exsiliumlogs | (no subject) (part 2)

...No' really lookin' for any attention. [Flat stare.]

Who said they was close?

She did always twist her words. Most of the time it was done to get what she wanted, and the rest of it she did such things to protect herself. Perhaps she did it more than she should have, but unlike when they'd been all together back at the Garden, she had been all by herself with nobody else to trust or rely on. All she had had been her words, and she had used them so effectively in her travels.

For a single moment, Elza thought that he might have actually given her what she'd been teasingly trying for, but the look in his eyes told him something different. There was the feeling of his fingers brushing against her temple as he brushed her blonde bangs from her eyes.

The gunner had never thought that even Clive could arrive here, let alone Kelley. Yet there seemed to be a fearful sense of hope within his eyes. It seemed that he both desired it and wanted nothing to do with the thought, and she could understand. Trailing her fingers down along the curve of his scalp, she lightly caressed the bone at the back of his ear as she smiled tenderly at him. "He could, just as this town brought both you and I here," Elza murmured. "Do you want him to?"

Clive had always loved Kelley. It had been a love that he had held far dearer than what they had shared. Closing her eyes to push such thoughts away from her mind, she tried to remind herself that Clive had simply been far too hurt and emotional and had said such things only to distance himself.

[There's a mischievous glint in his eye.] Girls, boys, and soccer.

[Lilith sort of calms herself and stops being rude finally, taking in a looong breath before letting it out.]

So you chose to look like that? [Laughs a little]

Why not choose something more threatening? You just kinda look like... a fairy princess or something.

If you don't, why not use their cloaking device?

[Shrugs] Encounters of the potentially bad kind then.

Clive had always liked to consider himself independent while in the Tower, that he had helped the other two as much as they had helped them. Kelley had been the first boy he remembered knowing and, while older, they had gotten along well in their first years learning about plants and little games to strengthen children to the Guild way of life. He had known Kelley two years longer than he had known Elza, as she had come later.

Funny enough, he remembered the day she came, how he and Kelley had been doing that running test they had to do. She was fast, but they were taller and chased her down. Kelley had gotten ahead, but instead of leaving Elza behind, he had grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Kelley had taken her other hand and they hadn't really been separated much beyond that.

Yet, Kelley was always the elder, the oldest of them, the one he looked to more often than not. They had been born and raised the same way, had never known the same things and hadn't particularly liked the same foods. He thought Kelley his brother and even found himself pushed into things more because his friend. When Kelley died, it was like the only thing he had ever known as a brother, father, uncle, male friend had died too. He didn't even get a chance to say good-bye, to talk Kelly down from the duel; he just expected it wouldn't happen.

Clive didn't want Kelley here, but at the same time, he did. Elza he had so much to make up for, all that blistering hatred at her betrayal, the hurt of her fleeing without him, the lack of answers. Kelley he wanted answers, wanted to talk the other man down from the foolish attitude he hadn't much cared about in the Guild... until it had torn them all apart. Now he cared about it, too little, too late. To have them both back... by the Runes, he thought he couldn't cope but wanted to.

"If Kelley came here, we could... be like that family we had going again," he murmured softly, fingers tracing her temple and then one of her eyebrows lightly. His lips downturned in a rare show of misery. "It's not... a real family though. He and I could never be that way because... I still don't understand it."

He tilted his head to the side, staring into her eyes for a long moment. "I miss him," he confessed softly. "I missed you too... but you're here now."

She watched as the thoughts and memories ran through his mind. It would never be an easy thing to do, and was something that Elza often ran from doing. To her, dipping into her memories often brought up such an intense feeling within that she could never contain it, which was why she hid from those memories instead. It had always been Kelley and Clive before she'd arrived, and had continued to be just that after she had been taken in. They had both taken her hands and pulled her into their fold, but even despite that, it had always been the two of them. Yes they had loved and cared for her, but there had always been that unspoken bond between them that she could never find herself in there with.

It was fine, and there were some parts of her that wished that she had been born in the Guild also, but Elza was no fool and knew that she could never change her past.

She lightly pressed her head up towards her travelling fingers, finding comfort in the gesture as he opened up to her. It was such a rare gesture that she treasured it whenever it occurred, and it left her without all of her methods of protection as she saw how miserable he was without Kelley, without what they all once had.

"He was your brother. Nothing would ever change that or the feelings that you both held for each other - the feelings we all had for each other," she quietly murmured while her fingers gentle brushed back and forth over the spot just behind his ear. "My first family sold me into slavery when they were short on funds, sold me to the Guild where I was found by those who I had loved and cared for just as much as my Mother and Father, and yet they had never thrown me away. Those two foolish boys had taken me in and loved me more than my own flesh and blood ever could, so don't tell me that you cannot understand it."

At his confession, she pushed her head up from the ground to press her forehead against his own. Feeling the warmth of his heat, Elza closed her eyes as she relished the weight of his body and presence all around her. "I hold so many regrets... so many... but most of all I have regretted what I did to the two stupid boys I loved more than anything."

[Laurana actually touching Kang without any hesitation comes as a surprise to him, especially since she's an elf and she's female. He tenses up slightly, but allows her to fix his stance with an odd expression on his face.]

Hopefully I won't have to use this sort of weapon often. I retired for a reason.

I am usin' it. Only...I ain' usin' the settin' that was added for votin' because I'd forget I'm runnin' 'round lookin' like a guy to all these folks.

[Encounters of the kind where she died. Fun stuff there.]

Hearing her say such things about Kelley solidified how long it had been since he had last seen the other man. Even when he and Elza were together, Kelley was no longer there with them, twisted slowly and steadily into something he had cared little to complain about. Kelley was Kelley in his mind, but looking back on those years where their friend had been Guild Master, he realized how different things had begun to be.

"The feelings we still have for each other," he mumbled softly, keeping his gaze from falling away from her face as her fingers stroked that spot behind his ear that he enjoyed so much.

Yet, her speaking of her family was not something that he hadn't heard before. Her voice was different this time, raw and vulnerable as she no doubt relived some of those moments with her family. He never had that, never even knew the names or faces of his mother and father. "I tried to throw you away because it hurt too much. I was blind... but now all I can do is see because of you."

He gritted his teeth against her words of regrets, leaning down to silence her with his lips after a moment. He let his own pain mingle with hers before he rolled off of her, drawing her with him so they lay side-by-side, and he pulled her tight against his chest. Tomorrow they would go back to normal; tonight they could share their regrets. He withdrew from the kiss. "The Elders... made you do it out of fear. I'll give them something to fear when I get back."

It could be a lot of opportunity for things that need fixing, but...yeah, I'm starting to suspect I need to eat snake. I think I can identify which ones aren't venomous?

[Billy tries to look less nervous than he feels.] And if I round up enough, I'll share.

That place? [ Caesar looks the same way, then shrugs. ] Just another boring desert town. There's a few differences, but this time seems more the speed of where I'm from.

Smellier, though. Definitely not a change for the better.

[ At least Exsilium had showers. ]

[Billy drops to the ground and sighs. Right, of course.]

Oh. I had a friend who knew how to sign back home, but I don't think the people here would understand the same signs. I'm not convincing people either---even with my voice I tend to make blunders.

His words had her fall silent as he said that they still had feelings for each other. While she had felt as though he still held feelings for her, the gunner didn't want to place herself into a position where she may have found out otherwise. She was a foolish woman, and felt even more so when she felt the spark of something she'd thought long since dead within.

"The feelings we still have for each other," she parrotted in return, a smile on her lips as she shifted to press the lightest press of lips to the corner of his mouth. "It was worth it if it opened your eyes," she murmured while pulling her lips away from his mouth.

Her lips parted when he felt his lips against hers. All of his pain and emotion was felt through that simple and yet intense gesture, and she moved to wrap her arms around his broad back. She wasn't on her back for much longer, and the feel of her gun against her back eased with the movement as they came to lay on their side. Whether things would return back to normal or not in the next day ddin't matter to her, what they had together right now was all that mattered to the gunner right now. So when he withdrew from the kiss, and heard those words, Elza sighed lightly against his lips. "And what of me?"

There's a face he hasn't seen for awhile. Nor heard of, as a matter of fact.

"Unfortunately not." He steps further into the alley, smiling. "I see you're still around as well."

I'll be thankful that'll never happen.

[ Even if it ever did, he would likely be too stubborn to let anyone put a saddle on! He's surprised she doesn't care as much about this, actually. When it looks like everything is staying on just fine, he turns and heads back out of the alley, assuming she'll follow on her own. ]

A street over, if I remember right. That shouldn't take as long.

Clive wasn't certain that he entirely agreed with the way that his eyes had been opened, but he wasn't about to protest what couldn't be undone. He knew the truth from her mouth, and he saw no reason to not use that information to verify the lies that had been told to him. The Guild was built on secrets, yet he had always thought he was privy to knowledge. His mistake was show plain to him by Elza as she lay dying.

He drew a deep breath as he settled on his side, comfortable with the new position and aware that he would soon enough have to rise to add more wood to the fire if it was to last at all. He passed a hand though her hair, pushing it back as she asked that question of him. "You'll remain in my memory while I exact Guild justice on those who betrayed us all."

Indeed, however while some manner is similar to home, others yet are different. That there are no other races in this place nor on this world from what I have gathered is a difference in and of itself, although that there are no kender running about is a small boon.

[He definitely wouldn't argue with showers or even just a lake or river to dip into, he really didn't like deserts.]

I am curious, what manner of place did you come from prior to being transported?

The gesture was gentle, and it held a tenderness to it that most would never see out of him. Smiling softly to herself at his answer, Elza closed the distance between them to press her lips to his in another brief kiss. It wasn't demanding or full of passion, but the press of lips held the emotion she held for him even as she pulled away.

"I meant while we're here," she quietly corrected while her arms came out to stroke along the length of his back. There was nothing that she could do for him when he returned to their world. Her part in their world had already ended, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would continue with that fight and bring justice to the Guild for what they had done. "Unless I'm to be just a memory here for you too."

[Axel's more confused than anything else; he's really not sure why this fellow seems so glad to see him, or why he's being so friendly, but he doesn't feel particularly threatened and so he doesn't bother to pull away when the man doesn't release his arm. He watches the man tug his bandanna down, then makes a bit of a face at his question.]

I'd... say that's probably the most creative pick-up line I've heard in a while. [And then he sort of squints, his brow furrowed in puzzlement.] I think you might have me confused with somebody else, Red; we don't even have ventilation shafts where I work. Least none that I've ever seen.

He tilted his head a little at her correction, and he was forced to lay his head down against the ground since she had previously removed his hood. He contemplated the question and then shrugged his shoulders. "I decide if we go to war. Until then, you have your freedom."

He suspected that she would spend considerable time harassing him now that she could and he would allow it. Beyond that, he had no answer on what they would do with each other. That was to be left for the future to discover together. "You're far too solid and irritating to be just a memory," he remarked dryly.

That wasn't what she had been meaning, but she couldn't blame him for thinking as he always did. Releasing a soft brush of air from her lungs, she smiled lightly in amusement. Always the loyal fighter, he was, and while he had grown much over the years, there was still so much that he remained unaware of. So she remained silent after his answer.

Bringing her hand away from his back, she moved to pull Stern out from the holster at her back before placing the pistol above her head. Though her other arm was still trapped by his weight, the gunner move to lay on her back as she smirked in arrogance and found the return of her teasing manner. "Well I do need to be good at something, Handsome."

Axel laughed, giving Frodo a sidelong look. "That was sarcasm, Frodo," he said. Then he just grinned and turned his eyes back to the road. "For the record I don't plan to get trampled. But it's the sleeping standing up part that I'm banking on."

He didn't really offer anything more until they neared the edge of town. Casting a quick glance in all directions, Axel easily hopped over the wooden fence and then gave Frodo a look over the top.

"So I guess then, that you've never tipped one," he said, folding his arms on the fence and tilting his head, still grinning.

Clive watched her silently in the flickering fire light and his gaze watched as she removed Stern and set it aside. That was her weapon now, wasn't it? She had made them sentient, the two pistols that she carried and he had chosen similarly but with different weapons altogether. Yet their decisions still somehow mirrored each other.

He eased his weight up so she could get her arm out from under him where she could lay comfortably on her back. He finally rose away from her and built up the fire with wood for the night, creating more warmth. He was soon enough back by her side, smirking at her answer. "Maybe you should get good at sleeping too then?"

[Axel's been a bit more wary of horses since his first run-in. They're still pretty amazing animals, he has to admit, but he's not entirely sure he's ready to have another go at riding one. Leaning against a corral fence, he rests his chin in his palm and stares at the horses grazing. Lifting his head when movement catches his eye, though, he spots a boy maybe a little older than Roxas clambering up onto the fence. He watches him a moment, then straightens.]

They're a lot bigger in real life than the movies lead you to believe, somehow, huh.