"So… Which did you want to know about first? My parents' deaths, or what it was like for me growing up in "Saint Brynhild's Mercy"?" Ren asked with an half-sarcastic smirk across his lips, as he uneasily laid flat on his back along the cushions the three-seater sofa; his newest psychologist and guest not too far from where his head was resting up against the left armrest— sitting in a matching fabric-woven recliner, which was angled to face toward the corner of the nearby coffee table.
Crossing one leg over his knee, Roux took Ren's comment more seriously than what the young man thought he would have— contemplating on a good starting point, as he chewed on the piece of jalapeño popper that he had taken from one of the many snacks trays on top of the coffee table. "Mhmph… Unless you have a different interpretation of how your parents passed away, I believe I remember Vivi telling me a while ago that the two of the were both victims of homicide— a tragedy, really," Roux said with respect in his voice, after of course he finished swallowing.
Although his parents had been dead for over two decades now, it never was easy for Ren to have to think about, and certainly it wasn't any easier for him to have to open up to discuss the matter either. "Y… Yeah, that's… That's how it happened, yeah," Ren mused with a heavy heart— taking a moment to collect his thoughts, before craning his head back as far as he could, just so he could stare back into Roux's calm eyes as best he could. "Guess that means we're talking about the fallout, aren't we?"
"If you wouldn't mind discussing that part of your life, then yes," Roux replied, before wiping his fingers along the sides of his pant leg. "Please… Go ahead and just talk about it however you like— I'll ask you questions, only when I feel the need to jot something down," the blond feminine boy said, as he quickly took the clipboard and pen he had tucked between his hip and the inside of the recliner's armrest, before getting situated so as to take notes.
Having spoken time-and-time again about his troubled past with a multitude of so-called "professionals", Ren already had an idea of what to expect, and knew which point in his childhood to start from. "Admittedly, I don't remember most of what happened up until that point. Vivi was the one who the police and social workers spoke to mostly, and in all honesty the staff who worked at the orphanage weren't all that memorable. We were just another couple of lost kittens from the street; number a number with a tragic backstory— same as almost every other grieving orphan there."
"I see… And tell me Ren, how were things for you once you got settled in at Saint Brynhild's Mercy? Were things adequate? Or did you really never get used to that environment?" Roux inquired— the tip of his pen scribbling against the top sheet of the notebook Ren had lent to him, as the blond priest continued to listen carefully to each word spoken out from the other man's lips.
"Kids are resilient, if nothing else. I was eight years old when it happened— whenever I look back on it, it's easy for me to see that I wasn't as affected by our parents' deaths as much as Vivi was. Back then, I had my older sister who usually looked after me anyway, and had a roof over my head, along with three square meals a day— I didn't have much to complain about," Ren explained, before taking a moment to reflect on how simple things were for him back then— back it was just him and his sister living together in the same bedroom.
Pursing his lips together as he formulated a way he could ask his next question without taking the focus off of the young man, Roux was silent for a few moments before finally asking Ren, "And what about Vivi? How did she hold up?"
Furrowing his brows slightly, Ren thought back to the snippets of his life living in the orphanage with his older sister, and throughout those distant memories all he could remember seeing was Vivi's comforting smile, and reassuring gaze. "Quite honestly, she never seemed upset after we got situated in the orphanage. I spent all my time with her, and not once did I ever see her cry, or even remotely seem bothered by… Well, by anything, really," Ren mused, before pausing as he felt his stomach churning at what he had to say next. "Looking back on it now though, I think… I think she was putting on an act for the entire two years she spent living with me, over at that place."
"Oh? And makes you think that?" Roux asked curiously, while part of him could sense that what he was about to hear next wouldn't be easier for either of them.
"Razor blades… I remember finding a packet of opened razor blades underneath her bed, and asked why she had them," Ren said bluntly with a dissociating voice, as he stared up at the ceiling— the image of seeing his older sister's facade of a smile wavering sightly burned in his head. "She told me that she used them to shave her legs. When I asked if I could see, she only showed me her shins— told me that I couldn't see what was past her knees, because I was her little brother. And well… I believed that, even long after she had left the orphanage."
"Leaving the orphanage? Ah, yes… If I'm not mistaken, she had to leave because of her eighteen birthday. Tell me, what did she say to you before she left you by yourself? Do you… Do you remember what she said? Or if she said anything at all?" Roux inquired cautiously.
Ren couldn't help but to let out a joyless chuckle as she shrugged his shoulders, while still lying down on the couch. "I mean, heh… I don't remember what she said verbatim, but… I believe what she said went something along the lines of "I love you", and "I'll come back for you someday"… The sort of things you'd imagine someone like her saying to a clueless child."
"Ah, I don't think she told me about that; that might have been to personal for her to share something like that with the two children she was supposed to look after," Roux mused, and wrote a few notes on his piece of paper, before asking, "And I imagine that because of that, you felt abandoned when you were younger? The question remains whether or not you still feel that way, or if you've learned to forgive her."
Smiling uncomfortably at the question, the bittersweet nostalgia Ren felt when he heard that question made him feel briefly cathartic, as he remembered the feeling of devastation and betrayal that grew within him all those years ago. "It's been so long, Roux… I'm mature enough now to empathize with Vivi; she was eighteen years old, she was still a child herself back then… She should have never had that burden to carry as her own," Ren said, before growing quiet once more as he suddenly remembered seeing his older sister laying down on her hospital bed— her body hooked up to life support, as she took his trembling hand in hers.
"I don't… I don't hold any resentment toward her, I think… I think… I think what upsets me isn't her, but… But the image this town's made of her— the idea that she was perfect, and that she died without any regrets or remorse," Ren admitted, before feeling what felt like a dagger slowly piercing his chest, as he recalled the emotions he felt when he entered her garage for the first time, earlier that same day. "And… Truth be told? I… I don't even think I ever knew who Vivi was— just like you and everyone else, I think… I think I only saw the side of her that she wanted me to see— even in the end, she died ensuring that I would remember her for who she was to me."
Sharing the grief that Ren was exuberating with each word he spoke of her, Roux did his best to mask his own sadness as he asked the young man, "And… And what was she to you, Ren?"
Becoming teary eyed as he vividly began seeing before his eyes the painful memories of waiting by her beside alone, with only a heartbroken Naomi and him allowed to be in the hospital room with her, even in her last moments. "Hope… She was the living embodiment of what hope was to me. Even when I resented her for all the one years before then… That's who she was to me… And when… When her vitals flatlined, and I saw the… The look on her face when… When she took… When… When she…" Ren trailed off into silence— struggling to finish articulating his thoughts, to which Roux took quick notice of.
Finishing writing down what he felt as though he needed to write down, Roux immediately tucked the clipboard and pen back in between his hip and on the inside of the recliner's armrest; smiling calming, as he reached over with one petite hand to gently rest it on top of the young man's head full of gray hair. "You've done an excellent job today, Ren; it isn't ever easy for us to discuss traumatic experiences, and it's even more difficult analyzing them than it is to simply recall them," Roux praised in his gentle voice, while beginning to softly brush his slender fingers through Ren's strands of silky-soft hair— calming him down with something as simple as "head rubs".
Even though Ren had shouldered most of the mental fatigue after having been the one who had to endure reliving through some of the most awful parts of his past, the entire therapy session had left a mental toll on Roux as well. Feeling secondhand pain and having personal connections of not only the patient, but who the patient lost as well, was one of the reasons why psychologists weren't supposed to provide care to those who they had a deep connection to. Needless to say, taking on dual roles was something that wasn't ever supposed to be an acceptable practice for Roux— it crossed every rule set by ethical boundaries.
However, Roux was confident in his judgment, as throughout the entire movie he and Ren watched, the blond femboy's keen eye took silent notice of the subtle change in the young man's demeanor. Rather than his usual stone faced demeanor, Ren was visibly contemplating and actively reflecting on the therapy session he had with Roux; no longer actively trying to put up a facade to mask his dwelling thoughts, while still at the same time being able to resist spiraling too deeply into them. All-in-all, the priest knew in his heart of hearts that the young man was on his way to improving his mental health; all there was left for him to do was to stick it out with him.
Elsewhere— in a distant place far, faraway from where the rushing waves of the Ishimal Ocean came crashing down onto the friendly shores of Crescent Bay— a finely dressed gentleman cladded in blue was stewing in his own bitter misery. "Unbelievable, simply outrageous!" The British man with a posh accent shouted, as he slammed his enclosed fist down against the top of his executive desk that was constructed out of the teeth of a blue whale, the bark of a sequoia, and the tears of the Irish to hold it all together. "What sort of bloody fantasy world has a judicial system?! I never heard of that sort of rubbish being in Oz! That'd be like if Dorthy and her merry bandof impoverished outcasts were sent to prison for the Wicked Witch's death!"
Before the man with an affinity for the color blue could further ramble on to himself about how unfair his predicament was, it was then that the luxurious door to his private office was kicked open by the leather boot attached to his nemesis' foot. Standing at the door was a man who looked almost identical to the man in blue, with the two distinguishing exceptions being that he had an affinity for red, and that he was smiling ear-to-ear with the most shit-eating grin imaginable. "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Wouldn't you agree, dear brother~?" The man in red asked mockingly, before immediately letting himself into his brother's office— despite the man in blue making it blatantly clear by the way he was glaring daggers at him that his presence wasn't welcomed.
Scowling bitterly as he slouched back in his office chair, the man in blue passive aggressively adjusted the brim of his bowler hat as he watched his twin brother waltz over to the opposite side of his prized table. "Redmond… Even in the bowels of Hell itself, you still prove yourself to be the literal bane of my existence— oh how the devil must envy the tournament you bestow upon me."
"Come now, Blutarch; flattery didn't win those bloody wizards their case, and it certainly won't win you any favors from me," Redmond shot back snuggly with a condescending smirk across his mustached face. "And by all means, pray tell where the bloody blazes you got the gall to take personal offense to BLU's failure to secure a contract? A contract, might I add, that you had NOTHING to do with, ya' miserable bastard!"
"Nothing to do with?! NOTHING TO DO WITH?! SOD OFF WITH THAT NIHILISTIC RUBBISH, YOU DESPICABLE DOOFUS!" Blutarch shrieked with his entire face becoming the only shade of red on his entire body, as he stood up from his chair with fury in his eyes. "Unlike you and your shoddy "Reliable Excavation Demolition" team, I took immense pride in everything that the "Builders League United" did! We carried ourselves with our heads high, and our bases carved elegantly out of concrete and rebar! Meanwhile, you and your bumpkin men were off shucking corn, and blowing out their sisters' backs behind those poorly built barns that you had the audacity to call your bases!"
With his pride taking the best of what cool-headed demeanor he had tried feigning since entering his brother's office, Redmon Mann sneered bitterly at his twin brother with disdain in his scowling eyes. "So bloody well all of that concrete and rebar did for ya', you pompous bloke! Last I recall, your precious band of uphiller gardeners who stayed disbanded, after that snake Grey took control of Mann Co; meanwhile, it was MY band of heroic mercenaries who got back together to save the WORLD!" Redmond boasted with some of his ego returning, as his sneer turned into a pompous grin of malice.
And before the two brothers could continue to argue back-and-forth for much longer, a third well-dressed figure entered the room. Donning a gray blazer and slacks without a hat to cover his swept-back white hair, the figure who looked slimmer and shorter than the two arguing brothers stared back at them with a look of superiority on face— seemingly becoming invigorated by the glares of hatred they were giving him, as he proceeded to march slowly toward the desk.
"Well now, it would appear as though both of my petty brothers have caught a case of "Old World Blues", now haven't they? Reminiscing about the "good ol' times", while refusing to accept that their legacies have both been stripped away from them; the world forgetting them, and moving on without them," Gray Mann mused aloud, as he came to a halt once he was within a single meter away from Redmond. "Have some class now, gentleman; at least I've been able to accept my losses and move on from my failures. The same, however, cannot be said about either of you two nimrods."
Crossing his arms over his chest, Blutarch snared his upper lip at his younger brother before saying in a resentful voice, "Get off your high horse, Gray; you're only fine with your circumstances, because you're the only one whose delusional enough to believe that your stay here is a temporary one."
Though it pained him to have to take his brother's side, Redmond hated Gray more than he did Blutarch— which truly was saying a lot— which is why the ex-owner of RED team promptly added, "You think young Oliva Mann will be your saving grace? Please! That daughter of yours holds no loyalty towards you— after all, how could she? You were her only role model, after all— she's become worse than you ever were."
"Hmm! You say that as if thought her being selfish is something that I should be ashamed of," Gray shot back with his smug arrogance still residing over his aged face— clearly unphased, and thinking very little of what his brothers' opinions were of him and his daughter. "Unlike you two bickering bastards, I've learned to never rely on ethos for any sort of reassurance; it's not that I expect my daughter to save me, after all."
Although he wanted to strangle his younger brother, Redmond's curiosity outweighed his anger just enough for him to ask Gray another question, instead of committing an act of violence against him. "If you're fine with the idea of Oliva abandoning you, then what's with the optimism? You're in the same eternal torment as the rest of us, Gray— it's not like you have it any better than us."
Letting out a deep chortle as he slowly turned to look Redmond straight in the eye, Gray's wrinkled lips curled into a sinister grin as he said in a menacing voice, "If there's one absolute truth I know of my daughter, is that she's inherited my insatiable ambition. Once she unlocks the secret of what this "Moon Cell" is, and discovers a way to harness it for her own gain, then it'll only be a matter of time until she conquers Hell, and overthrows the bloody Devil himself. And when that happens, I shall take my place back by her side, and ensure personally that you two bumbling bastards burn for all etern-GARGH!"
With both Redmond and Blutarch having both heard more than enough of their younger brother's madden ramblings, the two of them immediately shut Gray up when Redmond blindsided the slim old man straight in the jaw with a right-hook; leaving him disoriented and vulnerable enough for Blutarch to leap over his desk to tackle him onto the floor. Unable to die, and forced to remain together as a miserable family for all of eternity, the two older brothers wailed on their younger brother mercilessly— having no intentions to stop in the foreseeable future.
Back in the universe where Crescent Bay resided, the sun was beginning to set over the western horizon— filling the sky with beautiful orange hues, as the golden-yellow sun gleamed brightly behind the tall evergreen trees that surrounded Vivine's large-acre property. Wanting to get some sunlight while he could, Ren was outside in his front yard with Roux; the two of them making sure to give Rika Maxspark the entire driveway to supervise her adult goblin-children— all of which were operating in the opened-garage, where Vivine's white sports car was being fitted with new parts.
Having found an old foam-edged frisbee earlier— back when he first let the fifty year-old goblin mother and her children into the garage an hour ago— Ren was tossing it back-and-forth with Roux out in the finely-cut lawn. Having changed into some play clothes, the gray-haired man had on a sleeveless black turtleneck shirt with a pair of well-fitted jeggings that looked more like yoga pants than anything else; meanwhile, Roux had finally gotten around to changing into one of the outfits he had brought from home.
Although Ceceli had told Ren before hand of the kind of feminine clothes that her brother wore in secret, whenever he was alone and wanting to express himself in the comfort of his own room, that didn't prepare him to discover just how much of a full-blown crossdresser that the priestess' brother actually was.
Dawning a navy-blue pair of legging-shorts that he wore underneath a white athletic skirt, Roux had on a pair of knee-high white socks that paired admittedly well with the pastel blue and yellow sneakers that he had on. Wearing a skin-tight sports bra that showed the silhouette of his erected nipples through the nylon fabric of the dark-blue material, Roux seemed visibly confident and more outgoing now that he felt more comfortable in his own skin— being more energetic and talkative with Ren, and constantly smiling throughout the entire time they were playing frisbee.
Having just caught the aforementioned foam frisbee and throwing outwards towards the direction of where the excited femboy was waving his slender arms toward him, Ren watched with disbelief at how fast Roux dashed towards the incoming frisbee— his slim, and albeit curvy legs moving fast enough to create a wind current behind him, as he grabbed the foam disc before immediately catching Ren off guard as he leapt several meters up into the air.
"Hey, Ren! Try to catch this one, huh?!" Roux shouted out with a wide, open smile spread across his flustered cheeks, as he seemingly floated in mid-air as what looked to be a golden aura began to form around his entire silhouette. "Hi-YAAAA!" The blond femboy shouted out, as he threw the frisbee back down towards Ren while coating it with the same golden light that was radiating from his slender body.
Although Ren was happy to see Roux being visibly comfortable enough around him to come out of his shell, the young man still couldn't help but to feel playfully annoyed as he thought to himself, 'That's absolutely fucking unfair,' as he watched the frisbee grow a pair of white-angelic wings before immediately evading his hands by flying the complete opposite direction. "What the hell…?!" Ren muttered to himself in disbelief, before quickly shaking the shock off as he proceeded to sprint after the fleeing frisbee.
Floating back down while giggling at the sight of seeing Ren chasing relentlessly after the enchanted frisbee that was bobbing and weaving each time the gray-haired man's hands swung out to grab it, Roux immediately skipped his way up the driveway once he had gently landed— making his way over to where Rikamax Spark was supervising six of her fully-grown children, who were all replacing the entirety of the car's suspension system.
"Hi, Mrs. Sparkmax! Are any of your kids free to help Ren with trying to catch a frisbee?!" Roux asked with an upbeat tone in his voice, while panting quietly to catch his breath while Rika turned to look at him with a good-natured smirk across her smooth and lightly-green face.
"So we're back to sentient frisbees now, are we Fareed? Hmmm, I suppose I could spare ya some of the cavalry— that way we can give Ashta a fighting chance now," Rika mused playfully, as she adjusted her thin-rectangular eyeglasses. Turning to her six children, the four-foot tall gobliness told her children, "Don't go slackin' off now, kids— I'll be back in less than a minute now, ya hear," before gesturing Roux to follow her as she made her way back to the white company van that she and her family had came in.
Giggling softly as she and Roux turned their heads momentarily to watch as Ren skidded across the grass after having tired to pounce on the flying frisbee, Rika ran her fingers through her voluptuous lockets of wavy black-and-silver hair that went all the way down to her plump-juicy bottom— fixing her appearance, before opening the back doors of her van.
With several tool containers and parts pushed up against the interior walls of the van, four of Rika's children were sitting cross-legged in a circle; all of them having their flat nosed-faces buried deep into the screens of their handheld gaming consoles, which were all connected together from the tops. Upon seeing their mother and Roux standing outside the van, all four female goblins paused their games, so as to give their full attention toward Rika.
"Oi girls, Ashta's slow arse is in dire need of assistance with catching Fareed's enchanted frisbee; how's about ya' put the pocket monsters down for a spell, and show the poor bastard how it's done?" Rika rallied, which immediately sparked interests and excitement within the adorable wide faces of her four daughters.
With all four of them unanimously hoping out from the back of the truck, Rika gave them all praises and words of encouragement and she Roux watched as they sprinted toward where Ren was still fruitlessly chasing after the winged frisbee; homing on it, and almost instantly catching up with the young man, before all four of them leapt up in all directions to corner the frisbee,
Having been enchanted to be fair, the flying frisbee was unable to go any higher or lower than it already was, and like a cornered animal it was soon dog-pilled to the ground by the four excitable goblins; all of which had accidentally caused Ren to trip over them. Seeing how the fall didn't look very painful, Rika and Roux both busted up laughing as they watched Ren skid forward several feet before coming to a stop; his entire front covered in blades of grass and clumps of dirt.
Knowing that it was all in good fun, Ren was laughing softly at his own expense as he began to pick himself up off from the ground— getting a solid four inches off of the grass, before immediately being tackled by the four hyperactive goblins, who proceeded to wrestle with him while repeatedly hitting him over the ass with the foam frisbee.
Seeing how he was outnumbered one-to-four, Rika turned around to Roux and told him in a playfully authoritative voice to, "Help me save ya bloody boyfriend," before the two of them sprinted over to join the fray— unintentionally landing on top of Ren and knocking the wind out of him, as they began play-fighting with the four young goblin girls.
Once Rika had managed to wrangle her girls off of Ren, she and her daughters thanked the two men for allowing them to participate in their fun, before proceeding to return to what they were originally doing; leaving Ren laying down on his back, covered in dirt and mud. Having already stained his white socks and dark-navy blue workout attire while having wrestled, Roux laid himself down beside where Ren was— scooting close to him so that their hips and elbows were touching, as he crossed his hands behind his head full of shoulder-length wavy blond hair.
"Heh, hehe! Hope that didn't tire you out too much, Ren— we've still got to bathe, after all! I mean after all, supper time will be pretty disappointing if there's bits of grass and dirt falling into our bowls of Aujuian onion soup," Roux said half-jokingly with his cheeks still flushed, as he titled his head over toward the side to happily meet Ren's curious gaze.
"… Aujuian onion soup? I… I can't say that I know how to make that," Ren replied back with a perplexed look in his crimson eyes, which caused Roux to gently giggle softly.
Rolling over on his side to face towards him, Roux scooted a bit closer towards where Ren was still laying down flat on his back— his smile growing wider, as he subtly began brushing the top of his shoe against the young man's. "Doesn't matter— I wasn't going to let my gracious host lift a finger in the kitchen tonight," Roux mused with a voice that sounded flirtatious to Ren, before playfully tapping his skinny finger against the gray-haired man's chest. "And check it out: I don't even need any of your produce— I can grow my own," the blond femboy said with slightly smug look in his blue eyes, as he made sure Ren was following his waving finger tip, before twirling it and casting a golden orb of light that gently fell onto the grass in the space between their heads.
Within seconds, Ren watched as several green sprouts began to emerge from the soil— growing taller, and taller, until he couldn't see Roux's smiling face behind the green stems that were now standing four feet between their line of sight. Furrowing his eyebrows while sitting up feeling genuinely perplexed and shocked at what he had just witnessed, Ren curled his body up into an upright sitting position— brushing the stems of the fully grown onions to the side, where he saw Roux staring back up at him while playfully wiggling his thin eyebrows at him. "Unbelievable… I had no idea you could do that, Roux!"
Silently letting out a chuckle, Roux's blush grew into a deeper shade of red as he sat up as well— turning his head over his petite shoulder to batter his eyelashes a bit at the astonished man, before asking him rhetorically, "Who do you think grows all the produce for the food pantry~?"
"I… I haven't really given that much thought, actually," Ren admitted sheepishly with his pale cheeks finally starting to become faintly pink, which seemed to visibly cause Roux's eyes to light up even more than they already were.
"Heh, hehe! It's alright— not many people do. But hey, at least now you know though, right?" Roux mused, before beginning to uproot the freshly grown onions that he was planning to use to make dinner for the both of them, with Ren quickly lending a hand by pulling up onions along with him.
Once they had uprooted a grand total of twelve yellow onions, Ren was able to get up on his feet before Roux was, and just like how the blond femboy had extended a hand down to him earlier, Ren returned the favor by offering his arm out for Roux to grab onto. Noticing Roux's eyes widening and his smitten blue eyes averting from his soft, warm crimson gaze, Ren simply let out a quiet and amused chuckle as watched the feminine priest hook his slender arm around his muscular bicep.
Not questioning why Roux was intertwining his fingers around his, and why the blond priest was resting his head up against his shoulder as they walked side-by-side back toward the driveway leading towards the opened garage door, Ren found himself glancing down at the foam-sided frisbee as they walked by it— making a mental note to take it after Rika and her family had left the house, before suddenly getting the idea to invite them all in for dinner. Like a couple, Ren made sure to pass the idea on to Roux, who happily told the man he was still laying his head on that he would be more than willing to make extra soup that night.
And so, the two men made their way to Rika, who seemed visibly moved and even apologetic towards Ren when he had offered her and her family to have Aujuian onion soup with them before they drove back home. Thanking Ren and Roux for the hospitality, Rika reassured them that she and her family would be done revitalizing Vivine's car by the time the two of them got done bathing.
And by the end of the hour, Ren and Roux were shown all of the handiwork that Rika and her children had done in the garage— allowing the two to sit inside the front of Vivine's white sports car, while she and her children went inside to wash their hands and faces, so as to be presentable for dinner. With Roux and him both dressed in their evening attire, which meant they were both in their own sets of pajamas, Ren went back inside to entertain the goblins who were conjugating within the confines of Vivine's large, and cozy living room— turning on the television and making conversation with Rika and Honey, while the rest of the goblins either watched television or played video games.
Night fell by the time dinner was ready, and Rika made sure to gather up her children before having them sit down either in the dining room, or within the living room as Ren brought them each a bowl of Roux's home cooked soup. Once everyone had settled down and gotten their meals, Roux led them all in prayer— giving thanks to Earth Mother and Supreme God for the many blessings they've received, before ending their grace with a unanimously spoken "amen".