TP - PERIDOT DORM 1.0

[impacter]

If any of the Peridots die, we shall make a new dorm PC (unless the dead, idk, become ghosts or something).

Comments

[impacter]

Ah. You found the rest of it, then.

[Mm.

He quietly pivots to turn his back to Ainosuke, shoulder leaned up against one wall, keeping his eyes on the flowers instead. No need to watch him unrobe.]

Are you alright?

[fullswingkiss]

[ This, too, would be worth teasing if he were in any mood for it. So shy, all of a sudden... But no, Ainosuke doesn't care about the courtesy right now, he just needs to get out of his bloody clothes without much regard for being looked at. ]

I could ask you much the same. You just found a severed head.

[ They should be in the same boat here, similarly unnerved. Yet, they are not. Same as on their arrival day. It irritates him. ]

[impacter]

I did. Up on the church altar, no less.

[In some ways, it's easier to talk like this, unable to see his face. Knowing that Ainosuke can't see his in return, that he can't see how unhappy he feels, or how his eyes darken thinking of how Annette had screamed.

"Oh, Solomon, you could have at least shielded the poor child."

...

He exhales heavily as he glances down at the blood on his sleeves, on an outfit never made for him.]

Even bracing for it to happen, it's still unbearably cruel.

[fullswingkiss]

[ There's a mirthless laugh from Ainosuke at that information. On the altar - of course. Spiting the God that has decided their wishes are beyond redemption, while following His order all the same. That's how it always goes with God, doesn't it? In the end, your anger just drives you back to Him as well.

He throws his shirt to the side, pretenses of politeness and tidiness forgotten. ]

... you've seen cruelties like this before, haven't you?

[impacter]

[He hums in response. A vague affirmative with little shape.]

Not to the letter, if that's what you're asking.

[fullswingkiss]

The broad strokes explain enough.

[ They're from wholly different walks of life, and this drives it home a lot more than something as fantastical as magic could have. ]

[impacter]

A life taken needlessly is a life that could have loved, fought, and encouraged. It could have been so much more. Reduced to nothing but collateral, becoming an object, because of one wrong decision.

[...]

There's nothing shameful in being shaken by that.

[fullswingkiss]

[ Ainosuke scoffs. It's a perfect repeat of their first day here. Regardless of what happened in-between, they're just right back where they started: with unwanted sympathy. ]

A beautiful eulogy. Maybe those clothes suit you after all.

[ And with that, he's off to the shower, unwilling to be talked to like a child any longer. ]