[[ Omg, BITTY. ;A; I don't care that I'm retiring this version of him, or even that he hasn't been in the DR proper for almost a year. WE'RE DOING THIS.
.../now makes shit up. ]]
[He's not entirely sure how he got here, or when. Only that the stairs leading down from Lavi's apartment room had gotten darker, then darker still, until there was nothing left to find and nothing left to dream, just the road ahead and the nagging anxiety that he should be elsewhere, somewhere.
Allen doesn't remember the rest of it very well. There was moonlight at some point, of this he's sure - a leering crescent in an over-bright night, sapping colour from the shifting landscape like a terrible novel, turning straggly branches wishbone-white. One caught between his fingers and snapped when he reached to push the moon away, brittle splinters that carved homes in his skin and said, You know better now. Then it was just him upon a darkling plain.
There were reprieves on the way, brief as they were in comparison.
Mother's abode, where he'd tried on Mana's old things to see if he could now stand to be the center of the world, and found them a closer fit than he'd imagined.
A promise made nowhere, Autumn painting everything in celebratory reds and golds to commemorate a brief meeting of parallel lines.
Snatches of applause under a brilliant frost-blue sky, the tinkling of coins leading to lumpy beds and old bathrooms permeated by cigarette smoke; but most recently-
Running, running because he'd bungled the first rule of cheating-"It doesn't matter what happened, only what they think happened,"-and the game had been stripped down to a deadly simple round of tag. He's throwing himself down an alleyway, breath coming fast but even, when his vision starts furling in on itself. Allen has precisely one second to think, For chrissake, not again, before it swallows him up. The soundless impact of his feet on shadows is familiar by now, the moon crushingly close. He's just wondering how far he will have to go this time, when an invisible force hooks behind his ribcage and gives an almighty yank.
...The wall beside Alma starts funnelling in on itself like someone drawing a deep breath. Just when it looks like the ceiling will have to compromise, there's an explosive whoosh of air as the DR proceeds to belch out: Allen Walker, crash-landing at Alma's feet in a dazed pile of mussed hair, crooked limbs, and fluttering poker cards.
/bowled over by the text wall ♥alma_karmaDecember 10 2011, 03:29:19 UTC
[Alma can't help but take a few steps away from the warping wall, eying it with an understandable nervous expression. He's seen a lot of strange things, but he's never seen the DR do this before...
And he's certainly seen Allen Walker fall out of a wall before.]
[Give him a moment, it's extremely disorientating to get rubber-banded between realities and- And wherever one goes when your mundane decides to put you on the shelf for good.
Memories are flooding back in to clamour for his attention; snapshots of foreign words in a skeletal city and places he can't put names to. Only when Alma speaks does his head snap up to break the surface of confusion, eyes wide with alarm- My god, they've recognised him, he really can't stay-
But then realisation hits, jolting his expression into something more... Off-kilter, teetering just on the edge of bafflement with relief waiting to catch him.]
Alma? What are you doing here?
[And his hand reaches automatically into his pocket for a PDA that isn't there.]
[While Allen's operating under the assumption that he's back in Nesreca (boggling a bit at how clean it's gotten, though), which naturally makes you his Alma - no extra baggage here, just a softening of his gaze that says he's glad to see you.]
Ah-
[...It's been so long since anyone asked him that. He's not sure why his answer is a tad apologetic when it comes, but it is.]
Yes! [ mostly joking: ] I'm used to hard landings.
[Gets up, dusting himself off and staring at a... Mound of yellow goop on the table?]
What do you mean, you come here sometimes? Where are the others?
Which others? [You'll have to forgive him, Allen, but again... so many people in the DR. He usually assumes that the people he sees aren't the ones he knows from Nesreca, because ninety-nine percent of the time? They're not.]
Haven't you ever been to the dressing room before?
[Not... exactly faltering, but there's a suspended pause where one is treading too near the edge of a presumed comfort zone and suddenly reminded of why it's a bad idea to look down.]
The Order and everyone else, of course. Tyki, Karkat, Miss Rapunzel...
[The sudden flare of frustration that he is, yet again, not where he's needed is brutally doused by his determination to put on a good face in front of Alma. Any Alma. Any children, really.]
Oh! I have, actually, but it's- Been a while? [ how does time even work between dimensions ] I didn't remember it right away.
[He bends over, hands braced on his knees, to offer Alma an apologetic smile.]
[This is indeed your Allen, despite how his hair is longer, the nondescript brown coat he's wearing wrinkled in ways that suggest he's slept in it, and the corners of his eyes even more careworn. Still a little malnourished, though that's to be expected when you've been having your meals out of paper bags.
He does falter this time, like he needs a moment to reacquaint himself with the possibility that things may be going half-way right for once, but it isn't long before he's smiling again with all the warmth of memories shared.
(A little shaky, maybe, for how long it's been since he last felt safe enough to wear it so unreservedly.)]
I've been there! [ gently teasing: ] And you're looking rather familiar, I must say.
[So have we mentioned Allen's still bent over at prime collision height? Maximal impact, minimal stability, zero chance of missing. His eyes dart after Alma's abandoned snack, chagrined - 3 months on the run plus 11 in Nesreca will make you ache for every wasted crumb -, and by the time they snap back to Alma's...
.../now makes shit up. ]]
[He's not entirely sure how he got here, or when. Only that the stairs leading down from Lavi's apartment room had gotten darker, then darker still, until there was nothing left to find and nothing left to dream, just the road ahead and the nagging anxiety that he should be elsewhere, somewhere.
Allen doesn't remember the rest of it very well. There was moonlight at some point, of this he's sure - a leering crescent in an over-bright night, sapping colour from the shifting landscape like a terrible novel, turning straggly branches wishbone-white. One caught between his fingers and snapped when he reached to push the moon away, brittle splinters that carved homes in his skin and said, You know better now. Then it was just him upon a darkling plain.
There were reprieves on the way, brief as they were in comparison.
Mother's abode, where he'd tried on Mana's old things to see if he could now stand to be the center of the world, and found them a closer fit than he'd imagined.
A promise made nowhere, Autumn painting everything in celebratory reds and golds to commemorate a brief meeting of parallel lines.
Snatches of applause under a brilliant frost-blue sky, the tinkling of coins leading to lumpy beds and old bathrooms permeated by cigarette smoke; but most recently-
Running, running because he'd bungled the first rule of cheating-"It doesn't matter what happened, only what they think happened,"-and the game had been stripped down to a deadly simple round of tag. He's throwing himself down an alleyway, breath coming fast but even, when his vision starts furling in on itself. Allen has precisely one second to think, For chrissake, not again, before it swallows him up. The soundless impact of his feet on shadows is familiar by now, the moon crushingly close. He's just wondering how far he will have to go this time, when an invisible force hooks behind his ribcage and gives an almighty yank.
...The wall beside Alma starts funnelling in on itself like someone drawing a deep breath. Just when it looks like the ceiling will have to compromise, there's an explosive whoosh of air as the DR proceeds to belch out: Allen Walker, crash-landing at Alma's feet in a dazed pile of mussed hair, crooked limbs, and fluttering poker cards.
What now.]
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And he's certainly seen Allen Walker fall out of a wall before.]
... Allen?
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Memories are flooding back in to clamour for his attention; snapshots of foreign words in a skeletal city and places he can't put names to. Only when Alma speaks does his head snap up to break the surface of confusion, eyes wide with alarm- My god, they've recognised him, he really can't stay-
But then realisation hits, jolting his expression into something more... Off-kilter, teetering just on the edge of bafflement with relief waiting to catch him.]
Alma? What are you doing here?
[And his hand reaches automatically into his pocket for a PDA that isn't there.]
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[Headtiiiiilt. He's not entirely sure what to make of this. There are so many Allen's in the DR at any given time...]
Are you okay?
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Ah-
[...It's been so long since anyone asked him that. He's not sure why his answer is a tad apologetic when it comes, but it is.]
Yes! [ mostly joking: ] I'm used to hard landings.
[Gets up, dusting himself off and staring at a... Mound of yellow goop on the table?]
What do you mean, you come here sometimes? Where are the others?
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Haven't you ever been to the dressing room before?
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The Order and everyone else, of course. Tyki, Karkat, Miss Rapunzel...
[Wait, did you say Dressing Room?
Looking down.]
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At least this explains the unnatural state of cleanliness.]
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Oh! I have, actually, but it's- Been a while? [ how does time even work between dimensions ] I didn't remember it right away.
[He bends over, hands braced on his knees, to offer Alma an apologetic smile.]
Sorry if I startled you.
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No, it's okay-... You're from Nesreca?
[SO MUCH SUPRESSED EXCITEMENT.]
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He does falter this time, like he needs a moment to reacquaint himself with the possibility that things may be going half-way right for once, but it isn't long before he's smiling again with all the warmth of memories shared.
(A little shaky, maybe, for how long it's been since he last felt safe enough to wear it so unreservedly.)]
I've been there! [ gently teasing: ] And you're looking rather familiar, I must say.
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It's really you! I missed you so much!
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Face...]
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conk.
All things considered, it might've gone better if he'd just stayed still.]
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