#D20000

[lacrimose]

Ryo's gone home.

[He doesn't have a lot more to say about it than that. People should know, but there's no point in being upset about it on the network.]

by the way, we all agree no one's going to try quest 67, right?

Comments

private

[passio]

[ dextera sees the post, and it seems important for akira to say his piece, so he doesn’t post about ryo to the public eye.

instead, he decides to send this privately. ]

He’s really gone?

private

[lacrimose]

yeah. I looked everywhere for him to make sure.

[passio]

I noticed in my messages, but I didn’t want to believe it. He’d been here since the beginning.

[lacrimose]

yeah...

Feels like when we were kids all over again. Back then we spent every day together, and one day he was taken away.

[And now he's at a loss, just like back then. He'd gotten used to having Ryo be there for him, and the other way around; they'd spent way more time together here than they were ever able to at home.]

[passio]

[ dextera doesn’t know what to say. akira surely must be hurting much more than he ever could, and for a moment, it feels selfish to talk to him about this at all. ]

I don’t know if he’ll be back. People usually don’t come back.

But I’ve lost a lot of friends here. I know what it’s like.

[lacrimose]

Sorry. [It doesn't feel selfish to Akira. He absolutely can't ever cry for himself and his own sadness. But Dextera's sadness and all the friends he's lost -- that's easy enough to cry for.]

I'm glad he got to meet you. Being able to open up to someone new... I think that made him happy.

[passio]

[ seeing akira’s kind words, his fondness for ryo, makes tears well up in his eyes. dextera has a lot of regrets about the ups and downs of their relationship, both his own with ryo, and akira’s. he wishes he could have done more for them. ]

Can we meet? I want to talk.

[lacrimose]

yeah. Want me to come to your place?

[He doesn't really want to stay home, for obvious reasons. It had been Ryo's place long before he moved in.]

[passio]

You would prefer that, right?

[ they can go through ryo’s things later, when it’s easier, but he just wants to talk for now. ]

[lacrimose]

yeah.

I'll be there soon.

[Sure enough, there's a knock on Dextera's door a little while later. Any excuse to get out is a good one right now, so he didn't waste any time heading over.]

[passio]

[ dextera takes a deep breath before he answers the door, but it’s largely to psyche himself up to just—give akira a hug. after everything, he thinks they both need it, even if dextera has never been the huggy type. ]

…I’m sorry.

[lacrimose]

[Akira returns the hug, half-burying his face into Dextera's shoulder. It's unexpected, but nice.]

It's okay. [His voice is gentle. This has to be harder on Dextera than it is for him.]

[passio]

He…

[ dextera doesn’t know what to say. his heart aches, suddenly. maybe it’s seeing akira here that makes it much more real. ]

I don’t want him… to be gone. We still…

[lacrimose]

[Akira wishes he could think of something comforting to say. "Maybe he'll come back" or "somehow you'll see him again" just feel like false promises. How would he know? He doesn't.

So he just continues to hold him.]

...I was giving him a hard time, before he vanished. [Avoiding him, even. Some friend he is.]

[passio]

He… he told me.

[ dextera calms down, just a little, at remembering the way other people have suffered. ]

He turned you down, he said…

[ but dextera had heard it in his voice, and seen it in the set of his shoulders as he stood on the stairs to dextera’s room. he regretted it. ]

[lacrimose]

Yeah. He said relationships are a waste of time.

[Akira pulls back a little, expression bitter. Ordinarily, he can put his feelings aside. He's used to being forced to do that. In this case, it hurt too much-- the thought of letting him down gently hadn't even crossed Ryo's mind.]

[passio]

…

[ that sounds like ryo. still, dextera doesn’t want to leave it alone. he doesn’t want akira to carry regret or bitterness within him, as much as it can be helped. ]

I’m sure… he believed that. [ a beat. ] But I don’t think he meant it.

#27DEA9

[pyrafect]

Akira...

I'm so sorry.

Do you need to talk?

[lacrimose]

i'll be OK

I'll see Ryo when i go home

[pyrafect]

[ :C She has questions about him actually being “okay” though! ]

I understand. I’ll miss him too. I think everyone who has met him will miss him.

Then how about we do something?

[ Maybe some sort of distraction? ]

[lacrimose]

like what?

[He doesn't really feel like doing anything, but he will, for Pyra's sake.]

[pyrafect]

Three things.

The blanket that we got when we first met, so you can wrap yourself up in.

Food that I can cook for you, because you shouldn't have to worry about doing anything today, and...

An ear to listen, if you wish to talk.

[ He's listened to her own troubles. This is the very least she can do for him-- not that it's an "I owe you" type of situation at all. She would try to do something for him regardless. ]

[lacrimose]

that sounds nice

I'll finish up here and head over

[pyrafect]

I'll be here.

[ And in the end, isn't that all she can be for him? Here. Or try to be.

True to her word, she'll be at her door to greet him and invite him in. Since the time she's been here, she has made no changes to the interior of her house-- besides cleaning it and repairing anything that needed to be repaired-- except for three additions. Three pieces of art that are still within her living room. Two paintings hang within her living room, one of herself depicted in traditional ancient Chinese garb, another one of Tristan where three-fourths of the portrait is simply blue-- and a life sized statue of Nero.

But she's paying attention to him and only him, leading him to the couch by the hand. She'll guide him to sit, telling him to make himself comfortable; she already has tea prepared. ]

[lacrimose]

[Akira is a little too distracted to even look at the art in more than a passing glance, though he might've ordinarily appreciated the one featuring Pyra in Chinese garb, or the ridiculous Nero statue. He moves to sit, but he doesn't say anything right away, gazing down at his hands while he tries to figure out what he should be feeling.]

Thanks for the tea. [He finally says in a small voice, taking some to drink just to give himself something to focus on.]

action

[deathscyther]

[Well, that's... expected, actually. Duo figured Ryo would have come back to the house by now, if he was still in Chroma. Even if he wanted move to another house he likely would have come back for his belongings at some point.

There's nothing that can be done about that, though, and Duo is more concerned about Akira anyway.

It's pointless to say something through the forum when they live under the same roof, so he knocks on the door to Akira's room instead.]

Akira?

[lacrimose]

[Akira opens the door. He hasn't been crying -- he never cries for the sake of his own sadness -- but he does look upset.]

Hey, Duo.

[deathscyther]

[Tears or not, Duo knows this is hard for him.

There is a good reason why Duo hasn't gone out of his way to make a lot of friends here...

He steps in and closes the door, going to sit next to Akira with an affection bump of their shoulders.]

Wanna talk? Doesn't have to be about Ryo.

[bakedapple]

Ryo... was that your friend who hunted down the forest guardian a few months ago? Or, he had some hand in it?

[lacrimose]

Yeah. That was me, Ryo, and Dextera.

[bakedapple]

[Ah... this response comes quite a bit late. Link wonders if Akira saw them talking about Ryo on his more recent post.]

I'd like to talk to you about the guardian, and what happened, and how you defeated it... if you're willing?

I know you were good friends, so if you don't want to, it's okay... but I'm trying to find out what I can about the guardians.

#90014

[doublecrowss]

[ He's... not going to comment on the latter half of that post. ]

Asuka-kun was a valuable member of this town. He will be missed.

Surely by you, most of all.

[ It's his own Akechi way to ask if Akira's doing okay. ]

[lacrimose]

Yeah.

I'll see him when I go home. i just wish it didn't have to be now

#3C0808

[kuron]

is it common for quests to be like that?

[lacrimose]

Usually they just want you to kill monsters. but they've been getting worse over the last few months