059 [Action]

[vulcanblazer]

[...It has not been a good few days for Adell.  Horrible Malnosso experimentation and emotional instability.  Not fun.  Also, they've seen fit to deposit him unceremoniously in the village unconscious.

After getting some help at first... he'll be trudging around the village, heading back to his house briefly.... and then to the bar that night.  He

Comments

[Action]

[imxperfectlife]

[Luceti is strange. It's scary, a place away from home, a place from which she can't escape, where her mother isn't by her side and the rules she's used to don't exist. Even with the prospect of a school there, the whole situation is just too crazy for her

[Action]

[vulcanblazer]

[Adell is dead weight for the entirety of the trip. He's out like a light and doesn't move a muscle aside from breathing. Even when Luka gets her back to the apartment, he doesn't stir immediately.

After a couple of minutes though, he makes a very quiet groan and slowly begins moving.]

[Action]

[imxperfectlife]

[As bad as it is to carry the dead weight to the apartment, it's probably better that way. If he had moved it would have made everything harder. And she's scared. She's terrified. Of him. For him. For herself. Of this place. It's layer of fear after layer of fear, piling up until she's just so scared, terrified and confused that she is emotionless to it.

As she gets him to her bed she tries to not think of his appearance, to not wonder if it's just a physical change or something else,if this is normal or something that has been done to him. She tries to not think about a monster or a demon but about someone hurt who may only have her as available help. But she's not a doctor and has never had to take care of anyone sick, is he sick to begin with?

At the end all she does is sit besides the bed watching him intently, trembling with fear but caressing his forehead, face and neck with a towel, wet with cold water to try to refresh him and provide some comfort.]

[Action]

[vulcanblazer]

[...The cool, refreshing feel of the water on his face, the gentle touch. It causes him to stir just a little more. It's almost like he's waking up gently from a nap.

Soon, his eyes slowly crack open, revealing their changed colors, and another light groan has enough of his mouth open to reveal those fangs and more pointed teeth.

His vision is blurry at first, just a mass of colors, swirling around before him. It's almost sickening with how they move, but before long his senses slowly come into focus. He realizes... he's in a comfortable bed, unlike the facility. The room was warmer colored and feeling than the cold labs he could barely remember in the recesses of his mind. He sees the towel move over his forehead just slightly, and he weakly turns his head to see who is tending to him.

At first, like the room, she comes out as a mass of colors... familiar colors. Pink hair... the build was different from Charlotte, but before the finer details of her face become clear... he mutters a name.]

Luka...?

[Action]

[imxperfectlife]

[So scary. Each time he stirs she wants to get up and run away. She's so scared, so terrified... As his eyes open and his fangs and teeth are revealed she feels that she can't be even more scared, but it still adds up to it all. She trembles, shivers... But doesn't stop the towel's movements, neither runs away. Even when he turns to look at her

[Action]

[vulcanblazer]

[His vision slowly comes back together as he hears her voice. He gets a good look at the girl helping him... it wasn't who he thought. In his semi-delirious state, he had mistaken this Luka for the android who had left. In a way, he's a little disappointed when the truth is cleared up for him. But it doesn't show.

He's still coming around, so Luka's terror hasn't hit home yet, hasn't warned him of anything that's wrong. All he focuses on is the feeling the towel gives his exhausted and pounding head.

His eyes briefly glaze over as he takes in that feeling, a feeling of relief. The first he's felt in days.]

[Action]

[imxperfectlife]

[She doesn't want him to notice her terror, she tries to hide it, so far it's all good, so far she's still in one piece and he's not jumping at her roaring or anything. She focuses on that, tries to get comfort on it and on how his eyes glaze over as she caresses him. If she concentrates enough, if she avoids those demonic features he... Really looks tired, exhausted. He had been kidnapped, it was natural, right

[Action]

[vulcanblazer]

[In the brief moment she removes the towel from his head, he steals a glance at his surroundings. ...This wasn't his house. This wasn't his room. And it wasn't the clinic.

...And then the towel returns, and the soothing sound Luka made causing him to relax and sink deeper into the softness of the bed, and the pillow he was resting his head on.

His eyes glazing over again as she caresses him, he manages to speak, his voice quiet, still loopy, but... surprisingly peaceful for his appearance.]

W-where...

[Am I? But the words just wouldn't fully come out yet.]

[Action]

[imxperfectlife]

[He's still talking, but the voice is the same, it's peaceful it's... Him. Not a monster or a demon, not a roar or a scary sound brought from the deepest nightmare of the world. Even if she's still scared, trembling slightly, she holds to that, to anything that signals that he's himself. That it's safe. For both her and him.]

Home... W-we're safe at home now.

[Her home. It's not really her home, her mother isn't there, not even Miku or the others are there, but it's where she lives. It's her temporal home, but that's sad so she just calls it home. Even if it's not it, maybe if she says it enough times it will become the truth.

It's not his home either but... That other place isn't his home anymore. It's an empty house, big and empty for just him. If they are both without a home to get him to so he can rest and be safe, it's logical that she would drag him to her home, right? It's not their home, but there's no other place that can be labeled that way there and he can be safe here, he can rest and not be alone.]

[Action]

[vulcanblazer]

...Home...

[...For him, in the back of his mind, home is Veldime. He doesn't want to be here anymore. He just wants to leave a lot of this behind. He still has a handful of close friends here, but... the Netherworld has never felt more inviting after all of the people he loved vanishing like they did. After the days of raw torment he felt while kidnapped. What he could remember was torment, anyway.

But he knew... he couldn't just give up. He couldn't run. Not because he was trapped, but because it would be weakness. Weakness his pride, human or demon, never allowed him to have. He couldn't abandon the people here. It wouldn't be him.

...What was home now, anyway...?

He let out a soft groan as he tried again to move. His muscles were stiff and tired at first, but they responded. But he's not ready to get up just yet.]

Thank you, Luka...

[Action]

[imxperfectlife]

[She makes another soothing sound as he tries to move and groans, her free hand moving to rest on his chest to dispel any possible thoughts he had of getting up.]

I-it's okay, just rest... Y-You should sleep a bit, I-I'll be here.

[Action]

[vulcanblazer]

[He rests a hand on hers as it touches his chest.]

I've been doing a lot of sleeping, it seems like...

[Action]

[imxperfectlife]

B-But it was r-restless sleep... Y-You weren't safe, now you can rest.

[Action]

[vulcanblazer]

...The last thing I really want to do is sleep more right now.

[Action]

[imxperfectlife]

Th-Then just lay there and rest... I-I'll read toyou o-or something if you're bored.

[Because if he gets up, if he moves, he will notice himself. He will see himself in mirrors and reflections and realize what they did to him. Even if she's terrified, he's talking so normally, he sounds so rational... But what if he gets scared upon seeing himself? Or if it triggers something in him? She is still terrified but more for him than her right now, but still, if something bad happens to him, if he gets too scared, if he loses control, it will be bad for her too.]

[Action]

[vulcanblazer]

...All right. I will... I...

[He looks down to his hand, holding onto hers. Unfortunately for Luka... his skin is obviously a different color. He looks at his hand oddly.]

Huh? What the...?