Of course, Skrimir wasn’t bothered much by Linus’ testy response, and just plowed right on with why he was there.
It made him twitchy to hear that it was Nino to ask about him, worried. Linus had yet to approach her properly here in Askr, how everything went down at their final meeting weighing heavily on him every time he thought about just talking to her. After all, he hadn’t simply died – he had viciously attacked her, blamed her, before being slain in battle opposite her. That wasn’t exactly something easy to work out and get over, no matter how sweet and forgiving the girl was.
“Well, look at you, you have fuckin’ eyes. Congrats,” Linus snarked, though he stopped fiddling with his shirt as soon as Skrimir brought attention to it.
Oh, his body knew what to do with it – his body was just fucking stupid. Linus wasn’t like the Laguz, or even his father or brother, when it came to this sort of thing. He had to work his ass off to get where he was before, and that took years to achieve. He had a rigid lifestyle to maintain his fighting form and be proud of it; compared to Lloyd – who, while still putting in plenty of work into training – didn’t have to do anything excessive to really stay at peak shape.
It was fucking annoying, and fighting against himself just to get back to where he was had simply been discouraging for the past few weeks.
Linus bristled at that. “Good? How the hell is this good?! I’m a fuckin’ embarrassment!” he spat, eyes full of fire. How the hell could an accomplished warrior like Skrimir say that this was a good thing for a fighter? Linus just didn’t get it!
His anger only flared hotter when Skrimir showed off – well, it felt like showing off to Linus in this moment, though the reality of it was hardly antagonist – his own body shamelessly.
“Right, you’d give up all that and everything that comes with it, for this,” Linus sneered bitterly, gesturing between them as he angrily rose from the abused bed. “You sayin’ I ain’t got anyone to protect and fight for? That I couldn’t beat your smug fuckin’ face in right here and now? Let’s fuckin’ go!”
He straightened and flexed his pec just in time to catch Linus’ blow, seeing his fist going straight for his face. Looks like the beorc wasn’t playing around.
He wasn’t going to admit he felt it jostle him a bit, but it did at least leave the area a little red. Not too bad - the training was paying off, it seems.
“Pfft, you call that a punch? The only embarrassment I see is this little tantrum of yours, little bro.” he said, raising the man by his head in one mitt almost effortlessly, and catching another fistful meant for his face in his other before letting him down. “Nice try. Now listen.”
“I know you have people to protect too - we all do - but if you’d ask them, as long as you aren’t dragging your feet in battle, they could honestly not care less.” Nino would doubtless be overjoyed just to talk to him again. She even said as much. “They’ll accept you as you are. But you have to accept that this you, the one right here - with the gut - is you, first. And that that is okay. I know you’ll say that’s exactly why it’s not. I’m telling you that’s exactly why it is.”
He watched Linus’ face go from one of bitter anger to one of confusion and guilt. Broke him down a bit, now to build. “Sure, you don’t shift like me and Mordecai do, but you’re still a warrior - and a warrior needs energy to be strong. They need weight to pack a punch. They need size to protect their allies. And a gut, when used right, does all three. I wouldn’t mind one at all if I could make it do that - believe me, I’ve tried. Besides, you don’t look bad with one.” He still didn’t get why beorc are so touchy with how they look. Maybe it was just a beorc thing.
‘A beorc thing... just maybe...’
“If you’re having trouble staying lean, maybe it’s because you aren’t meant to be lean. You could be fighting against your body and not know it, because it wants to be big and strong. If you keep trying to cut it down, you’ll make your body fight back harder. And right now, I’d say it’s winning.”
“Problem is, you’re tackling this like a beorc - you want the tone, the charm, the looks. And you hurt yourself for it. Instead, embrace what you have - the energy, the strength, the size. Work with it, use it, and trust your instincts - like a laguz. Don’t worry about it - it’ll work. I’ll even teach you, if you want - and who better to take it from than a man who’s all about instinct!” he chuckled. After all, when had his instincts steered him wrong?
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