chikaidestroyer | ∞ 86: Awakening to the stars [action]

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∞ 86: Awakening to the stars [action]

[He had awoken before the sun had set, in time to see Yuber attempting to write out his boredom over the journals. Just dealing with that conversation had been exhausting, and he had rested again before finally getting out of his room. And out of the house. How long had he been out and bedridden? Long enough to miss the monsters disappearing and the village being repaired, apparently.

His flowers had been pretty ravaged by the earthquake. He nudges at the broken flowers with his shoe, then ignores them in favor of the slowly blooming moonflowers on the trellises. Something familiar and yet new, after the chaotic happenings. An earthquake, John's recovery, monsters, a stab in the chest... Too much for one month.

He flexes his right gloved hand restlessly, a slight wind picking up as he looks skyward. The clouds would move in soon, and tomorrow would be overcast.

They would block out those damn stars.]

(ooc: I'm baaaaack~ ♥ Albert's AU can be found here.)

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First you say you're here to check on me, and now it's simply to see me. Stick to one excuse if you have to use one at all, Caesar. [He picks at a dead morning glory on the vine, turning his attention away from his younger brother.]

Excuse? They're not excuses. [...well.] The first was an excuse. The second was the truth.

[He frowns, looking back to the younger boy again. It's not like Caesar to be so honest about that.]

You just wanted to see me. [He repeats it, almost incredulous. But still sorta annoyed.]

[It's also unlike Caesar to not even be slightly annoyed by any of this.]

Absolutely. Is there a reason I shouldn't want to?

[Albert knows his brother, even if he does loathe his habits.] Considering what happened last week, I would think you would be a little more upset. [Or something. Not that he would have wanted to deal with it, but Caesar was always more emotional like that.]

I was pretty upset, I guess. [Biggest understatement ever? He shrugs.] But I'm all right now. You're okay, so I have nothing to worry about anymore.

[...Huh. Either Caesar took the biggest chill pill ever, or something else is messing with him.] No yelling? No "that was an idiotic thing to do"? [He's blatantly baiting him, but he doesn't know what to expect at the moment.]

[Caesar tilts his head slightly. He's not quite sure why there would have been yelling to begin with.]

It wasn't your fault. Uh... Unless you wanted me to yell, but I don't know why you'd want that.

[He catches himself before he admits that Caesar's responses are surprising him.]

If you hadn't shown up, I would be dead, Caesar.

[Okay, probably not. The Rune probably wouldn't let him go so easily, especially when it had healing spells at its disposal. But he was trying to find that emotional outburst he had expected.]

Don't remind me! That was really messy. And... I was scared. [He sighs. It wasn't embarrassing to admit, but he didn't like having to remember it.] But I wouldn't have let you die. Even if you called me an idiot. [He didn't forget that part.]

[He sounds ... fretful, almost? Not frustrated, not embarrassed. And somehow ... confident. It doesn't add up.]

Yuber was right there. Of course I called you an idiot.

I went for a reason. If I was trying to get myself hurt, I wouldn't have waited for him to stab you in the chest to do something about it.

And what reason was that? You can't tell me you thought going into a burning forest was a good idea.

Did you really think I'd let you go alone? It was stupid, I agree. But like I said, I wouldn't let you die, especially not over something stupid.

You wouldn't have gone away even if I told you to.

Of course not. I don't think I could have left if I tried! [He wouldn't have forgiven himself. He didn't need an experiment to feel that way.] But I don't want to have to see that again, so... try not to do something so stupid next time, okay?

[This still doesn't seem right. Something about all of this feels ... off, somehow. But the question is the closest that Caesar has come to sounding like himself.] It was necessary. Yuber couldn't be allowed to run wild, especially during that chaos.

I understand that, but was it worth putting yourself in danger over? He would have stopped eventually. [Or been stopped. But that was a situation Caesar didn't understand. If Yuber had died...]

He would have caused unnecessary casualties. There were unnecessary injuries. [And he's not talking about himself.] And he made a casualty of himself, the fool.

I'm not happy about it, either, but that doesn't make it your job to deal with him. He got what he deserved.

And whose job is it? Yours? [It's meant to be a rhetorical question, and it comes out caustic. But he reins in the bitterness quickly, his face expressionless.]

[Caesar shrugs a little.] It could have been dealt with better, I'll admit.

[It sounds so natural when he says it. He could even be joking, but does he ever joke over such serious topics? Hm.]

Dealt with better. [He stares upward, focusing on the stars.] And the monsters? What happened to them?

[Caesar follows his gaze for a moment, but the question makes him change his mind.] The monsters? By Sunday morning, they were all gone! Disappeared, just like that. Uh, that's when the buildings finally started to repair themselves, too.

Disappeared? [So they had been shifted away? Sent back to their own worlds somehow? What had happened?]

And I was brought back here during that time.