Linger here - gentle warmth as we traipse through the wet [COMPLETE]
Characters: forgotmyforge and andcountry
Date/Time: January 19th, early evening.
Location: Flame and Cephiro's house, later on sort of in the vicinity of the Section 1 dining area.
Rating: G
Summary: Cephiro wakes up from having a memory and mentally copes with the aftermath, Flame helps, and they are both their usual dorky selves.
------
Cephiro blinked as he came out of his trance. It was dusk now; not more than two hours could have passed since he had touched the memory crystal. He was still holding it, sitting in the exact same position he had when he had come home earlier that afternoon and curiosity had overtaken him - kneeling on his bed, facing the window. He let the object fall from his hands onto the bed, almost halfheartedly. That was... it? He didn't know what he was expecting, but it hadn't been that. There was so much in his head right now, he wasn't sure if he could go on acting like the person he thought he was up until this point. Without even thinking he bowed forwards and moved to cover his face, he was so confused--
... The unexpected feel of plastic distracted him. Oh, yes, he had heard about this. Why did he think it was a good idea to use the crystal, again? He felt around... plastic spectacles, a false nose, a mustache, and a hat on his head.
"You think you're funny, do you, Sphere?" It wasn't really Cephiro who scowled and said that. At least, he didn't feel like himself. It felt more like the person from the memory.
Flame came in on the tail end of his mumbling, hurriedly shutting the door behind her on the cold. She had nothing more on her mind than the comfortable feeling of a day's work well done, and pondering of dinner. Of course, when she turned to see Cephiro there on the bed, she paused and blinked. She wanted immediately to laugh, but he seemed more distressed than the joke warranted.
"Cephiro?" she said uncertainly.
He looked up and attempted not to appear as though he was experiencing an existential crisis. "... Hello."
"Nice hat," she said, deadpan, before her brow furrowed and she took a few steps closer to him. "Are you okay?"
He smiled, a little bit of the tension fading. "Yes. I found a memory crystal and decided to try it out." He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to rub the bridge of his nose, fake glasses be damned. "It's difficult to... assimilate. Who I am is going to take some getting used to."
"I'm sure you're a pretty good person," she said immediately, and she sat down on the bed -- not too close, but available for comfort if desired. "Although I bet it was really confusing. Do you want to talk about it?"
"I don't know what to say." There were plenty of things to say, mind, but he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to say them. He didn't want to change anything so drastically and so soon, yet he had to say something, didn't he? Otherwise he might just explode from existential angst.
He looked up at Flame meaningfully. "My ears are pierced, you know."
She shifted with sudden surprise. How had she never noticed? Well, she'd never looked, had she? Sure, people didn't always look their age, but rarely did they choose to look younger than they were.
That thought had a sort of sharpness to it, a deja vu that she couldn't really chase. Rarely. Not never. Here was someone in front of her.
"I'm sorry, then, for treating you like a child," she said softly, smiling in apology.
He smiled and shook his head. "I thought I was one, too. In fact..." the smile faded, and he looked down at the floor for a moment. "I don't think I'll tell everyone else immediately. As I said, this is going to take some getting used to. I don't want things to change too drastically."
She nodded. After a moment, she said, "We should get you some -- Earrings, I mean, so the holes don't close. When you're ready." She was quiet again for a minute. She wasn't quite sure what to say in this situation, and that was why her practicality asserted itself. "I'll listen when you want to talk, though." She reached over and hugged him briefly before getting up.
He returned the hug and kissed her on the cheek before letting her go, not realizing how it might come off. It didn't matter who he was supposed to be now - he was still the same clueless, more-than-slightly-awkward Cephiro.
"Thank you."
They were casually affectionate at times, like real siblings, and so there was no excuse for the slight color that appeared on her face, except that now she was aware that he wasn't necessarily an innocent child. But child or not, he was her brother. He'd meant the gesture in thanks. So she smiled and willed her blush to go away.
"You're welcome."
He bounced (some habits die hard) off of the bed after her, significantly cheered. This was doable. There had been other things in the memory, too - lots of things that led to lots of questions. The whole thing hadn't been too different from his birth dream, but it was more... solid. And the things he had tried to ignore in his dream were clear as day here and needed to be confronted... sometime. Not now.
"Now that you're here, shall we go have dinner?"
"Oh, good idea!" she said, catching some of his cheer as well. Not too much was changing right now, anyway. And even if it was, dinner was always sort of necessary.
Cephiro got his coat and began putting it on, slightly amused. "What, did you forget about food?"
"I didn't forget, I got distracted!" she protested, grabbing her coat and following after him. "And whose fault was that, anyway?" Her grin belied her accusations.
"Oh, we're playing that game now?" He grinned as he breezed through the door and down a couple of steps to stop and wait for her. The cold air brought his attention to the disguise on his face and he gestured at it, almost chuckling. "How bad is it?"
In response, she doubled over in the laugh that she had wanted to make when she first walked in. "Very distinguished!" she said when she finally stopped giggling.
They walked on for a while longer before Flame decided to voice the other concern on her mind. At first, she'd thought that their closeness and commonality came from being born at the same time, but the longer that they were here, and the more that she saw the different ways that other people lived, she thought that might not be the case. He'd told her about the earrings and she'd taken that exactly as he'd meant it -- what kind of a coincidence was that?
"Have you ever thought that maybe we were from the same world, Cephiro?" she asked, looking down at him curiously.
He blinked and looked up at her. "I... never thought otherwise."
She looked taken aback for a moment. "And you never said anything?"
He looked straight ahead, shocked at the realization that he should have said something. And yet he couldn't explain why he didn't. "I-- I thought it was obvious..."
"I'm going to boil you in oil," she said, quite matter-of-factly, "for not sharing."
"Oh no!" he wailed. "I'm going to be fried for my thoughtlessness!"
"That's right!" she said, swatting at him and missing purposefully. "That's what we do to people who don't share important information. I have ways of making you talk!" And her evil laughter rang out over the street.
"But aren't you glad you figured it out by yourself?" He grinned, teasing.
"I'm just glad I figured it out," she said, smiling back. "I might be convinced to have mercy on a countryman. Maybe."
"Especially if I make dinner?" He might as well have added, 'And smile at you with these huge blue eyes like so?'
Whether it was his intention or not, Flame found it very hard to resist that look. She half-wondered if he'd perfected it back in that other life they'd led -- it was that effective. "I guess that's acceptable," she said, and grinned. "I will stay your execution."
Cephiro breathed a sigh of relief, although he was still smiling. "I'll have to be careful from now on."
"Make sure you don't burn it," she answered, trying to sound ominous, although her lips twitched with the desire to smile. She was glad to have her suspicions confirmed -- or as confirmed as they could be anyway. There was something very nice and warm in knowing.
Date/Time: January 19th, early evening.
Location: Flame and Cephiro's house, later on sort of in the vicinity of the Section 1 dining area.
Rating: G
Summary: Cephiro wakes up from having a memory and mentally copes with the aftermath, Flame helps, and they are both their usual dorky selves.
------
Cephiro blinked as he came out of his trance. It was dusk now; not more than two hours could have passed since he had touched the memory crystal. He was still holding it, sitting in the exact same position he had when he had come home earlier that afternoon and curiosity had overtaken him - kneeling on his bed, facing the window. He let the object fall from his hands onto the bed, almost halfheartedly. That was... it? He didn't know what he was expecting, but it hadn't been that. There was so much in his head right now, he wasn't sure if he could go on acting like the person he thought he was up until this point. Without even thinking he bowed forwards and moved to cover his face, he was so confused--
... The unexpected feel of plastic distracted him. Oh, yes, he had heard about this. Why did he think it was a good idea to use the crystal, again? He felt around... plastic spectacles, a false nose, a mustache, and a hat on his head.
"You think you're funny, do you, Sphere?" It wasn't really Cephiro who scowled and said that. At least, he didn't feel like himself. It felt more like the person from the memory.
Flame came in on the tail end of his mumbling, hurriedly shutting the door behind her on the cold. She had nothing more on her mind than the comfortable feeling of a day's work well done, and pondering of dinner. Of course, when she turned to see Cephiro there on the bed, she paused and blinked. She wanted immediately to laugh, but he seemed more distressed than the joke warranted.
"Cephiro?" she said uncertainly.
He looked up and attempted not to appear as though he was experiencing an existential crisis. "... Hello."
"Nice hat," she said, deadpan, before her brow furrowed and she took a few steps closer to him. "Are you okay?"
He smiled, a little bit of the tension fading. "Yes. I found a memory crystal and decided to try it out." He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to rub the bridge of his nose, fake glasses be damned. "It's difficult to... assimilate. Who I am is going to take some getting used to."
"I'm sure you're a pretty good person," she said immediately, and she sat down on the bed -- not too close, but available for comfort if desired. "Although I bet it was really confusing. Do you want to talk about it?"
"I don't know what to say." There were plenty of things to say, mind, but he wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to say them. He didn't want to change anything so drastically and so soon, yet he had to say something, didn't he? Otherwise he might just explode from existential angst.
He looked up at Flame meaningfully. "My ears are pierced, you know."
She shifted with sudden surprise. How had she never noticed? Well, she'd never looked, had she? Sure, people didn't always look their age, but rarely did they choose to look younger than they were.
That thought had a sort of sharpness to it, a deja vu that she couldn't really chase. Rarely. Not never. Here was someone in front of her.
"I'm sorry, then, for treating you like a child," she said softly, smiling in apology.
He smiled and shook his head. "I thought I was one, too. In fact..." the smile faded, and he looked down at the floor for a moment. "I don't think I'll tell everyone else immediately. As I said, this is going to take some getting used to. I don't want things to change too drastically."
She nodded. After a moment, she said, "We should get you some -- Earrings, I mean, so the holes don't close. When you're ready." She was quiet again for a minute. She wasn't quite sure what to say in this situation, and that was why her practicality asserted itself. "I'll listen when you want to talk, though." She reached over and hugged him briefly before getting up.
He returned the hug and kissed her on the cheek before letting her go, not realizing how it might come off. It didn't matter who he was supposed to be now - he was still the same clueless, more-than-slightly-awkward Cephiro.
"Thank you."
They were casually affectionate at times, like real siblings, and so there was no excuse for the slight color that appeared on her face, except that now she was aware that he wasn't necessarily an innocent child. But child or not, he was her brother. He'd meant the gesture in thanks. So she smiled and willed her blush to go away.
"You're welcome."
He bounced (some habits die hard) off of the bed after her, significantly cheered. This was doable. There had been other things in the memory, too - lots of things that led to lots of questions. The whole thing hadn't been too different from his birth dream, but it was more... solid. And the things he had tried to ignore in his dream were clear as day here and needed to be confronted... sometime. Not now.
"Now that you're here, shall we go have dinner?"
"Oh, good idea!" she said, catching some of his cheer as well. Not too much was changing right now, anyway. And even if it was, dinner was always sort of necessary.
Cephiro got his coat and began putting it on, slightly amused. "What, did you forget about food?"
"I didn't forget, I got distracted!" she protested, grabbing her coat and following after him. "And whose fault was that, anyway?" Her grin belied her accusations.
"Oh, we're playing that game now?" He grinned as he breezed through the door and down a couple of steps to stop and wait for her. The cold air brought his attention to the disguise on his face and he gestured at it, almost chuckling. "How bad is it?"
In response, she doubled over in the laugh that she had wanted to make when she first walked in. "Very distinguished!" she said when she finally stopped giggling.
They walked on for a while longer before Flame decided to voice the other concern on her mind. At first, she'd thought that their closeness and commonality came from being born at the same time, but the longer that they were here, and the more that she saw the different ways that other people lived, she thought that might not be the case. He'd told her about the earrings and she'd taken that exactly as he'd meant it -- what kind of a coincidence was that?
"Have you ever thought that maybe we were from the same world, Cephiro?" she asked, looking down at him curiously.
He blinked and looked up at her. "I... never thought otherwise."
She looked taken aback for a moment. "And you never said anything?"
He looked straight ahead, shocked at the realization that he should have said something. And yet he couldn't explain why he didn't. "I-- I thought it was obvious..."
"I'm going to boil you in oil," she said, quite matter-of-factly, "for not sharing."
"Oh no!" he wailed. "I'm going to be fried for my thoughtlessness!"
"That's right!" she said, swatting at him and missing purposefully. "That's what we do to people who don't share important information. I have ways of making you talk!" And her evil laughter rang out over the street.
"But aren't you glad you figured it out by yourself?" He grinned, teasing.
"I'm just glad I figured it out," she said, smiling back. "I might be convinced to have mercy on a countryman. Maybe."
"Especially if I make dinner?" He might as well have added, 'And smile at you with these huge blue eyes like so?'
Whether it was his intention or not, Flame found it very hard to resist that look. She half-wondered if he'd perfected it back in that other life they'd led -- it was that effective. "I guess that's acceptable," she said, and grinned. "I will stay your execution."
Cephiro breathed a sigh of relief, although he was still smiling. "I'll have to be careful from now on."
"Make sure you don't burn it," she answered, trying to sound ominous, although her lips twitched with the desire to smile. She was glad to have her suspicions confirmed -- or as confirmed as they could be anyway. There was something very nice and warm in knowing.