sandboxery | With DramaticalBlue, Continued

With DramaticalBlue, Continued

powerofvoice: [He's quiet, but was that new? A lot of his answers took more thought. Maybe conversation in general did. By the time he had accepted Desire as part of himself, by the time he started to have conversations with him, it had been a while since what he'd said had mattered. It would be too easy to just lapse into silence.

He would have without Desire.]

They'll know you. They realize how different I was then, how different I am now. [He doesn't add that it was the 'back then' that had most likely drew their interest. That would sound like it was placing blame on a man that had no blame in this.]

dramaticalblue: Yeah. I know.

[ Desire sighs again. There'd definitely be no helping that. Their captors if anyone, would immediately know who he is. He wonders what their reaction will be. Will they be angry that they've lost their compliant Aoba, or will they be excited to break him all over again? Maybe the latter, seeing as it had been him who had caught their interest in the first place. Either way, none of the options are appealing in the least. ]

Maybe it'll caught 'em off-guard.

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Yeah. Maybe you could explain it to them?

[ He smiles, though, feeling pretty happy that Reason wants to be with him. It's not that it's surprising, really - it's just a nice feeling. ]

Granny'd probably believe it, but they probably have the wrong idea about you. You were an idiot you know, worrying her. [He thumps him softly, not meaning the word as harshly as it was usually used.] Maybe after some time, when they don't think I made you up to keep from having to deal with it. People do that, I think.

Well, 'm not exactly proud of it. [ He huffs a little, though he knows Aoba doesn't mean it in a bad way. He still feels guilty about a lot of things he dragged Reason into back when they were younger. ]

Yeah, I guess. Maybe if I explain it to 'em they'll get it.

[ It is kind of weird, after all, to have two different parts of your personality manifest like this, but Desire knows he's not a figment of Aoba's imagination - something made up to deal with the trauma. After all, he's been with Aoba his entire life. ]

[And then Reason had made him a prisoner in his own body. They both had done things they had regrets for. But they were past that. Forced to rely only on each other, he'd come to see the truth.]

We'll try it with Granny. She's more likely to know about you. She remembers it back then, and she knows the work that went into us. I think seeing you like this would help her. If she's still mad about then and let's ya know, you're handling that.

[He's joking. He can joke now. For a bit, before he has to face all the serious stuff.]

Heh, yeah. I think she knew it wasn't... well you, when we talked before.

[ There hadn't really been any time to confirm it to her, and she hadn't asked. There'd been far more important things to focus on, after all.

He grins. ]

Honestly, it'd be pretty nice to have her yell at me a little. Wouldn't be Granny if she didn't, right?

[ He'd been a bit bitter towards her, because after all, she had known the truth and hadn't told Aoba, had instead helped him block Desire out with the "headache" medicine. He's forgiven her for it now, though, understanding that she only did what she thought was best for Aoba at the time. And if there's anything Desire can relate to, it's trying to protect Aoba in the only way he knew how. ]

I think so, too. [Granny had always had a unique perspective on his past that he didn't know about until the right before the Tower. That and with the change in attitude, she likely knew it wasn't just teenage rebellion.]

If you like that so much, I don't care trading places when I get in trouble with her. [That's mostly a joke. Aoba loved his Granny with everything in him, both her loving and scolding sides. He knew, even when she was harsh, she loved him too.]

[ Desire laughs and shakes his head. ]

Uh-uh. No way. That's a burden we gotta share.

[ It feels so weird to be able to laugh and joke around, but definitely in a good way. They've both earned this, the ability to be carefree and happy for a moment. ]

[Soon, he has to go out and speak to Granny. Soon, he has to go home with a collar around his neck and enough marks to show he was tortured. He's not entirely sure he can joke out there. So, in here, for a little bit, he wants to pretend it's okay.]

You'll definitely get in more trouble than me.

[ Desire pouts, looking somewhat like a petulant child and his voice takes on a playfully whiny tone when he speaks. ]

Aw man, that's not faaaair.

Your own fault. [But he chuckles. It might be a forcibly light mood, but it was one they were both working on keeping.

He looks back up at him, the smile fading.] I should probably go, huh? Tell Granny we made it.

[ Desire's expression turns into a more serious one as he grasps one of Aoba's hands in his own, squeezing lightly. ] That might be a good idea... I'll be here. [ He smiles reassuringly. ]

[He gave it another squeeze back before taking the smile and the reassurance it implies. And then he's gone, back in the real world.

It's a shock to be wearing clothing, the fabric making his tired body feel heavy. It's been some time since he had been the one driving, so to speak, so even that much is a bit of a change. He's more than a little thankful to see the entire row cleared out for him.

And then there's the phone call. Aoba probably wasn't ready for that, he wasn't ready to see Granny, to see Koujaku who was waiting right behind her. Ren wasn't there, he noted with worry, but he didn't ask, not yet. That would need to wait until he could handle the news, should it be bad.

And then he lets darkness take him back. It's been an hour since he's left and his eyes went to look for a familiar figure.]

[ Desire can't help but to feel some worry bubble up as Reason leaves. He's been in charge for a while now and he hopes that it won't be too much for his other to take the wheel again.

Waiting is frustrating, but he decides not to peek in on what Reason is doing as he'd rather hear it from him personally when he comes back, and so he sits down and waits.

It feels like a long time before Desire sees his mirror image appear again, and relief floods him at the sight. He stands up, smiling as he approaches him. ]

Hey, welcome back. How were things?

[His smile might be a but hard to read because he's not sure what he wants it to convey. It had been like a dream, seeing their faces again, hearing their voices again.]

Hey. [But Ren wasn't there. Even his dreams couldn't be perfect.] Were clothes always that heavy?

[ Desire gives him a sad little smile at that as he walks up to Aoba and loops an arm around him. ]

Feels weird, don't it? To wear clothes again, I mean.

A little weird. Kinda itchy, too. [And hot and heavy and he never wants to take them off. They'd become stale in the closest so he knows he'll probably have to, but it felt so good to be covered again.]

But I saw Granny and Koujaku. They're waiting for us. [He gives a real smile over at him, a happy smile.] It was good to see 'em again.

[ Being kept constantly in the nude had definitely contributed to the feelings of helplessness and humiliation. ] Yeah.

[ He smiles. ] What did they say? Is Ren okay?

[He remembered how badly he'd just wanted to cover himself, but something had always had his hands at first. Chains, rope, hands, something always kept him from the cover he'd needed. By the time those were gone, so was the need for modesty.

But the question made his face drop.] ...I don't think he is. I didn't ask, but he wasn't there. Koujaku's waitin' with Granny, but he's not there. If he was okay, he would have been.

[ A look of concern comes over Desire's face hearing that. Aoba definitely has a point. What could be going on with Ren? Last time they'd seen him he'd been acting strange. Maybe they hadn't been able to fix the problem? Frowning slightly, Desire pulls Aoba into his arms and gives him a light squeeze. ]

Let's not worry 'til we know for sure, okay?

[He was sure. Sure enough that he didn't ask because he couldn't break down on a plane. So, he buried his head, being cowardly enough to hide from the truth. That was best saved for home. He was wearing a collar and looked like he hadn't eaten for weeks, after all.

Aoba goes forward easily.]

If...you were them, what would you do with Ren?

[ Desire has the same concern, but he doesn't want to think that something could be seriously wrong with Ren. Or worse... what if Trip and Virus had taken him and he just hadn't found him?

He very gently runs his fingers through Aoba's hair, sighing softly. ]

You mean those two assholes? [ He shrugs. ] They kept all your other stuff in working order so if they had Ren... hopefully they'd not damage him or anythin'.

[ The more he thought about it, though, the less likely it seemed that they would have had Ren. If they did, surely they would've used him as a way to torture them since they knew very well how important Ren is to them. ]

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With DramaticalBlue, Continued

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sorry for the delay!!

no worries! been pretty busy too

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