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LOCKED TO istheindustry

Summer was coming to Johto, and quite frankly, Logan was glad it was nearly here. He had been spending his time up north with Reaver, travelling to Mahogany Town, a remote little town that housed one of the Gym Badges they were in the process of collecting. Logan hadn't expected it to be so cold, even in spring. Finally it was beginning to feel like that awkward transition phase between spring and summer, and the heat was a welcome change.

They had arrived in Mahogany last night and had spent the better part of the day travelling to the Lake of Rage. Both of them had seen it on the map, but Logan hadn't expressed any desire to visit it until they had stopped in Mahogany. Yes, he understood that the badge challenge was important (he was the one who had been so determined to start collecting the badges anyway), but the badge wasn't going anywhere. Neither was the lake, but that didn't change the fact that he wanted to see it for himself.

Logan had always loved the water. The royal family had a small place in Millfields that they visited during the summers when the Hero Queen simply couldn't stand the heat anymore. Logan had loved exploring Bower Lake as a child, and it was something that never really left him even after all this time. He had only been to Bower Lake a couple of times since he took the throne, and had only brought his sister with him once. They had both been a bit too old to frolic in the ocean like children - at least, that was what they said until night fell and they were certain they wouldn't be spotted by any of the nobles that lived in the area. He remembered that evening fondly; but there were very few things about his sister he didn't remember fondly.

He brushed that thought aside, not interested in dwelling on the past. It never ended well. He was here in Johto now; he had to look out for himself - and only himself - though it was still something he was in the process of learning how to do. He was getting used to not having control over people, but taking care of himself was still something Logan hadn't really adapted to.

That said, he did look quite a lot healthier than he had in Albion. The darkness was still present around his eyes - and likely would always be, he was tainted, after all - but he had put on a bit of weight and the constant travel was doing some good for him physically. Of course, it didn't help that he was travelling with Reaver who would run on ahead if he was allowed. Logan still had difficulties keeping up with the ever-energetic industrialist, but he hadn't reached his breaking point yet.

The travelling today had been relatively light and easy; there were trainers to fight and plenty of grass to wade through, so speeding to their destination was out of the question. He was thankful for that. It did put them a bit behind schedule though; they would have to spend the night up at the Lake of Rage and return to Mahogany in the morning, but Logan really couldn't say he minded that any. If the lake was anything like Bower Lake, then he doubted he'd want to leave so soon anyway.

Speaking of the lake, it finally came into view amid the trees and Logan stopped short, staring. It was huge, possibly even larger than Bower Lake. The water looked clean and clear from where he was standing (though admittedly, it was still a bit hard to judge and it could just be wistful thinking on his part) and the shores were completely clear, no people anywhere in sight. Apparently this wasn't a very popular tourist destination for whatever reason. Logan found himself releasing a breath he didn't realize he was holding, glancing side-long at Reaver for some sort of confirmation that the industrialist was as pleased with this as he was.

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Logan really wasn't surprised that Reaver was writing, it seemed that he was always up before Logan no matter what ridiculous time it was. The king ran a hand through his hair, gripping at the ends for a moment before responding. "Yes. Yes, it was."

The light was warm and welcome even though it did cast shadows that Logan found himself staring at warily. At least it illuminated part of the room. He felt safer that way. The Crawler couldn't go into the light, he was certain of that much. Not that it really mattered here, but he wasn't thinking clearly just yet.

There was no easy way to calm himself down after a nightmare like that. Distracting himself was how Logan usually handled nightmares, and tonight was no exception. "What are you writing?" He doubted Reaver would tell him, but it was at least something else to focus on.

Reaver shook his head at that. "Nothing of any importance, my dear - simply thoughts that wouldn't leave me alone for the time being, they were making it a bit difficult to remain asleep."

He paused for a brief moment before continuing. "I suppose you could say I find it easier to handle thoughts like that once they're written down; there's something I like about seeing them. It makes everything seem more manageable, I suppose, if they can be condensed like that."

"Really?" Logan had never thought of it like that. Of course, writing things down was just asking for someone in the castle to get hold of it and gossip about it, but even if that hadn't been an issue, he was afraid he would just start writing and never stop. There was so much he would like to get out of his system, and if he could function in the same sort of fashion as Reaver and write it all out... well, he'd be writing forever.

"This is what you always do, isn't it?" He nearly asked how Reaver functioned with only a few hours of sleep, if it was even that much. He ultimately didn't. "What sort of thoughts have been bothering you?"

Reaver glanced up at him; he didn't seem bothered by the questions, the usual smirk present across his features - but that didn't mean he was going to answer more than he felt like, either. "Tonight? Some things involving Albion, primarily, and how they relate to this place. Again, it's nothing that should concern you."

Logan was silent for a moment, considering Reaver's words. "Is it something you don't want to discuss, then?" Whether or not it would concern him didn't matter, what mattered was that it was something that would help keep his mind off of the nightmare. He was already calming down a bit, which was certainly good, but it wouldn't do to go back to thinking about it and risk upsetting himself again.

Reaver shifted his pen a bit, toying with it between his fingers; he didn't answer for a while, though it was obvious that he was thinking, at the very least, rather than simply trying to blow off the question.

"It's all unpleasant business, my dear; however, if you're going to insist - without going into too much detail, you're aware by now that I'm rather...ah, long-lived, shall we say. The fact that this place can strip even the most basic of physical enhancements from people has some fairly unfortunate implications, as far as that goes; I'm not entirely sure how that's going to turn out to be affected."

He paused again; that light smirk was back and rather dissonant, all things considered. "As I said - not terribly pleasant, is it? But there isn't much to be done now, at any rate."

That was something Logan had never considered before. Many people knew Reaver had lived for a very long time, or at the very least, longer than any normal human (or Hero) should have lived. If it was some sort of special ability, then Johto would have suppressed it somehow. Logan found himself tilting his head again and corrected it.

"You're not sure if you'll age here, is that what the issue is?" Hopefully they wouldn't be stuck here long enough for that to matter, but he could see where that might be a concern, seeing as how it looked like Reaver hadn't aged a day over thirty.

"It is a concern of mine, yes; admittedly, I hesitate to really entertain the idea that we'll be here for that long, though the fact that others have been here for years doesn't seem promising."

"There are only a few that have been here for longer than a year." It wasn't exactly a comforting remark and he knew it, but Logan was trying. "Hopefully we'll return home before then."

He moved to sit on the edge of the bed, watching Reaver but making no move to come any closer. He couldn't see what Reaver was writing from back here and he doubted Reaver would be okay with him reading the writing. "It is an understandable concern. I don't know how your... inability to age works, but I doubt you'll age much, even if we are stuck here for years." It wasn't like Reaver would age a hundred years over night, right?

"Well, I - "

Wait.

"...inability, Logan?" He sounded rather incredulous; he was fully aware that it was a hell of a detail to get snagged on, but really... "You make it sound as though I should find that sort of thing desirable."

"You're saying it isn't?" He was back to headtilting again, but Logan didn't bother correcting it this time. "You've lived for hundreds of years and lost countless people; do you seriously not see where a normal life would be a good thing?"

Something in his gaze shifted then, the look in his eyes hardening rather abruptly. "I'm well aware of exactly how many I've lost, my dear. I'll thank you to not mention it again."

Logan said nothing for a moment, glancing down at his hands, absently pulling his sleeves back a bit to examine the scars. It was something to do while he thought, at least.

Of course Reaver would be touchy about that. He was the sort who surrounded himself with people, but Logan doubted he genuinely cared about all of them. There were probably a few here and there that Reaver did grow to care about, however, and losing them was painful - at least so some degree. Obviously dealing with that repeatedly would harden Reaver towards it a bit, but Logan hadn't expected him to be this upset with him for mentioning it. Maybe Reaver wasn't as used to it as Logan had expected.

"I apologize," He didn't look up, running his fingers over the thick scar on the back of his left hand instead, "that was out of line. I shouldn't have said anything." Despite the rather blank expression, he did sound apologetic.

"Rather," he replied, the coldness in his tone not abating any. "That was rather out of line, yes."

He redirected his attention toward his writing then, adding some to it and allowing himself a moment to calm down; his voice was calmer, at least, when he continued, though not quite back to the usual level. "You were asking what I write about earlier. Sometimes I write about that as well."

He remained silent, not entirely sure what to say to that. Clearly he had crossed a line and Reaver wouldn't be forgiving that any time soon. Logan had only lost his mother, but he had taken that incredibly hard; he had spent the better part of a year locked away within the castle, doing the bare minimum to keep the kingdom running while he mourned. Reaver obviously wasn't the same way, but he had lived for a very long time and had gone through so many people... it was frightening to think about losing everyone he knew and living past all of them. The idea of living on and making new friends - friends that he knew would die before him - was an equally terrifying thought. How did Reaver do it?

"I'm sorry." The words were soft; Logan clearly had no idea what to say in response.

Reaver was quiet for a moment longer; the only thing breaking the silence in the room was the soft scratching of pen against paper. He looked up again eventually, however; his expression was decidedly calmer, and his voice remained rather even when he finally addressed Logan again.

"Mm, I don't think I answered your question, did I." His words were clearly rhetorical; he was quick to continue. "I would never consider my situation to be pitiable at all, my dear; if I wanted my life to end that badly, there are ways for that to be arranged. As for those I've lost - if it comes down to a matter of either losing people or dying myself...well. To be blunt, better them than me."

To say he didn't understand would be a major understatement. How could Reaver go from being upset to calm so easily? Why did he consider his life more important than everyone else's? Or maybe it wasn't that he thought better of himself, maybe it was just that he was scared of dying? Logan couldn't blame him for that thought, who wasn't afraid of dying in some way? This was just striking him as wrong though, and it took him a bit longer to respond than it normally would have.

"Is all of this because you fear death, Reaver? I was under the impression that this was some sort of natural ability - your eternal youth, that is - but..." He trailed off, frowning. There was no way to become immortal like that. "How did this happen? Why don't you age?"

Reaver set the pen down then, folding his hands in front of him and leaning forward over the table; the look in his eyes was intense but cold, and though he was still smirking a bit, it wasn't a particularly nice expression.

"That's quite a few assumptions for you to be making, isn't it?"

This clearly wasn't something Reaver wanted to talk about. Logan didn't look away this time, meeting Reaver's eyes calmly and finally, nodding slightly. "Yes, it is. That's all they are, assumptions. I have no way of knowing if you don't tell me."

He wasn't pushing for Reaver to tell him, however, and he said nothing else. He certainly wasn't going to back down, but he knew better than to try to force an answer from Reaver.

Reaver bristled a bit at that; this was far too close to a strategy a certain Will-user from Samarkand tended to employ when there were things that absolutely needed to be discussed. That had, of course, been over fifty years ago by now; he liked to think he had moved past the stage where this sort of thing was necessary. Apparently not.

...right. So. As it stood, it was either discuss this with Logan, or cause the world's most awkward stalemate by refusing.

"I still don't see what business this is of yours."

...clearly, stalling was the best option here. Right.

"You're my friend. Of course I'm going to be concerned about something like this. It's clearly bothering you now - at the very least, the idea of aging is bothering you - and I don't like seeing you bothered by something like this."

Reaver shook his head at that. "I may have had reason to fear death once, my dear, but that was many, many years ago. Circumstances were different back then; I was different back then. But what I was hardly matters now; I've more than earned my right to fear nothing."

It occurred to him, vaguely, that he was likely making very little sense; he couldn't exactly be bothered to correct it at the moment.

Logan raised an eyebrow, somewhere between confused and "not buying it." Reaver had lived for a very long time, true, and he had undoubtedly changed a lot in that time, but he was making it sound like this was a "past version" of himself rather than a natural progression to where he was now. It was certainly interesting, if nothing else.

"You've earned your right to fear nothing?" He repeated, sounding skeptical. "I don't understand. There are people who are naturally unafraid of anything, just as there are people who are naturally afraid of everything. I don't see fear as something that you can just... dismiss. What do you mean?"

That earned itself a rather derisive noise out of him in response. "When you've been around as long as I have, Logan, you learn that everything has a price - everything can be bought and sold, no exceptions, as long as you know the right people. Make the right friends and you can have just about anything. Life itself included."

He paused for a moment. His voice had remained completely even throughout that explanation, if it could be called that, and his gaze remained unwavering; at the same time, there was something extremely taut about his posture, and his hands had tightened sharply where they were folded against each other on the table, to the point of nearly shaking from the tension. "You asked me how it is that I don't age? I pay the price required of me. The collateral was higher than I would have preferred, but if that's what it took then so be it."

Logan was silent for a long moment, staring at Reaver and trying to fit the pieces together. Reaver had been scared of death, so to avoid death, he had made a deal with someone and had managed to gain eternal youth. Was he following so far? Because this was making less and less sense as time went on.

"Let me see if I'm following this correctly," He finally started, cautiously, "you made a deal with someone for eternal youth, that way you wouldn't die - at least not from natural causes. Is that right?"

Logan didn't sound upset or concerned, just confused. He supposed he could see where that would be a valid line of thought - if one was completely crazy and willing to pay whatever ridiculous price this person charged (and he was certain it was a ridiculous price) - but surely Reaver would have gone in there with some plan to persuade them to lower the price, or something along those lines.

...But no, Reaver had been younger then, less experienced. He probably hadn't expected the price to be as high as it was, and he couldn't back out in time - or maybe he hadn't wanted to back out. "What was the collateral?" Another pause and then, "What happened to you back then?" He was beginning to suspect that something was very wrong with all this.

LOCKED TO istheindustry

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