It's all Huvrye can do to stand there, slackjawed and slightly awed, as Mark starts his argument by blithely dismissing the idea of souls and just goes from there. Saying Huvrye is born. Insisting he's as much of a person as anyone else, regardless of circumstances. Giving him homework. Calmly and methodically tearing down every argument Huvrye has made. He knows Mark is wrong - he knows homunculi are different, that they don't count - but what is he supposed to say? How is he supposed to make an argument when Mark is simply taking them all apart?
(The bit of grace for Lasardhi, and the stark dissonance with his experience, almost gets a startled laugh out of him. He knows where those bodies come from. He's brought enough of them to Resources himself.)
And then Mark calls Huvrye one of his best friends here, and promises to fight for him - even if it means fighting him, or at least his mindset - and Huvrye's ability to think shorts out entirely.
None of this makes any sense. Huvrye has only known Mark for a month - how could he be one of Mark's best friends here? Sure, Mark is Huvrye's best friend, but that's partly because Huvrye doesn't have many friends, between his short time here and his tendency to lose them in horrifying ways. How could he possibly be that important to Mark? His life doesn't matter. He's not a person-
But Mark says he is-
He doesn't get it. It doesn't make sense. The inside of his head feels like locked gears, frozen and straining to move; like broken glass, edges grinding together but unable to become whole; he feels dazed; he feels concussed, and he's had enough concussions throughout his life to place that feeling-
And like he has before when he's been concussed, his mouth buys time for his brain to get itself back in order by filling the silence with something inane.
"...what's homework?"
It's not an attempt to change the subject; it's currently the only thing he can think of when his brain has overheated trying to process something anathema to how it was built.
Mark thinks he's a person.
But he's not. Mark is wrong. That's not how this works. It's not possible.
But, says that same quiet voice, what if it is? What if he's right?
(That voice is getting harder and harder to ignore, but Huvrye tries anyway, because he doesn't have an answer and he's pretty sure that, if he ever does get one, it won't come easy. He's not doing that right now.)
no subject
...what?
It's all Huvrye can do to stand there, slackjawed and slightly awed, as Mark starts his argument by blithely dismissing the idea of souls and just goes from there. Saying Huvrye is born. Insisting he's as much of a person as anyone else, regardless of circumstances. Giving him homework. Calmly and methodically tearing down every argument Huvrye has made. He knows Mark is wrong - he knows homunculi are different, that they don't count - but what is he supposed to say? How is he supposed to make an argument when Mark is simply taking them all apart?
(The bit of grace for Lasardhi, and the stark dissonance with his experience, almost gets a startled laugh out of him. He knows where those bodies come from. He's brought enough of them to Resources himself.)
And then Mark calls Huvrye one of his best friends here, and promises to fight for him - even if it means fighting him, or at least his mindset - and Huvrye's ability to think shorts out entirely.
None of this makes any sense. Huvrye has only known Mark for a month - how could he be one of Mark's best friends here? Sure, Mark is Huvrye's best friend, but that's partly because Huvrye doesn't have many friends, between his short time here and his tendency to lose them in horrifying ways. How could he possibly be that important to Mark? His life doesn't matter. He's not a person-
But Mark says he is-
He doesn't get it. It doesn't make sense. The inside of his head feels like locked gears, frozen and straining to move; like broken glass, edges grinding together but unable to become whole; he feels dazed; he feels concussed, and he's had enough concussions throughout his life to place that feeling-
And like he has before when he's been concussed, his mouth buys time for his brain to get itself back in order by filling the silence with something inane.
"...what's homework?"
It's not an attempt to change the subject; it's currently the only thing he can think of when his brain has overheated trying to process something anathema to how it was built.
Mark thinks he's a person.
But he's not. Mark is wrong. That's not how this works. It's not possible.
But, says that same quiet voice, what if it is? What if he's right?
(That voice is getting harder and harder to ignore, but Huvrye tries anyway, because he doesn't have an answer and he's pretty sure that, if he ever does get one, it won't come easy. He's not doing that right now.)