distressedude | Appointments Post

Mm... I thought it would have gone down by now, but I guess not. [He holds the shirt on his lap, but doesn't put it on just yet. He's still pretty hot, after all. And laying on his wings hasn't helped matters either.]

It's been awhile since I've been this sick. Usually Dist gives me something to help keep the fever down, but...

[Well, he's been more or less MIA since the announcement that Professor Nebilim went home. It just seemed best to leave him alone right now while he sorted things out.]

[STOP SHOWING OFF YOUR MUSCLES- oh wait you don't have any]

Do you want me to find him? Now that I think about it, I haven't seen him around lately...

[HE HAS SOME MUSCLES-- wait, no, he's showing off his badass scars okay. This is probably one of the few times he's not actively trying to hide them. Partially because she's seen them already, and partially because he doesn't feel well enough to care.]

...I think it might be for the best that we leave him alone for awhile. With Professor Nebilim gone, I can't imagine he's taking it very well...

Huh? How come?

Professor Nebilim was Dist's teacher in Keterburg when he was a child. With the way he spoke of her, I'm sure he was very fond of her... and she doesn't have a place to return to now that she's not here.

Really? I didn't know he's so close to her. ...I hope she's happy. Wherever she is now.

[Just... a quiet nod. Wherever she is now... wherever it is people go when they die. A place he thinks he should remember if it exists, and yet all he can recall between the time he was "gone" and waking up here was a still nothingness he wouldn't be able to describe in words...]

[He shivers, but not from the cold.]

It really seems like a lot of people have been sent home lately, hasn't it...

[A quiet little nod.]

I thought the professor would be here forever. She just seemed so...always there, you know? She's so important.

She was one of those still around from the earliest years of Luceti... I'm sure there are others who shared the same sentiment as well.

I...I don't want to leave and forget about the time we spent here, Ion.

Anise...

[I don't want to leave at all. He thinks the words, but he doesn't say them. How could he explain leaving behind his past life without telling her that he doesn't have a choice? It's not a conversation he wants to have right now. It's not a conversation he wants to have at all.]

[After only a few moments of silence, he reaches out and takes one of Anise's hands in his own.]

...I feel the same. There are things here that I never want to forget.

[He gently squeezes her hand.]

Edited 2012-05-10 13:21 (UTC)

[She leans closer to him, resting her head against his shoulder.]

So many people lose their loved ones, and it's always so sad...

I don't ever want to lose you.

Edited 2012-05-11 08:28 (UTC)

[With Anise resting as closely as she is, there's no way she could miss him tense up at those words. Hearing something like that... it should make him happy, shouldn't? Mentioning loved ones and him in the same breath... but there's no way she means it like that.]

[And even if she did, what would become of it? After that last conversation with Nephry, he knows now that being with Anise isn't something he could bring himself to do while he's still lying to her about his fate on Auldrant. She doesn't want to lose him... but she'll lose him for real if he's ever sent "home". Even if she doesn't realize it...]

[He's been quiet for too long, his gaze fixated on the ground. The hand holding onto Anise's is shaking.]

[The silence makes Anise uneasy, as does Ion's tension. She fidgets slightly, but Ion is still holding onto her hand, so it can't be too bad, right?]

[Finally, the silence becomes too much for her to bear.]

I'm sorry...Did I say something wrong?

What? [As though he hadn't noticed the silence at all himself, Ion looks over at Anise quickly, a look of... surprise? or perhaps uneasiness on his face. Soon after, he relaxes, putting on a none-too-sincere smile.]

Not at all. I was... just thinking about something.

[Something that demanded a subject change, lest things grow far too heavy. There's another pause as he stumbles around for a topic... oh. Well, there was something he needed to bring up with her. He hadn't really wanted to discuss it while he was still sick, but now was as good a time as any, right?]

...I don't believe I had the chance to mention it before, but... Ion was sent home recently. [And before he can think to correct himself, he adds:] The real Ion.

[That makes her frown. She knows that Ion's original had been there, but approaching him felt like it would be a betrayal to her Ion, so she had tried to avoid him.]

[Very firmly:] You're real too.

[But it's still sad. She knows that there's nothing but death waiting for Ion's original, just like there's nothing waiting for Professor Nebilim.]

I...hope he's happy, wherever he is now. It must be really lonely for him, with Arietta still here...

[That small insistence makes him smile in spite of himself. But the moment Arietta comes into the conversation, that smile starts to wane. It was a touchy subject, to bring up Arietta around Anise. Not just because they didn't like each other, but because he knows what Arietta may accidentally reveal to Anise should they ever meet. It was a relief to have his Original here to help keep them apart, but now...]

...actually, I spoke with Arietta about it the day he left.

You spoke to Arietta?

I couldn't just leave her alone, Anise. I know what it's like to walk in and see an empty room like that.

[A feeling he knows all too well, for certain.]

She didn't even realize it meant he was gone until I explained it to her.

Boooooo. She might be better off not knowing.

Anise...

[Clearly getting Anise to see pity for Arietta's pain would be a lost cause. She'd been against him telling her that he wasn't the "real" Ion back home as well, after all.]

...if she didn't know he was gone, she would have eventually seen me and wondered why "Ion" wasn't living with her anymore. And I'm certain running into Florian would have been even more confusing for her. He wouldn't even recognize her...

Ugh, whatever! I don't care as long as she stays out of our way! You're encouraging her, Ion. She's dangerous and unpredictable and she's obsessed with you!

[There's a somewhat lengthy pause. He can tell Anise is getting upset, and that pause is all he can do right now to calm her down.]

...you're wrong, Anise. I'm not the one she's "obsessed" with.

[The one she loves is the original Ion. The one who isn't here anymore.]

That's why I told her everything.

You...what?! Ion, are you sure that's a good idea?

[Another pause. Only this one is more because he's not totally sure himself.]

What other choice did I have? I can't just try and avoid her forever, can I? There's no telling how she would have reacted to seeing seeing me again, let alone Florian...

[But there was more to it than just that, and Ion knew it. The free hand resting above his knee tightens into a fist.]

...I didn't want to go back to being Ion's replacement again.

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