Home Away From Home

[chatterboxchamp]

STATUS: COMPLETE
CHARACTER(S): Sieg (chatterboxchamp , Suikoden Tierkreis), Jale (hijacked jale_bait , Suikoden Tierkreis), Sieg??, Jale??, Marica??, Liu?? ( not_15 )
LOCATION: A white space.
SUMMARY: Sieg and Jale find themselves in a strange white space with a pickle, a box of crayons, an American football, pimple cream, two bobby pins, pig's feet, a drum set, an AK-47, and a

Comments

[jale_bait]

Jale, like a few others, had the privilege of crossing worlds, a luxury that was unavailable to his closest friend. Despite Sieg's contagious enthusiasm, Jale himself had little interest in crossing over unless he needed something done. No sense in sending other people when he could just as well do it himself. Granted, this could sometimes lead to compromising situations

[chatterboxchamp]

In contrast to his Jale's reaction, Sieg looked as happy as Felicia in a room full of Porpos-kin. "Jale! You came too, huh?" But even in his excitement, he noticed that a certain yellow light that should have been behind Jale was missing. He peeked around his friend and did a three-sixty before a little frown came across his face.

"Is it just me, or did the Gateway disappear?" He waved his arms around the area where Jale had come from, then, when he got no results, took a few searching steps as a blind man might in the direction of his own arrival point. Where he thought it was, anyway. If it weren't for Jale and the little pile on the floor, he might as well have been blind. It was impossible to tell which way was right or left in this place.

[jale_bait]

"Seems like," Jale replied, slowly turning to follow Sieg's movements. His eyes rested on the area where there at least should've been traces of a portal but instead found white, white, and more white. He half-expected that

[chatterboxchamp]

Sieg scratched his head in thought for a moment, making a second evaluation now that the excitement had worn off a bit. The absolute stillness and quietude were kind of eerie, now that he stopped to notice it. It made him antsy to create some noise just to reassure himself that his ears were still working. As for the Gateway, he wouldn't worry too much about it. If there was a way in, there had to be a way out, right?

At Jale's question, Sieg jogged over to join his friend and pop a squat for a closer look. "I dunno, I've never seen a buncha these things. Though I'm pretty sure that's a pickle... Tastes like one, anyway," he grinned around the bite he had taken without a moment's pause.

Noticing the object of Jale's interest, he watched curiously as he poked and prodded at the leather. "What's that ya got there?"

harder and bigger

[jale_bait]

"Uh... Uhuh," Jale offered as a response. He steadied himself at the edge of the portal, watching as Sieg disappeared into the floor. The appeal of jumping in and letting the other boy catch him was... just not there. It wasn't that he didn't trust the guy but his experiences with this room and its portals weren't especially good testimonies as to what may happen

this post is pretty much ours, huh;;

[chatterboxchamp]

Catching Jale was like catching a brick wall. As much as he had prepared himself for it, the force of Jale's body as it fell into his awaiting arms was too much shock for him to handle. He grunted as his knees buckled under him, then completely gave way, pitching him backwards. All of Jale's weight crashed onto him, punching the air out of his lungs and reducing his vision to an explosion of white. He tried to roll over, but with Jale on him, he had to settle with coughing weakly, shutting his eyes, and waiting for the pain to go away.

yeah, no kidding

[jale_bait]

Jale didn't know when he shut his eyes but after his rough landing, he thought it was only practical to open them again. He let his eyes adjust to the new scenery, blinking slowly, taking in some other color that wasn't white. Blinking a few more times to make sure he hadn't started hallucinating, it finally registered that they had gotten out of that creepy place. His newfound optimism was interrupted by the faint coughing beneath him. Ah, wasn't someone supposed to catch him...?

"Sieg!" He practically bolted up and off his smaller friend, ignoring his nausea while using his good hand to inspect the pancake that had once been Sieg. "Sorry... Too soon, huh?"

well, as long as the kids are away, we've got the whole house to ourselves, bb~

[chatterboxchamp]

"Nah," Sieg coughed, propping himself up on his elbows and waving Jale's hand away. "You were good. Just... give me a moment..."

He breathed in and out slowly, clearing his head as the pain faded away. Thankfully, it didn't seem like anything was broken. He got up slowly and stretched, a little smile coming on as he took in his surroundings. "Phew! It sure feels great, seein' something other than white! We weren't in there for very long, but it feels like it's been forever." His pants still reeked of that liquid stuff, though. It didn't seem like the kind of smell that came off easily. But even with gasoline stinking up his nose, he could make out another scent on the air.

"Is it just me or does it smell kinda sweet?" He peered around at the forest around them and sniffed the air, trying to find a source. "C'mon, it might lead us to someone who can help." He sidled up next to Jale, motioning for him to put his arm around his shoulder again so that they could get moving.

[jale_bait]

"Now, hold still. I've almost got it..."

Jale felt the knife dig around between his muscles of his arm, touching bone and nerve --- rather recklessly, he thought--- as the metal insertion searched for the bullet. Despite the administration of a painkiller, short bursts of pain ran up his shoulder every now and then though not as bad as they would've been if he didn't have the drug.

The village was as Marica said, just a few miles from the forest. They had gotten there in record time, partially due to Marica's unrelentingly quick pace, and Jale was stunned to see such a familiar sight. It was a small and busy place, thriving with villagers that had little but enough to live happily. Carts pulled by yellow laggarts --- this made him do a double-take --- bounced through the dirt roads and crowded market with various crops, textiles, and even small children just along for the ride filled the back. It reminded him so much of Citro, it was almost painful.

"Alright... Almost... Ah!" Plunk. "Got it

[chatterboxchamp]

Sieg almost kind of regretted his insistence on being in the room while the doctor er... operated on Jale. In a way. He wanted to be there as a source of comfort because really, not even Jale could think about getting stabbed in the arm with a knife and being dug around in without feeling just a teeny tiny bit nervous. That was Sieg's intention, anyway, but he found that he was the one getting nervous now and had to resist hard from jumping up in the middle of the operation and shouting, are ya really sure you're a doctor?! But he kept his mouth shut, fearing above all that something he would do would make her mess up. He grimaced in secondhand pain as she poked and probed her way down to the bullet and twisted and squirmed at Jale's obvious discomfort, and yet he could never quite look away

[not_15]

"Uh, yes! Yes." Liu approached Jale, more nervous than the boy himself, with his staff at the ready. "Sorry if I made you wait..." He shrugged, bashful. "C-Can't really stand the sight of..." A tentative wave of his hand. "... B-Blood, you know. Makes me right queasy

[chatterboxchamp]

Sieg gazed at the entrance thoughtfully. "Is it just me or does he seem kinda nervous to you?" He rubbed his chin absently. "Nah, must be my imagination. Anyway, how's the arm?"

He returned his attention to Jale and bent over to inspect the newly healed spot. He had to say that it was refreshing to see it so nice and clean! All that blood didn't really flatter Jale's arm, if he could say so himself. "Looks good to me! It seems like Liu really does know his stuff." Satisfied, he straightened up and beamed. "Now what would ya like to do? We can rest here a bit if you're feelin' beat, or we can walk around and see a bit of the village."

[not_15]

"... Ow."

The Commander touched his reddened cheek, visibly cringing when cold fingers met hot skin. The chill ghosted over injured flesh, encouraging the needle-like tingling that fleeted across his face and down his neck. His smile had not disappeared but was thoroughly crippled from the whopping blow he had received square across the cheek. The room seemed to sink, burdened by the heaviness of the silence after Sieg's quiet interjection.

Then he laughed.

"Man, she is the Ice Queen! But I gotta say, I thought her hits were just as cold as she was..." His voice dipped into a soft murmur. "... But whaddya know." His voice did not betray him, still thick with charm and amusement, though if one listened carefully, it trembled ever so slightly. Those subtle titillations no doubt came from his own laughter though they were perhaps further aided by some other emotion with no name. The bemused smile returned, playing on injured lips that did the deed, but did little to conceal the fleeting regret that flitted across smoky eyes. "They'

[chatterboxchamp]

With Jale gone, it was just Sieg and his other self in the room. He had been just as surprised as anyone when the older Sieg had pressed his lips to Marica's hand -- because even if this was a different world, these were still "Sieg" and "Marica", and he'd never even entertained the thought of putting his lips anywhere near his own Marica -- but he was doubly surprised by the lady knight, who had been so proper and stoic to this point. It unsettled him that his supposed counterpart could make her so upset.

Sieg watched his other self from where he stood at the door and crossed his arms. "Of course," he said skeptically. "You'd hafta live in a pretty backwards place to expect otherwise." He tilted his head and furrowed his brow. "Why'd ya go and do a thing like that, anyway? You must've known it would bother her."

[not_15]

Sieg lowered his eyes for a brief moment then looked up as if renewed in his resolve. "Perhaps," he admitted, unabashed by his actions. "But live and let live, I always say." His brow furrowed and his mouth twitched at this white lie but he let his tells pass.

A dull pain ran through his neck and shoulder and it was at that point that the man realized he hadn't gotten to sit down since the early morning. Much like a satisfied cat, he stretched his neck and back, pushing his arms away from his body with fingers entwined. A contented sigh escaped his lips as he sat upon the soft mattress on the cot, feeling the sting of cold wood through his cotton pants. Locking eyes with his younger self, he chuckled. "You should try it some time. I bet you're a real lady-killer yourself."

[chatterboxchamp]

"As far as I've seen, girls aren't that great," the younger Sieg said, recalling that weird girl that hung outside of his room all day and night. "Not in that way, anyway." He drew closer, feeling awkward by the doorway.

"But that's not the point. Haven't ya heard of respecting someone's personal space? You can't just go around kissin' people if they don't wanna be kissed. Doesn't matter if it's a lady or not." He found himself already a bit ticked off at the attitude this guy was giving him. The least he could do was sit up straight and not look so... uncaring.

[not_15]

Jale took a deep breath as he stepped out of the hut and got his legs moving, mentally chastising himself for letting Sieg get to him like that. It was just a silly little hat, after all. No need to get riled up...

But this was the way it always was between them. No matter how petty he knew their arguments were, he couldn't keep himself from snapping every time. The problem wasn't just with Sieg, either; he'd had his fair share of spats with Marica and occasionally Liu. There had been a time in his life when most jibes rolled right off his shoulders, but not anymore. He was a ticking bomb nowadays. He sighed and massaged his forehead, wondering exactly when he had gotten this way. Seeing his younger self so calm and unassuming had really dug up old wounds.

Jale kept moving, content to blend in with the crowd and become anonymous for just a short while. He had no destination in mind as long as it was far away from familiar faces.

[not_15]

"Uh... Yes, just a few of those, please. And, hmm... I should buy a few Revival Statues, just to be safe..." Liu continued to prattle on, reading off the rather long list he carried with him. There were a series of edits to be found on the parchment, indicated by the inky black scratches made by his quill, since he assumed that their two new companions would be accompanying them for a while. He sighed in relief and was glad that he had enough Potch to pay for all their provisions

[not_15]

... Figures. Someone somewhere really hated him. Jale took a fistful of Liu's coat and hauled him roughly to his feet, already feeling a bit of the old anger coming back. "You're kidding me," he groaned, "Is there not one day when you don't ruin everything you touch?" He crouched down and started picking through the pile, shoving this or that at Liu for him to hold. A few medicines and tranquilizers were broken in the fall, so he tossed them aside before gathering the rest it up in his own arms.

He really didn't feel like errand-running at the moment, but there was no telling how much more money Liu would waste if left to his own devices. "Where to, Tattoo-Face?" he asked roughly.

[not_15]

"T-Tattoo-Face...?" Liu stuttered as he was brought up to his feet. He stumbled a little, unprepared when Jale pretty much started chucking every item this way and that. "Well, I was just going to v-visit the trading post to meet some m-merchants -- H-Hold on, Jale!"

His friend seemed troubled. That is, more than usual. The mage had noticed the fighter's increasingly shortening fuse as the days dragged on, most noticeably when the Commander was around. He never asked nor prodded since Jale seemed unwilling to divulge his worries. Plus, death threats were enough to deter most sensible people who wish to live to a ripe, old age. Today was no different. He felt the beginnings of a familiar anxiousness stir up within him, causing a rather pathetic whimper to rise from his throat.

"Uh... J-Jale... Are you okay...? I mean, not that you're not okay! Well, I mean, you're clearly not but..." Closing his eyes and breathing deeply to fend off his unrelenting speech habit, Liu spoke again, still intimidated but with more gusto than before. "