Alister Azimuth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
double_edged) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
caughtinanetwork2012-09-27 01:59 am
double_edged) wrote in caughtinanetwork2012-09-27 01:59 am
Entry tags:
[semi-accidental video]
[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]
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]
action;
And he feels so fucking useless for it.
No matter how many times he runs the past few days through his head, he can't seem to find a way that would have prevented it, or hell even given him the chance to jump in and save the day like he always managed to do back home. And this time, sure, no one died. There was no gruesome murder, nobody stabbed in front of him, bleeding and gone. But it doesn't matter. In his mind it's still a loss.
Some one still got hurt that shouldn't have.
A lot of people have been getting hurt that shouldn't have.
And all he can do is make sure Alister isn't going to fly off the deep end completely and wind up worse off than he already is.
These are the things running through Rin's mind as he carries Alister to his temporary room in the Villa. That house that has been so painfully quiet, save for Alister's occasional blathering. Everyone was walking on eggshells. Everyone who wasn't Rin, Ratchet or Yukio all shared looks of quiet, silent uncertainty. Should they help? Should they just back off?
It was all so fucking awkward and painful and broken just like Alister's strange humming. Rin had to swallow the rising lump in his throat, and even if he wasn't entirely sure Alister could properly see it, he still forced a smile at the old Lombax.
It was nearly as broken as that damn humming was.
He nudged the door open with his foot, and soon enough Alister was back in his bed.]
Just hang here. I'll bring food in.
[The smiled stayed as long as Rin was in the room, but as soon as he was out of sight it fell away. Just outside the door, he had to pause and take in a shaking breath, dragging hand through his hair and just barely resisting the urge to tug at it.]
action;
He doesn't see a nice, cozy little bedroom for him to sleep in. He doesn't see Rin's shattered smiles or reassuring words as anyone - himself included - tried to make sense of this situation at all. And once the boy leaves, he spots a small, yellow bundle of fur crawling up under his arm once again, bright green eyes pleading for attention.
He moves his arm around the tiny form and the infant Lombax plops down on its posterior, moving into a position where it could better climb up the Elder, and settle itself on his head. But even though the child was there, he felt no warmth, or content purrs from the little kit. No, the room was as silent as it had been, and for some reason he can't move his arms to make sure the little infant doesn't somehow topple off.
The room shifted to something a little more stable, this time.
Bright desert sunlight and odd asymmetrical doo-dads littered the small room, making it near-impossible to see the walls. Though taken into account, he would have half a mind for not finding a better spot to put the little kit's crayon drawings other than the bedroom walls. Pictures of a tiny gold Lombax, and a taller white one holding hands under a smiling sun, and the Elder feels his heart wrench a little, knowing that he was doing good, but... it'd been his fault to begin with.
I don't have a father because of you.
Suddenly, it's not so peaceful.
Black tar drips down from the windows and leaks into the room, obscuring the carefree drawings and little mechanical whats-its, until nothing remained. A hand to his head revealed the absence of the young toddler as well, and that hand quickly goes down to be strapped upon a table, two sets of eyes leering down at the old Lombax.
Tachyon. And...
Ratchet?
It... was, but... he never remembered the other Lombax in such regal attire. And the smile he held now was not one of companionship. No, a bloodied knife was in the other hand, tilted slightly to the General's exposed organs and still-throbbing heart.
"Emperor, just give the word."
He couldn't speak. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move, he couldn't say how wrong wrong wrong this all wa--
"Oh, I think we've dragged this on well enough. If you would do the honours, son?"
His eyes widened.
"Gladly, Emperor Tachyon."
The knife comes down.
And that scream wasn't just in his mind.]
action;
action; help i can't rp vorselon
"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
[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??
...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~
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!
...will it hurt you?
action; lol yes
[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.
[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
[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.
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!
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.
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.
But... I ain't hurt, jiji...
action; god rin think before you talk
[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
[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...
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
[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
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?
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
...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
'least lay down if you're gonna pass out... geez...
action; are you SURE
[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
[Rin will even tuck you in.]
action; HE'S AN ILLEGAL PET
action; GASP