towerofanimus | (no subject)

Entry tags:

[au3] margulis

(no subject)

Characters: Margulis and OPEN
Setting: The graveyard floor during the day and various floors at night.
Format: Either or.
Summary: Jin Uzuki has disappeared from the tower, leaving his sword behind on top of Margulis' trunk. Margulis is not as okay with this as their fight on Christmas might lead people to expect...
Warnings: Angst, violence, death imagery, things being set on fire.

[Graveyard floor]

Margulis wasn't usually one to give in to sentimental feelings, but Jin's disappearance, and especially leaving his katana behind as a memento, got to him in ways he didn't want to even try to put into words. His feelings for the man he'd always called his best friend had been complicated since their clash fifteen years ago, and coming here to find a version who had died as a result of that fight hadn't simplified matters. But finding his fellow swordsman's weapon on top of his trunk had cleared some things up.

Now he could be found in the tower's graveyard, standing in front of the headstone marked 'Jin Uzuki,' holding his newly obtained blade in one hand with a downcast expression.

"You always did know how to get under my skin, Jin Uzuki...even in a gesture of peace, you find a way to get on my nerves."

[Nighttime]

It had taken a not insignificant amount of self control, not to mention avoidance, for Margulis to remain mostly civil throughout the day. But now, as the tower darkened and the dangerous creatures that called it home began to emerge, he had an acceptable target for all the rage that had built up since he woke and saw evidence of Jin's disappearance. With the katana sheathed at his right side, he used his own blade to carve through the more common of the tower's monsters, his every movement wreathed in an aura of flame. Occasionally he would, instead, send a ball of flame hurdling straight toward a foe, or conjure a web of lightning to electrocute a group. But no matter what the method, the attack was still harsh and forceful, fuelled by a severe and dangerous temper.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From the opposite side of the room came a bright flash that rivaled his own. If he cared to inspect the source, he would find his other old friend, charging through a small group of Miniblin. She was swinging her glaive, with one arm, in a burst of flames. Her other arm was hanging uselessly at her side.

Coming from the direction of the lower floors, it seemed obvious she had been taking the long way up. Her uniform was ripped at the shoulder, and across one of her legs, the side of her face was smeared with blood, and her arm was obviously injured. But she smirked as she cut through the monsters as if nothing at all as wrong.

The burst of flame caught his eye and he made his way across the room, slicing through a small group of Imps that was in his way. It didn't take long for him to notice Pellegri's condition and there was a disappointed hint to his motions as he flicked what passed for blood with those creatures off of his blade.

"I see the brat must have been rubbing off on you."

She scoffed at that as she twirled her weapon to where it was upright once more, and rested the end on the floor. She rested her weight on it just a little.

"Is that any way to greet someone who has gone out of their way to see you? I simply ran into an unexpected situation along the way."

He pretended he didn't notice her using her glaive as a crutch, at least sparing her dignity that much.

"It seems an appropriate way to address someone so blatantly ignoring their wounds, particularly given your tendency to chide me for the same in our youths."

"In this case, healing is not readily available, so it is not the same."

Nice try though, Margulis. She wouldn't refuse a medkit if they had them. She almost opened her mouth to tell him so when she noticed his other weapon. Her brow furrowed immediately, since there was only one way he would have obtained it.

"That sword is..."

All signs of taunting or arrogance faded from Margulis' face as Pellegri brought up the sheathed blade.

"It's his, yes. There's a stone bearing his name in the graveyard now as well."

"How is that possible? I thought that death was not permanent in this place?"

"Given his nature, I find it difficult to believe that he would have died here to begin with. To all appearances, it's as if he simply vanished from the tower."

"I see..."

She didn't look at all surprised by that. Somewhere, underneath a lot of other emotions, she might have been a little disappointed, but that didn't show in any way. Instead, she gave Margulis a knowing look.

"And now you are here, at this time of night..."

"I was having difficulty sleeping, so I decided to spend my energy on something productive."

Technically, he was telling the truth. He hadn't been able to sleep. And he was sure Pellegri knew why, but admitting it aloud was still difficult for him.

"Is that so...?"

Well, she wouldn't press it any further than that. She was in the same situation, in a sense. She wasn't exactly jumping to share any of her feelings toward Jin.

"Would you expect anything else?"

He waited, expecting her to steer clear of bringing up emotional topics. If she did, then he might be able to steer this conversation to something more comfortable.

"No."

She smiled just slightly. Some would probably be annoyed by his unwillingness to discuss his feelings, but she found it nostalgic. In a good way.

"I should go to the dormitory." ~~before I die or anything~~

He tapped his fingers against the flat of his blade thoughtfully as he glanced at the staircase.

"I may as well accompany you, since there's no particular floor I was particularly interested in visiting."

And so that she wouldn't be travelling alone with only one good arm. Sometimes he did wonder if he should learn healing Ethers, just for how reckless his friends tended to be.

"If you are sure. I do not wish to interrupt your... Activities."

Because really, she could make it past one floor.

"It's hardly an interruption. I was considering taking the elevator down past those Ether locking floors regardless."

"That would be wise."

In fact, it might have helped her out to know about those floors before she had gone exploring. But there wasn't much she could do about that. Instead she started back toward the stairs slowly.

"What are these?"

She was looking to the fluttering sheets as they passed.

"I'm not certain. Though considering the rest of this tower, I have my doubts that it's anything pleasant."

She nodded, but still gave the nearest one another glance before turning her attention to the path to the stairs again. She continued along quietly, and a little slowly as well. Mostly because of her injuries, but some small part might have been the fact that it really was nice having him back, the way he used to be years ago.

He kept stride next to her, not at all against the slow pace. Despite his lingering guilt over her death on Michtam in his own universe, the simple fact of the matter was that he'd missed her. Fifteen years they'd been at odds, but he'd never stopped thinking of her as a friend. And now, just walking beside her as if they were on Old Miltia before the Conflict...it was nice, he couldn't deny that, at least internally. But the fact that it was just the two of them twisted the nostalgia of it, turned it bittersweet. Yes, he was happy to have Pellegri back by his side, but it only highlighted the fact that one of them was missing.

~~HISSES~~ She gave a quiet sigh and stopped. She turned to him with a frown.

"Margulis... It was not difficult for me to accept that you are different from the man I lost. The friend that met me with hatred, when I only wanted to show him the truth. It was not hard, because I wished for you. This version of you."

She paused, looking away again.

"So do not shut me out now. If something is weighing on you so heavily, tell me."

Edited (good at words) 2013-01-17 06:04 (UTC)

He stopped walking just half a step after her, turning to face her but not quite meeting her eyes.

"...That's similar to my response when I met the version of Uzuki that was here before, and then when I found you as well. I had hoped that I could recover those friendships that had been damaged by U-TIC. Pellegri...I don't know how events transpired in your universe, but the last time I was able to simply spend time with you was before the Miltian Conflict. It's going to take some time to grow accustomed to it being the two of us rather than three."

"I see..."

She had expected him to mourn Jin's loss, but she had not expected that his disappearance might come between them. She actually felt just the smallest bit hurt by that, not that she let it show on her face. Her own relationship with that man was strained, and her feelings toward him were so conflicted. The idea that he was somehow interfering with this relationship, even while absent... It only served to deepen that feeling of bitterness.

She turned toward the stairs again, her voice maybe just slightly colder than she intended.

"I will give you time then."

He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, slightly more forcefully than was probably necessary.

"Don't take this to mean I want to avoid your company. Were that the case, I wouldn't have offered to return to the top floors with you in the first place."

She winced a little, until she turned to face him again, of course.

"So then you will suffer quietly in my presence?"

Let's say... 47 at night?

Floor 47 it is! This can ony end well.

RUDE

He is, yes.

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