emet_sulk | [avalon] IC Inbox

[Her voice sounds rawer than she wants it to when she replies. Damn it.]

Could be. The dead never quite come back right, after all, even if he doesn't appear to be as unhinged as Emperor Xande.

[Who Emet probably knew personally, in some capacity. It does make her wonder if Garlemald was his first attempt at direct reign, if he'd only tried to manipulate from the shadows until then... but it's likely there were plenty of reasons to take a more direct approach the next time around, if so.]

Is it truly better not to remember your own death? One would think a virtuous man would take that experience, despite all the pain surrounding it, and use it to prevent making the same mistakes again...

Do you have even the slightest idea how traumatic death is to the soul?

[ His voice is flat as he looks her way, expression devoid of humour. ]

I have been poisoned, strangled, decapitated, put to the torch, drowned, been crushed, been torn apart, had numerous weapons tear through my body in various places - and that is with the knowledge I would outlive my temporary vessel of flesh. Mortals fear death far, far more than one of my nature does.

When Xande was resurrected, it did not surprise me at all to see him turn to nihilism. Rare is the man who glimpses the shore on the other side and returns entirely sane. And so I would not be surprised to hear that the wizard is keeping his king together behind the curtains.

[Irhya opens her mouth as he lists off his various deaths, then closes it. That... wouldn't be surprising, that Merlin is actually the one pulling most of the strings because Arthur isn't quite himself anymore.]

The same can be said of you too, huh?

[Her ears tilt down.]

There are some who see it as traumatic, and others who see it as restful. I look at you Ascians sometimes, and I can't help but feel that perhaps living forever isn't as much of a blessing as it's made out to be. Especially when the world is like it is.

Look... I know our opinions on this are always going to differ. We came from different worlds entirely, different societies with different values. I'm all right with that. I can't be perfect, but I do my best with everything else. I just hope you have enough tolerance now to understand that, too.

[ Curling up, he drops his head on to his arms. The image of his old friend in the cavern's hot spring yet remains fresh in his mind. Though he realises now the danger he had been in, he craves the illusion. That's why he rebuilt Amaurot's facade and populated it with ghosts. That's why he's so afraid to lose Hythlodaeus.

Illusions are all he has left.

His fingers dig painfully into his upper arms. His voice is thick and muffled. ]

Tolerate it I must, for I lost my battle against the Warrior of Light I know and that means the future is yours to shape, as I have said. But that won't make it any easier to bear. 'Tis a future I and my people have no place in. We who were caretakers of the star and who cherished and nourished it...

[ He falls silent, throat seizing up. He tells himself fiercely that he isn't going to cry. ]

[There is little more she can do; nothing she says will seem any more but hollow, coming from her. She gets up onto her knees and puts a hand on his hair, peering in to try and catch a glimpse of his eyes.]

I know. I'm sorry.

[But she can't just leave it there, or they'll end up right back where they started. Mayhap if she can distract him...]

Listen, do you want to... I don't know, take a walk or something? I know sunny beaches aren't exactly your thing, but maybe it'll calm you down.

[ He did like beaches before, he thinks, but he keeps that to himself. It would only sour things again.

His head lifts slightly. No tears, but he looks on edge. ]

...Alright.

[ He's slow to uncurl but he gets to his feet, brushing off the sand before offering her a hand up. ]

[Did Amaurot have beaches? She can't help but wonder if he'd ever been to one, before. But staying on that topic will probably just drive things right back into depressing territory, and she's aiming to avoid that... much though she longs to know.]

And now that I have you up again... do you swim, by any chance?

[A grin. She's fully expecting to be rebuffed on this one, but she does enjoy swimming, excessive sand be damned.]

I know how to swim.

[ He gives her a shrewd, sidelong look. ]

But I did not bring a bathing costume with me.

So?

[The reply is airy as she leads him to the water's edge, slipping off her boots and socks and tossing them just out of the reach of the waves.]

It's fine. All you have to do is take your shoes off, right?

[ Still completely, utterly suspicious of her motives, he edges closer to the tideline and slowly bends down to remove his shoes and socks. ]

That hardly counts as swimming, Irhya. All we're doing is dipping our toes into the water.

We could go deeper.

[All of a sudden, she nudges his side, though probably not strongly enough to knock him over. Even at full power, she might have trouble with that just given the height difference.]

Come on, you just need to let it all go for a while. If that means finding a secluded area and stripping to make the most of it, what's wrong with that?

[ He straightens, holding his shoes with the socks neatly tucked inside. ]

If we stripped down, someone could see.

[ That is one thing Duplicity hasn't been able to endear him to. Flaunting his body in public? Absolutely not. ]

[And so she laughs, noticing him stiffen.]

Yes, the danger is rather the point, isn't it?

[...Which is a very Irhya answer. She sloshes a little deeper into the waves, until she is about knee-deep in the surf.]

All right, all right. But... someday, I want to take you swimming on a warm beach like this. I don't know if I'll ever get to, but it'd be nice.

[ He watches her wade into the surf, feeling another uneasy twinge in his breast. He's felt it often enough that he doesn't bother to assign a name to it. Whether it's 'guilt' or 'self-loathing', it's a constant companion by now.

What does it feel like to laugh like there's no tomorrow waiting? ]

If we...

[ He falters, biting his lip. ]

If we returned to the city, briefly, and bought something to wear... It is not too late in the day to take a swim.

[The smile is wiped off her face as she turns around and looks at him, genuinely surprised. She wipes sweat from her forehead with one arm, laughing.]

Aye... I suppose it is not. I don't even own anything specifically for swimming, so maybe it'd be worth it to finally have one...

[Invigorated by the attempt to meet her halfway, she whirls around and plods out of the water, quickly slipping her footwear back on.]

If we're quick about it, we can probably catch the last few bells of daylight before the sunset!

[ He nods, relieved that she has accepted her idea. It is a matter of seconds to wipe the sand off his feet and put his own shoes back on. It is not a terribly long trip back to the city but the sun is certainly beginning its descent towards the horizon by the time they manage to return to the beach, both of them with their new swimming gear beneath their clothes.

This time Hades feels no reservation about stripping off his clothes. His familiar sits on the sand by the pile, yawning widely. She will guard their possessions while they swim. ]

[Of course, both had to needle the other about their choice, just a little; and yet, just to herself, she thinks that's part of the fun of it. In a good mood now, she drops her clothes off next to his and trots back into the water, diving into an incoming wave, then quickly resurfacing.

(Somewhere deep in the confines of her bag, Sushi is taking shelter from the sun, and one can faintly see the outline of four paws at the bottom.)]

Ahhh, gods, it feels good to jump right in! It's been a while.

[A lot of the people who stayed to help with the ship's cleaning have since packed up and left, leaving just a scant few sunning themselves or walking along the shore at this hour. The sun is low in the sky, but still has a few hours to give, she thinks.]

Think we'll find any exotic wildlife here? I know there's some weird stuff in the water here sometimes... new arrivals included.

[ He shakes his head, entering the water at a far more sedate pace. He doesn't dive into the waves as they come but instead stands stiffly as they try to unsuccessfully bowl him over. He wishes there is something he can do to protect his Garlean eye from being damaged by anything in the water, but, well, Garleans are not native here. The goggles he has are sadly only for those possessing two eyes. ]

If there is any 'exotic wildlife' here, I hope it does not try to eat us.

[Laughing, she dips into the water and plucks a hermit crab from the bottom, presenting it to him.]

You really think something this small is gonna try to eat you? We got the goggles, so we might as well take a look at whatever's swimming around at the bottom here, right?

We already know they have giant cephalopods here. 'Tis those that I am concerned about.

[ Aka. Krakens. He sighs and waves away the hermit crab, pulling down his goggles. ]

Fine. Let us see what the ocean floor has to offer here.

[Whatever. Krakens are soft and squishy and Irhya's confident she can take one. Waving a hand at him, she dives down and sifts through the sand to see what she can find. The belongings of otherworlders often end up at the bottom, too, but if there have been shipwrecks here, perhaps those are not the only things worth finding.

Happening across something that gleams in the light, she unearths a waterlogged smartphone, resurfacing to examine it. It doesn't turn on, obviously, but everything seems to be there, and the screen is intact...]

I guess someone dropped their thing into the water. That's gotta bite.

[ As he expects, diving into the briny ocean without something to cover his third eye ends up making it sting uncomfortably. As it isn't a real eye, he isn't worried about it being affected by the salt water. Still, he grabs the first interesting shape he sees and swims back to the surface. ]

I will admit to being impressed that their technology is advanced enough to produce such intricate machinery. Allag may have managed it within another thousand years if left to prosper.

[ He glances at what he's managed to find. Unfortunately, just a small piece of driftwood. Damn. ]

I wish Eorzea had these; tomestones are so limited in comparison. I guess advancement tends to be limited when the world ends so often.

[No one else ever seems to have the same problem, but that probably stands to reason. Their world is... a little unique in its issues. It doesn't sound like she intends to make a big deal out of it, though, as she folds her ears back again to dive under.

There aren't a lot of fish to see in the shallows, just a few snails and hermit crabs near the bottom. It's fun to distract herself watching them go about their day, though, until she has to come up for air. The sky has started to turn dusky, and the light is just right to catch on anything shiny down below in this narrow window of time. Though it looks like there's something glittering under the sand a short distance away...]

[ He looks somewhat dubious of the idea as he tries to imagine Eorzeans living lives resembling the non-smutty parts of Duplicity. The energy required to power such devices on a daily basis would be enormous. Possibly far greater than the world's aether could support.

Humming vaguely, he lets the driftwood sink back down to the bottom of the ocean and dives back down with her. He swims a little ways off to examine some rocks, having spotted a small octopus taking refuge in a crevice. Too small to be a kraken, thankfully.

He comes up for air a short time later, kicking his way back leisurely to where he last saw Irhya as he waits for her to emerge. ]

[Irhya surfaces a small ways away, holding something small in her fist, and swims back to meet Hades, looking around.]

Just a coin. Not a very valuable one, either. You find anything?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject