tampered | [log][closed][ongoing]

[log][closed][ongoing]

When; Thursday, February 10
Rating; PG-13 for angst?
Characters; Euphemia li Britannia and Allen Walker
Summary; Suzaku has left and Allen finds a Euphie in need of comforting
Log;

Euphie waited a day before going to check the hall. As worried as she was when he didn't come home and wouldn't answer her calls, the thought of him just being completely gone was worse. Finally, she'd made herself do it. She couldn't even remember returning to the apartment, but there she was. She'd even walked into Suzaku's room, door still open, and sat on his bed just staring blankly at the sparsely-decorated space.

She felt a little numb. There were tears, but they just hung there on the edge, not quite willing to fall. Some part of her was still trying to deny that she was along now. The last person from her world had left. Her knight. Her first love. Her Suzaku.

Things had been strained and odd between them at times here in the City, but he was always good to her without fail. And, of course, there was a part of her that was scared too. If he was home again that meant he could continue. It meant he could...complete Lelouch's plan.

"Please, no."

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Allen had noticed his room mates absence, he'd wondered where Suzaku had gotten off to but hadn't felt it his place to pry. He barely knew the boy, after all, it would be a little creepy to be calling him after only a day or two of being missing. Upon seeing the door open, Allen figured he must have returned, well that was good. He continued on down the hall without paying it much more thought, only taking a few steps before he heard Euphie's voice. She souned heartbroken, almost desperately sad. It was obvious what had happened.

Allen hesitated for less than a moment before turning on his heel and knocking on the door, poking his head inside. "Miss Euphie?"

She straightened up immediately upon hearing Allen's voice. She tilted her head away from the door instead of toward him. There was no answer for a moment, because she didn't trust her voice.

"Allen..." It turned out she was right not to trust it. But in her next breath she does her best to keep the words even.

"Suzaku is gone." There was another pause before she added, "from the City." He hadn't just moved out after all.

Allen stepped into the room properly, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to her. He stared ahead, not making eye contact in an attempt to spare her some dignity - she was trying to stay strong, trying so hard not to break down. He could go along with it for her. Instead, Allen reached out and took her hand, holding firmly, comfortingly. "I'm sorry."

She closed her eyes when he took her hand, but she didn't pull it away. She didn't want to burden him, especially when Allen doesn't remember her from before. Between waitressing and running the welcome center and her sometimes confusing social life, she hasn't had the time to really spend with him that she'd like.

But she was glad he was here. In the City. In this apartment. In this room now.

It was selfish and she knew that, but she didn't want to be alone. She hated feeling like everyone was leaving her—Lelouch, Nunnally, and now Suzaku.

Softly, and maybe not as brave as she wants to sound. "I thought the others would come back. I didn't think he'd go too."

Honestly, Allen didn't see it as a burden. Comforting people, helping others in times of distress is what he does, it's kind of his thing. Even if he hadn't known her all that long or that well, it was his natural instinct to comfort her.

"It's always hard, when the people we love leave. When you care about people, you want to be with them as long as you can, that's only natural. It's hard, and it's sad, but they're not gone forever. People come back here all the time, I'm living proof of that. I'm sorry he left, but it's not as if he could help it. I'm sure you'll see him again some day."

She looked up at the boy with his white hair and scar and gentle smile. And a moment later she was shifting closer. Surprise, Allen, it's hugging time. You have only yourself to blame for being sweet.

And hearing Allen mention how he returned did make her feel a little better. Even Suzaku had left and returned once. He could do it again, right? And maybe Lelouch would come back too?

Soon?

"Allen... When did you get so wise?"

"Ah-" The hug catches him off guard, Allen pauses a moment before wrapping his arms around her and laughing nervously.

"Haha, I wouldn't say I'm wise, Miss Euphie."

She's a little sorry, but mostly she's just glad she has someone to hug right now. She's going to keep holding on if that's all right. "I would."

"I shouldn't even be... Not when..." There aren't any of your friends here. Road doesn't really count as a friend, right?

Allen isn't pulling away any time soon, Euphie seems to need this. "Road... Isn't my friend exactly, no. That's a little complicated. But even if that's the case, why should that mean you're not allowed to be sad? You care about him, so you're upset when he leaves. That doesn't make you weak, it just makes you human." So many people have left him already; ever since Mana's death, Allen had walked down a path of touching others lives only briefly before moving on. Even those in the Order, the ones he called his closest friends, the ones he trusted... Allen wouldn't be surprised if the day came when he'd have to leave them behind as well. It was the way his life had always been; even the constants of Mana and Cross, the men who raised him, were gone. Although Allen had become numbed to that pain, he understood all too well how upsetting it was.

"It's okay if you want to be depressed for a while, I'll be here to listen."

"You're such a good friend, Allen." And she just holds on quietly. He may be a good listener, but she isn't always such a good talker. She tends to hold things in—trying to process them on her own. She's always afraid to lean too much on someone because that's when...the leave.

"Did I tell you about the time when you were here before and we were cursed like this?"

"Eh? Cursed like what?" Allen asks, blinking surprise.

"It was a curse if you started touching someone you'd be stuck that way all day. We ended up hugging all day. Walking was a little challenging."

After a quick mental image of how that scene must have played out, Allen starts laughing. "What an awkward curse. How did we work that out?"

"Very slowly." She actually manages a soft smile. "Lavi is the one who tricked us into it too. Then he accidentally got stuck to my brother. I don't think either of them was happy about that."

"Lavi is hopeless, he's always getting us into trouble..." Allen chuckles, for a moment he struggles to remember anything like that happening. Any hint of his previous time in the city, any remnant that might be triggered by her words. But there's nothing.

"I wish I could remember it, those memories sound like fun."

"It's all right that you don't."

She smiles a little more and pulls back so that they can see each other, but she keeps hold of his hand.

"Does it makes you feel strange when I talk about it or is it all right?"

"I don't mind it. It's a little weird, but even if I can't remember it I like hearing about such simple times.]

"We had a lot of fun. There were harder times too, but it was good to have friends during them.

"I guess there are a lot of things I told you back then that I haven't mentioned since you've been back."

"Ah, you did?"

Allen hesitates at that, it seems like they were really close. All these memories she has of the two together, of his friends... Euphie seems to know him so well. Once again he feels a pang of guilt at having forgotten so much and another pang of 'this happened three times I am such a fail; but through all this Allen really has to wonder... Just how much does she really know about him?

"If you want to tell me again, I'd like to hear it. But if it's something stressful, we don't have to do it all today."

It was hard the first time they talked about some of these things, and not just because of how difficult the subjects were. Neither of them really knew how to open up, and they reacted differently. Still, it felt almost dishonest knowing things about Allen when he knew so little of her and when he didn't know she knew about him.

"The City has a way of making things come out even when you don't mean to share them. It's a hard place to have secrets. I've gotten a little better at talking about some of it. Some of it is just awkward to bring up. Like..." She looks at Allen. "You know about the City!dead, right? People who arrived from their own worlds after dying there? Or people who died while they were here."

"Mm, you told me about the City!Dead when I first arrived here." Allen still didn't like that idea, didn't like how the deities treated life and death with such triviality... Where was Euphie going with this? He was getting a good idea, but what Euphie had told him about the City!Dead people didn't match with her. Her skin wasn't cold, he had felt her heart beat when he hugged her close moments ago...

She nodded. It's always hard to remember exactly what she covers with someone when they first arrived. It's usually the same sort of things, but depending on how a conversation goes something could be added or left out.

"Well, I may have also told you that people can make deals with the deities here. One of the deals that could be made is to give something up in exchange for bringing someone back to life." Quickly adds, "Ah, not in the way the Earl does it."

Okay, time to just say it. "When I arrived I was one of the City!dead, but I'm not anymore."

"You- What?" Allen has to take a moment to process that, something like this goes against everything he knows, every moral fibre in his being. Even if she says it's not the same way as the Earl, even if it's so different, he still can't help but feel that same irrational hatred towards the actions of the Deities.

"How... What did you give up? Something this big..."

"I...died in my world when I was sixteen."

She shakes her head. "I didn't. I didn't even know it was happening until I woke up one day and my heart was beating again. I thought maybe it was a curse, but no one else was talking about it and then midnight came and I was still alive. I didn't know a friend of mine made the trade until much later. He gave up his ability to fight for a time."

"I'm sorry." Allen pulls Euphie close again, hugging her. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Your friend..." Giving up the ability to fight? And only temporarily? That sounds a little too easy to Allen, and he's sure there must be something more to it than that, but it isn't his place to press that issue. Euphie didn't even know, now wasn't the time to upset her more by pushing delicate matters. He would investigate into deals with the deities later.

"He sounds like a very good friend." Did this mean Euphie could go back to her world alive? Or was it only in effect whilst she stayed in the City? Allen almost didn't want to know the answer.

"It's...it's okay Allen. I've had time to get used to the idea." But she is still grateful for the hug which she returns.

"He is a good friend. He...left the City a little while ago."

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