Khrysta decided to take a walk around town. She had no idea what gave her the notion, but she figured it was better than sitting around in her room trying to figure out her geometry lesson on a strained mind and short temper. She stopped by a few of her preferred hang-out areas, and caught up with some people she hadn't spoke to in a while. Everything had been going as she would normally expect, that was until she found him in the park...
Mastace found a bench in a public park not too far from his former house. He just sat there, letting the thoughts in his mind stew and marinate in the raw energy of his newly-resurrected emotions. Why hadn't he seen the warning signs sooner? He should have paid more attention to his father, and maybe, just maybe, helped prevent this from happening again. He just figured he had no chance of having the proper self-control to abstain, so he didn't even bother putting in the effort to make an attempt. I just don't get why it had to be so soon.
Mastace looked up at just the right moment... and caught Khrysta staring right at him. Oh, Lord... he thought.
Oh, Lord. He looks terrible, she thought as she got a solid look at his face and the light that was held in his eyes. No, she corrected. He looks defeated... Beaten. Man...
"Hey," she said.
"Hello," Mastace said, his voice flat and his body language passive.
"What's going on? Something happen?" Khrysta asked.
"No." Mastace said. "Nothing ever happens... It's always the same, and I'm tired of it." His arms crossed, ears flattened and his tail swished around in his frustration.
He's about to blow... Here we go...
"What are you tired of, Mastace?"
"It's not a matter of what, but who I'm tired of. And I'm tired of my father. He doesn't seem like he wants to change. He's stuck in his own little rut and he refuses to make any effort in getting himself out."
"What do you mean?"
A small gust of wind picked up and Khrysta caught a whiff of a strong scent. She winced and stumbled back a step. Mastace watched this and knew immediately what had happened.
"That's what I mean."
"Damn, that's powerful."
"I know. And that's not the worst of it. It gets pretty bad when he chooses the wrong one, and I'm the one who has to handle everything when he loses control. It's a horrible mess to tend to, and sometimes he's not the only one that wakes up with a few aches and pains, but he's the only one with a hangover. I refuse to allow any of that shit into my body."
"I know what that feels like... In my family, it was my brother and my mother. Neither of them are around anymore. She got lucky and had a heart attack that ended her quickly. He wasn't so fortunate. He drank until he was so poisoned that there was nothing that could be done." Khrysta shuffled her foot around in the dirt on the sidewalk as she said this.
"I'm sorry. It's a tragedy to lose someone you care about to something as heartless as this kind of addiction."
"Thanks... I was eleven when she died, and he followed two years later. He was nineteen years old."
"So young... Both of you..." Mastace looked at the space between his feet. He tried to imagine what he would do if he ever got the news that his father had finally downed one too many whiskies and they couldn't save him. Would he even go to the funeral if one was held? Could he?
Khrysta watched him for a moment, then said "You walked out on him, didn't you?"
Mastace looked up at her in shock. "What? How could you even make an assumption like that?"
"I've seen it before. This isn't my first rodeo, bud."
Mastace couldn't say anything. Everything in his head simply stopped working. It was like his subconscious went on strike, and so his conscious mind couldn't function the way it was supposed to. He was simply a pile of unrefined emotion. He hated other people to see him this way, but he couldn't help it if Fate had enacted other schemes. I guess I'll just have to go along with it and see what unfolds. Maybe a door I hadn't seen before will open up. He took another look at Khrysta, and nodded to himself inwardly. Perhaps it already has...
"This is probably a lot to take in right now, and you look like you have a ton on your mind. Why don't you find somewhere else to stay for the night and meet me back in town tomorrow to talk about things." Khrysta extended her hand, which Mastace shook with a pleasantly surprised air beginning to permeate around him.
"You never struck me as someone who prefers formalities," he admitted
"Really? Well, you kind of gave me the impression that formalities were important to you, so I tailored my social approach around that assumption. That is, while I wasn't angry at you for bumping into me."
Mastace laughed. "Assumptions can be dangerous, so I try to avoid them when I can. I do like to read people, though. It gives me something to entertain myself with when I am incorrect about someone."
"Huh," Khrysta said. "I wonder how often that is."
"I can count the number of time I was wrong about someone on one hand." Mastace said, and sighed.
"You must think you're really good at it then."
"Well, I'm no professional," Mastace looked at the sunset as it began to enter its earliest phase. "and being able to read people this much can be a bit of a curse most of the time. You see the worst in people, and... it gets disheartening more often than not. That's why I try not to look very deep. All I see is pain anymore..."
"Well... what did you see in me?" Khrysta asked, a hint of innocent curiosity in her voice that may or may not have been intentional.
Mastace looked at Khrysta again, this time in her vividly violet eyes. "I saw someone who was struggling with self-confidence issues... but... they had no control over you. I saw a person with a lot of anxieties, but was capable of overcoming them. I saw someone who possessed tenacity, courage, resilience, compassion, and..." he trailed off. Mastace looked at his feet and went silent.
"And what, Mastace?"
"Beauty... I saw beauty."
Khrysta's face went red as all of her body language perked up. "Huh?"
"It wasn't the kind that everyone else seems to seek, however. That's all superficial. What you have lies deep in your soul."
Now it was Khrysta who went silent.
"It comes from your inner strength, which you have a lot of. I don't know if you know you have it, but you have it. Much more than people will ever be willing to see or acknowledge. My only words to you about it are that you shouldn't let anyone tame that fire within you. If they're kind to you, warm their entire house. If they abuse you, then burn it to the fucking ground. No one deserves to treated the way I see you've been treated by the look in your eye. Who ever it was... they were tough... but you... you're stronger, smarter, and better than they'll ever be. Don't let anyone else say otherwise."
There was no word in any language that covered what was going on inside of her right now. Still, she had to say something... "When I started talking to you, I was the one trying to help you out. Yet here you are giving me the pep-talk. How about that..." she chuckled.
"Yeah... I suppose I like to help out other people even if I'm the one falling apart."
"Well, just make sure you're in the right condition to help someone else. If you aren't taken care of, then you might become the one that needs saving."
"I know... I've seen that before, too."
"Then you know how it works."
"Yes."
"So... You got somewhere you can stay the night?"
Mastace nodded. "I think I can work something out. I know where some shelters are if I need to sleep there for a night. No big deal."
"Wow, so dark..."
"What?"
"The thought of you being in one of those places. It's not a pretty sight down there, and it's not always safe."
"I know. I can hold my own for one night if needed. It's not a long-term arrangement. I'm not homeless, just needing somewhere to crash for one night to decompress."
"I'll be here waiting if you need to stay at my place. If you're not back at nine, I'll assume you've found somewhere. I'm not letting you stay in one of those places downtown."
"Thanks... I'll see what I can do about avoiding them, then." Mastace took off down the road nearest to them, so he could see what arrangements could be made.