Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Go Ahead and Sign The Scroll [Private 1x1]

Bo sniffled, opening his eyes just barely, his eyes sparkling with tears and the moonlight shining gently across his features.

Bo then spoke up, "Why.." He stopped for a moment, gathering his thoughts, "Why do people do such cruel things?" Bo's voice cracked, asking. He wasn't even expecting a real, genuine answer. Because he didn't know the answer, and Othello probably wouldn't either. Bo closed his eyes again, a few more tears rolling down his cheeks, his eyes rimmed with red from crying so much. He placed his head gently on Othello's arm, as well as keeping his arms wrapped around the demon's arm.

"That depends on the person," Othello said, taking Bo's question seriously. "Most people who do things that you would classify as cruel are doing it for gain. Their own, of course, but sometimes it is something they feel is for good. Sacrificing the few for the many or some such nonsense. Others do it because other people's pain bring them pleasure. Those are rather rare. Sadly, I believe most cruelty is done not from any actual ill-will or any goal at all but from sheer ineptitude and self-centered focus. It is as Halon's razor describes: 'Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.' Most cruelty is done by people who are merely not thinking. Nothing more."

Bo listened, though some of the words were a bit big and didn't understand them because simply he didn't know them, such as ineptitude, or adequately. But Bo listened either way.

"Then.. why did those people hurt me?" Bo asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Bo didn't expect an exact answer from this either, while Othello did answer his question from before, there were multiple answers to it. "Did they do it for gain? For supposed good? Pleasure? .. Stupidity?" Bo muttered. He much agreed with the last part, stupidity, he thought every single one of those black robed people were stupid.

Bo whimpered and buried his face into Othello's arm a bit. "I just.. don't.. get it.." He sounded tired, after all, he had only slept an hour before that nightmare startled him awake.

Othello tried not to flinch as he felt the wet, sticky face of the boy plaster into his arm. Ugh. "Undoubtedly for their own gain of some sort," he replied blithely. "I haven't the faintest idea of what they thought they would accomplish, nor do I care. They failed in their mission, and now you have contracted me."

Bo closed his eyes softly, he went to speak, but lost his train of thought and closed his mouth too.
Then he snuggled up just a slight bit closer with a soft sniffle, before remaining quiet for a while.

Was he thinking about what to say?

Oh.. He had just fallen asleep, that was all.

Finally. Asleep! And still holding onto his arm. Wonderful. Now what? Othello worked his arm free inch by tiny inch, finally getting loose from Bo and tucked him in once more. To replace his arm, he gave Bo a small pillow and hoped the child would hold that. Then, tiredly, he traipsed back to his own bed. Why, oh, why had he ever thought his home was boring?

The night passed, Bo had slept peacefully, and soon the morning arrived, it was a bit early, but Bo didn't mind. What he did mind was the birds chirping loudly outside his window waking him up.

Bo sat up, yawning, rubbing his eyes, before glancing at the window and furrowing his brows a bit, but he ignored it and slowly climbed out of bed. Bo then wandered to his bedroom door and opened it softly, looking for Othello already. After all, he had to say good morning, that would be rude if he didn't, at least he thought that anyway. Bo also remembered that a housekeeper would be arriving today, and was curious if they had arrived yet or not.

As a demon from Chinvat, Othello only needed four hours of sleep. He needed them badly, but it was far less than the eight hours most natives of Gaia needed. Thus, he'd risen earlier than Bo and had wandered around for a while in his bathrobe, feeling even more utterly bored than the dullest days at home. How was he ever going to survive his time here? There was nothing to do!

Eventually, he found his way back to the library and the computer hidden within. He might as well see if clothing was an option on this backwater planet. On Chinvat, you could buy clothing off the rack, but anyone who was anyone got their clothing tailor-made. It was far more sustainable and kept more people employed. That, and it created the opportunity to do literally whatever you wanted with your clothing. At least it appeared that this world had some form of off-the-rack clothing. Perhaps it could even be delivered like groceries.

It was then that Othello discovered the full power of Online Shopping.

Two hours and several outfits later, Othello finally pulled himself away from the clothing stores. There was so much to buy! But he really should make certain the clothing was of good quality before purchasing more, especially as some of the numbers - he still didn't understand the monetary system here - seemed rather low. That complete, but still rather bored, he started clicking around and exploring. Games were the next thing he discovered, and it was not long before he found a corner of the gaming world that looked highly familiar to him.

He was still at the computer when Bo got up, and his eyes were glued to the screen.

Bo had wandered through almost the entire house, and finally heard some game noises from library, so he entered it and searched for the noise, to be lead to Othello with his eyes glued to the screen. "Oh, that computer thingy. Mum never let me on it because she said I wasn't old enough for it, or something like that." Bo stated, watching the screen for a moment.

He then glanced at Othello, "Oh! Good morning, I forgot to tell you. That was the reason I came and found you." Bo warmly smiled, putting his hands behind his back. His hair was messy, probably needing a nice brush with a hairbrush.

Othello finally looked up and blinked at Bo. "This game is utterly fascinating. Look at this ambiance, landscaping, and lighting." He gestured to the red, orange, and muddy brown screen where it appeared that the player acted in first person while going through some kind of corridored maze that occasionally led outside to an alien planet. "This is exactly the historic ruins on the island of Peretûm on Chinvat. And do you see these so-called demons? The pig-shaped ones? They look very much like the endangered zohar from that same island. They are incredibly delicious, which is why they are now endangered, and yet in this game, you cut through them with no regard whatsoever and leave their carcasses to rot. Such a waste." He sat back and scowled at the game. "Even so, I wish to know how it is that they managed to represent that one tiny island of Chinvat so perfectly! Of course, in Chinvat, Peretûm Island is tiny. You have an island of similar size, I believe called New Zay-land? And in this game, they have made it to represent the entire world. I suppose it may be laziness on the part of the game creator, or a misunderstanding if this person actually saw Peretûm, which leads to legal questions."

Bo stared at the game for a moment, not really knowing what it was, then glanced back at Othello rambling about the game and Chinvat. He stepped back a bit at the sight of the game's so-called demons, but didn't let it bother him much more after that.

"Well, I didn't understand half of what you said, buuut, it sounds really neat." Bo said warmly. "Also, I think you pronounce it New Zea-land." He added. "Oh, I hate to change the subject, because you seem so excited, but, when is the housekeeper going to arrive?" Bo asked with a gentle voice.

Othello carefully closed down the game and turned off the computer before turning to face Bo. "Yes. They should be here at ten." He checked the time. "Which is in two hours. Would you desire to meet them when they come?"

Bo nodded smiling, "I would like to meet them, yes." He said with a warm tone to his voice. "I hope they are nice."

He ran his fingers through his hair in attempts to fix the bed hair, and then he wandered to a nearby shelf, glancing over the books out of curiosity, before turning his head back to the demon. "Can we have breakfast now?"

"Yes," Othello said, rising from his chair. "I will go and explore your food pantry once again. Meanwhile, you should go and make yourself presentable." He, himself, was impeccable even if he was still wearing the same clothing.

He ran a hand over his smooth, black hair and walked to the kitchen. There were so many devices in this kitchen! But, thankfully, pans were pans no matter where you went in the universe, and for some reason, every world he'd ever been to had some form of eggs as food. Eggs, bread, and something in the meat realm. He could fry all of that in one pan and make fewer dishes. He prefered fewer dishes. He hated doing dishes by hand!

Bo nodded and wandered off, leaving Othello to cook breakfast. He wandered to his bedroom, and dug around for the hairbrush, trying to find it, before finding it and he began brushing his hair, he did it slowly, because he was a bit used to his nanny doing it for him, but he could at least do it.

He also wondered whether he should get dressed in a different outfit or not, and would ask Othello for his opinion shortly after breakfast. So, Bo just stuck with brushing his hair for now, watching a butterfly outside of his bedroom window.

Breakfast was ready soon enough, and Othello set it on the table before calling Bo in. He raised his brows at Bo's attire but said nothing. What leg did he have to stand on considering he was still wearing the same outfit? It was undignified! He ate quietly, trying not to stew too much. He had ordered clothing. It would ger here soon. There was nothing else he could do in the meantime other than clean up as best as he could.

Bo sat down, beginning to eat, but noticed Othello's quietness, so he decided to look further into it. "Did I do something wrong?" Bo asked with a soft, sad voice. "You haven't spoke with me since you called me in here."

"Is the the outfit? I just didn't know whether I was supposed to find a new one or not.." Bo frowned. "Or am I just.. looking at this wrong and you're okay?"

Othello looked at Bo with raised brows. He did not show it, not even a flicker, but he was exasperated with the child. "Have you never had a moment or silence with another person before?" he asked dryly. "How tediously draining. One does not need to always chatter and talk to fill the silence. It is perfectly acceptable to sit in silence with another person. Of course, if you have something you desire to talk about, you are capable of beginning the conversation yourself, are you not? Silence does not mean you are in trouble. It merely means there is nothing that needs to be said."

Bo blinked and then looked down. "Oh.." He shuffled in his seat a bit. "Sorry, my parents and I would usually have conversations at the kitchen table, because it was kind of the.. one moment we were all together for once, not busy. If that makes sense." Bo tapped the table with his fingers as he spoke. "Dad wasn't at work, mum wasn't cleaning, I wasn't doing my studies. We were just, sitting together, peacefully, eating and conversating."

He paused for a moment. "It's okay, you can be quiet if you want." He gave a small smile.

Othello stared at Bo trying to comprehend how two adults could possibly be that busy that much of the time. Working? Cleaning? How could those two tasks possibly take up so much time that the only availability was during food time? For someone who held a job that either required traveling to another dimension or doing odd things here and there in his own dimension, the thought boggled his mind. It took him perhaps two hours a week for the housekeeper to come in and clean his place, and his "regular" job (when he wasn't dimension hopping) only took up about four hours of his day. No wonder this child was so sad and pathetic. He had a life of bondage to menial labor to look forward to.

"If you desire conversation, I suppose we can talk," Othello sighed, rolling his eyes briefly. "However, since I have no topics of conversation, you will have to take the lead."