nexus_crossings | It's Called Brand Loyalty

It's Called Brand Loyalty

"So, I got a question..."

Asking today is Harrowheart, who's wandering the Nexus' Downtown district puffing away at cigarettes and stopping at holiday stalls up and down the major streets. He leans over now and then to consider the merchandise on display, pensively looking over the goods with his arms folded behind his back and his hands rubbing at his chin or scratching his sideburns. But he doesn't buy anything – not yet anyway.

"Should you change things about yourself to get what you really want outta life? Or should you always be the 'You' that comes most natural, and get whatcha get outta that?"

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"No, that's not your responsibility," Adia says quickly, not wanting Harrowheart to feel burdened with keeping Zandros in line on top of everything else. Otherwise, she stays silent and lets her friend get out all of his thoughts. It's not that much of a surprise that the paladin is aware of Harrowheart's feelings towards Isidor, but she winces a little bit anyway. That does make things more awkward...

What does surprise her is that they get along at all. "That's hard," she agrees softly. A pause, and then she gives him what she hopes is a comforting smile. "For what it's worth, you'll handling it a lot better than Caspar would. He can't stand him."

Harrow can't help the little smile that creeps across his face. "Caspar don't like him? Well, shoot, I can't imagine why."

He winks, and it seems as if he'll end the conversation there, but after a moment of calm silence he presses, "No, really. Tell me what he said, I'm dyin' to know."

His request gets a small, almost scandalized giggle out of her. "You really should ask him yourself, but..." She sighs and folds her arms across her chest. "Oh, where to start? He thinks he's clueless. Judgmental, although you know, Caspar can be that way sometimes, too..."

She thinks back to their conversation in the receiving line and her smile dims. "If there's one that Caspar hates, it's being patronized. And another is having people he cares about get their feelings hurt. Zandros managed to do both, so... no, he doesn't think much of him at all."

"Clueless, judgmental, patronizin'... Yeah, we're talkin' about the same guy." But she looks legitimately upset as she continues, and Harrow listens with intense concern.

"Whose feelings did he hurt? Did he talk bad to you, Adia?..."

She shakes her head quickly in response. "No, no, not at all." Her expression turns slightly horrified. "Gods, can you imagine if he had? I don't want to think about how Caspar would react to that."

Taking a breath, she sighs and untwists the ends of her scarf. "When he was first in the Nexus, he judged a friend of ours very harshly for what she was wearing. And then did the same to another friend of ours who --" She blinks. "Oh, wait, you've met Hunter, haven't you? You helped him with the curse he was under..."

Well. If you can call chasing a goddess into the woods while in worgen form "helping".

"Anyway, I don't know if you noticed, but without his piercings and tattoos, he looks an awful lot like Zandros. And I think that really bothers him. Which in turn made Hunter feel terrible."

Harrow scoff-laughs and nods at mentions of Caspar. Yeah, he can visualize it. He may even enjoy doing so! But judging someone for what they're wearing? He honestly has to stop and think a moment when she confronts him with that. He's done that before himself, hasn't he? And he's been judged for his outfits.

He's lost in his thoughts when she brings up Hunter.

"Is that his name? Hunter? Shoot, well, now I know. Didn't know him from Uther when I found him like that, but it didn't seem right to let a man suffer. Did notice he sure looked a lot like Zandros, though. He was all flickerin' between forms. I figured it was just the Nexus fuckin' around with me. Guess now I know it's the Nexus fuckin' with Zandros." He looks up and kisses the air. For the Nexus~

"Figure it would bother him, though. He seems like the kinda guy who'd cut himself shavin' and go around wearin' a bag over his head cause he felt too ugly to be seen." Another huffy laugh.

And then his joy fades to thoughtfulness, and he can't help coming back around to what his friend had said earlier. "Adia?" he asks. "What's wrong about him judgin' someone's clothes, though? I mean, your friend chose to wear 'em, right? And ain't it fair to judge other people's choices? Folks judge me for my choices, and usually for a good reason. And I think Caspar'd judge someone for a bad outfit, since he dresses smart all the time."

"That's the first time that you met him?" She smiles, proud of her friend for helping a Nexus stranger. And he did help. All seven pieces of magic were returned, which means things must have gone smoothly and didn't somehow devolve into Harrowheart pissing off a goddess and fighting giant spiders while Palmer did all the hard work.

No, of course not. That'd be silly!

She hides a smile behind her hand when he kisses the air, followed by a giggle at the bag-over-the-head description. Despite being a death knight, Harrowheart has a real knack for lightening the mood. "I hope he gets over it. Hunter is so kind, he's a good person to have as a friend."

Her expression also turns thoughtful, when he asks his question. "Caspar does judge others for what they wear sometimes," she agrees reluctantly. "But... I don' know, I think there's a difference between deciding that someone makes bad fashion choices versus them being a bad person. Y'know?" She twists at her scarf again. "Or seeing someone you think is unattractive and then deciding that they should be pitied for it. That's not how it works here, and... you know, as much as Zandros may believe it, I don't think it works that way on Azeroth, either."

Edited 2018-12-29 19:53 (UTC)

Harrow tips his head and hums uncertainly while he considers Adia's final theory.

"I think..." he slowly begins, "It does work that way on Azeroth. You see another person, you know all the most important things about 'em already. Are they the same race as me? If they ain't, do they wear the same colors as me? Could they hurt me, or could I hurt them? One look at someone tells you what they do, or what you figure they might do. He looks at me, he sees a death knight, and he knows what that means. I look at him, I see a nobleman, and I know what that means."

He scratches idly at one sideburn. "But maybe Azeroth's just a bad place. We solve all our problems all the wrong ways. Maybe we make 'em for the wrong reasons, too."

He pats Adia's shoulder and smiles for her. "Try and convince him of it sometime, maybe? I'd be grateful if someone could change his princess attitude someday."

It's disappointing to hear, but Harrowheart makes a compelling argument. And what has she seen of Azeroth so far except some angry zombies and an abandoned village? Life is dangerous there. Judging at first sight is more than a social convenience, it's a survival skill.

Still, she wishes things could be different. And it makes her feel better that Harrowheart is encouraging her to put that wheel into motion.

"I'll try," she promises, her smile returning. "I think between life on Earth and the Nexus, he's going to have to change either way." Checking the time on her PINpoint, she jerks her head back towards the direction she came in. "I need to finish my holiday shopping before anyone notices I'm not at the lab. I'll see you later."

She gives her friend a quick hug goodbye before heading off into crowd.

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It's Called Brand Loyalty

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