002 ⚜ ❝ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ sᴀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ'ʟʟ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ❞

[repudiate]

[ It's a fairly normal scene, all things considered. There's just a road with cars occasionally driving by, lined with buildings, and then there's a single bus stop. And standing by said bus stop is a girl in a school uniform leaning against the bus stop sign while seemingly talking on the phone. She's fairly recognizable as Ange, despite the difference in clothing, the only difference aside from that is the fact that she's wearing her hair down instead of having her usual pigtails with the hair bobbles.

If you get close enough to her, you might be able to hear what she's discussing on the phone. ]

What, onii-chan's coming over for dinner tonight too? [ A pause as she listens to the answer on the phone and then she downright laughs - very uncharacteristic for her, those who know her might notice. ] No, dad, I like eating dinner with just you and mom too, okay? Don't freak out too much over it. It's just that this is a special occasion. [ She listens again, and then there's a hum. ] I know. I'll be home soon enough, the bus is just having a delay or something like that. But I'll hurry. Hmm, bye!

[ Now she's done with her call and tucking the cellphone - a fairly old-looking one, like a nineties' model - back into her bag, you might want to speak up. Or, you know, just silently stand with her at the bus stop, even though that's not as interesting of a way to spend time. ]

Comments

[promotedpawn]

[He remains as he is, his eyes obscured, his lips set in a fine line. Unaffected, watching without interest or care how she struggles. Even if it's hurting him inside.

He stands up and walks closer to her, menacingly even. But his eyes remain obscured, his expression remains a mask even if she tried to discern it.]

You did? What about your parents? You saw them a little while ago as well, right? Petting your head, kissing your forehead, waving goodbye. "Don't worry Ange, we will be back in a couple of days and Battler will come as well. Just concentrate on getting well, you will be able to come and see everyone next year." Did you get well already? Do you still have a cold?

[He leans forward, predatory. His next words are low, barely a whisper that she may miss.]

I won't stop. I told you, I won't allow you to forget me even if it's for your own happiness.

[repudiate]

[ Why are his words so familiar, as if they're activating something in her brain she tried to push back, tried to forget, a memory she's replayed so many times in her head before because it it was the moment she wished so many times she could have changed - why? what's so wrong with it? what is is about? - and all she can do is strange at him in near horror. When he's this close to her he might as well nearly hear her heart pounding in her throat over it. ]

No, this is-- [ She shakes her head, as if part of her is resisting against something she doesn't even know about. Stop stop stop stop.. ]

... I-- I have to go home.. I have to see them again, they're waiting for me, if I don't hurry and go home dinner will get cold without me.. [ Her head snaps desperately to the street, looking down it. ] Why is the bus so late..?!

[ She has to get away, because she somehow knows that if she stays here with him, everything will end. Somehow.

Some tiny part of her does speak up inside herself though, small and almost inaudible. Stay with him. All of this is wrong. ]

[promotedpawn]

Forget the bus already.

[He grabs her, no escape allowed, trapping her in his arms and against the walls of the bus stop. He looks at her eyes and for the first time allows his own to be visible, golden orbs gazing directly into her own blue eyes.]

You're already home with me, Ange.

[And he kisses her before she has time to say anything, to do anything. Even if it's forced, even if part of him dislikes to have to force it. It's this or taking out the really heavy armament and he would prefer if it didn't got to that extreme.]

[repudiate]

[ It's as if with the kiss, before she has even time to react, the thunderous realisation hits her. 'You're already home with me, Ange'.. ah, that's right. All of this.. it's just a lie, isn't it? Her family isn't here anymore, they've been gone for a long time, and all she has been doing all that time is trying to chase them, to get them back somehow, even if it's a fruitless effort. This kind of life.. it's a dream, based on nothing at all. Nothing but a lie.

And the guy in front of her, the one kissing her.. Someone important to her, more important than anything right now, completely forgotten, but.. as the memories of her family fade more to the background, that painful spot they've always belonged in, the memories of the man in front of her - Keiichi, Primo - slowly flow in again.

Everything around them seems to crumble. The buildings, trees, the road, people walking around, everything at all crumbles down until nothing is left but an infinite darkness. The only thing that's left is the bus stop itself and them standing in it.

She's lost something. Or rather, she doesn't have something she thought she had. It feels so.. empty, horribly, and before she knows it tears are already running down her cheeks. But exactly that emptiness is what drives her to cling to what she does have more desperately, to the person she loves. Ange is crying, definitely crying, but something shifts in the kiss as she starts to kiss him back as well. ]

[promotedpawn]

[Primo can only thank to whichever higher power there is, if there's such a thing above his own existence, for allowing Ange to recover her memories already. For allowing him to rescue her, or has he kidnapped her? She was in a dream, a happy dream with the wish she has stored in her heart for more than ten years. And he took it away from her, he destroyed and crushed her, took away her happiness. Yes, he didn't rescue her, he kidnapped her.

And he doesn't regret it. Because she's his and even if that world could be obtained one day, he won't allow this Ange to go to it, he will give her happiness in another form. One that doesn't involve him losing her again.

He breaks the kiss as she starts to cry, holding her tightly against himself, one hand caressing her head. Letting her cry, letting her suffer, because it's what he forced her to do and he wouldn't go back on it even if he could.]

[repudiate]

[ Once he starts just holding her instead of kissing she practically buries her face against him - if not just to hide her tears from the world, even if there's nothing in this dream anymore besides the two of them. But she doesn't stop crying, just continuing for a while, even if he's quiet.

It's weird that she feels this upset at all of it, in a way. It's not like she actually lost anything, since she didn't have any of it to start with, since it was just a lie.. and yet it does feel like that, as if she would have been content to stick around in that dream for just a little longer. There's a part that's good about this too, since she definitely didn't want to forget about him, but still.. the loss of the illusion stings more as a first reaction, so she cries for it.

It takes moments that seem an eternity, but after a while the crying gets less loud, to a point where it's just soft sniffing. She doesn't move from her position though, nor does she speak up just yet. She's already lost her dignity just now, either way, even though it's luckily it's only in front of him. ]

[promotedpawn]

[He keeps holding her as the precious thing she is, no matter how much she cries or how much she cracks, he will hold her and all her shards. Because she's his, the only one he loves, the only one he wants. Nothing else matters, he will take her even if she's broken in a million of pieces, leaving none behind. A hand caresses her hair lovingly while the other is wrapped around her waist, pulling her close, comforting her, protecting her.

He gives the bus station an angry glare and in an instant even that shatters, crashing with the sound of a crystal breaking into thousands of pieces. It's easy to do, with the dream already in such a broken state. So he just destroys it completely and drags her out of it, into his domains.

He doesn't take her to his palace, though. Instead he transports them to a garden full of golden flowers and golden butterflies. Moments after they appear there's the sound of a chair crashing against the ground.]

Primo, wha- Ange?!! Ange, is that you?!! What's wrong?

[It's a voice she will recognize. As Battler, in his wizard cloak, rushes to them, peeling Primo's arms from her to look at her and pull her into his own arms. Primo doesn't complain, merely watching the scene with an apparent lack of interest.]

She was having a nightmare. Let her stay here for a while, won't you?

[repudiate]

[ At first Ange doesn't even really realise what's happening, too stuck in her sadness and confusion still. And before she knows it she can hear a familiar voice and she's grabbed by someone else, pulled close-- and it's her older brother. Even if she almost instinctively knows this is not her Battler, it's still her older brother all the same, so.. it feels nice. She isn't able to see him back home, seperated by time, so to see him after a dream like that is comforting. In fact, the very thought of it makes her sniff a little again, even if she doesn't outright cry, but her eyes are still red from before as she clings to Battler. ]

Onii-chan..

[ He's here. He's real, at least here, at least this time.

But after a few moments of clinging, she does turn her head at Primo again, even if she doesn't move away from Battler. Her eyes are still a bit downcast at the situation itself, but she's silently mouthing the word 'stay' at him as well - if she can have both her older brother and the person she loves here, even if it's for a while, even if it's just while she sleeps.. that's okay, right? ]