[ She can never tell when and where she is needed next, only that from one moment to another, barely even the blink of an eye or the beginning of a breath, Setsuna finds herself at whichever ( wherever, whenever ) destination Fate decrees she must be.
She is staring at what she recognizes immediately is a door -- open, welcoming -- and the sounds of the world fill her ears. There is laughter and chatter and when her bearings finally catch up, the slightest twinge in her heart as her vision focuses on the sight of Aidan Clayce and Riley Falner, both men seated at a familiar long and otherwise vacated table, engaged in casual conversation.
It hurts. It always does. To stand apart, held back by the ban that keeps her from her loved ones. It is a thing that she has been learning ( has learned, she is as quick a study as she has ever been, and in the long-run, it is all the better ) to accept, to watch in silence; ever separate.
She isn't sure how long she stands there, watching, a small smile finally coming to her lips as she takes in the sight of two of her comrades; but then there is a tug on the not-wholly-just metaphorical strings and she turns around to acknowledge the presence of the one who can see her--
--only to be surprised that it is not just the American boy, the Sin-Eater, Joshua LaRue who is gaping at her in stunned surprise ( first at the sight of a woman dressed in the kimono that she is; but shortly after, because of her eyes, that unmistakable shade of violet that proclaims her a Shinta.
The rest of the people milling about have gone silent as well, and it is only then that it finally dawns on her that it is not just the boy who sees her -- because they all do. ]
[Riley is the one who notices it first, of course: he's the sharper one between them now, especially when it comes to something like this. So Aidan's left to watch his friend as the vampire's words stop short, as he frowns, turns, and looks.
He follows that gaze, and it holds. It holds for dear life.
He's only aware of the fact that he's on his feet and moving towards her a millisecond after the fact. What he notices more is how his mouth has gone dry, how he's only too aware of how fast his heart is beating now, how a part of him is going all the way back to the past.
2012 at the Falner Estate, a little after Operation Nyx. Standing with her, talking to her, breaking away to let her say her goodbyes, walking with her to bring her one step closer to leaving everything - everything they have built, everything they have come to love together - behind.]
Setsuna.
[It is her name and it is also, in that moment, so much more than that. Rare could anyone see such open shock on the Voidseeker's face, along with only too many other emotions.]
You're... you're here.
[And he can see her, and he is really standing in front of her now, just a few steps away from being very close. When Hikaru had come back with news from Mexico, he had almost not wanted to believe that it had happened. And now...]
[ It doesn't matter that his eyes have not left hers from that very moment when Riley had turned. It does not matter that it is only now that she is turning, the bewilderment still in her eyes that she is, for the first time in fifty long years, here again.
In Falner. In the one place she had come to come to think of as her true home.
When Aidan speaks her name, she feels it again, the twist in her heart, and a trembling hand reaches out to lay itself over the Voidseeker's heart, prompting an exhaled sound of surprise because not just seen, not just visible and looked upon truly after so long -- but tangible and solid.
She pulls back after what seems like a long, stretched out minute, the palm of her hand coming up to cover her mouth in a moment of sudden vulnerability before she breathes and recomposes herself.
It is on the very tip of her tongue to say, and yet, after all the broken off encounters ( ten minutes, only ten minutes at each time ) it is so hard to speak out loud: Tadaima.
[It's a touch that nearly undoes him. She's there, solid and present and there, within an arm's reach. After fifty fucking years.
Still, he knows what she is thinking, realizes how overwhelming all of this must be. Her next words, together with the expression on her face, provide him with an opportunity to make all of it a little better.]
Yes. Yes, it is. [Steady, steady now.] I've come to enjoy unusual, though.
[ Trust Aidan to know what to say and how to say it. Breaking away from his gaze now, if only for the moment, to scan the hall, the unfamiliar ( and familiar faces. )
This is so very, very strange. And for a moment her smile nearly slips. She knows how long she's had in the past; even in Mexico. Even with her own brother. ]
[He's placing both of his hands on her shoulders now, and resists the very real urge to grip tight, as if doing that might make sure that she doesn't float away from him again.]
[ Here is one Setsuna Shinta, sitting on the steps of Falner with her chin resting in the cradle of her palms as she frowns curiously, looking at all the people milling about.
No, she thinks quietly as her gaze follows a pair of novices who walk past, their noses buried in their books. Not that one either, as she sights a much older man, walking briskly towards the general direction of the Arcanum?
[He's joining her with those quiet words, coming around from behind to sit right beside her. There's a tiny smile in place, one that she is probably very familiar with.
Leave that for a moment. Trust me, it'll be worth it.]
[They have a better handle on the world now - or at least, Aidan likes to think that they do. There are others around who can pick up the slack, and give this particular spirit (the first love of his life, in this world) a bit of time to breathe.]
[And even though the words are harsh, she's sitting right next to Setsuna, close enough for their shoulders to touch, for her to lean in and peer into her friend's face.]
[About a minute after that, there's a pair of hands dropping a windbreaker on your shoulders, plopping a sports cap on your head, then dropping a change of clothes that matches those things to a tee on your lap. This is all promptly followed by one Jessiah Vice flopping down a few inches away from you, followed by his briefcase. Given the way he's dressed, he has probably come from another meeting with his People.]
I don't know about you, but this isn't the kind of weather to go kicking around in a summer kimono in.
[Brb, popping his briefcase open and bringing all of his stuff out. Laptop, phone, cigarettes, ashtray.
Thank you. [ Trust Jessiah Vice to be practical in all matters.
She'll go in to change in a bit, but for now: setting the spots cap on her head because the sun has gotten rather high and the sunshine, bright on the grounds, makes it a little difficult to watch with relative ease.
Chin in her palm again, eyes forward. ] How is your family doing, Jessie?
[Absent-minded, because he's now focused on what he's doing. If she cares to check over his shoulder, he is looking at pictures of himself, then at puppies. Them himself. Then puppies.]
[While Setsuna Shinta is on the steps, Rethe Kyriff is hovering around some distance behind her, headphones hanging around his neck, laptop clutched between his hands. Should he...? Could he...?
Man. This is embarrassing. Maybe he should just. Yeah.]
[ A look over her shoulder, and a smile that just blooms over her features. ]
Want to join me, Rethe? [ A gentle tilt of the head as she notes his laptop. ] Unless of course you're working. [ Very, very earnest. She remembers all to well the music he used to play back when she was around more regularly. ] In that case, carry on.
[The thunk-thunk-thunk announces Alistair Mordechai's arrival first before everything else (the crackle and smell of a lighted cigarette, the press of the particular gravitas of one man in the air behind her.
It doesn't quite match the way he looks now: bandaged up, tired of being injured, annoyed at the amount of effort it takes to walk down from his room to the fucking doorway.
Still, he did it for her. Of course he'd do it for her.
Settling down now, once he's reached his destination (that is, her side). Easing down, really, because the last thing he'd like to do is break his leg all over again, or end up in more pain than he already is. Pills can only do so much.
Sighing a little himself, out of relief and exasperation. Then quietly turning, acknowledging her presence properly with a minute nod, putting his cigarette out ,and digging around for his pack.
The canister goes down first, though, right between their bodies. A silent offering.]
Taskforce Valkyrie and their fucked up experiments. Normally wouldn't be a problem, except it happened to be a reverse-engineered, bad attempt at making a Paradox Eater.
[Sigh.]
Lost No More. || Set a week and a half after the threads above.
[He had heard about her appearance immediately, of course. Beyond the fact that his whisperers were pretty much everywhere, Falner Estate was his second home and the Malice Kings were his second family. Pretty much everyone in his blade had told him.
That, of course, meant that he had to stay the fuck away, and stay away was exactly what he applied himself to for over a week.
They had asked questions, of course. They had messaged him, or called, or come around to see him for himself. It was always more of the same.
She's here. Why aren't you going to see her?
Not a single one of them seemed to get it. How could he bring himself to go there? How could he bring himself to be with her, knowing full well that she could disappear at any moment, that there was never enough time? Having her gone completely was not nearly as bad, he had come to realize, as having her for the precise amount of time it took for him to get used to it before she was stolen from him yet again, or he was taken from her.
So, a couple of days and a lot of arguments later (with Liandrin and Jessie, of course), Hikaru Shinta is finally making his way down the steps and towards the main entrance of the Manor. He is walking like one might walk to one's execution; so much of him is still uncertain, unwilling. Could he really bring himself to this, when she was definitely going to--
--and it appeared as though his sister wasn't even AT the steps. Panic bites at him, swift and deadly, before he kills it, composes himself, moves out into the open, and looks.
He hears them before he sees them. Wolf's Choice, Rockin' Rollas and the Pack on alchemized chairs at the bottom of the steps and a little off to one side. His sister is with them, surrounded by their warmth, their chatter. Even Elias Tagabigay has dropped all of his masks, and is speaking to her as though he was seventeen all over again, and she was still one of his mentors.
There's a weird ache now, dull and heavy, in his chest. It's about enough to get him to turn and walk away all over again.
For some reason, though, he can't bring himself to move.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Unexpected Arrivals.
She is staring at what she recognizes immediately is a door -- open, welcoming -- and the sounds of the world fill her ears. There is laughter and chatter and when her bearings finally catch up, the slightest twinge in her heart as her vision focuses on the sight of Aidan Clayce and Riley Falner, both men seated at a familiar long and otherwise vacated table, engaged in casual conversation.
It hurts. It always does. To stand apart, held back by the ban that keeps her from her loved ones. It is a thing that she has been learning ( has learned, she is as quick a study as she has ever been, and in the long-run, it is all the better ) to accept, to watch in silence; ever separate.
She isn't sure how long she stands there, watching, a small smile finally coming to her lips as she takes in the sight of two of her comrades; but then there is a tug on the not-wholly-just metaphorical strings and she turns around to acknowledge the presence of the one who can see her--
--only to be surprised that it is not just the American boy, the Sin-Eater, Joshua LaRue who is gaping at her in stunned surprise ( first at the sight of a woman dressed in the kimono that she is; but shortly after, because of her eyes, that unmistakable shade of violet that proclaims her a Shinta.
The rest of the people milling about have gone silent as well, and it is only then that it finally dawns on her that it is not just the boy who sees her -- because they all do. ]
O-oh, [ the sound of surprise seems oddly apt.
This has... never happened before. ]
Left you love notes on plurk. owo
He follows that gaze, and it holds. It holds for dear life.
He's only aware of the fact that he's on his feet and moving towards her a millisecond after the fact. What he notices more is how his mouth has gone dry, how he's only too aware of how fast his heart is beating now, how a part of him is going all the way back to the past.
2012 at the Falner Estate, a little after Operation Nyx. Standing with her, talking to her, breaking away to let her say her goodbyes, walking with her to bring her one step closer to leaving everything - everything they have built, everything they have come to love together - behind.]
Setsuna.
[It is her name and it is also, in that moment, so much more than that. Rare could anyone see such open shock on the Voidseeker's face, along with only too many other emotions.]
You're... you're here.
[And he can see her, and he is really standing in front of her now, just a few steps away from being very close. When Hikaru had come back with news from Mexico, he had almost not wanted to believe that it had happened. And now...]
That, I saw =w=
In Falner. In the one place she had come to come to think of as her true home.
When Aidan speaks her name, she feels it again, the twist in her heart, and a trembling hand reaches out to lay itself over the Voidseeker's heart, prompting an exhaled sound of surprise because not just seen, not just visible and looked upon truly after so long -- but tangible and solid.
She pulls back after what seems like a long, stretched out minute, the palm of her hand coming up to cover her mouth in a moment of sudden vulnerability before she breathes and recomposes herself.
It is on the very tip of her tongue to say, and yet, after all the broken off encounters ( ten minutes, only ten minutes at each time ) it is so hard to speak out loud: Tadaima.
Instead, she smiles: ] Well, this is... unusual.
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Still, he knows what she is thinking, realizes how overwhelming all of this must be. Her next words, together with the expression on her face, provide him with an opportunity to make all of it a little better.]
Yes. Yes, it is. [Steady, steady now.] I've come to enjoy unusual, though.
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This is so very, very strange. And for a moment her smile nearly slips. She knows how long she's had in the past; even in Mexico. Even with her own brother. ]
I guess this means I'm... needed here?
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Yes, I think so.
[You always have been.]
On These Steps.
No, she thinks quietly as her gaze follows a pair of novices who walk past, their noses buried in their books. Not that one either, as she sights a much older man, walking briskly towards the general direction of the Arcanum?
O..oh. No, not that one either.
She sighs. ]
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[He's joining her with those quiet words, coming around from behind to sit right beside her. There's a tiny smile in place, one that she is probably very familiar with.
Leave that for a moment. Trust me, it'll be worth it.]
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So many fate strings, and none of them the right one.
[ And then, quietly: ] It's just so unnerving, Aidan. To have no idea at all, as to why I'm still here.
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There's always tomorrow.
[They have a better handle on the world now - or at least, Aidan likes to think that they do. There are others around who can pick up the slack, and give this particular spirit (the first love of his life, in this world) a bit of time to breathe.]
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I'm sure Aidan has already approached you for today.
[Yes, she checked.]
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[ Yes, she knows you would rather not get called that, but humor her for a little while. ]
And yes, he actually has. [ Ever reliable in his habits, Aidan. ]
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[And even though the words are harsh, she's sitting right next to Setsuna, close enough for their shoulders to touch, for her to lean in and peer into her friend's face.]
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I don't know about you, but this isn't the kind of weather to go kicking around in a summer kimono in.
[Brb, popping his briefcase open and bringing all of his stuff out. Laptop, phone, cigarettes, ashtray.
Is he going to settle down here? For real?]
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She'll go in to change in a bit, but for now: setting the spots cap on her head because the sun has gotten rather high and the sunshine, bright on the grounds, makes it a little difficult to watch with relative ease.
Chin in her palm again, eyes forward. ] How is your family doing, Jessie?
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[Absent-minded, because he's now focused on what he's doing. If she cares to check over his shoulder, he is looking at pictures of himself, then at puppies. Them himself. Then puppies.]
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Man. This is embarrassing. Maybe he should just. Yeah.]
Um.
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Want to join me, Rethe? [ A gentle tilt of the head as she notes his laptop. ] Unless of course you're working. [ Very, very earnest. She remembers all to well the music he used to play back when she was around more regularly. ] In that case, carry on.
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W-well, I was actually thinking if I could... if it was all right, could I...?
[Can I join you? Please? If you don't mind?]
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It doesn't quite match the way he looks now: bandaged up, tired of being injured, annoyed at the amount of effort it takes to walk down from his room to the fucking doorway.
Still, he did it for her. Of course he'd do it for her.
Settling down now, once he's reached his destination (that is, her side). Easing down, really, because the last thing he'd like to do is break his leg all over again, or end up in more pain than he already is. Pills can only do so much.
Sighing a little himself, out of relief and exasperation. Then quietly turning, acknowledging her presence properly with a minute nod, putting his cigarette out ,and digging around for his pack.
The canister goes down first, though, right between their bodies. A silent offering.]
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A gentle smile: ] You should be resting. [ Infinite patience. ] What happened.
[ It's not a question, but a prompt. ]
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[Sigh.]
Lost No More. || Set a week and a half after the threads above.
That, of course, meant that he had to stay the fuck away, and stay away was exactly what he applied himself to for over a week.
They had asked questions, of course. They had messaged him, or called, or come around to see him for himself. It was always more of the same.
She's here. Why aren't you going to see her?
Not a single one of them seemed to get it. How could he bring himself to go there? How could he bring himself to be with her, knowing full well that she could disappear at any moment, that there was never enough time? Having her gone completely was not nearly as bad, he had come to realize, as having her for the precise amount of time it took for him to get used to it before she was stolen from him yet again, or he was taken from her.
So, a couple of days and a lot of arguments later (with Liandrin and Jessie, of course), Hikaru Shinta is finally making his way down the steps and towards the main entrance of the Manor. He is walking like one might walk to one's execution; so much of him is still uncertain, unwilling. Could he really bring himself to this, when she was definitely going to--
--and it appeared as though his sister wasn't even AT the steps. Panic bites at him, swift and deadly, before he kills it, composes himself, moves out into the open, and looks.
He hears them before he sees them. Wolf's Choice, Rockin' Rollas and the Pack on alchemized chairs at the bottom of the steps and a little off to one side. His sister is with them, surrounded by their warmth, their chatter. Even Elias Tagabigay has dropped all of his masks, and is speaking to her as though he was seventeen all over again, and she was still one of his mentors.
There's a weird ache now, dull and heavy, in his chest. It's about enough to get him to turn and walk away all over again.
For some reason, though, he can't bring himself to move.]