08 | do you want me only for my body?

[alephbet]

Characters: Aleph and you.
Setting: June 1st, riiight after the reveal.
Format: Starting with actionspam, but will match you.
Summary: Aleph has had enough of it.
Warnings: Will edit if anything comes up.

[Aleph has always tried to stay strong.

He was a gladiator with no memories, then a Messiah with no choices. Then a hero with no ability to save the people he knew or even stop from killing them himself. Then a God-killer whose punishment would be eternal.

He did these things, he lived through these things and took minimal comfort because he knew it would all be worth it. For the people he would save, in the end. The future he would build.

Now he stares at what should be hands, his hands, as he sits outside his dorm room on the floor. He thinks about where he should be, what he'd done so much work for, and yet everyone on that world is dead now. He misses his demons. He realizes -

he doesn't even have eyes to cry-

-and so he just huddles up on the floor and sniffles pathetically.]

Comments

[alephbet]

[Well yes.]

You're probably a lot more literate than I was when I came to the tower, though.

[altitonant_emperor]

[ You people and not attending school to get a proper education. ]

I imagine that's largely due to gladiators not having a great deal of access to books for reading, right? I probably had the advantage in that.

[alephbet]

Right. I'm decent at it now, I think, but I've had Tohko tutor me in reading a little.

[altitonant_emperor]

Having a competent tutor is certainly a benefit to learning and improving your literacy. [ Hidetoshi peers at the doors of the elevator while he talks. ] ... Mm.

[ Nothing. >:| ]

[alephbet]

Terminals at home were a lot faster than this and they traveled further.

[They teleported, Aleph.]

[altitonant_emperor]

[ Suggested grumpily, because, yes why is the elevator being so slow; ]

Perhaps it's not in operation at the moment.

[alephbet]

I guess it's walk or bust.

[altitonant_emperor]

What a pain in the ass.

[ Okay, let's go if you want. ]

[alephbet]

[He shrugs and starts heading down the stairs for the loooong walk.]

[altitonant_emperor]

[ It's like an escort mission, Hidetoshi tags along behind Aleph at a fair distance, maintaining a steady pace. Except no cases of attacking demons. ]

[alephbet]

[Thankfully.]

Watch your step. And if we do run into any monsters, I'm pretty sure you don't need me to tell you to leave them to me.

[altitonant_emperor]

[ Not entirely sold on that, but. Not exactly protesting either because his puny knives aren't too effective for monster-killing. ]

Tch. Indeed. Will you be able to handle them without your normal abilities?

[alephbet]

I have a sword and I'm trained with it. They can't make me forget how to fight so easy.

[He may not be as strong as normal, but swordplay is still swordplay.]

[altitonant_emperor]

Very well. I will leave the fighting, should it occur on the way, to you.

[ Thought he'll jump in if it looks like Aleph's somehow struggling to hold his own. ]

[alephbet]

Thank you.

[It ain't happening.]

[altitonant_emperor]

You're welcome.

[ Protags, seriously. ]

[alephbet]

Watch your step.

[I'd say 'Aleph vs Minato who would win' but honestly we know the answer to that unless it's like... falling asleep contest.]

[altitonant_emperor]

I make it a point to employ caution in this place. Don't worry.

[ Minato would be the reigning champion of all sleeping contests. ]

[alephbet]

[Aleph falls silent for a while. It's getting awkward at this point, not talking while going down so many floors.]

[altitonant_emperor]

[ Sorry, Aleph. Hidetoshi is still a little too shaken and preoccupied with going down all these floors without incident to really pay much attention to the awkward silence. ]

[alephbet]

[Well, then.]

Do you have pets?

[altitonant_emperor]

[ A pause before he answered. ]

No. [ Hidetoshi decided to explain more in detail to take his mind off the sense of unreliability he felt towards their surroundings. Talking about small trifles helped. ] Oftentimes, I didn't come home from school until late in the afternoon, and my mother worked—... works a day job, which took up a lot of her time. She was usually delayed until late in the evening.

[ If not later. ]

So, it wouldn't be very fair to the pet to leave alone at the house so often, would it?

[Unless it was fish, or a kind of rodent which... No thanks. And since Hidetoshi figured Aleph didn't regard his demons as pets; ] Did you have any yourself?

[alephbet]

[He's right about that one.]

I didn't. After I left the gladiator life, I was constantly traveling, so it definitely wouldn't have been convenient.

[altitonant_emperor]

[Common sense is awesome. ]

Hm. What were some of the places you visited, while you were traveling? Your world must have wonders of its own to boast of, right?

[alephbet]

I wouldn't call it wondrous. The term's more 'post-apocalyptic'.