For @barong

[h_hollister]

Sammy is hunkered down amongst his father's novels. Not that he's had any real interaction thereof. He knows his bio-dad died years and years ago. He knows his mum has tried to protect him. And he knows his brother isn't really his brother.

Samuel Miguel Hollister y Salazar sits on his haunches and frowns.

Life sucks, to be totally honest.

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[barong]

The many and sundry creatures of his father's collection, borne from the fascination with monsters from other worlds, some have come, some have gone. The ones who were found originally in the Vortex World had their own responses to the master's demise. The looping, whiplike wraith known as Inugami vanished like vapour when the death of the castellan was confirmed. Dark Shikome, always scornful of the man's wife to begin with, spent the better part of a year howling and sobbing in lamentation. These days, she can be found only in the blackest of corners, still weeping. Nue remains simultaneously vigilant and slothful upon the castle's roofs, hiding in stormclouds and guarding his king's fortress.

And finally, there is Barong. The day the word would come that Ramon Salazar was no more, Barong awoke in his room of incense and golden flowers with his heart already heavy. Already knowing an end would come. He would pray, he would darken his chambers, and then he would trot to the side of the human wife of his contractor. And he would remain there, only leaving unless told to in frustration or emotional turmoil, for as long as he was needed. For as long as he was wanted. As king of the good spirits, Barong would never neglect or forsake a broken, ailing heart.

That is still the case when the sound of jingling ornaments rings through the library. The Balinese lion finding his way to where "Little" Sammy frets among the books.

"Peace be upon you, Young Samuel," Barong speaks in greeting once he's drawn near enough to not raise his voice. A private library is still a library! "What challenges the master of this castle today?"

[h_hollister]

Sammy looks up, and gives Barong a watery smile.

"Hey, Barong."

The boy is 100% in plaga mode today. He's not even attempting to wear human clothes. No cutesy t-shirts with Pokemon on them, no jeans. Obviously no jeans, he's got six crab-like legs at the moment. All of which are curled underneath his lower torso, like a cat on a windowsill. His upper 'human' half is bare, which his mother doesn't really approve of. These are the days that he wishes he could just be entirely plaga, so his mum wouldn't chap his ass. He always avoids her when he's in this sort of mood, hence hiding out in the library.

"I dunnow," he shrugs after a moment, tossing his book down. It was stupid anyway. "Just feeling kinda...down."

[barong]

Barong pads nearer so he can nudge that book to rights on the table it was tossed to. No good to leave it half-hanging over the ledge where it might fall and hit the floor! The library still has a keeper as well, the Nerubian librarian who keeps largely to his webbed 'office'. Most days, the only sign he's still around is the faint blue glow of lichflame through those foggy windows. A shame, since the shape of the spider-like undead would really help Sammy feel more comfortable with his 'default' shape. Or maybe this is a point in Hips' favour; no encouraging running around like a beast.

"Life is many ebbs and eddies of the ups and the downs alike," Barong replies kindly. "To feel despair is to feel alive, but to dwell within it is the very opposite. Shall this pass on its own? Or shall we speak upon it to see it on its way?"

[h_hollister]

Sammy shrugs a little, half a shrug really, one shoulder bobbing up and down in that particularly tween way. He's often spoken to Barong about a lot of things, mainly the constant feeling like he's lost something important. He knows why he feels that way; it's his half-plaga self missing its....hive? Fellow dominants? Sammy wasn't sure what to classify it as, all he knows is that sometimes his head feels like a big, echoy cathedral full of nothing. Like there were meant to be others in his head along with him, and they're just not there.

"I mean, I guess. You know mum brought her latest boyfriend over, right?"

Not that he has anything against Katsuya. He likes Katsuya! But....yeah. Mum plus men equals bad news. He's only eleven and he knows that.

[barong]

"I have heard this thing, yes. I have not seen the man myself. Have you? If so, does he look to be honourable? Does he look to be kind?" Two important features and factors to Barong! If he is, then they can talk about how Sammy might learn to accept things if they should progress with his mother. If he is not, then they shall talk about that, and how they can weather this perceived intruder. Barong is exceptional at ironing out conflicts of the castle, but that includes him always being on the side of the castle's inhabitants. They are his compatriots, his kin, and the Balinese lion will always rush to their aid should they accept or need it.

[h_hollister]

Which is why Sammy talks to him. Sure, there's Kryten and mum and Frankie, but Barong has always been his go-to for the deeper stuff. He's not sure what that says about him, honestly. Like he's a failure of a son for not talking to his mum about this kind of thing.

"Oh, yeah. Katsuya's cool. He's got this thing, right? Called a Persona. And it's so neat. He turns into this cat-demon thing and it's totally awesome. I haven't seen it but I was able to look it up on the Nexus logs and wow."

Sammy's mood lifts just talking about the amazing Persona powers, and he's still trying to think about how to get one of his own.

"But anyway. I dunnow. I just....I still kinda miss Conrad, you know?"

Conrad Sharpe, the top agent that S had assigned to Castle Salazar, had been dead for four years. And his mum hadn't seen anybody since then. But...there was a part of Sammy who wished the man had survived, had stuck around. Sammy had worshipped the man, as quietly as he could. His death had been devastating, and Sammy thought he shouldn't feel that way. It wasn't like Sharpe was his real dad.

[barong]

Barong lowers his head at the mention of Sharpe's name, murmuring a soft, "By the guidance of the Great Will," in respect for the departed.

Lifting his head once more, the lion replies now, "It is natural to miss those who have left us to join the Great Will. Their bodies to the earth and flame, their spirits to the sea and sky. Though we still know and feel they are there in the worldly elements, we are still aware of a void left by their person. We are still aware we must adjust in the face of it. And adjustment may come as easy as righting a book," he uses his nose to taps the one he'd done so for moments prior, "or as grinding and ponderous as an earthquake.

"And this Katsuya, this demon-maker. He may feel to you as though he is a person seeking to correct the void Conrad has left us." And the void that was there that Conrad tried to fill as well. "A void you may not feel ready nor right correcting, either not yet or at all. Does this ring of truth, Young Samuel?"

[h_hollister]

Sammy sucks in a breath through clenched teeth, and his legs shift almost imperceptibly under his torso. A shifty sort of adjustment, like a human child fidgeting his feet under a desk.

"I guess?"

It's a question, by tone of voice, but Sammy knows it's really not. He desperately missed his father figure, but he wants to see his mum happy too. If she's happy with Katsuya, that's great.

"He's okay. He and mum might be good for each other, honestly. But....am I weird? For mourning Sharpe more than my mum did?"