tampered | log ; closed

log ; closed

When; Backdated to the evening of Saturday the eleventh
Rating; Worksafe
Characters;

stargathering
Summary; After an incredibly exciting day, Tyr and Jowy are finally alone, and...
Log;
What had happened today? Tyr could hardly remember - it all seemed to go in a blur.

Right. He woke up clinging to Jowy. Who then decided the floor was better than Tyr's bed. And pulled Tyr along. Then... Riou was a girl. And Luc was a cat. And Rita was "torturing" her work materials. And he's sure there were countless other events that must have made... would this be Jowy's first cursed weekend? It was tiring to the boy who had been in the City for almost half a year so far; he could only imagine what the entire ordeal was like for the person he dragged through it all.

"Come on..." Tyr mumbled tiredly, tugging the arm that was chained to Jowy's along for what Tyr hoped would be the last time that day. This day had been much too long. "We can sit here until midnight comes."

And where was "here"? Tyr's second favourite place: the docks. At this point, it didn't really matter if Jowy saw where he spent a fair chunk of his free time.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

It had been tiring. Tiring was possibly an understatement. Jowy couldn't actually remember when he was last quite so exhausted, and considering he'd trained since he was younger with Nanami watching over them to make sure they didn't cheat, and that he'd been a commander and then a king, it was saying something. It probably didn't help that this was all new to him - Riou being a girl, Luc being a cat and...

Right. This place. He might have called it quiet, but it wasn't the sort of quiet he was used to. He flopped down on the ground next to Tyr, not having much choice, really, but this time, he actually did it willingly.

"That was one hell of a day," he said quietly, curling his legs up and wrapping the arm not attached to Tyr's around him, leaning down to rest his chin on his knees.

Tyr couldn't help but nod in agreement as he stretched his legs out. "Hopefully it'll be the only one like it for a while..."

This was exactly the sort of stillness and quiet Tyr was used to, on the other hand. However, as he looked out at the horizon, he did note the distinct lack of ticking that usually ran under the sound of the waves. Forced company was still company, he guessed.

"Anyway," Tyr started, looking over to the other boy. "Are you okay? Your wrist, I mean..."

Forced company was better than none, Jowy could agree with that. He'd rarely had that much time completely alone back at the castle - and before, he'd always had someone he could go to, though he had to admit, he preferred being here, in his apartment, alone than back there. He didn't even mind the ticking of the clock. It was better than the burn of his rune.

He tipped his head to the side and looked at Tyr. It was a pity, really, that Tyr didn't like him - but that was to be expected, all things considered. And it wasn't a bad thing; Tyr was Riou's friend, and there was nothing Riou deserved more than a loyal friend. Something Jowy had turned out not to be.

"It's fine," he said, nodding. "Just a little chafed. Are you all right?"

"Same as you," he answered simply.

It seemed like a strange thing to say, considering Tyr had spent a large chunk of the day trying to ignore Jowy's presence as he carried on with his own business. At best, Tyr's feelings towards him were a mix of suspicion and pity that he couldn't shake. Pity. Tyr didn't usually like to pity people, but in the end, that's all he could feel when he thought of Jowy and Riou: They were unfortunate.

...It was sad, too, knowing that the two had been such close friends. But that was just what war did, Tyr reasoned.

After a pause, he slowly asked, "Have you been holding up well in general?"

War did all sorts of things. It hadn't helped that everything had been against them, and that they'd both been as stubborn as each other.

The question caught him by surprise though, and it showed on his face for a minute until Jowy could find it in himself to wipe the expression away and replace it with something a little less...obvious. "Well," he said after a moment. "It's different. But...it's better than how things are at home."

And Riou was here. Riou, who didn't have to worry about leading a country. His best friend who didn't hate him even though he really should have.

Tyr caught that look of surprise, but disregarded it when Jowy continued. Hearing those words, he couldn't help but to agree with a nod. At least in some ways, this had to be better than home. Even for Tyr, this place had its good points; when it comes to Jowy and Riou, that all must be magnified.

In a way, this place could almost be like a reprieve from all the troubles and pain that existed in their own world, but in the end, that wasn't really the case. They would either return and forget everything, or one or both of them would be trapped here forever. It was just a different type of trouble and pain.

...Yet, the Jowy that he saw today didn't seem like the enemy leader who struck out to fight against his best friend. "What do you want to happen once you're home again?" Tyr asked curiously.

"I don't know," Jowy said honestly, looking straight in front of him and reaching down with his free hand to draw patterns in the ground. "I know what I want to happen but...there's so much that makes it impossible."

The Rune on his hand, for one thing. He didn't like thinking about home, didn't like thinking about what it'd been like just before he'd found himself here, didn't know exactly how it was going to continue.

He'd known, he thought, that he didn't have too long left. "You're from before I am though, right? Wouldn't that be spoiling you for what else is to come?"

"You have a point, but... You already told me that you haven't killed Riou; That's the most important thing to me." Besides that, he doubted Jowy's wishes had anything to do with him and his life. It would be a little late for Jowy to decide to attack Toran along with Jowston, after all. Of course, Jowy's arrival and the meaning of his state and words were still a mystery to Tyr, but he clung to the fact that when accused, Jowy quickly denied having taken Riou's life...

Tyr idly watched Jowy create patterns, not really wanting to meet his eyes even if Jowy was to look over at him again. From what little he knew, he could still be sure there must have been a thousand things that held Jowy's hopes back now, including the fact he had only been digging his own grave deeper and deeper.

Deeper and deeper. Jowy'd dug it well and he would soon lie in it, really - at least, that was the situation at home. But Riou and Tyr, neither of them had got there yet, and Jowy didn't know what else he could do. There were so many things on his mind, especially when he thought back to home - and he realised he didn't know if he'd even survive any of that.

Probably not.

He glanced at the Rune on his hand. There was a good reason why he wouldn't - because the Runes on their hands said... they'd have to fight. They'd fought, and now Jowy, who'd used too much of his Rune's power, would have to pay the consequences when he got home. "Things are complicated back there, aren't they?"

Tyr nodded in response, "Yeah..."

"Complicated" was certainly the word for it, especially since there was so much Tyr didn't know about what was really going on, including the slow and deliberate death that the Rune of Beginning was leading them to. He was sure the Runes had to be partially responsible for the war, but he hadn't yet pieced together that they were also the cause of Riou's occasional, days-long comas. As for what Jowy had been going through, Tyr was entirely oblivious.

"In some ways, this place is better... Because there's no point in fighting each other here."

"It's really nice," Jowy agreed. "There's always so much war everywhere that...this is just...really nice." He didn't know how else to put it. He wasn't sure Tyr would understand exactly how things were at home and, despite the fact that he clearly knew of Jowy, that he was clearly part of Riou's army back at home and also Riou's friend, there were a lot of things that most people didn't understand.

Jowy wasn't entirely sure most people, if anyone, actually understood him at all. "I wish things could stay just like this."

He fell silent at that for quietly admitting, "Riou probably feels that way, too..."

Even Tyr wished he could have came here during the Gate Rune War, to this place where time didn't pass so not fighting didn't immediately equate with surrender. And soon... that would be the choice Riou would have to make, wasn't it? Between fighting and surrendering. Tyr knew that much from his occasional involvement in the war.

"You should enjoy this while you're still here..."

"I'm trying to," Jowy admitted. "I'm planning to." Though he wasn't sure how much of a choice he had. So far, so good though, and that was definitely something.

"I think...I think there was a me that wouldn't have been able to enjoy this," he added after a few moments. He wasn't sure why he was talking to Tyr about this, but he needed to talk to someone, and Riou always got that look on his face - the one that looked like Jowy was suggesting kicking puppies or something - whenever he started being too serious. "I think there was a time when I would have wanted to go back just to...just to end the war. But...things are different now. You realise a lot of things when you have time to think away from everything, you know? Away from the need to make the decisions nownownow."

Tyr nodded his understanding. There was no kicked-puppy look on his face. In fact, his expression remained relatively calm, if curious by the tilt of his head while he listened to Jowy speak. Having time to stop and think... That was rarely an option as a leader, and Tyr knew it. In that way, he could sympathise.

"What changed that?" he asked, mostly from curiosity.

"I stopped and looked." Well, more like, he was forced to stop and look. To look at the situation as it was, the situation that was developing, the world he was trying to build. Compared with the one he'd wanted when he'd started on this long and stupid road.

"I...I don't think anyone will ever really understand. At home, I'm not sure I'll ever have the chance to explain. But I'd wanted...I'd wanted peace. I'd wanted power so I could stop the fighting.

"And then Riou showed me all the ways I'd done things wrong. I'd...never had enough time to doubt myself until then. That's...I guess that's when I changed my mind."

As Jowy explained, Tyr pulled one of his legs up to rest his head and arms on his knee as Jowy had. And as Jowy guessed, Tyr himself didn't fully understand. He couldn't understand how someone who wanted peace and to stop fighting would only prolong the war when Riou tried to end it.

"I see... That's... just hindsight. A leader can't doubt himself..." A callback to the Liberation Army, though he couldn't really put himself and Jowy on the same level.

"If you wanted peace, though... I can't understand why you progressed the war. I only heard second-hand, but you were the one that made the war continue when Riou wanted it to stop, weren't you?"

"There was peace when we started too," Jowy said. "Peace. Before our entire unit was killed by Luca Blight. There are people who weren't happy with peace when they thought...."

Jowy closed his eyes. "And there was just so much fighting. Everywhere. No matter where we went or who we saw. Like the world would always fight if no one truly, truly won.

"I thought...I didn't think he would lead the City-States' army. I thought...if I could just win, if I could have that kind of power, I could end this. I could find peace for everyone. Everything I'd done, all the wrongs I'd committed, it would have been okay if I could just...bring peace."

Tyr tried to understand it all as he listened to Jowy explain. In a way, he could understand fighting to end the fighting, but the thought seemed like an oxymoron. But Jowy had said he didn't expect to be understood... Especially when he knew what he did wasn't the right thing.

Even after he finished speaking, though, Tyr didn't respond immediately. It was a bit to wrap his head around as he idly trailed his fingers through the sand.

"I don't think anyone can fault you for wanting that... Even if it wasn't the right way. It's hard to say if the fighting will even stop even when there's a clear victor..."

"You didn't see them fighting," Jowy said softly. "And you didn't...the power that Luca Blight had. The power he abused..." Jowy shook his head. "We couldn't have won if I'd stayed with the City-State. Riou couldn't have..." He shook his head again.

He'd seen the answer then. Or, at least, what he'd thought was the answer. He'd never expected his best friend to gather an army and... He just hadn't.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

log ; closed

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject