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lunarwhite2017-07-13 08:22 pm
bulletbiter) wrote in lunarwhite2017-07-13 08:22 pm
[closed]
WHO. Julius and Sion
WHERE. In a Light apartment
WHEN.July 10th
WHAT. How does a caterpillar become a butterfly?
WARNINGS. None for now.
[ The day starts off with an almost surreal sense of tranquility, one that unsettled those who came from a world about to be plunged into the start of a civil war. Light from the sun-crystal pours through the window in the apartment that three of them shared, illuminating half of the dining room and the people currently within it.
It's strange, to be able to make food for themselves with their own two hands. Some may have called it domestic, something solely the domain of the affluent in the Quad. For soldiers to be given this opportunity is both comforting and disconcerting... especially since Julius is quite sure he has been through it before.
He looks down at his hands once again, palms now crisscrossed with silver, gleaming in the light. ]
Do you have a moment? Before we go.
[ They have some work to do at the Tesseract labs, but there's still some time. ]
WHERE. In a Light apartment
WHEN.July 10th
WHAT. How does a caterpillar become a butterfly?
WARNINGS. None for now.
[ The day starts off with an almost surreal sense of tranquility, one that unsettled those who came from a world about to be plunged into the start of a civil war. Light from the sun-crystal pours through the window in the apartment that three of them shared, illuminating half of the dining room and the people currently within it.
It's strange, to be able to make food for themselves with their own two hands. Some may have called it domestic, something solely the domain of the affluent in the Quad. For soldiers to be given this opportunity is both comforting and disconcerting... especially since Julius is quite sure he has been through it before.
He looks down at his hands once again, palms now crisscrossed with silver, gleaming in the light. ]
Do you have a moment? Before we go.
[ They have some work to do at the Tesseract labs, but there's still some time. ]
no subject
[ Occupied with clean-up from breakfast—eggs and toast, paired with a herbal tea, lightly sweet—Sion glances back, over his shoulder, his gaze finding his friend with an intrigued loft of brow. It's strange, really, this routine they've settled into, odd if only because it seemed like a dream that had never been meant for them. For all his idealism and his infamous penchant to be given to whim, Sion could never have imagined waking up next to the other man after a full night's worth of rest, only to leisurely make his way about a kitchen in pursuit of a meal. As much as it is a blessing, so too is it confounding, nearly enough to leave one at a sense of disquiet, if only they dwelled upon it for long—they do not belong here, and by the day, Sion's sense of reality slips like sand between the fingers as memories of another time return to him, blurring into a present where...!
Sion is elbow-deep in dish-washing suds. Oh. Oh goodness. Turning off the water from the tap, he makes short work of the rest of the dishes, placing them upon the rack to dry before bridging the distance between himself and Julius with an easy grace. ]
I would give you the rest of my days, Julius, if only you asked.
[ And ah??? WHAT'S THIS??? Did Sion just plop some of the remaining soap suds onto Julius' nose??
Yes. Yes he did. ]
But surely, you knew this already.
no subject
Enough to muster a smile when Sion dabs some of the bubbles onto his nose, the most he can do out of being unused to it. The suds can stay. ]
Thank you. [ And since they've already discussed the topic of having discordant memories in the days past, he can cut straight to the point. ] I believe there may be a way to clarify these visions I've been receiving. It would answer quite a few questions.
[ He holds up his right hand without breaking eye contact. When they had arrived, there was only one line. Now there were multiple, skin no longer a human hue but faded white and textured with wood veins. ]
Might it be that some of the memory is stored within the body and not the mind? I only recalled this last night - talk of this [ he isn't sure what to call the Other, even after all these months ] carrying some sort of information within itself.
[ If this is true, then accessing it would need him to meet his fate. ]
no subject
Gone pale as white-bark Aspen trees, and the thought takes Sion somewhere far away, the Director suddenly caught in an illusion: castle grounds meeting with a forest's edge, pale trees with leaves as golden as the dawn, and Julius' head resting atop his lap.
(It will be our place until our days are done.) ]
Julius...
[ Perhaps the flesh could retain memory. Perhaps the 'Other' organisms within Julius' body held a secret. Perhaps...
It could be brought to light, first with a simple gesture (Sion's hand enveloping Julius' own, willowed fingers curling in a gentle squeeze), then with by far more difficult words: ]
If there is a truth you wish to uncover, perhaps by stimulating— [ It, the thing which manifest itself as a singularity; the thing which the Director hasn't yet been able to define. (The thing which takes Julius more and more by the day, causing Sion's brow to crease with worry, his golden eyes going dark.) ] —the oracle cells and their growths, you may find the knowledge which you seek.
But this... this is the answer I would give to another. [ Shaking his head, Sion glances away, gaze gone downcast. ] The answer I will give to you is to take care and to take caution, for doing such a thing might also cause the growths to spread, and--...
[ I am afraid for you. ]
You must think of yourself. What you stand to lose. After this, make your decision.
no subject
But is it worth taking the risk, now that he actually has something to lose? ]
I don't know.
[ Julius looks down at their hands, contemplative. ]
It's like... a paradox. To take the risk, we need knowledge... yet the risk is the only way by which we'd be provided with these knowledge.
[ And he had promised, in that remembered dream, to live as himself. ]
no subject
[ A paradox, indeed. In each and every one of his existences, Sion Astal has let go of certainty, has abandoned what others have deemed to be the true and righteous (the only) path bathed in sunlight to embrace--... Not darkness, not hesitation or doubt, but simply openness. The ability to welcome all things shaded and shadowed, gleaming and bright, rather than to choose sides, for perhaps balance itself is a paradox. It is the challenge to accept oneself exactly as they are, but never to stop trying to learn and grow even if it meant treading down a road which one might never return from.
(For as day gave way to night, life would always surely be followed by death.) ]
What if I asked for you to make a promise? [ —drawing closer to Julius, Sion's voice rings sweetly, if not a bit romantically, airy and soft in a way reserved only for the other man. More than anything, Sion knows what it is to lose oneself; the fear associated both with knowing and with not. ] What if I asked you to promise to face whatever it is that courses your through your body, to conquer it, and then return to me without fail?
[ (Because...)
Gently, he leans to rest his forehead against Julius' own, briefly allowing himself to enjoy the way they linger; the security in their handhold and...!! The tickle of soap suds, transferred to his own nose by way of simple proximity.
(...more than anything, Julius, I...) ]
Will you promise me this, Julius? [ And then, pronounced on the bridge of a light laugh, a slow drawing away: ] And will you embrace me afterward, as a conquering hero?
[ (...want for you to be happy, at peace with yourself. ]
no subject
Which is why he does not shun from the other's touch like he would anyone else's, for there was no fear of harm, no rejection. Not anymore. ]
I will.
[ And for only the second time in the life that he remembers, he can be sure that this is a promise that can be fulfilled rather than just a convenient lie. ]