[there is a click as the recording begins]
--mmm? [static. A few beeps as the Forge is inspected] These gadgets are far different from what I last remember. [the tapping of a nail on glass] Complex. I wonder...
[the creaking of bed springs. Footsteps, followed by the screech of unoiled hinges and a gust of air. There is a long pause as Haruka
(
Read more... )
Reply
Reply
...cigarettes.
[another pause]
I think I know.
Reply
Hisoka?
[ooc note: "Hisoka" = temporary name for Shizuka's father because CLAMP hasn't given an official name.]
Reply
Grandfather.
...it's Shizuka.
Reply
[he laughs, a quiet sound that grew into a rich chuckle]
Shizuka. [his tone is warm when he repeats his grandson's name for a third time] Shizuka. How time passes.
I am glad to be able to meet you again.
Reply
You're really here?
Reply
I am. And... [he closes his eyes for a moment and tries to sense his surroundings. When he opens them again, his expression is one of concern. He should have noticed the difference earlier, but it took him a while to get past his disorientation]
We should meet soon.
[he studies Shizuka's face once more, one is so similar to his own. He could see how troubled and confused the other looked -- the former went deeper than the latter. And that Shizuka spoke that softly...]
I do not know why the three of us are here, nor why I am breathing as I used to be. My arrival, however, seems timely. [his lips quirk up at that last part, as if relating an inside joke]
Reply
continues watching respectfully until his grandfather is finished speaking, in a mild state of shock from seeing him here. it shouldn't be such a shock to see someone who's died, but in this case it's his grandfather, and he looks young. looks like he could be Doumeki's own brother.
releases a small exhalation]
Timely as always, grandfather. When would you like to meet?
Reply
[he sees in his mind's eye a toddler Shizuka sitting beside him outside of the temple, his brow furrowed as he thought out his answer. The image changes to the two of them conversing in another area of the temple grounds. Shizuka is much older, and more observant.
How many years has it been? He would miss that child holding his hakama and following him to watch the ceremonies that had to be conducted at the temple, but he also looked forward to seeing how that child had grown]
I wonder which of us is taller now. [he says this in a teasing tone]
Reply
[his brows furrow and he leans out of the screen for a moment, speaking softly to Watanuki, who he's sitting in the same room with. after a moment he's back in screen, and he gives a nod]
Later on this afternoon. We can find your room.
[there's a short pause and he takes a small breath, his eyes softening a bit as he considers the thought - similar images from his childhood playing through his head. he hasn't seen his grandfather since he was eleven, and he's occasionally wished he were the one who was visited in dreams by his grandfather. now that he has a chance to see him again, he almost doesn't know what to say]
We'll see. [has a hint of teasing in his own voice, then an exhalation] I missed you.
Reply
He nodded when Shizuka gave his response. If the butterfly had already spread her wings to reveal her wish, he would find out soon enough.
I will see you then. Speaking of my room - where is this place?
[his fingers traced the edge of the Forge at Shizuka's last line. The flow of time was a strange thing in the dream world - neither here nor there, something that connected the present with the past and the future. And yet he could feel a responding ache in his chest. For all he knew, the time he was gone from the 'living world' was the equivalent of anywhere between one second to one thousand years.]
I have missed you, too. Waiting is not the same as an actual encounter.
Reply
he licks his lips and tries to consider how to answer that question when he doesn't really quite understand yet himself]
I look forward to it. [a pause] This place is called Anatole. There is a city and an underground area, ruins and other things - I haven't been able to explore. We who come from other worlds are seen as outsiders. There is a strange mist, I think it brings bad dreams and creatures, but I'm not sure of that. It also seems that we've been...changed a bit. New additions to the abilities we had at home, for both Watanuki and me.
[pauses, and takes a breath, unused to rambling like that - but this place takes a bit of explanation. shifts the Forge slightly in his hand ( ... )
Reply
[he tests the word on his tongue, weighing each syllable. He's silent as he listens to Shizuka give a summary of their situation, and glances outside the open window for a brief moment when the mist and its effects are mentioned. Very few events in the supernatural world could compare to this - but it was far too early for such comparisons, wasn't it?
a small noise from the back of his throat when he hears about those 'additional abilities'.]
What has changed?
[nods in acknowledgement of that statement. Has the feeling that Shizuka is talking not only of this situation, but of another personal matter - Shizuka's own time spent waiting. The tone of his voice and the direction of his gaze also spoke of it]
How has waiting gone for you?
Reply
My exorcism ability seems to affect more than just spirits, and can be used through my hands. He can manipulate smoke he's breathed in.
[there is a bit of a pause as he considers that final statement, his eyes skimming to the side as if thinking, or remembering, or some combination of the two. his eyebrows pull together in the center, furrowing, signifying some of the mixed and painful feelings he's going through as he tries to adjust to the idea of an ageless Watanuki stuck in the shop]
I've grown. [another little pause] I expect it will continue to go on.
Reply
Tell me more when we meet later. I suspect I may get a surprise of my own, too.
[there was that troubled expression again. It was too early to ask some things, it seemed.]
There is time. [the briefest of pauses. words tumble out from his lips] Not all waiting must be done from a distance.
Reply
Leave a comment