Chasma: Allen

[aono]

Comments

[aono]

Maybe one item that links us, so that if one of us stays awake the other does too.

[That seems like the easiest way to do it honestly.

Then, as cheeky as ever, Rin smiles.]

So what I'm hearing is that I should hold your right hand from now on, huh?

[lefthandpath]

That might be an idea.

[and okay, he can't help smiling back.]

I can only use it twice a week for ten minutes right now, so you're probably safe for now.

[aono]

Hey, we match then! That's how much I can use my fire.

...I still have two uses left this week, if you want to see it.

[lefthandpath]

Maybe after tomorrow. Just in case?

[who knows if something insane might happen.]

I do want to see it.

[aono]

Alright. After tomorrow then.

[But tomorrow is tomorrow and for tonight Rin is going to focus on making Allen feel safe. The problems that face them later are for after the sun rises.]

...oh! But there is something I can show you now. I was gonna tell everyone at the meeting this week, but then we didn't have a meeting at all.

[He'll pull away from Allen to go to a drawer nearby and pull out...a cutting from a tree? It looks petrified but also completely preserved, even with leaves on it.]

[lefthandpath]

[considering the stories that they were told... Allen gives a small frown? curious but also...]

Is that...?

[aono]

It's something important, I know that much.

The place we went to, it had a garden. Or...the angel there, Uriel, he called it a garden. All that was left was Uriel, a giant snake, and a tree. I think...I think it was the Garden of Eden, actually, and that tree must have been the tree of Knowledge.

He gave us this clipping before he was killed and told us to take care of it. Lawyer guy was holding onto it, but...well, you know. So I have it now. Alisaie and Akira know about it too, but we haven't told everyone else yet. We were kinda waiting for a meeting to come up to mention it. I think this is gonna end up being a key piece to everything.

There was a note with it too. It said "The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. Nor will people say, 'Look, here it is,' or 'There it is.' For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst."

[lefthandpath]

So it was Uriel... Xie Lian told me some about what you told him? Mostly because he was asking about the story behind Eden.

[oh no, he'd gotten it wrong??]

Who killed Uriel, then? And why would Uriel be with the snake...?

[aono]

It was another angel on a chariot. The uh...Lord Regent? I think that's what Uriel called them.

And I dunno what was up with the snake, but I don't think they were buddy-buddy. It was more like they kept each other in check? The snake wouldn't attack because Uriel was there. When Uriel was killed, the snake attacked us.

I feel like each group is seeing something related to all of this. At the next meeting we should put our stories together and see what we get.

[lefthandpath]

[Uriel and Lucifer...???? Michael on a chariot???

he's so confused.]

That would... probably be best. I don't have anything that could help with that, but...

[aono]

But that's okay! You've seen what people look like when they come back from those 'adventures'. The scars from those last way longer than you thinks.

[Rin, still carrying the emotional baggage from his own CYOA.]

[lefthandpath]

... I think I'm well used to how scars are like.

[he's riddled with them.]

As long as people survive them, though... that's what matters. You can always keep going, even when the wounds were deep.

[aono]

I'm gonna be selfish now and say I don't want to see you get hurt. Your smiles are better when they're not filled with pain.

[lefthandpath]

[i can't believe you would assault Allen Walker like this. he flustered]

That--I'm a fighter, you know! I haven't done much but I can manage!

[aono]

You have a hole in your chest, Allen.

[lefthandpath]

I do not.

... my Innocence healed that hole in my heart, I'm fine.

[the fact that he once had a literal hole tho]

[aono]

But you had one there in the first place! Allen!

[He's going to set the tree cutting down long enough to grab Allen's shoulders. He's not shaking him yet but he really wants to.]

[lefthandpath]

[he holds up his hands reflexively, as if he's used to being shook at this point.]

That's what happens in a war! Your enemy tries to kill you but you live--actually, that's just how life is like, in general, in my experience. But I won't die so easily, and I'll be fine as long as I live. Even if it means I carry the scars.

[aono]

This isn't a war!

[If Allen is holding up those hands, then Rin is going to grab for them. Aggressive hand-holding time!

His voice is slightly calmer when he speaks next, but only slightly.]

It's just...not. It's a group of people stuck in a terrible situation and we have to survive, not run off to battle at the first sign of a fight! You say you can carry those scars, but do you even realize that you're asking everyone else to carry those scars for you too?

[lefthandpath]

[hands are held and Allen goes quiet, it hitting more at what was happening back home than he'd like, also.]

... if it means everyone else gets to live, then... I'm fine with that.

I know you think I'm a good person, or that I'm selfless. But really, this is the kind of selfish person I am. It's not just surviving, we will have to fight in some way or another. But as long as everyone, in some way, is able to keep going forward--living or dead... then that's what I'll try for.

[aono]

[Rin is genuinely amazed at how Allen even thinks he can twist something as selfless as "I will literally get injured and die to save everyone" into something selfish.]

Selfish, huh? Well if you're gonna be selfish, then I will too.

I can't let you keep running into dangerous situations without any regard for your own safety. And if that means I need to follow right after you and do all the fighting for you, then fine. I'll do it.

I know it hurts you more than you let on. And I'm gonna help make it hurt less, in any way I can. Because I like you, and I'm gonna be selfish about that.

[lefthandpath]

[oh, oh no oh no, don't say the like word what's wrong with you.]

What do you mean keep? I haven't done anything in this place! But you've already been through enough--everyone already has, in fact! Even Miss A-Qing who can't even see!

[aono]

Don't act like you didn't run into trouble back in your world. You're the one carrying all those scars, not me.

[Well. He is NOW but he had no scars from before this place.]

But the point still stands: every time you go towards something dangerous, I'm going too.

[lefthandpath]

Don't be ridiculous, we don't get much choice in that!

[aono]

It's fine! I'll just hold your hand all the time so we don't get separated. Or...maybe a rope tied around both of us, we need to use both hands for fighting and all.