[closed]

[messianic]

WHO: Joshua and Minato
WHERE: The Town, but the edge of the woods where Joshua is being Sketch.
WHEN: April 28th, sure
WHAT: There's never a bad time to add new skills to your knowledge. Probably even these skills.
WARNINGS: Joshua is just really sketchy.

[Wanderings in the early evening around the fringes of the forest is probably really none-too-wise, but Minato's had a lot on his mind lately. The shadow situation had been pretty nasty before it had faded into nothingness, and while Minato still caught himself twitchily looking towards his shadow when he thought it moved inappropriately...

So far, everything's been fine.

Still, pacing and wandering is a better way to get his mind in order than to remain cooped up in the house he's staying in, especially with Vriska still a statue (horrifically so).

That's why he's out there, for better or for worse--but at the very least, spying Joshua is a good distraction. Probably. So he'll naturally approach, lifting a hand from his pocket to wave.]

Joshua-san...?

Comments

[whereabout]

Heart-shaped leaves. Usually a few renge...er, around this size.

[ He indicates the size with his fingers. Nobody knows his bullshit fantasy metric system why. ]

[messianic]

Hm... okay, I'll look.

[And he crouches near to the ground where all of the plants fringe the edge of the woods, obediently! Time to find what he can while Joshua is thinking through how to talk about what's bothering him.]

[whereabout]

[ Well, he should probably start with - ]

...so I never told you exactly what my group found in the forest.

[messianic]

... No. You didn't.

[Minato shakes his head, but otherwise he'll be quiet, waiting for Joshua to continue. He knows that what Josh experienced out there was...Bad for him, in a lot of ways. Now he just has to wait and see exactly what happened.]

[whereabout]

[ "Bad" is such a gentle word for it. ]

It was a group of banshees. Everyone came to their senses before it was too late, but...

[ He's quiet for a moment, considering how to go from "this specific monster" to "my wide-encompassing mental issues." ]

It's not exactly something I can come up with hard numerical evidence for or anything, but I...have good reason to think that I'm more susceptible than the average person to mind control. Until we got here, I only had a sample size of one, so it wasn't something I put a lot of thought into - well, not beyond that one situation, I should say. But now...

[ Well, now it's become clear that 1) there's more than just Weissmann here to worry about getting into his head, and 2) there's a good chance that when Weissmann built the back door into his brain, that he didn't bother locking anyone else out, either.

It is a problem. ]

[messianic]

[.... Oh.

That's... that's grimmer than he was expecting. He knew it was something rough, but... that's brutal. Of course, now he understands exactly what Joshua meant by asking him to stop him if he was ever not himself.]

... The banshees did that to you? They... [Mind control...?] ...I didn't realize there were things like that out there.

[A slow breath in, and:]

Is that what you're afraid of? That... someone will control you like that?

[whereabout]

It's been on my mind a bit, yes.

[ Vicious understatement, that. How he can undersell things so much with a straight face (or with...that smile, sometimes) is anyone's guess. ]

I'd hoped it wouldn't be a problem here.

[ Because, you know, the final boss isn't here! But Weissmann ruins everything even without being physically present in the same dimension. ]

[messianic]

[... It's a problem, honestly, that this is something that bothers Joshua so much--that this is something the woods picked at, just like that, without hesitation.

Minato sits up, meeting Joshua's eyes, and:]

I think you have two options...with a situation like this.

[whereabout]

[ He doesn't say anything, just waits.

Go on? ]

[messianic]

[... Joshua's probably not going to like it, but:]

You tell Estelle-san everything, so you can rely on her through all of this. So that, if it ever happens, she'll know what's going on.

Or... you tell more people what's going on, instead of Estelle-san, so that we can all band together to help you as best we can.

[HE KNOWS WHICH HE PREFERS, hint: it's option A, which is way healthier.]

[whereabout]

...she knows. That it's happened here.

[ And while he hasn't given her his full theory on why it's got such a high chance of happening again...well, she knows about it from before, too, so he figures odds are good she's already put two and two together. She can be oblivious about some things, but she's good at reading him that way.

(Better than he reads himself, honestly.) ]

[messianic]

[He believes that, honestly; he believes that Estelle is good at reading him, which helps. If Joshua has Estelle, Minato is certain he'll be fine.

That all said...]

If she knows that, why are you hiding something like this from her?

[The entire...drugged to go to sleep thing. Minato would think if anyone, Estelle would understand why Joshua is bothered.]

[whereabout]

I guess because there's not much more she can do that she hasn't already.

[ She's listened, she's been supportive, she's snuggling with him every night, and if that's not doing it, he doesn't want her to get worried about the fact that it isn't. ]

[messianic]

[Hmm...]

So you're still really worried, even though Estelle-san knows.

[Contemplatively:]

It still worries you even beyond that?

[whereabout]

It should.

[ He's very matter-of-fact about this. Not thinking of himself as a puppet still takes a concentrated effort. Why would he not worry about who all might make a grab for his strings? ]

[messianic]

[...]

Because you think it'll happen again, right?

[whereabout]

There's little chance it won't.

[ There's something a little tense about the way he crosses his arms as he says that. Especially the left one.

You know, that one. ]

[messianic]

[... Yeah. Hm.]

So what do you want to do about it?

[whereabout]

[ ...good question.

There's a long pause. ]

[messianic]

... We can help you, Joshua-san. We all want to, because we're your friends.

But...

[After hearing all of that--]

I don't think you'll feel like you're in control of things unless you can find a way to resolve it with your own hands.

[Not...relying on someone else, which is just giving up control again.]

[whereabout]

...you're right, I probably won't.

[ Which presents something of a problem. He'd apparently figured out something, with Kevin's help, although Estelle hadn't explained how they'd done it. But even if he figures out how to do whatever it is on his own, here - ]

I won't be satisfied until I can look Weissmann in the eye without anything happening.

[ Which basically means - not until they get out of here, unless the next group of arrivals is really awful. ]

[messianic]

... Do you think that's something you can work on here?

I know that... he's not here.

[Weissmann, the man who clearly ruined so much of Joshua's life. But...]

Your problems with being controlled or brainwashed... if you work on them here, won't you be even more ready to face him?

[whereabout]

Maybe. I don't know.

[ He frowns. ]

Estelle said I'd gotten free of it...somehow, with help from one of our comrades. I don't remember that. But she was completely shocked to see it back. [ Because you can totally see a mind-control weakness by looking at someone and all - right, he hasn't explained that. He glances at the tattoo on his arm. ] That, I mean.

But Kevin...has good reasons to know a lot about how stigmata work. I don't know enough about it to get rid of it myself.

[ Which leaves him at a bit of a loss as to how he can make progress here. ]

[messianic]

... It's not just you here though, Joshua-san.

[Minato meets Joshua's eyes firmly, and:]

I don't know anything about stigmata. But I do know... that there are a lot of people here with a lot of amazing skillsets, who have experienced a lot.

I think you can find a way. I think you can find a way to get rid of it--you just might need a little bit of help to get there.

[whereabout]

[ ...ah.

It's not at all unlike Estelle, he realizes. The conviction that he can and will get past anything, as long as he has the support of the people around him. Which is an amusing thought, because they're so different on the surface. Estelle exudes sunshine just by existing and needs to always be doing something, while Minato is quiet and relaxed and seems like he's eternally on the verge of taking a nap.

But if two people who seem so different can agree on that much, that...makes it easier to believe, maybe. ]

...thanks.