What Silence Brings (Koji Silvia)
| What Silence Brings (Koji Silvia) | |
|---|---|
| Date of Cutscene: | 20 October 2023 |
| Location: | Silvia Apartment - Juuban Ward |
| Synopsis: | When Saburo has to step in between his equally stubborn son and wife, it means things may have gone on too long or too far. (Guest Starring Saburo & Shia Silvia)
(Some Swearing) |
| Cast of Characters: | Koji Silvia |
"Sit... both of ya."
The expressions of mother and son could almost be a perfect mirror to the scruffy-haired, scruffy-faced, slightly overweight and sloppily dressed Saburo Silvia, self-professed Protagonist and usually affable fellow. But today? Today he bore a scowl and a tired expression. The usual beer in his hand gone, his tan from so much outdoor work seeming a little pale by comparison to normal, and for once in a while he takes out his reading glasses and puts them on.
"Hokay... so y'know what? I ain't blind. I can see when you both are scrappin' and you've been scrappin' for a good long while. An' I know it AIN'T about this Radiant Heart place. Sure as heck ain't about friends, or a girl, or somethin' else. So I'm gonna say somethin' an' yer both gonna listen. Got me?"
Big arms cross over his dadgut, and his scowl almost goes fangy as he nips one side of his lip in anticipation of pushback.
Instead, his wife just sighs and crosses her legs and arms, a sure sign of tension from her. Koji leans back and plants his hand behind his head, affecting a disinterested and inattentive look. For them both, Saburo knew that both of them WERE giving him their whole selves... or at least as much as they ever gave.
Coughing once, the man paces back and forth for a moment before going on.
"Silence is like a wound, y'know? Once it's there, it just keeps bleedin'. You try and stop it, but the blood gets out. S'on your hands, s'on your stuff... people you touch know it, and they get uncomfortable too. Problem is.. you gotta get down there and clean it out, sew it up, an' the only way t' do that's talkin."
From his son, he got, "Dad, that metaphor doesn't make sense."
And from his wife, she smacked their only child on the shoulder, "Be polite. He's trying."
He could almost hear the 'Which is more than you...' floating in the air over her, and the frown deepened.
"So here's the deal you know. I'm goin' down to the grocery an' I'm gonna pick up some skirt steak and some peppers. Gonna cook us all a meal. So by the time I get back..." Waving his hands with his fingers wide, "This all better be sorted out. I mean it... it's gettin' stupidly uncomfortable to be 'round you both, and it ain't in me to not be a good Protagonist, an' sort this plot crap out."
As he turned to depart, and the door shut behind him, all Saburo could do is light up a cigarette and hope that what he did worked.
Back inside...
"He's smoking again."
Shia nods, "Yeah, well... for once he has a reason to. We've both been a little... at each other."
Looking back at his mom, Koji still frowns, "I'm sorry. I just don't know what to think. You're an alien. A literal, honest to the gods alien."
Standing up, the pink-haired Silvia slips a small vape pen from her pants pocket and puffs on it, "Kojiro... kiddo... I never WANTED you to be like I was. I mean, what little I can remember anyways. Who wants that for their kid? Sleepless nights, constant danger, not knowing if you're making a real difference, or if you're even gonna come back from the next one. You should be pissing off your father, tinkering with whatever you've dug up from a shipping trip, or god forbid... getting that engineering degree we both know you deserve. Instead... I'm worried every night I'm going to hear the worst, and more than that? I can't tell your father a thing."
As he sat and listened, Koji's expression sunk out of petulance, into depression, and then came back up into resignation, "Instead I get to face existential evil, megacorporations, beings from other dimensions, and still have to maintain my grades."
That caused Shia to actually laugh a little, and take another puff, "That sounds like a fuckin' job son. Trade existential evil for handsy jerk coworkers, beings from other dimensions with grouchy clients who act like spoiled children, and maintaining my grades for a bunch of reports that no one but three people ever fucking read."
Finally looking back at his mother, Koji asks, "Does it ever get better?"
His mother replied, "No, it just gets different. We're the ones who get better."
