towerofanimus | [CLOSED/OPEN] No words can heal a broken heart

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[CLOSED/OPEN] No words can heal a broken heart

Characters: [AU1] Eridan Ampora & [AU1] Equius Zahhak; Eridan Ampora and YOU.
Setting: Meadow floor (closed/backdated to the January event), Floor 64 (open/current)
Format: Starting with action but I'll match you.
Summary: Two logs for the price of one, lmao so I don't flood the comm: closing up aged up shenanigans, Equius is displeased and Eridan is about to learn just how much. Also back in real time, Eridan finds a deliciously tempting slice of home.
Warnings: Violence and swearing for the Equius log. Eridan being actually honest and pathetic and stupid, for the open one.

[Closed: Meadow floor.]

[He wasn't tired so much as he was trying to hibernate. He wasn't entirely sure trolls, undead or otherwise, actually did the whole hibernation shtick, but he could at least try. Save up his energy. Make his last feeding last. He was pretty sure things didn't really work that way but he was lazy and this was a good enough excuse. So there he is, as long as he is, lying on his back and sunbathing in the meadow without a care in the world.

Not that he didn't have cares. He had a lot of them, actually. But if he started thinking about all of them he'd probably implode. Or go on a rampage. Or both. Really, it was for the best of everyone involved, if he just laid there, soaking up sunlight and carefully thinking of nothing in particular.]

[Open: Desert floor.]

[It's so familiar it hurts, really. The heat, the sand, the occasional blast of wind. It's probably a bad idea to head out, and given the last few terrible ideas he's indulged lately, mostly as a result of the experiment last month, Eridan resists the urge to go.

But he wants to, dear god, he wants to so bad.

He's curled up on the sandy floor, barely two steps off the staircase, staring aimlessly at the distance and quietly drowning in nostalgia. He's never really stopped to sit down and miss life before the Game... but now he does and the wave of homesickness is almost entirely too much to handle.]

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[Eridan looks up and decides today is not his day. Not that any day in the tower is ever his day, unless his quadrants are involved, but even then... because the tower. But he really didn't need to see Aradia on top of everything else he's already feeling. It's like a one way feelings train and no one's letting him get down. Absently, he wishes he had his sunglasses on him. It's easier to keep a neutral expression with them.

And with his luck, she's just like Kanaya and didn't remember him. Because that sucks and it hurts and it's no one's fault, really, so it's the perfect thing to not complain about. He could really just go out into the sand and hide under a dune about now. Nonetheless, he's still far too mellow from the results of the last experiment to snap at her. So he tilts his head back and offers her a small, thin lipped smile. He hopes it looks polite.]

...hey, Ar.

[With his head tilted back she notices the streak of green hair between his horns. She is pretty sure the Eridan she met earlier had a streak of purple instead, matching his blood color.

But then she remembers the Equius from an alternate timeline. She figures it's not entirely impossible to have others from different timelines and universes walking around either.

She answers his smile with one of her own, showing her good intentions.]

Do you mind if I sit down with you?

Nah.

[He shrugged.]

Go for it.

[His smile turned wry.]

Though I'm not sure I make for all that great company these days, sorry.

That's fine by me, it's nice to find a quiet floor.

[She smooths down her skirts before sinking down on the sand next to him. The sand is hot to touch, like desert sand would be, and she lifts some of it up to let it fall back down between her fingers.]

What brings you to this floor?

[He shrugged, seemingly unaffected by the floor.]

Nothing much. Reminds me a bit 'a home, 's all. I mean... it's dumb. In this place there's probably flesh eating monsters hiding under the dunes or something, but it's... kinda nice, anyway.

I think you're close enough to the stairs to be safe from any monsters.

[She turns her head to smile at him, letting it slowly fade away.]

It's good to have a place that reminds you of home.

Eh, I'm not really scared of the monsters, exactly.

[He nudges the rifle half buried by his feet.]

But I guess you're right. What about you, found any floor that you liked?

[Let's turn the conversation all about you, Ar. All. About. You.]

It would be better if you didn't have to use it though.

Not really. I was warned that most floors were dangerous in some way or another so I thought it might be a good idea to just scout the floors for now.

[She leans back on her hands, looking across the desert room that seemed to span further than it should by the dimensions of any building.]

It's kind of overwhelming. But I look forward to exploring these floors eventually.

[Well, that answered an uncomfortable question he didn't have to ask. Which was okay. He was kind of getting used to that. Better not to burden her with something she didn't need to know. It was for the best.]

There're a few that are pretty neat, though. I mean yeah, most of them have something or other that's probably gonna try its damn hardest to kill you, but it's pretty much just trial and error before you figure out which ones you're comfortable in. The meadows are pretty neat for sunbathing though.

[There was a pause.]

If you like that sort of thing, I guess.

Good, I was getting worried that we had to be constantly on edge here without a moment of peace.

I don't think I'll do much sunbathing though, I still haven't gotten used to the brightness.

You kind of have to, in a way, but you get the hang of it eventually. Kind of. It's not as bad, usually, and then it gets real worse, but the worst of it doesn't last nearly as long as you think it would, except they're creative, so it always comes at you from the least expected place.

[He shrugs.]

Then again, been here about half a sweep, linearly.

[He makes a motion with his hand, tracing a straight line with it.]

So I've kind of gotten used to it?

I guess there's a certain comfort in knowing that it's coming, even if you don't know excactly what it is.

[She sighs.]

It's a pretty terrible thing to get used to though.

[Eridan takes a moment to think the conversation over and realize he's being a bag of pessimism again. Dammit. It used to be easier to be the optimistic one, didn't it? He nudges her a little.]

Hey, could be worse, right? You just gotta make the best of what you've got and it won't be so bad.

[Aradia isn't exactly being a ray of sunshine either. She looks up from her feet at his nudging.]

You're right. There's no reason why we couldn't build a nice existence here as well.

That'd be a first.

[Enjoy some self-deprecation but it seems to be a joke more than anything else. Him, being right? Perish the thought!]

But it's... I mean yeah, it sucks at times, but it could be worse. And people really make it better than it could be.

It can't be as bad as the Medium. Unless Jack is here as well.

[He isn't, right?]

I don't think he is, no.

[Eridan scratches his chin, thoughtful.]

It really depends on what it was like in the Medium for you, guys. I mean at least for me... yeah, Tower's better. Kinda.

Hmmm, I think it's a combination of all the different ones for me. So far this placed is much better than that.

[He hums a little in the back of his throat.]

...I hope that doesn't change.

[He's almost near certain it will, but he doesn't want to rain on her parade. It's not his place, really.]

How long have you been here?

[She sighs.]

It seems likely that it will though, if everyone's stories are true.

A couple of days I think, it's a little difficult to keep track of time.

[He makes a small amused sound at that last comment, though he only shakes his head.]

You'll get the hang of it, unless they fuck with your powers.

[He lets out an irritated sigh.]

Time fuckery is a thing sometimes, and it really sucks. But... like I said, not everything's that terrible. You just. Have to find the good things and stick to them, I guess.

Still, I should be better at grasping it then everyone else.

Could they do something to my powers? [She leaves a question lingering there "did they do that to you?"]

And the good things are the people we know here and the safe places to go, right?

It's not like the game's time fuckery, though. Don't feel bad about not getting the hold if it properly.

[Eridan offers a soft shrug.]

The good things are anything you want it to be, really. People or places or things, it's. It's kinda personal, right? Some people take comfort in this or that, but that's okay so long as they get some.

[And it's okay if you take comfort in murder too, right? Right? He hopes so.]

But yes, they can fuck up with your powers.

[There's a pause.]

...they already have, technically. Kind of.

I think that's a good way to look at it, it would be different for everyone.

[She looks puzzled at that.]

When?

[Eridan shrugs, fingers going back to play with the sand.]

A while ago. It... it wasn't you, really. Just. Another version of you.

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