OPEN POST: Eli - Metal Gear Solid

[whitemamba]

[Permanently open post for all your Eli needs! Leave a prompt/opener/image/ooc comment with your ideas, or comment with your character and I'll post an opener instead.

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[whitemamba]

[Kaz is the second in command. That they're close is no secret, and certainly not for someone versed in military knowledge beyond his years like Eli.]

I wanted to go for a walk. I'm sick of being stuck on the same platform all the time.

[likemy_sunglasses]

[Kaz liked to keep his relationship with Boss secret and out of the prying eyes of the other men. If Eli knew then who else?]

You should learn to do as you're told and appreciate your surroundings wherever you are. [Because the kid didn't have a real father to tell him off. Would Boss do that? Kaz highly doubted it.]

[whitemamba]

Go to hell.

[Eli spits at Kaz's feet. Foot singular. Whichever. He figures he's already in trouble from wandering away from Ocelot, what's the harm in a little more defiance? They'll punish him either way.]

I'll never take orders from you, or Father, or anyone else.

[likemy_sunglasses]

If I had both hands I'd give you a beating for answering a superior officer back. But, I doubt that would make you see things any clearer. [Kaz just clenched his crutch until his hand went white. Why did he have to be so difficult?]

You take orders from no one but yourself, right? Then, what orders might they be?

[whitemamba]

[Eli's hands ball into fists at the threat, his expression darkening with rage.]

You're all the same! [Adults, he means. One minute they want him to trust them, the next they want to beat him for saying something out of line. Typical.]

You're not my superior. I won't tell you anything.

[likemy_sunglasses]

I never claimed to be your superior. People learn to take orders so that we keep the balance of peace around here. Chaos only breeds rebellion and death.

[Maybe that's something you enjoy but Kaz doesn't.]

You're a guest on here, so you'd better get used to accepting life on Mother Base.

[whitemamba]

[Eli says nothing, and merely shoots Kaz a resentful glare. Then he moves to the edge of the platform, to the railings, looking out at the sea. He's counting the days until he can finally get off this lump of metal. Yet another lecture isn't going to change his mind.]

[likemy_sunglasses]

[For one horrifying moment Kaz thought the boy was going to jump into the sea. He went to move to attempt to grab him but stalled that thought. No, why would he drown himself? He may be angry but he wasn't suicidal. He was just a kid. A confused, angry kid. Kaz wanted to help him and all the other kids but how? He was a soldier, not the boy's father.]

Sometimes learning lessons when you're young can aid you when you grow up.

[whitemamba]

You're wrong. [Eli clenched his hand on the rail, and turned to glare over his shoulder at Kaz.]

You keep saying I should learn to follow orders. My men -- the ones you took hostage with me. They were starving to death before I found them. All because they were following orders, and then when their commanders died, they didn't know what to do. They couldn't survive without someone in charge.

I won't be like that. What I've learned is that I'll never depend on anyone but myself.

[likemy_sunglasses]

[Kaz stiffened but did not retort back with any anger this time. He wanted to listen to Eli and try to understand the suffering the boy had endured because he had. All those boys had. No parents, no guidance. Just the African wilderness and guns at their disposal. That was no life for a child.]

Then I'm sorry that adults have failed you. The Boss and I we want to try and guide you towards a better future, not to let you think we don't care because we do. Yet, you're a strong young man, Eli with your own ideals. Can we get in the way of that? I doubt it.