I believe that the ‘everyone’s invited to Morcant’s Christmas dinner and they have a great time embarrassing Abolish’ idea was proposed before the whole. Ahum. Apo kidnapping has bad edibles incident. At which point it was said that the organisation doesn’t know who Apo is, especially in relation to Abolish at that time. So Cherri wouldn’t be there (go arson, Queen) but I was thinking…
Morcant trusts Abolish’s judgement. He is, aside from himself, the most competent and dedicated person he knows, and he’s proud of the man he is turning out to be. But ever since that unfortunate mistake with the young lady, he’s been rather… distant. Less responsive to their usual banter at the weekly dinners that allow them to connect, father and son, instead of boss and employee. Unwilling to talk about it, though that doesn’t come as much of a surprise, Abolish has always been good at working through his problems on his own. So when Morcant calls outside of the usual schedule to… make sure he’s alright and knows he’s here for him and all that propose he brings along a friend or two for the Christmas dinner, only to have the receiving end swiped by a gaggle of giggling people (accompanied by various shrieks), it’s only really his job to find out who’ll be at his table.
He wasn’t expecting to have invited a powerful demon to his house, less for her to accept, after all was said and done. Abolish sends him an odd text out of the blue, telling him not to bring it up with her under any circumstances, and that she’s coming to meet them as her friend’s family, not the people who captured her. Morcant is just surprised to have Abolish confirm it in writing that he considers her a friend.
He’s not in the business of judging others for being, well. Other. But when she appears at his door and starts squabbling one-sidedly with Abolish and poking fun at the architecture, it’s easier than he expected to see how she fits into his life.
Abolish Veylocke stares resignedly at his plate with the air of a man condemned— the Cryptid Crew has started enthusiastically sharing stories that Do Not paint him in a professional light; Pyro doesn’t have much embarrassing to contribute that doesn’t earn him a smack from Apo. He ends up hiding behind his chair for dear life as he recounts what he can of the soup story in his final moments. Abolish loudly changes the subject before his girlfriend commits a murder in his family home.
Morcant can see why he’s been so emotionally absent, lately. I don’t think he’d mention anything, but perhaps everyone in the organisation is given a talk about the importance of doing things right. “Thoroughness prevents people from falling through the gaps, and the general population is less equipped to handle these events, since those outside the organisation are liable to being traumatised”, that kind of thing.
Abolish would notice it, and be glad that the larger issue is being addressed, at least a little, but if he connects the dots back to Morcant, I don’t think he’d realise that it was done for him just as much as fixing a flaw in the way the system’s being applied. I don’t think Morcant would ever be of the opinion that Abolish might leave, but it’s definitely a soothing balm. Look, Abolish, it wasn’t meant to happen. It’ll be better in the future. People make mistakes, Abolish, not everyone is as capable as you.
I was also wondering how close Morcant and Abolish are in this au? Since Abolish has his own apartment, but I don’t feel like he’d let him ‘get away’. Again, obviously, not on purpose! Subconsciously. Cult things, you know how it goes.
It was! Now it would... have to be something later. Maybe in the more Abolish-centric season - season 4 is where we start digging more into the Organisation and how exactly Abolish has so many skills, I think that fits here.
Cherri might be there. Abolish has done a lot worse than arson. Cherri as his partner actually has a lot of slack cut for her because of a) nepotism and b) Abolish files all the paperwork so it's actually 'aboveboard.' The... misunderstanding... with Apo arguably traumatised Abolish more than her (Apo was triggered, but part of her immediately writing it off as a terrible weed experience makes me think she's had that before, and this is going to sound terrible but like. Part of being triggered is getting over it.)
Morcant is in disbelief that this group has managed to get Abolish to actually yell trying to get his phone back and successfully keep the phone off him. (Abolish is aware that this is communicating that 1) these people can get under his skin and get genuine reactions and 2) he likes them. If 1) wasn't true he wouldn't be yelling and if 2) wasn't true he'd be actually fighting. What do you mean this is "crazy fucked up psychoanalysis" this is how normal people communicate. He and Morcant do it all the time.)
Abolish only acknowledges the Exorcism Event by telling Morcant in the briefing that all the wards that light up in the presence of demonic energy might begin imitating the sun and to prepare excuses about that. And the holy relics should definitely be relocated. Other than that, it's just the dietary requirements (Cherri prefers barbequed food, Pyro will need something iron-rich, Apo actually has less dietary requirements than a human does (uranium glass is "sour candy" etc) but Will bitch for fifteen minutes minimum if there's no salad.) and telling him that no, really, the skepticism isn't a power play she genuinely believes what she's saying.
The stories are deeply unprofessional. Pyro managed to get pictures of the Soup Incident; Abolish was unaware of said pictures until Right Now and has both hands covering his face in a futile attempt at hiding the full-body blush. Cherri's got his work life covered too there's no escape there. Morcant mentions stories of him as a child and Abolish doesn't tell him not to share them and that's basically signing his own death warrant. Everyone here can bond over making fun of Abolish.
(Morcant works with supernatural creatures often. Cleo is a revenant. There are vampires in the Organisation who have chosen not to take the cure, and half-vampires who were cured and then had it unlocked again (like canon v!Abolish) and who aren't quite human as a result, and all of that is... normal. It's still somehow eye-opening to watch Apo elbow his son in the ribs and get caught in a headlock and not try to rip him apart, and know from Abolish's reaction that actual violence wasn't an option.)
(The only demons the Organisation ever manage to find are the ones causing problems. The only records they have of a demon that other creatures fled from the way they flee from Apo come from their founding. A lot gets lost in a thousand years; and I don't think anyone ever wrote down the way she laughed in the first place.)
Morcant shifting the culture... Abolish wouldn't realise it's to help him out, but would appreciate it. Those outside the Organisation are more likely to be traumatised by kidnappings! They haven't had that module yet! (Look, the idea of boot camp basically starting when you get 'kidnapped' instead of having a known start date seems like something that would be a) really fucking fun and b) incredibly useful for survival skills while also being largely non-traumatic to a bunch of fourteen year olds who knew it was coming At Some Point seems like the kind of thing that would get entrenched in Organisation culture. Kind of thing that one or two trainers would do as an exam and then everyone else would go "hey why don't We get to get kidnapped" and this has ACCIDENTALLY meant that the Organisation as a whole now thinks of kidnapping as "not that bad.")
"People make mistakes not everyone is as capable as you" god. Yeah. That tracks. Abolish is always willing to talk, because he's also always willing to fight! He's confident that he doesn't need to strike first to win! And he'll judge people who do "need" to, because it feels like cheating, and sets them up for sloppy work. Exhibit A: trying to exorcise Apo without proof she was actually responsible. Exhibit B: trying to exorcise Apo when they didn't have special-grade wards. Exhibit C: trying to exorcise Apo and not running away when it didn't work.
And processing that as a competence issue feels correct, it feels good for Abolish to jazz himself up even if he doesn't think that's what he's doing, and it lets the others salvage some of their own pride too. "Oh, you can't do things the way Veylocke does, he's just better than us."
