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069 » and i breathe disaster ever after
[it's a quiet, wintry night, and flakes of falling snow dance outside the mansion windows.
zelos doesn't like the snow, but seles doesn't know that. if someone asked her, she would be able to remember, a little vaguely, that it was snowing the day her mother was arrested; she knows that the snow had stopped falling by the time her mother was executed. but snow is comforting to seles. it reminds her of her childhood, when her mother would hold her hand with loving patience as they walked down the street, constantly fussing over her scarf and whether or not she was warm enough. it reminds her of warm and cozy days inside the abbey, when the sisters would bring her hot chocolate, and if she was lucky — if it didn't make her cough — she would breathe on the window panes and draw shapes in the foggy glass.
life in the wilder mansion isn't so different from the abbey, really, though the nuns and priests who used to care for her have now been replaced with tokunaga and sebastian. zelos is busy most of the time, as he rightfully should be, considering that the two worlds have fused together, and it's caused all manner of chaos. there are all sorts of things that the people of sylvarant and the people of tethe'alla have to settle, and seles knows nothing of them.
zelos is the chosen one. he's busy. she accepts that.
it doesn't stop tokunaga from fussing over her as she waits by the window, staring out at the courtyard as though her half-brother will surely walk in through the gates.
"master zelos is a man of his word, lady seles," the polished butler reminds her. "as he did promise to return home this evening, i am sure it is only a matter of time before he arrives..."]
You don't have to worry, Tokunaga. I'll be fine if he doesn't show up.
zelos doesn't like the snow, but seles doesn't know that. if someone asked her, she would be able to remember, a little vaguely, that it was snowing the day her mother was arrested; she knows that the snow had stopped falling by the time her mother was executed. but snow is comforting to seles. it reminds her of her childhood, when her mother would hold her hand with loving patience as they walked down the street, constantly fussing over her scarf and whether or not she was warm enough. it reminds her of warm and cozy days inside the abbey, when the sisters would bring her hot chocolate, and if she was lucky — if it didn't make her cough — she would breathe on the window panes and draw shapes in the foggy glass.
life in the wilder mansion isn't so different from the abbey, really, though the nuns and priests who used to care for her have now been replaced with tokunaga and sebastian. zelos is busy most of the time, as he rightfully should be, considering that the two worlds have fused together, and it's caused all manner of chaos. there are all sorts of things that the people of sylvarant and the people of tethe'alla have to settle, and seles knows nothing of them.
zelos is the chosen one. he's busy. she accepts that.
it doesn't stop tokunaga from fussing over her as she waits by the window, staring out at the courtyard as though her half-brother will surely walk in through the gates.
"master zelos is a man of his word, lady seles," the polished butler reminds her. "as he did promise to return home this evening, i am sure it is only a matter of time before he arrives..."]
You don't have to worry, Tokunaga. I'll be fine if he doesn't show up.
no subject
He knew he was late back.
It had taken him time to gear himself up enough to walk home through the oh so hated snow. Telling himself that once he'd pushed his way through it then there'd be his beloved little sister and a nice warm fire waiting for him! Plus he wouldn't have to leave again for a few days! All good things, right?
Despite the mental reassurances though... well, it was already dark before Zelos had even managed to make it to Meltokio. Good job there, Idiot Chosen. At least he could make up some excuse about being in bed with a hangover, everyone would probably buy that.
So long as he didn't look too closely at the cobblestones, he'd be alright. He could ignore the sound of his mother's dying voice creeping into little howls of wind, and the specks of blood that seemed to fall from the sky, and the light of a . magic that... wait, that wasn't magic at all. Blinking the blurry focus out of his eyes, he could recognise the gleam of light from the windows of the Mansion.
Finally. He was back.
Picking up the pace, he strode toward the entrance with as much confidence as he could manage, mentally calculating whether Seles would yell at him the second he walked through the door.]
The Great Zelos Wilder has returned~
no subject
The "Great Zelos Wilder" is late!
[she's yelling, but she's not really yelling. if anything, she's just disappointed, and perhaps a little petulant... but she can't call him "chosen one" now that the chosen system has been abolished, so seles simply huffs and looks at him judgmentally.]
What took you so long?
no subject
[Yeah, Zelos spotted what looked like a little fragment of ice for a split second before she turned to him. He wouldn’t mention it just yet, but it sent a little chill down his spine - his brain immediately tried to back out of thinking about it too hard, his thoughts doing a rather effective impression of a snail that someone just picked up.
Still, he couldn’t help but grin playfully at Seles’ berating, however much he was sure she’d only get angrier at that reaction. Deep down, he’d missed that.]
Aw, did you miss me that much? I’m so touched! My darling little sister cares about me after all~
[A grin and a wink, before he put on his best pout.]
I’m sorry I’m late. I woke up with the most awful hangover, I spent most of the day just trying to sleep it off, it was horrible! What’s a guy supposed to do?
no subject
[why am i like this? she thinks, as soon as the words have left her lips. she does care about zelos, that much is obvious, but it's strange and grating to her pride to have to say it out loud, or to hear him say it out loud. they don't have boundaries like house arrest and attempted assassination and chosen between them anymore — and yet, when he accuses her of caring about him, she still finds it hard to admit that she does.
regardless, her denial is so hypocritical as to be ridiculous, and she knows it. pouting, not least because of zelos's terrible excuses, she folds her arms and looks away from him.]
Hmph! A hangover? Likely story. ...Well, actually, it is a likely story, but there's no way you spent all day in bed. Which floozy did you spend the afternoon with? That duchess again? Or the lady-in-waiting from last year?
no subject
But there's a small part of him that doubts himself. Why would she care about him, after everything she'd been through thanks to him? Even without the Chosen system, even with his sister home again, Zelos' own resounding guilt and lack of self worth still stopped him from really letting go and opening up again. It still felt like there was some distance between them.]
Aw come on, do you really think I'd just spend time with one of my hunnies and neglect you like that? I'm not that bad! I was hungover, seriously, that's all!
no subject
[seles crosses her legs to match her crossed arms, as if to indicate that she can't possibly be any more cross with him, but... after another moment, she stops puffing her cheeks out at zelos, resting her chin in her hands as she looks at him with a sour expression. and then, after a minute, she...
...sticks her tongue out at him. nyeh!]
Maybe next time you drink too much, you could try to come home at the end of the night instead. Then your darling little sister could take care of you. And you wouldn't be late.
[well, more like tokunaga and sebastian would take care of him while seles watches, but all the same...]
no subject
Okay as soon as he saw her tongue sticking out he couldn't help himself but burst out laughing. That was precious.]
Haha, alright, alright! But only if you hold up your side of the bargain and look after me, like you promised~
[For a minute, it was like they were still kids again. He could try and forget all the awful things that had happened between them. At least for now.]
sorry for late! i've been sick :c
[sheis smiling, at least, and for a moment, it is like they are children again — he that red-haired boy who kept his hair pulled back in ribbons, emerging from babyfaced boyhood to a handsome adolescence which would only cause him trouble later in life; she that red-haired girl in dresses made of scraps of fabric and bits of lace her mother found discarded in the nobles' trash.
the moment doesn't quite last as she turns her head to look out at the falling snow, as she often did when she was at the abbey.]
...It's beautiful, isn't it? I always thought the snow was so beautiful.
No worries at all - hope you're feeling better!
[He followed her gaze before he could stop himself, finding himself confronted by the sight of the falling snow once again. Was it lighter now? Heavier? He couldn't tell anymore.]
Oh yeah, been a while since you saw Meltokio covered in snow like this, right?
[Just deflecting that question entirely.]