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

"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.

Had he even been listening to him when he spoke? Lucifel had just wanted to tell him that yes, he believed him, when the scribe suddenly fainted on him. He held the blond as he moved his left hand to flick with his fingers and get them back to their room for now.

It was long for a faint: about five minutes. His body's instinct was to sleep, after it was unconscious, and now warmer and with security-inducing scents and textures about. But his mind refused. Enoch's eyes fluttered open, and he looked about, confused.

While Enoch was trying to decide the archangel sat next to his side.He wasn't sure if he could call five minutes long or short. It was time where he got to think about what Enoch had said to him.

But it left him even more confused.

"How are you doing?"

Enoch focused on Lucifel and sat up slowly, quiet a moment longer before looking up to meet his gaze.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright... I've said I forgive you, didn't I?" Not that he had heard him say that earlier, but it was the truth. He wasn't mad at him or upset, he had no reason to since it wasn't Enoch's intention and not what he truly felt, if his pleading apologies meant anything.

"I know..."

All the same, he felt terrible. He turned to sit beside Lucifel, lacing his fingers together and staring down at the floor. It was disquieting, how little it had to change, really. How nothing but the hatred itself was fabricated.

"So..."

Should he really bring up again what Enoch said to him? Perhaps he had gotten it wrong or it was just something Enoch said in the heat of the moment. But if the scribe had meant it the way he said it then...

In all honesty, Lucifel wasn't so sure what to do then. He wasn't even in a position to ask something like that. Perhaps it would be better not to speak of it. Everything would be better this way. ... Wouldn't it? Why was he even thinking it wouldn't be?

"..." In the end... they would have to see what then, wouldn't they? "... what you said..."

Enoch, unfortunately, took that statement to mean what he'd said under the reversal effects. His shoulders tightened and there was a long breath that sounded as if he was trying to keep from crying.

"What I said? The spirit of it may have been forced, but I'll...I'll talk about anything, if you want to hear."

"Actually..." It wasn't what he was trying to get at. It was about what he said to him once he had his heart back. Maybe it was for the better to leave it as it is and not mention it again.

But then why did it make him feel uncomfortable? Why couldn't he bring himself to say it?

"... the things you said when you were back to normal..."

The things he'd said...? What he'd said, exactly, was fuzzy. He did remember the gist of it, though. "That I never hated you? I meant it..." He reached over and covered Lucifel's hand with his own for a brief, affirming squeeze. "You're so important to me, Lucifel. There's no one in my life more important. I could never hate you."

He stared at him for a long time. Was he getting this right? The gestures the words... Why was he even wondering about this? Seriously, it was confusing him so much.

"... That I'm someone you love?" Love. The Feeling that made all angels he knew fall.

Enoch nodded and finally afforded the angel a tiny smile. "Yes. Very much. I can't remember a time without you. You've kept me alive and sane. You've been there for me in the worst of times... It would put my ability to feel into question if I had no love for you at all."

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