and posses uncommon bravery to even attempt such a thing as to rescue a prisoner being held by her own people." Swan said with deep admiration.
"...Yes... It, cost her her own life..." He huffed "... I was too weak to go any further and she was too tired to drag me once we reached beluslan. She found a cave to help get me back to health, treating my wounds as best she could with basic herbs and techniques which is why my body doesn't look right..." He'd mumble "...around a week after of being in the cave she had to venture out for food, I was starting to come around physically by then but so weak. She, ran into a patrol." His voice trailing.
Swan gasped at the unspoken implication. "I'm so terribly sorry...it wasn't your fault you know. You mustn't blame yourself." He said, his voice practically vibrating with compassion for the suffering the other must have endured and still seemed to be judging from Tidus' voice.
"...It is what it is..." He said quietly a blank expression to his feature. "She should not have been there."
"Had she not been, neither would you be here now nor where ever it was that you found my brother...and for that I am most grateful...to you...and to her." He said solemnly. The male who was housing and taking care of his brother had found Raven while he was attemping to kill himself. In Swan's opinion, Tidus had saved his brother's life.
The sin wouldn't say anything out loud, his blue eyes shifting across the table hearing the tone in his voice, had he truly managed something good? Guess so. Pouring swan another glass.
"You're alright, Silver."
"And you, are better than you allow yourself to believe, Aesir." Swan remarked, holding the glass out to the other in a salute. "Unless you tell my brother about this little nickname you insist on calling me. You'll earn my undying hatred if you do that my good Sir." He said with a small laugh.
"...Oh come on now you just make it all the more tempting an offer..." He'd chuckle.
"Aion protect me!" Swan moaned melodramatically.
The asmo would grin at the drama of the other, happily sitting for the moment. "I don't have a lot of room here, but you're welcome to stay the night. If Raven is in the bed you can sleep with him, I'll take the couch."
"I would be honored to accept the hospitality of your home. It has been more years than I care to admit since last I shared a bed with my brother. Don't worry. Should he have a bad dream, I know what to do." Swan smiled warmly and not just from the alcohol. His smile shone from his entire face. Then his smile changed slightly and he looked a bit wistful. "When he was very young, Raven saw a fledging killed on the Ice lake by an Elyos. He had nightmares. Terrible ones for quite a long time, but if you just pet his hair when he starts to seem distressed. He calms right down. Works like magic...or it used to once upon a time." Swan said taking a deep pull from his glass.
"See already making up for lost time." The blue eyed Wolf stood from his seat with a wobble, pinching the bridge of his nose with his claws. "I however should retire. Make yourself at home Silver and I'll see you in the morning." The drunkard trying to keep his composure.
Swan polished off what was left in his glass. Setting is almost down on the table, but not quite so that he had to chase it a little ways as it rolled over the grass. He placed it as squarely in the center of the table as he could on this second attempt with a rather loud clank. While Tidus wobbled, Swan pitched and rolled like a boat in rough seas.