towerofanimus | Helped give us the dawn of another day

Entry tags:

Helped give us the dawn of another day

Characters: Enoch and anyone; Enoch and Riki
Setting: Floor 1, Feb 1; men's bathrooms/the void, Feb 9; random place/admin levels, Feb 11, Feb 14, about the tower/void
Format: I'll match you!
Summary: Enoch attempts to outsmart the glamour and fails, then a little over a week later the void decides to be cruel. And then on a positive(maybe?) note, Enoch has a shot at making life for a certain group of hackers easier. Or harder.
Warnings: Suggestion of cannibalism in the first prompt, Valentine's mini-event in the last.

Feb. 1, dinnertime, Floor 1 (Warning for suggestion of cannibalism)

The sound of the elevator doors opening woke him from a half-sleep as he staggered to his feet and wandered, dazed, into the cafeteria.

That it smelled overwhelmingly of blood woke him up.

Cautiously, he approached the counter, and looked at the food available. It was something's heart, that's for sure. Hearts were probably a little too tough for him to eat, though, in this state. But the drink there...blood, for sure. Maybe it was his exhaustion or maybe he just didn't want to go chance that piece of candy he had in his trunk, but he didn't want to just walk away without eating anything. It wasn't really blood, after all. Maybe he could force his tongue to taste it as it really was.

So he took a glass and raised it slowly to his lips. As he tilted it back, he thought, water, it's only water, it's only water...

But it was blood that hit his tongue and throat, and he gagged on it, dropping the glass and doubling over in a coughing fit as his body rebelled against it, his mind too weak from exhaustion to rein in his gag reflex.

If you missed the display, he can be found at one of the tables, his head in his arms, looking sickly pale.

(Warning end)

Feb 9, Dorm 3 men's restrooms and hallways/The Void, most of the day

Those of you who enter the men's restrooms on dormitory level 3 might see an interesting sight: A pair of jeans and sandals, and a weapon, familiar to those who know Enoch. Eventually a good samaritan will take them back to his room for him, but Enoch himself?

Well, people who vanish into the void today could catch a glimpse of him, dressed in nothing but a towel and looking very displeased.

So, too, could he be found that evening, walking back from the restrooms, still dressed only in a towel. As much as he'll appreciate the gesture of keeping his things safe, when he does find they're safe, it also means he's forced to walk to his room like this, and he knows that not everyone is okay with such a thing.

Feb 11, various, closed

Enoch is getting stronger and stronger by the day, despite being set back by a bad cold. He's still on the weak side, but stairs aren't so much a chore anymore, as long as it's not jumping-intensive like the low-gravity level. He still falls asleep in the elevator sometimes, and he still has to rest after a certain number of flights of stairs upwards, but he's doing much better. Perhaps now would be a good time for Riki to have that discussion that was requested of him.

Feb 14, all around the tower. (please state where you are) ((Only one person may find his bear, first come, first serve. < user name="brbtalkingtogod"> has found it.))

Something is different about Enoch today. He's got a crimson heart painted on his chest, and a familiar note attached to his jeans. He seems to be wandering about a lot more than he should today; in fact, you may find him napping hidden in a corner somewhere, the exhaustion wearing him down faster than it should. But you're more likely to find him moving about as if searching for something, himself, particularly in the second block, though he may have wandered anywhere.

If he's on good terms with you, you may be met with a glare, and he'll move away from you. At the very least. Who knows what might happen if you persist. But perhaps you've found his bear? It's on floor 59, tied to one of the racks. How convenient.

Or maybe he's found yours! Considering he's already searching, he's bound to come across bears he isn't looking for. He may even be carrying it around, looking for its owner, or for something to cut it open with. He may have been turned bitter and hateful towards many by the effect, but he is still a hero at heart, and won't just leave them be. If his hands are full, he may just leave them in more obvious places. And the thing about looking for something to cut it open with? He may just ask you for a knife or a sword, even if he hates you now. He still has to do the same thing.

So, whatever your reason: dare you approach?

Or, if you are luckier, you may find him after his heart has already been returned. He's still searching for bears, it seems. Though, sometimes...sometimes, if you catch him resting, he will seem on the verge of tears, and turn away not in disgust, but shame. He may doze off when he rests but you are less likely to find him sleeping, overall, and he will seem more exhausted. ((Please state that you have found him with his heart returned to avoid confusion.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"'The face'," he repeats sarcastically, climbing over the motorcycle. Just like Lucifel, to mock him by feigning ignorance. Not this time. "What do you expect to see?"

"..." Enoch being sarcastic? Aside that the other wasn't being good with it, something about that behavior of his didn't sit right with him. "What are you getting at?"

"What am I-...stop playing the fool, Lucifel!" Enoch stalked right up to the edge of his bed, glaring down at him much the same way, ironically enough, that Lucifel himself once glared at Enoch.

"What other face would I make, for someone like you?"

"... Excuse me?" He would have probably have to take the note on the scribe's jeans literally now. Enoch never spoke to him like that before.

"You really don't know? Of course you don't. You can't understand. Allow me to give you a hint." And with that, his hands shot out to grab Lucifel by the upper arms and squeeze tight, shaking him. "This. This is only possible because it was forced on you. I remember acknowledgment! I know you could have before! And yet when I needed you most, you were nothing more than a ghost at my side! Do you know how empty words are when your world is falling apart!?"

The archangel could only stare when he was getting shaken by the scribe. No, he could understand. Right now Enoch missed his heart. But at the same time he could only wonder... could this also be all the negative feelings that piled up over the centuries?

What he was saying to him did... hurt. Although in a different way than he had experienced so far.

"You got up on the wrong side of the bed, I see."

Edited 2014-02-26 02:34 (UTC)

Enoch stopped shaking him, but still held tight. If he had all his strength it might have hurt, but he was essentially an ordinary human at the moment, and not even in top form.

"Why did I think I could make you understand? You can't. You were only pretending. There are at least three futures in which we fight."

He shoved him away then, and turned to leave the room. He was disgusted, and even with his love turned to hate, he still would rather avoid that which he disliked than confront. But he had one more parting shot, pausing in the doorway.

"I've better places to be than with a snake in the grass."

Lucifel wouldn't have known if he would have reacted differently had it hurt. He would have been shocked by that action of his first and foremost.

When shoved away he braced himself on the bed. Him not understanding? Perhaps not back then, but in this year he had been trapped in this Tower he came to understand a lot. About humans and their feelings. What it meant to have emotions.

"I've never been pretending, not even once." Eventually he pushed himself to get up from his bed.

*He will find he has missed Enoch by the time he leaves the room, and he isn't at any of his usual spots. A more intensive search, however, will lead him to the torture chamber. There is a bear here, tied to a rack. It has a note with a crimson heart on it.*

It had certainly taken a lot of time to find that thing, especially since he wouldn't have thought that it would be a bear he'd have to search for. In the end he went with looking where he least expected the heart to be at.

Which was in that chamber.

Lucifel untied the bear and took it in his hands.

And at that moment, Enoch happens upon the chamber, himself. Stepping off the stairs and nearly stumbling in his fatigue, he stares at Lucifel a moment before a scowl comes across his face.

"A hundred levels in this tower and I still run into you. Or were you looking for me? You likely were - you still need me, after all. You're just like your Father, Lucifel."

Why yes, he's certainly wanted to run into Enoch while he hasn't figured out yet what to do with that bear. Or where his heart is for that matter.

Yet when Enoch starts to talk this ways, with words that felt like they stung... For some reason.

"You won't get rid of me so easily, not when I promised you. And I intend to keep my promises to you."

"Promises," Enoch spits the word like an insult. His hands clench tightly into fists. "Drops of water on a whetstone. You and He both. I'm not your friend. I'm not His scribe. What do you even need me to record? Did you ever need a scribe? These terminals keep logs of everything we've ever said on them and the cameras in the ceiling remember all we've done! So what did you need, that cameras could not reproduce?"

His voice, which had been rising steadily, finally breaks into a shout. "No - you needed me, because you needed someone who wouldn't agree to flood the world, didn't you!? You can see the future! You knew, didn't you!? I'm only Heaven's sword! And your promises and encouragements and shows of favor - that's all they are! A display of support, a polish of the blade! You, the Archangels, God...none of you have every truly cared, nor are you able! I'm only a weapon against the rebellious to you! And a weapon, of course, cannot truly feel pain. Use it for a year, use it for a hundred! So long as you keep it whole and sharp, it's all the same!"

He's out of breath, shaking in anger and fatigue. His voice lowers but remains firm, quivering with the pure force of emotion behind it. "I hate you...I hate you all...God is no better than Belial, Heaven no better than The Darkness. A human will hurt no matter where he stays... Your only mercy is that you do not keep your souls."

The words of the scribe still would linger in his ears moments after he had said them. Lucifel was well aware. He was aware that at the time being, Enoch was missing his heart and that he had to find it.

But since when... when had the words of the other started to have such a great influence on him like they did at this very moment?

It felt like his own heart was getting squeezed tightly. Tighter and tighter until there was nothing but hurt. This Tower had already taken so much from them... why also take all that remained from them?

His hold on the bear had tightened the longer he listened to Enoch. In the end he couldn't take anymore of this. He was sick of the games, sick of the pain that came with them, sick and hurt because of the Tower.

And in a short-lived fit of madness, which was actually directed at the Tower, Lucifel tore the bear apart.

Only to see what he had been searching for all day. A heart.

Carefully but without hesitation he took it in his left hand, feeling it pulsing... in the moment he grabbed Enoch's hand with his free one and forced him to take the heart in the hand in his hold. "I think it missed you a lot."

Enoch wasn't done, as Lucifel was listening, tearing the bear apart. "You're the worst sort of pretender. You and Armaros both, you find a way to take my heart in your hands like that bear there, waiting for a day when I wouldn't expect you to-"

And that was when the heart hit his palm and vanished. Enoch's eyes went wide and he stared at Lucifel fearfully, mouth working as he tried to find what to say but all the anger and hatred was fading, eclipsed soon by sheer horror that tied his insides into knots. What finally escaped his lips wasn't a word, but a sob. The hand Lucifel held onto clenched tight around his fingers.

His knees buckled and he found himself trying to make sense of what he'd felt, what he'd said and thought... He fell against his guardian, dizzied and overwhelmed.

"Lucifel..."

He's heard enough hatred-filled words from Enoch for a life time, he didn't even want to know what he would have said had he gotten the chance to finish the sentence.

When the scribe's hand held onto his own and he leaned against him, he didn't move an inch.

But he had to know. "... Did you really feel this way at some point?"

The response was immediate, choked with sobs as he tried to gain his balance and couldn't. If Lucifel didn't catch him, he'd wind up falling to his knees.

"I've never hated you, I've never hated you...how could I say such things..."

It's all he had wished to know. The archangel reacted quickly and caught Enoch before he could fall.

For a moment, there were only more tears. Slowly, words found their way into them.

"How could I say such things...how could I, to someone I love so dearly? Forgive me, forgive me..."

Edited 2014-03-03 03:41 (UTC)

"What?" Maybe it was just him, but for the moment Lucifel seemed shocked. Shocked but he didn't push Enoch away.

"Come again?"

He tried to stop crying, thinking he hadn't been heard. It didn't work. He tried again anyway. "Please forgive me..."

"... No, before that. And I'm forgiving you." It was the lack of heart that made him say all these things after all.

"I wasn't...I..." He shook his head, his breath coming short, rapid. His only conscious thought had been to beg forgiveness, so he hadn't been thinking about his words exactly. He had meant "love" as in the opposite of "hate", in a broader sense. Though he always used it broadly for non-familial love. He had distanced himself from examining his own heart, in an effort to avoid the pain of loss - though it wasn't as if he ever examined his own feelings very closely. He was always more invested in those of other people.

"..." Lucifel looked at the other for a long time. He wasn't sure why but for some reason that response had thrown him off for some reason.

In his frantic, drained, and fearful state, and not understanding how his words had been misinterpreted, he took the lack of response as disbelief. Did it mean Lucifel thought he had hated him, but that he was too polite to say anything? The thought of having inexorably alienated someone who had been a part of his life for as long as he could consciously remember was too much in his state. The world seemed to drop out around him as he managed one phrase: "Please believe me..."

And then he was dead weight in Lucifel's arms. Physically and mentally exhausted, emotionally overwhelmed, and lacking that angelic endurance to aid him, fainting was the only real option.

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