towerofanimus | The Nontriumphant R/Getting Back in the Saddle

Entry tags:

The Nontriumphant R/Getting Back in the Saddle

Characters: Shoutarou and errybody
Setting: Several places!
Format: Action, will follow.
Summary: After six months in ruined Fuuto, one half-boiled fellow returns to hell.
Warnings: Angst and more angst and maybe swearing? Also potential threadjacks by Philip.

A - Second Dorm Floor

[Sleep paralysis...he hasn't felt that in...well, a long time. A very long time. And it's just as unsettling as it was the last time he did.

Granted, the last time he felt it, he was...in that tower. Could he be back there?

After what feels like an eternity, thanks to both the distorted perception of time from both the sleep paralysis and anticipation of what he'll see when his vision is regained, he can move.

A clean bed...

A room. That same style of room, even.

That same ridiculous suit. This can't be real, though. Clearly, trying to survive alone for so long has caused him to snap - enough that pinching himself does nothing. Maybe this is real.

Shoutarou scrambles up, and gets dressed in a flurry, before tearing down the hall and yelling out names. He sounds kinda...desperate, really.]

PHILLIP! FRANCISCA! ISABEL! FRANCIS! ROMEO! MOLLY! AMY! CORNET! VENTUS! ROXAS! FLETCHER!

B - Floor Four

[This place is still the same...same furniture, same crappy view. It's oddly comforting, though, compared to the ruins of Fuuto.]

C - Cafeteria

[Here, Shoutarou can be found working on getting reacquainted with decent food - after doing the oatmeal thing. It's nothing extravagant, but it's a huge step up from what he's endured over the past months.]

D - Floors 20 - Onward

[It would seem there are a lot of new places here. New places merit exploration, and mean new information. Shoutarou can be found on various floors, taking notes in a notebook. The floor itself is up to the poster.]

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[He may have been on a different floor, but it wasn't that hard to hear someone running around in the halls yelling. Especially when someone was yelling your name.

He...hadn't really wanted to leave his room to be honest, but when he heard his own name being shouted it was a bit of a concern nowadays. He may have been just a bit paranoid.

So, he slowly crept out of his room and up the stairwell, watching the manic man from around the corner of the wall with a tired look of surprise and recognition.]

Shoutarou...?

[Oh man. There's at least one person whose name he yelled.

He pauses, not certain if that's Ventus or Roxas. Right now, though? HE DON'T CARE.]

I... You have no idea how happy I am to see a familiar face. [He looks relieved, to a degree. He leans on the wall, then sighs, and even laughs a bit.] Not even sure whether you're Ven or Roxas, but I do hope you'll forgive me. It's...been a long time, after all.

[Oh sweet, so he had gotten this guy's name right.]

Ventus. [He said with an understanding now. Don't worry, he completely understands.] You're..that detective, right? The one who went missing awhile ago?

A while ago...

[He turns his back to the wall, still leaning on it as he pulls his hat off, and scratches at his head.]

Yeah, detective. I...don't even know how long it's been. I didn't think to keep track until it was too late.

Sorry, I don't think I could really tell you....

[He rubbed the back of his head nervously.] You're... Ok though, right?

[There's a shaky nod.]

Yeah... Just. A little overwhelmed, I guess. So long there, and I'm suddenly here again. Kind of... Jarring.

[He frowned a bit more; this didn't seem quite the right demeanor for this guy, was it?]

I'm...sorry you're back here. [Hold on wait he just realized something--]

Wait. Where were you for so long?

I'm...not sure whether I am or not. Here, things are bad, but there's actual other people here. [People he can help.]

I was at home. What looked like home. Home if it was ruined...

[Wow Shoutarou's speech was kind of taking a turn for the not very good at all.]

Back...to... [Whoah. Whoah.] You went back home? And it was all gone? No people?

No people. It looked like everything had been, been blown to hell.

[He's quiet for a moment, then looks at the ceiling, as if looking through the tower itself.] I'm not sure which place is worse.

[Ven followed Shou's gaze, half out of curiosity and half out of reflective habit. And it was better than trying to dwell on that mental image.]

Y...Yeah... [He's kiiiind of leaning towards agreeing with you there.] I... guess I'm glad that you're back? [Said with a rather somber half-smile.]

I suppose I am, too. At least here, I can do something. Maybe.

[About the only effective comfort from his stay in the ruins of his own personal Fuuto had been meeting up with Shou prior to it. Even if it had been brief, he'd not had to worry about what had happened to his partner and Akiko as much. The two had been separated while trying to escape, but that just made him sure that they had been on the right track.

Returning sort of put a dent in that idea somewhat, but it wasn't completely out the window. Especially when Shou could be heard shouting down the halls already. Phillip poked his head out the door, looking either way for wherever the heck you're yelling from. He didn't even bother to change yet or check his things in his trunk.]

Shoutaro? [See? He's right here. Yu can stop SHOUTaro-ing now.]

[Oh, good. Yes. It's not like it was when he first arrived, then. He stops running at the door, and braces against the wall with one hand and a heavy sigh of relief.]

Okay... Good. You're here. Geeze, It's been...

[He's about to ramble about where he's been, when he notices the suit.]

...did you just wake up too, or have you taking a liking to that ridiculous outfit while I was gone?

[Yeah, everything might have been the same. Except for this new guy wandering around and checking everything out.

New guy, world probably just destroyed too...]

[The rustling of the other person's movement gets his attention, and he turns. That's not a familiar face, though.]

Don't remember seeing you around before. How long have you been here?

[He turns, the detective finally his attention, and he takes a Zippo lighter from his shirt pocket, fiddling with the lid.]

...I dunno. A few hours, I guess?

[And there's a wincing face.]

Ahhh, my condolences then.

[An awkward pause lingers before he adjusts his hat.]

I'm Hidari Shoutarou and I've...been here before.

[Oh that face didn't bode well at all, did it? And after "condolences", well, Tatsuya is paying a lot closer attention to him than he normally would.]

...Yeah? So you got out of here? [Oh. Wait, introductions, of course.]

I'm, uh, Tatsuya Suou.

I... Intended to, but didn't quite achieve what I wanted. [The wording of that is tight. Laced with frustration.] I... Am more inclined to believe the letters left to us now, though.

[...What? He stares at Shoutaro, suddenly paying fully attention.]

What happened? [Well, Tatsuya can figure out what he means, but...he doesn't want to. Not really... So he asks instead.]

Before my partner and I could do anything, I found myself in what looked like it was home at one point. [He sighs, rubbing at his chin and lower face.]

I'm not really sure what we even attempted, or if we got far enough...

Romeo heard his name being shouted and ran towards the sound, his eyes widened when he saw who it was. First miss Spain and now Shoutarou, except Shoutarou had shouted his name which meant the bad people hadn't stolen his memories.

"Mister Shoutarou!" He ran towards him and wrapped his arms around him. "You're back!"

Oh good - there's at least one still here, and Romeo's at least physically okay by appearances. He stumbles slightly at the hug, and swallows a bit awkwardly. Six months alone, and this kind of reaction is just a bit overwhelming.

It's a few moments before he gets back the composure to speak, then he pats the boy on the head a bit. "Yeah, I am. Sorry about disappearing..." His voice is quieter now, and remorseful.

Romeo grinned at him, though he looked worried because mister Shoutarou looked really sad. "The bad people took you, they better not have hurt you!" He clenched his fists at his side looking angry for a moment.

Well, that got a bit of a smile from him. "I'm not hurt, no." Not physically, at least, but he's gonna try and not let it on about the mental trauma. There's no telling what the kid's had to go through while he was gone.

"I don't suppose things got any better while I was away?"

"Good I'm glad," He didn't like to think of any of his friends being hurt. He frowned at the question though and shook his head. "No it got worse, the bad people got badder and they made us do worse things and most of the people who you know are gone now, but there's lots of other people and they are all really nice though some of them think they should be bad."

That smile wound up being short-lived with what Romeo says. It forms into a frown, and he stoops down - there's a knot forming in his stomach, and he's kicking himself for his failed attempt to find a way out. "You said most - who's left, then?"

"Miss France is still here and mister France," He frowned trying to remember the last time he had seen Shoutarou, it had been a long time. "I was still a dear creature when you disappeared right, sir?" He thought back to that time. "Mister Philip left at the same time. Molly's gone now too," He looked very sad, "So is Ienzo. Miss Spain went but now she's back but she's lost all her memories. Mister Russia is still here... So is Ven. But Fletcher is gone, and miss Amy and the Doctor. Mister Psiioniic is still here, but Miss Romana and Kanaya and mister Dean and mister Germany are all gone..."

"A deer...?" Shoutarou rubs his head, trying to think back. "I can't recall anything like that. I remember a lot, just some of the details are a little fuzzy with time."

There's a bit of relief that Francisca was still here - though it was followed with that knot growing all the more. How was he going to explain what happened? They'd fought before he left - that he remembered, all too vividly. The others that were gone didn't help matters.

"...I guess it'd make sense that Philip would disappear too. Maybe if I'm back, he is too."

He sighs, rubbing his face with one hand.

"I'm sorry that Philip and I failed, Romeo. We wanted to find a way out, to help everyone, but..."

"Maybe you were taken before that happened. It was a long time ago and lots of things have happened." He frowned, they had tried to find a way out? but ended up disappearing. "At least you tried, the bad people are just too powerful but we can never give up trying to stop them."

"Maybe..." he answers, then shakes his head and wipes his face down with a hand. "We'll keep trying. Power isn't everything." He can't help a small smile, though. "And I'm glad to see you're still as determined as I remember."

Romeo grinned, "Of course I am sir! We can't let the bad people win, so we have to keep our spirits up!"

Sometimes that was hard, but Romeo couldn't let them get to him. "There's lots of new floors now mister Shoutarou! The tower keeps growing, do you want me to show you them?"

There - that was reason not to give up. Whatever Romeo had went through while he was gone, surely it was worse than isolation.

That was plenty reason to keep going - this kid still hadn't given up, so why should he?

"That sounds good, Romeo."

Romeo smiled and nodded, "Alright I'll show you all the nice floors, and tell you which ones to be careful on because some of them are scary and dangerous and being killed by monsters isn't very nice!" He skipped off, making sure Shoutarou could keep up.

He practically ran smack dab into her as he was running into the hall. Minami had never seen him before and she jumped out of the way, pressing back against the wall and staring after him before calling out.

"Are you new or did you come back?"

She half doesn't expect him to even answer her. She wouldn't blame him at all with how frantic he sounds.

He shall answer, however, after stumbling to a stop and turning. His face is about as frantic as he sounded - he looks almost like he doesn't believe that he's actually seeing Minami in front of him for several seconds.

"...uh. I came back."

She isn't surprised. Minami couldn't remember her previous time here, but it didn't matter. The fact was this person came back and was freaked out and why is she not more surprised by this?

"I'm Minami," she introduces herself, "Come on. Do you need to find anyone specific?"

Wait. Wait. C'mon, Shou. Remember - play things cool in front of strangers. Even if you're really rusty.

He straightens up, then clears his throat. "Ah... Several people, but a fellow named Philip is the most important one at the moment."

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The Nontriumphant R/Getting Back in the Saddle

Second Dorm Floor

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{A} i.e. are you ready for bromance

LET'S RE-KINDLE. OR. UH. KINDLE FOR THE FIRST TIME?

B

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2nd Dorm floor

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