[semi-accidental video]

[double_edged]

[Not even a day has passed and you can already expect Azimuth to be on his feet, continuing life as normal. Except something about him still seems off, and in the process of preparing breakfast, the old Lombax could be seen stopping from time to time, murmuring to himself, or pausing to lean on the counter. His movements are stiff and hesitant, though he manages enough sense of mind to nearly complete an entire bowl of cereal.

Milk poured, an unsteady hand sets the gallon aside, opting to put it back in the fridge later. This is followed by another hesitant pause, and the Elder stares strangely down at the Lucky Charms filled to the rim.

He raises the spoon.

But his head is first to splash into the bowl, nearly knocking it over.

No, Alister, that's not how you eat.]

[ooc: aaaand wrap-up post. Alister's staying at the Villa with Rin and Yukio until he's a bit more steady on his feet. o7]

Comments

action;

[keepsthefire]

[That crash wasn't in his mind either. There's a nice mess of food and a shattered plate and bowl on the floor of the kitchen now, but it's left behind and forgotten in Rin's rush to get to the bedroom. He doesn't even notice the cut on his arm that's bleeding from part of the plate bouncing up and hitting him. He just runs, jumping over the living room couch and bursting in to the bedroom frantically.]

action; help i can't rp vorselon

[double_edged]

[Giggling and prodding and poking and-- wait. Someone else burst into the room. This makes the Cragmite and Lombax pause in their stead, then step back to reveal a new form.

"Greetings, Azimuth! I trust you've been well?"

Vorselon.

The mechanical figure whirrs right into his field of vision, stopping just inches over the bloodied Elder and giving a large, toothy grin. Before he can even think to stop it, one of the claws move to yank the Lombax's throat, pulling hard on his own esophagus, then stretching it out like a dripping, bloodied line of yarn. The Terraklon chuckles to himself, leaning in close to the General and squinting a single eye own.

"Now, do you see what happens when you stay awhile? We barely ever have the chance to talk, Azimuth."

The claw whirrs again, twirling the live organs in his grasp, then snapping them in half with little effort.

"Oops! How clumsy of me."

Something was wrong. Something was very very very wrong.

Vorselon was aggressive, sure, but he couldn't find the will to fight back this time. A part of himself, his old self, would find some way to break free, leave the shuttle and plan a more organized attack. But he remained rooted to the spot, only watching helplessly as the twisted, unfamiliar faces decent down and--

An even bigger claw was on his neck now, metallic clicking spurring a new sense of panic from the Lombax.

"Welcome to your end, Alister Azimuth."

He can't scream anymore. Something was choking him. It builds in his throat, running down the sides of his mouth and Orvus it hurt stop!]

action; he's hallucinating anyway, it wouldn't be compeltely accurate

[keepsthefire]

Alister! Alister, snap out of it!

[There are hands on him, yes, but they're not the claws he's imagining. They're just Rin's hands, on his shoulders, shaking him frantically. His voice cracks, blue eyes wide and terrified. He can't fight something he can't see! He can't battle the ghosts that are torturing the poor Lombax! He just can't! And that scares him so damn much... he just wants Alister to stop making that pained, horrified face and he doesn't know how to make it go away!]

Jiji! Come on, wake up! Come back already, damnit!

[The rest is just a jumble of Japanese that's too disconnected to make sense even to whatever force normally translates it. He's just begging, pleading, asking with so much fear and sorrow in his voice he doesn't even make sense to himself.]

action; oh are we getting into language barriers now??

[double_edged]

[The odd, disconnected language is enough to make the scene shatter around him, and everything seems to go dark though he still feels himself awake and alert.

...maybe not as alert, but it was a little more manageable.

He just hears talking and he knows he should probably talk in turn. Without even intending to, he freezes up and his unfocused eyes lock onto the young half-demon's carefully, trembling under his grasp and choking out a small, mangled mess of words.]

... bist du hier um mich zu töten?

[...in Lombax. That doesn't help, does it?

action; you know me so well bby~

[keepsthefire]

[No, but it does make Rin calm down a little bit. He's heard Alister talk like that before - when he was carrying him to the clinic after the incident with Kimblee. It's... something. A response, a sign that maybe he's not so far gone...

A breath, and he manages to speak slowly enough that it's not screwing up in translation.]

H... hey... you're okay. Nothin' is gonna hurt you here...

action; hey, at least it worked!

[double_edged]

[He just... keeps staring without blinking, his remaining good ear raising up, then shifting to the side before giving a twitch to confirm he'd heard Rin. He... knows he's supposed to remember that voice, and it's far off enough that he can't quite pinpoint a name.]

...will it hurt you?

action; lol yes

[keepsthefire]

... hurt me?

[Rin blinks a few times, but eventually a smile that's much closer to his usual cocky grins appears.]

Nah... you don't gotta worry 'bout me, jiji. Rin Okumura is as tough as they come.

action; wait. rin being happy? LEMME FIX THAT.

[double_edged]

...Rin?

[He tries the name on his tongue a few times, but the Lombax eventually starts looking more confused than anything else. Should... he know that name? Was it his?

Should he ask?]

...Rin... Okumura. Is... that me...?

action; /gross sobbing

[keepsthefire]

Wha--...

[Well that backfired. Rin's ears actually go down at the question, and he shakes his head slowly, pointing at himself.]

N... no, that's me. I'm Rin. You're Alister.

[If he had amnesia on top of everything else...

Not that amnesia worked that way but Rin would be clueless enough to believe it did until Yukio or some one else corrected him.]

C... come on. Snap out of it. You're General Alister Azimuth!

action; your tears prolong my livelihood, child.

[double_edged]

[So Rin wasn't his name? Then why was that something he could remember so easily? Why was it one of the first things he'd remembered about this whole thing? The Lombax frowns himself when the boy seems to start to panic again, and he can feel some of his own starting to well up.

General Alister Azimuth. General of... Lombaxes. Fastoon. He knew that. The memories come in chunks at a time and everything is too fuzzy to make out, but he wants to try.]

Rin's not hurt. Alister is.

Alister isn't... alive?

[Oh.

Yeah, that one's coming back too, isn't it?]

action; screw your livelihood!

[keepsthefire]

[Owch.

Well.

That's okay. Rin didn't need that heart anyway.

He sighs quietly and sits down on the bed, eventually nodding slowly.]

Back home, you're not... and... I'm sorry, I can't do anythin' about that.

But here you are. And... and I'm gonna protect you, okay? I'm gonna make sure you don't have to die again.

action; *looks at conversation* ...oh. ok.

[double_edged]

[He follows the boy's movements quietly, sinking back onto the pillow when he starts to feel the exhaustion beginning to ream back into him. But he isn't ready to sleep yet - not until he's certain his friend will be okay as well.

So he tries for a comforting gesture ignoring the way his arm and fingers nearly melded into some kind of bizarre, malformed snake, placing a shaking hand on the boy's cheek and trying his damnedest to look at him.]

You don't die first.

[The hand slides around to the back of Rin's neck, trying to rub it gently.]

You're hurt already.

action; ... poor choice of words.

[keepsthefire]

[Rin blinks a few times again, both at the gesture and the words. He tilts his head to the side, a bit of blue-black fringe falling over his eyes.]

But... I ain't hurt, jiji...

action; god rin think before you talk

[double_edged]

I... hurt you.

[Though still cloudy, his eyes fall downcast and the Lombax's hands move to his lap, one unsteady hand wrapping around the other. He... remembers a promise he'd made, before all of this had happened. They were all finally going to have a day of not-worrying, just... trying to get back to normalcy.]

...you sat in the rain. Didn't you?

action; can't be tamed

[keepsthefire]

... that-...

[Rin had honestly forgotten about it all, after finding Alister. All of his upset when he realized that everyone's fears about him getting grabbed were right made the entire day before just... a hazy memory at best.

He's quiet for a moment, before answering honestly.]

... yeah.

action; i'd say put a leash on you, but considering our age differences...

[double_edged]

[And that answer? Causes the Lombax's remaining ear to droop down to his back. Without even meaning to, he'd abandoned an opportunity to get closer to his family again. How long had they been waiting out there? And what drove them to wait for all that time?

Did they think he ran off on them?

It's too much to think about when his perception of reality was still so warped - the scene was already beginning to manifest itself in front of him and he has to shake his head to dispel even more hallucinations. They're not real, and he's desperately trying not to have an episode in front of his friend when he was still so worried.]

I'm sorry.

[It's about the clearest thing he's been able to say all day, despite the urge to just drop unconscious all over again. He felt like hell and probably looked it, too, barely even able to keep a coherent, intelligent conversation with the half-demon.]

I... tried. I don't know what happened.

action; alister sthap

[keepsthefire]

... d... don't.. it's--... you couldn't know... any one of us coulda been a target...

[Rin shakes his head slowly, looking at his feet as he remembers how many times he said "If Alister went off looking for that whack job..." thinking, swearing that would have been the only thing that would have kept him away.

He wanted to be mad. Because being mad was easier than admitting he could have been the next victim by not even doing anything.]

... just... get better, okay? That's all we want now...

action; u don't own me

[double_edged]

[And he would continue to apologize, if Rin had spoken those thoughts aloud. Apologize for being so rash, for abandonment being the first possibility to even come to the half-demon's mind. He's trying to change that, even though it's difficult.

And he blew that chance.

So the Elder nods stiffly, moving his arms to try and pull off his shirt to sleep better, minding the bandages against his torso. But he doesn't have the effort to even toss the shirt aside, so it's left on the bed as he takes a moment to reorient himself in his own mind. Without the shirt, however, he knows the scars on his chest and back were exposed, his mind beginning to wander back to that particular incident that landed him in the city in the first place.

He was alive, and he was making friends... at the cost of never being able to return home with Ratchet.]

...is he home alone?

action; you sure bout that?

[keepsthefire]

[Rin watches him, and while scars hardly bother him he still winds up looking away after a moment, as if he really shouldn't stare even though it's something to be expected of an old soldier.

He picks up the shirt after a minute, carefully folding it as he stands to put it somewhere else for the time being.]

No. He's crashed out in my room right now. Only time he left was to get a coupla things from your apartment.

[And that was because Rin insisted. Clothes, any other essentials. Things for a potentially extended stay. There was no way to know exactly how long Alister would be in his care and Rin knew Ratchet wasn't going to leave the old man's side unless he absolutely had to.]

action; did u pay the adoption fee

[double_edged]

[He manages a small, sad smile at that, grateful that the younger Lombax wasn't left vulnerable at the hands of that psychopath, but at the same time, Ratchet was worrying over him. Who knew if the other was even sleeping at all? He wants to get up and check, but just that small movement causes the room to start to blur and his head feels a little funny again.]

...oh.

[There probably should have been more to that statement. 'Can I see him?' 'Is he alright?' And maybe he'll save it for a few moments after, when the room's not reeling so much.

Actually, he'll save it for when he's not slumped forward, facedown on the bed.]

action; I did. Two dollars. In the state of Hawai-- WRONG ALIEN

[keepsthefire]

[Rin doesn't think anything of that single 'oh' until he turns back around. Both eyebrows go up, but eventually a slightly amused sigh escapes. He moves back to the bed, moving Alister so he's at least laying back properly.]

'least lay down if you're gonna pass out... geez...

action; are you SURE

[double_edged]

N'not passed out.

[Was that even coherent? He doesn't really know, but lying on his back felt so much better now.]

action; ... they're around here somewhere

[keepsthefire]

Uhuh. Go to sleep, jiji.

[Rin will even tuck you in.]

action; HE'S AN ILLEGAL PET

[double_edged]

[The haggard smile is able to return to his face, and the Elder gingerly rolls over on his side to squint up at the boy. A content sigh breathes out of him once he's covered, and he feels stable enough to try and shut his eyes without fear of nightmares or being carted away once again. Hopefully, when he was feeling a little better, he could apologize to Ratchet as well.

In person, not through Rin.]

...thank you.

[There's still some pain in the old Lombax's expression, but he's able to relax himself to conk out just a few moments after. A nap in the middle of the day wouldn't hurt, right?]

action; GASP

[keepsthefire]

... yeah. You're welcome.

[Rin returns the smile, equally tired, but a little less pained than it had been. The fear, for now, had been washed away, and while there was still a lot of healing to be done it was going to happen sooner rather than later.

He leaves the room, keeping the door opened a crack just in case something else happens between now and whenever Alister wakes up again.]