17; video/action

[asea]

[There's a dissipating shower of purple flecks behind Walter, this time with more black and belts, when the feed comes on. More than that, half the trademark severity from his features has gone—he's clearly not in the mood to punch someone's lungs out. Which is new.]

Vatheon—[he grasps the cloth wrapped around his hair and pulls it off, suddenly seeing no point in it. His tone is softer from its usual guttural gruffness.]

. . . What's a soul?

action;

[After a moment of waiting, Walter cranes his neck to the side. He hasn't come to the abandoned village in months; the area's about the same as the images his memories convey him. And now, he's a little more keen about disregarding appearances to dig around.

He slides in and out of the broken buildings, taking a moment to wander each interior before moving onto the next. His hands are smeared with grime in minutes, and he rubs the flat of his fingertips against his thumb at a juncture. It's all so familiar in a way, yet he feels nothing more than . . . apathy.

People lived here, once. Probably.

Outside, he leans against what remains of a wall and looks up, his arms crossed.]

Comments

[asea]

It was for the sake of their people. Humans weren't kind to them.

[He straightens, though his shoulders seem to slump ever so slightly.]

They lost, of course. Both sides agreed to peace negotiations, but I was away before that happened. That should be progressive, shouldn't it?

[Which is his way of saying that's about as much as he knows.]

[tsundyne]

[Peace negotiations . . . well, if they worked, it would certainly be progressive, yeah. But Walter has no way of knowing what happened with them. Or so he says.

She nods, but --]

it's too bad you missed it. whered you disappear to?

[asea]

[He died.

Instead, he only says:]

Here.

[tsundyne]

[Luckily for him, that's actually enough not to raise any suspicion from her. After all, she understands it all too well; though there is something about his expression that suggests there's something deeper.

Even if they say you return to the same point in time when you left . . . there's no real way to tell, is there?]

I see|

[She allows the cursor to linger for a moment, pondering. And then --]

well maybe you havent missed it completely then. you'll go back someday... it's not forever

[asea]

It wouldn't make a difference if I did or not.

[And with that vague reply, he doesn't say any more.

This is the longest he's ever spoken to Yukari, isn't it? And there isn't the slightest desire to walk off even now compared to all those other times. Either way, what difference would it make . . .

What difference would it have made . . .]

[tsundyne]

[Why does he say that . . . ?

Suddenly she remembers when she ran into him during that curse -- when she saw him in that kimono, only it'd been put on wrong, like a corpse dressed for cremation. She hadn't put it together back then; she didn't care enough at the time. But is it possible?

. . .]

what does that mean? you dont wanna go back?

[asea]

[She's caught on, but Walter doesn't know that, and he doesn't want to give her any validation if she does have speculations. His gaze drifts again – his version of a shrug, technically, before he answers:]

It isn't important.

[His existence is insignificant.]

Do you want to go back?

[tsundyne]

[Question-dodging again . . . Yukari stares at him for a moment, but then lets out a sigh as she answers.]

sometimes i do and sometimes i don't

[asea]

Why?

[He doesn't know the circumstances behind her story, and he doesn't want to know. But he's curious about the mixed feelings and why they would exist when it should be a simple decision.]

[tsundyne]

why...?|

[It's almost like she's typing what he says to stall for time; though obviously it doesn't buy her much. She does pause though, looking contemplative.]

because i have a life in both places now. ether way i'll be leaving people behind

[It's just a matter of who.]

[asea]

[ . . . leaving them behind. As if there was a choice in the matter.]

Those same people will return to their own world someday. You won't be leaving them behind.

[tsundyne]

...then they'd be leaving me in that case

[She thought about it, but she really has no argument. Even so, it doesn't really change the way she feels.]

[asea]

Is that a problem?

[He doesn't really get it.]

Vatheon is an abnormal world. None of us were ever meant to meet.

[tsundyne]

maybe not... bt the fact is that we did and it just seems unfair to undo that

[They won't even remember. Maybe he likes it that way, but . . .]

[asea]

[He would argue that it's better off that way. But he thinks so and doesn't air it aloud, because that opinion would prompt questions.]

The world is an unfair place. [No, that's too small.] All of them.

[tsundyne]

i know|

[If things were fair, her dad would still be alive. So would Mitsuru's dad, Shinjiro-senpai . . . and Minato, too. But she quietly sighs.

It doesn't really matter anyway.]

...oh well.

[asea]

[Oh well, indeed.

That's enough from the both of them on the topic (obviously neither of them likes talking about home this way – at all for Walter, if he were honest), he thinks, so Walter focuses on the beaten village surrounding them, his gaze wandering.]

Do you know anything about these buildings?

[tsundyne]

[When his gaze wanders, so does hers, grateful for something else to think about. She'd been meaning to ask what he was even doing here, and clearly she's gotten distracted . . .

She shakes her head.

Not replying with the SFC this time, but she does start erasing her previous answers to make things less cluttered.

Should I know . . . ?]

[asea]

You wonder who lived here. What they did. Why it became this way.

[His mind, so conditioned to the horrors of racism, has the tendency to cook up morbid possibilities. Death is about the most prominent thing on his mind.

Walter turns his gaze back to Yukari.]

But if we don't know now, we probably never will.

[tsundyne]

[She does wonder. When he says that, she looks around, and also thinks about it. What is a place like this even doing here, and had anyone bothered to explore it?

She pulls up her SFC again.]

Probably is a strong word y'know?

[Yukari's not always a pleasant girl, but she's not a total negative Nancy either.]

we might still be able to learn something. i dunno...

Does it bother you?

[asea]

[It's okay, Yukari. Walter will be a negative Nancy in your stead.

He stares long and hard at the message she's typed (at least, longer and harder than the usual look bordering on boredom). He's said stronger words than probably, and –

He folds his arms.]

. . . I'm used to knowing things.

[About things that matter to him, anyway. And the way that last word dies out, he's not interested in elaborating. He may talk more, but he's never been one to blather.]

[tsundyne]

me too, i guess

[With Yukari, it's more that she doesn't want to appear stupid. It may not matter to her in the long run, but if it matters to someone else, and it affects their perception of her? She tends to take an interest.

In the case of this village, she can't really tell if it's important to Walter or not. But she knows there's some reason behind him asking about it, and being here in the first place.

Maybe she'll never find out what it is. Even if he is chattier than usual, he doesn't seem to like to open up -- but she can understand that.]

how did you find this place?

[asea]

I happened upon this place a year ago. [A year and two months, to be precise, on a rainy day.] Hardly anything has changed. Maybe nothing.

[That's as much detail he'll give her on the hows.

Thinking about where he was a year ago does something to his mood, however, and he peels away from the side of the broken building. The tips of his feet point straight ahead, but he doesn't know where to go after this. Probably back to the city.

Probably.

He looks at Yukari in the event she has anything more to say.]

[tsundyne]

[When Yukari turns around to face him again, it looks like he's ready to leave. She's both surprised and not at the same time -- and while she certainly won't stop him, she does follow for a couple of steps, as if asking him to wait.

She starts typing again once she's sure he won't be gone when she looks up.]

there was one more thing...

that wrd you called me back then, i still dont know what it means

[. . . and heck if she ever figured out how to spell it.]

[asea]

[Stopping for her is simple, though it might have been too much had it been any other time for his lack of patience. He scrutinizes the screen and the "wrd," his memory reaching for a moment. It pulls numerous moments, and he's not entirely sure what she means.]

What word?