Old muse resurfaced

[traitor_to_heaven]

Dear mun,

Hnn.

I see you finally noticed.

[ ...

Sigh. ]

You've never been active in 'fandom.' You avoid games with too much 'crack,' you call it. You certainly have never socialized much outside this place. You rarely use museboxes. And from what I hear from the others in your mind, you almost always wish for other cast members, or at least close family.

None of these habits are conducive to the latter.

I am unlikely to disappear. You needn't act swiftly on my account.

Comments

[forsworn]

This sounds familiar.

[traitor_to_heaven]

Your mun, too?

[forsworn]

Yes. By some wizardry, though, I still have a "home". She enjoys clinging to things.

[traitor_to_heaven]

So does mine. She tends to be better at useless crusades, though.

[forsworn]

At least those strike closer to home.

[traitor_to_heaven]

Hmm. [Pause.] I admit I'm curious--your 'home.' Are there any others from Aselia?

[forsworn]

Not at the moment. It's...[bad sign when you can't remember how long it's been] been a while.

[traitor_to_heaven]

[The lack of memory is noted.] That long?

[forsworn]

It's difficult to place events when people don't announce them.

[traitor_to_heaven]

It would be. I'm not familiar with it; as I said, my mun's never really taken me anywhere.

[forsworn]

[He bows his head as he smiles wryly...] An ignorance of the more blissful variety.

[...and raises it] Is your mun eager to change that tradition?

[traitor_to_heaven]

[Wry smile] So I've gathered.

She's considering it. I am not as impulsively forceful as the younger ones around here. It lowers the priority.

[forsworn]

I see. [yes, let the whippersnappers run off and play their games; we geezers will sit on the porch and complain] Best of luck to you if she becomes serious about it.

[traitor_to_heaven]

Heh. [Nod of acknowledgment.] Thank you.

[whoswayedanangel]

Sometimes it's just a matter of seizing the right opportunity. My mun sympathizes with the idea of "crack", though.

[traitor_to_heaven]

[ . . . ]

...Mine is picky about 'opportunities.' And claims a crack-allergy, or else she would have found somewhere by now.

[See all the stoic-face trying to hide the reflexive wave of guilt.]

[whoswayedanangel]

[She sees that. Sort of smiles "for" him, because of it.]

A "crack-allergy"? [Bit of a laugh.] Isn't this place just made up of that, though? Or is it more the parody "crack" from the OVA extras that she's thinking about?

[traitor_to_heaven]

[That smile just breaks his heart. Happy memories hurt.]

The latter, certainly. She originally meant the games with... similar humor or happenstance, I think.

[whoswayedanangel]

[They don't need to hurt, not like that. She reaches for him.]

Hmm, there are places that are a bit more serious in nature than that. A place that doesn't allow multiples and requires an application is usually a good place to start. Avoiding places that allow alternate realities is a suggestion my mun makes.

[traitor_to_heaven]

[Reaching for her hand in returns is reflexive.]

Yes. I think if she felt more strongly, there's at least once place she might consider.

[whoswayedanangel]

[She'll just be keeping that for now.]

Ah? What sort of place is it?

[traitor_to_heaven]

[He is visibly relaxing.]

Ah, the standard inexplicable transport to a city with monsters setting.

[whoswayedanangel]

[Good. But her smile dims a bit at the description, a brow arching; monsters?]

Sounds... active.

[traitor_to_heaven]

[Heh. Now he smiles, albeit sardonically.]

Primarily at night. [Beat.] And it's merely one isolated city.

[whoswayedanangel]

[She leans on him slightly, drawing out a thoughtful hum.]

Listen to you~ "Merely one"--that still sounds terrible. Though I suppose there are worse options.

[traitor_to_heaven]

[His raised eyebrow is faintly amused.]

Yes, 'merely one.' The worse option: a planet. [Like Aselia.]

[whoswayedanangel]

[...Which warrants a pinch to his arm. What do you mean that's childish retaliation? Lloyd had to get it from somewhere.]

Yes, an entire planet would be worse, but I meant more arbitrary curses or that sort of thing.

[traitor_to_heaven]

[Anna has a superpower: getting a real smile out of him.]

I'm fairly certain those happen sometimes as well. Muns are sadistic.

[whoswayedanangel]

[Which is a much better response, she thinks. But his smile brings hers back, and she moves to lean on him a bit.]

They can be that. Not always, though.

[traitor_to_heaven]

[His arm goes around her shoulders. It hurts--but stolen moments are worth it.]

Again, I'm working primarily on rumor.

[whoswayedanangel]

[Hers lock around his waist; if she could make it stop, she would.]

I'm only offering up another.

[traitor_to_heaven]

Mmm. Yours has not done anything extreme?

[whoswayedanangel]

Other than a necessary evil? No.

[traitor_to_heaven]

[Quiet sigh, holding her slightly closer.] Good.

[whoswayedanangel]

[Squeezes him around the middle a bit, pressing her cheek to his chest.]

I hope she's kind to you, whatever happens.

[A beat.]

Also...

[traitor_to_heaven]

I can take care of myself, Anna.

[Raised eyebrow.] Yes?

[whoswayedanangel]

Mmmm, that's not really the point, Kratos.

[She pouts a bit, fixing him with that look a second longer before going back to what she'd originally been planning on continuing with.]

Also... this guilt you carry...

[How to approach this? Funny thing about fourth walls...]

[traitor_to_heaven]

[He was going to say 'Then what was the point?'

Instead he goes still, waiting for whatever is on her mind.]

[whoswayedanangel]

[The point was she still hopes his mun will be kind for his sake. It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that.

This stillness, though...]

You should let go of it, or at least whatever is concerned with me.

[Not that it'll make any difference but here, but...]

[traitor_to_heaven]

[Four thousand years hasn't erased his guilt complex; her fate triggered all of it.

So he just rests his head on hers.

Silence speaks volumes.]

[whoswayedanangel]

[She sighs sadly, his name on her lips, and she holds him tightly--as apologetic as it is supportive and loving. There's nothing else she can do, here.]

[traitor_to_heaven]

[His arm around her tightens.]

I'm sorry.

[For failing her and Lloyd, for going back to Cruxis--for not stopping this before it started.]

[whoswayedanangel]

[Her cheek presses against his chest, but she draws back slightly after the apology. "It's alright" is only partly true--true for her, because he didn't fail her when she needed him to... stop her. Instead?]

There is good and there is bad in life. I value the good so much more.

[And he's part of the good, whether he wants to think about it or not. He and Lloyd and the time she had with them... It outweighs the ranch and her ending.]