{ stroke of midnight }

[dreamposts]

STROKE OF MIDNIGHT

Although the Masquerade is being held on the night of the Fourteenth, some new problems arise in the days after. This log is split into two sections, the Masquerade and Around Town. Everyone is free to participate in either or both, whichever catches your interest.

More details on everything can be found here and here. As a reminder, events double as our TDMs and information can be found here with arrival details here. Any outside characters participating in the log are canonly logged as appearing in Songerein in February and will remain in Songerein from the IC date of February 14 through 28. TDM only characters can only thread within this log. Anyone who apps in and is accepted will have their character count February as their first time in the game without any disruption, so all content will carry over. Those who do not apply will disappear which should not seem too unusual, however players in game can choose to retcon and pretend a character was never there to begin with if it would be easier; or even think their presence was just a dream.

IMPORTANT! All outside characters MUST have "TDM" in their subject line, even if you might not app. This will help people differentiate those who are already in the game and those who are not.

TDM threads are required for samples. Refer to the Game Info for general information and feel free to toss any questions here. Reserves will open Wednesday, February 22nd and Applications will open on March 1. Our next cycle after won't be until JULY.

TDM Toplevel Link Directory (click to view, updated 02/22)

Avatar: The Legend of Korra - Korra
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Iroh
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Miriam
Chainsaw Man - Power
Dr. STONE - Dr. Senku Ishigami
Elsworld - Noah Ebalon (Nyx Pieta)
Final Fantasy VII - Cloud Strife
Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core - Zack Fair
Final Fantasy XIV - Erichthonios
Final Fantasy XV - Noctis Lucis Caelum
Final Fantasy XV - Prompto Argentum
Genshin Impact - Shikanoin Heizou
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist - Solanaceae
Katekyou Hitman Reborn - Hayato Gokudera
Kingdom Hearts - Ienzo
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Link
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Sheik
Marvel Cinematic Universe - Kate Bishop
NieR: Automata - 9S
Percy Jackson & the Olympians - Jason Grace
Percy Jackson & the Olympians - Nico di Angelo
Persona 3: FES - Shinjiro Aragaki
SinoAlice - Sleeping Beauty
Tales of Arise - Shionne Vymer Imeris Daymore
Tales of Symphonia - Kratos Aurion
Tales of Symphonia - Martel Yggdrasil
Tales of Zestiria - Mikleo
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Sena
Your Wings and Mine - Shealtiel

We will request any thread submissions for certain prompts during AC and TDM threads will count. For more information, refer to the Game Notes.

I. MASQUERADE

It's time for the masquerade and the carriages will start arriving before sunset. Upon arrival, everyone who leaves the carriage (or mercilessly spat out if they try to resist) will be greeted by fairy godmothers with an eye for the most dramatic and extravagant fashion. It's a masquerade, after all! For those who already arrive with their outfits, the fairy godmothers may add a little embellishment here and or just change it completely if they think it could look better. For those who did not, they will create a whole new outfit that would fit the wearer perfectly—with magic of course. They will also create the masks and half of the glass slipper brooch that everyone will wear. The masks are enchanted so that regardless of obvious personality or physical traits, they are somehow unrecognizable at first. While it is possible to figure it out through interaction, or if it's someone they already know well, it's more likely they need to reveal their identity first. These outfits can be kept even after the masquerade is over.

A. Get in the Carriage. As the pegasus drawn carriages begin to arrive to transport those who have decided to attend the masquerade, there is some commotion from others. The pair of coach mice—who are only about four feet tall—can be found smiling and cheerily squeaking about the masquerade as they grab and literally throw protesting individuals into the carriage, whereupon the door will immediately shut behind them. Ho ho ho, it'll be such a grand time! Will anyone try to help the poor soul? Or perhaps help the mice? Maybe you're a struggling victim instead. Should anyone want to try and drive the carriage, they might have a chance…but good luck having the pegasi listen to them. Eventually the carriage will land and take them to the front of the castle where the masquerade is hosted.

B. Half of a Pair. Near the entrance, everyone is encouraged to pull out one or more of the shoe brooches contained in a large bowl. The rules are simple: 1) use the brooch to lead them to the person wearing the other half; 2) spend whatever time or activity with them, be it general socializing, a dance, a walk in the gardens; 3) keep the brooch or return it to a designated "Used" bowl. The brooches will absorb whatever kind of dreamotion energy is formed between the two, and the stronger it is, the brighter (if positive) or darker (if negative) it will glow. The interaction can be romantic, platonic, or hostile. For those who do happen to "click" and wish for some privacy, there are numerous terraces and balconies available. Some are public, but there are quite a few with curtains, so be sure to close them to signal the balcony is occupied!

C. Dancing in the Air. The main draw will be the dance floor, and the ballroom is wide and spacious to accommodate numerous pairs to dance to their hearts' content—the music is played by enchanted instruments so they'll keep going without much of a break! Of course, what makes this dance floor truly special is how it uses dreamotion energy to lift everyone up—literally. Pairs who are having a fun time may find themselves floating up and dancing in the air instead of on the ground. Somehow they can maintain some balance…but it's just as easy to lose it.

D. Royal Banquet. There are numerous tables one can use and be served an assortment of foods. In fact, one could make special requests and somehow the dragons serving will be able to make it, or at least as close as possible. One just has to imprint the idea of the dish onto a special card that the chefs will use to recreate it. There are also two bowls filled with special tear drop chocolates, one with only white, pink, and red, and the other filled with the other colors. The "game" is to randomly choose one from each bowl and share a kiss depending on what is picked.

E. Out in the Gardens. Every castle has extravagant gardens, and this one is no different. Filled with numerous pink, red, and white flowers, the gardens have their typical fare…with not so typical effects.

1. Extravagant mazes that one could easily get lost in are common, but what's special about these gardens is that the flowers will emit a soft, sweet scent that will feel as if they are walking through a dream. In fact, the section they are going through will begin to change to look like a place from their world and must now find their way out. When this change happens, only those who are in the area will be affected and no one else can enter the area until the main person affected gets out. Those inside can help, and there are no threats—it's all in simple fun…unless the place evokes certain memories and emotions for the person. Might not be as fun for them, then.
   
   
2. A crystal greenhouse where the temperature is perfectly warm (or cold!) and houses various different flowers. Here some may recognize flowers from their world, the scents also creating nostalgia. There are instructions left that indicate anyone can try to help grow the flowers. The key ingredient will be dreamotion energy, and should they succeed in creating a blossom, a small marble containing a symbol of their home. There are also special daisies that can be used to play the "they love me they love me not" game. If the last petal is "they love me," then become extra flirty and clingy. If it's "love me not," they become angry, jealous, and possessive. The effects only last for a short time…unless they keep plucking flowers.
   
   
3. The white fountain in the center of the gardens will have a bit of a musical playful side. It will splash colorful water at any who pass by, chime-like notes playing out as it does. But if one were to drop a flower that has absorbed positive dreamotion into its water, it will calm and let people sit to look and relax. There is also a strange frog wearing a crown that claims to be a prince. For those who believe its words that a kiss will free him from the curse, they will be sorely disappointed as nothing happens and the frog just laughs and hops away.

II. AROUND TOWN

A. Mask Up. Attracted by the masquerade, some enchanted masks have found their way to town and are now finding their way onto people, be it by tricking their victims to be put on or just forcibly latching themselves on. Depending on the type of mask, the wearer will behave based on a festive, dramatic emotion. While wearing the mask, the dreamotion that is projected is stronger. Examples are angry emotions will cause tremors and cracks on the ground, happiness could blind people or will cause confetti to fly everywhere, while sad ones will cause clouds and drizzling rain to appear overhead. The only way to remove it is to somehow make the other person feel the opposite of whatever emotion the mask is using. Once the mask’s emotion is countered and stabilized, it could be removed or even fall off if the countering emotion is strong enough. Masks can also be captured and collected before they attach to someone.

B. Special Messages. Throughout the month, valentine's are being delivered to people all over town. Some are even receiving some from the fae and dragons who live outside… Perhaps some caution should be had from those. Regardless, while the messages are brimming with both platonic and romantic (and questionable) love, the messengers are a bit… Well they need help.

1. Insightful Mockingbirds. Special mockingbirds are flying around and perch on random shoulders. They have the ability to "read" a person's thoughts and repeat them out loud. Without warning. Hope there aren't any secrets because that bird is going to make it public, especially if it's an observation or thought—good or bad—about another person. Good luck shooing it away, too—it'll stick around for a while because it might enjoy sowing this bit of chaos.
   
   
2. Arrow Delivery. The group from last year have decided to use their prank arrows for good and start a business in delivering special Valentine's messages via arrow. A "shot to the heart" in the less literal sense this time! While some of their archers are skilled, others are…less so. Some are hitting a bit too close to comfort or way off the mark. Some messages are going to the wrong person entirely. Help avoid, retrieve, or even deliver these messages around town.

C. Candy Kisses. A special assortment of flat bottomed, tear shaped chocolates are currently selling like hotcakes and can be found practically everywhere. Their main selling point is they come in different colors and each color has a special effect that will make the eater want to kiss the person near them in a certain way (see chart). Some people are deliberately swapping the wrappers around, so be careful!

D. Bleeding Hearts Return. It's Valentine's, yet Cupid is nowhere to be seen. That is because he's still corrupted from last year and now he's thirsting for love, any love. Using the Bleeding Hearts from last year, Cupid is using them to gather all that jealous, possessive love, but of course that's going to make it worse. We're not tackling Cupid here, but the main goal will be helping those who are afflicted by the Bleeding Hearts and purifying them via dreamotion instead of just destroying them. Purifying the Bleeding Hearts with pure love—romantic, platonic, familial, reminders of how they are loved and cared for by others—will help Cupid. Of course this could backfire and make the person feel worse, so be careful!

Comments

[tsunergy]

...It's... okay.

[I don't mind, he almost says. He doesn't know why. Were you looking for trouble? he also almost says, and he definitely doesn't know why for that, either. It isn't like being run into is especially troublesome. Didn't even hurt. But now he finds himself at a loss for words, and for him that's very unusual. He talked to himself even in the long stretches of silence when he'd traveled alone. Speaking aloud to the ruins around him, speaking to the earth itself, as if through the gradually swelling blessing of Maotelus, Sorey might hear him. That he'd know all of the arguments and theories Mikleo had thrown in his direction, longing for the silly arguments he'd get in return.

Searching for someone, he says. This... mysterious stranger whose features he can't place, whose vocal cadence is achingly nostalgic in a way that hurts his heart. He didn't know a stranger could do that. He doesn't even mind being stared at. It's weird, but that's familiar, too. Sorey used to do that, when he thought I wasn't looking.]

Who are you looking for?

[He asks it before he can second-guess himself. It's none of his business, and he's not expecting to be able to help (he doesn't even know anyone here! How could he find someone else?) ...but... he kind of wants to. He wants to know who this person should be looking at, with such scrutinizing eyes.]

That is- maybe if you describe them, I can help you look. [-nailed it.]

[monolike]

[Sorey opens his mouth to explain -I don't know, it's just a feeling, don't worry about it-] My partner, [-when that falls out instead. All of a sudden the vague 'someone I know' feels ridiculous, because of course he's felt this before. Even without the pacts, he's felt it his whole life. A person can't misplace their own shadow, could never mistake their own arm for someone else's. What could this familiar feeling be but Mikleo?

And now that he's started,] He's beautiful, but you might not be able to see him. It's easier to listen for his voice, or- or feel it in the air when he's around. It's hard to explain. [Sorey wants to take the hand of this perfect stranger, wants to make sure he knows how wonderful Mikleo is, how much Sorey misses him, how he's felt like an incomplete person ever since he woke up here. A shade of his former self, lacking the color his friends had given to him. That Mikleo had encouraged him to accept, just by staying by his side.

The stranger is so close, so close. His long, tumbling hair looks like what Sorey always imagined snow drifts would look like, before he experienced the real thing for himself here. The snow was lacking in comparison. -what's going on?]

I- [Sorey hesitates. Bites his lip. Unsure of himself in a way he usually isn't, still half a person, looking for the rest of himself somewhere in this room. Somewhere close.] Sorry, I- I swear I know you. Sorry. That might be weird.

[tsunergy]

[Looking for his partner... how familiar that is. And the way he speaks of that partner is- well, it's also familiar, but on multiple levels. Not be able to see him? Listen for a voice, or something in the air? It sounds like how someone might describe a spirit, or a ghost. Or a seraph. That could just be wishful thinking, though. In a world full of dreamers from all kinds of different places, many worlds otherwise unconnected, how would he have run into someone from Glenwood? It's too convenient. His life hasn't been convenient for hundreds of years.

...And yet. The way he talks-]

You don't have to apologize. Or- if it's weird that you say it, then it's doubly weird because I feel the same way.

[Why is this person so easy to talk to? His features are still too hard to discern, but when he averts his eyes he can almost see colours at the edge of his vision that remind him so much of home. Brown hair, the feathers lining his mask. But it couldn't be. He's still sleeping. The light of Maotelus' ongoing purification hasn't faded. He's- no.

But even if he isn't who Mikleo wants to see, he has to ask.]

This could be a long shot, but... is your partner a seraph?

[monolike]

[Is your partner a seraph?

Not even a malak. A seraph.

The truth of it settles over Sorey's shoulders like a thick blanket and all he can do is stare, because now that the thought has occurred to him, it's disturbing to think he hadn't realized it before.

It reminds him of a book he and Mikleo had both liked as children, a story of a mermaid who had met the love of her life on a beach, but her love had been human. The mermaid had returned later as a human, but a curse in payment for the legs had made it so her human love would never recognize her. In the final chapter of the book the curse was broken, and it was described as "two thick white scales fell from the noble's eyes" when finally, the mermaid was acknowledged for who she was.

Sorey presses his fingertips to the bottom lip of his mask and pushes it up onto his forehead. Long, beautiful silvery blue tumbles of hair, sharp purple eyes. Just barely a head shorter than Sorey. And there, hooked somewhere around his heart, that thread that he'd desperately been trying to follow only to lose track of it with every turn.]

...Mikleo?

[tsunergy]

[Mikleo, he says, in that same familiar cadence. Mikleo, he says, in the voice he'd heard every day for the first eighteen years of his life and then spent hundreds waiting to hear again. Mikleo, he says, as the mask lifts and Mikleo sees, for the first time.

It's like the whole world falls away beneath him.

He'd spent years trying to figure out the script of their reunion. It'd been written and rewritten hundreds of times in his mind, different things he might say, ways Sorey might respond. Various locations for their encounter to occur. Sometimes it happened in Elysia, sometimes a random ruin, sometimes an old town from their first adventure like Ladylake or Pendrago. Sometimes he'd dream about being there when Sorey woke up, watching the brilliant light fading from the sky and Maotelus, purified at last, lifting Sorey up out of the pit and passing him over to Mikleo with gratitude. Sometimes Sorey would still be human, impossibly, long after his human friends had passed from old age, and maybe he'd be immortal like Mayvin or maybe he'd have a human lifespan again too, and Mikleo would be back to counting down the days but happily, because this time Sorey would be here. Sometimes he'd be a seraph, memories foggy but personality unchanged, and they'd start over. He'd had so many different scenarios in his mind. Years and years alone to invent a lot of nonsense that didn't really matter, was just a way to cope.

He tugs his mask down, fabric and ribbon tumbling to around his neck, and with the both of them gone he can see. He can see Sorey. All those rehearsed lines and scripts are for naught now, because he can't find the breath to say anything.

All he can muster is to mouth his name over and over, Sorey, Sorey, trying to find his voice again as he reaches a hand out to grasp his shoulder, touch Sorey's face, confirming this is real. That he's actually... finally...]

[monolike]

[Their connection pings like a bell through his soul, like Mikleo had just plucked a taut string between them.

Sorey knows he's smiling like an idiot as he takes in Mikleo's face, but it's not as if he can help himself. He looks...the same? Almost exactly the same as before, except for the length of his hair. There's certainly a time difference there, not that Sorey would be able to tell exactly what time he's from, but it feels so inconsequential that he's not even worried. Mikleo is Mikleo, and just the way he'd spoken had sounded the same in retrospect. Whatever spell the masks held made a valiant effort, but Sorey could recognize Mikleo just by the way he breathed, he thinks.]

Hi, [Sorey exhales, hands immediately coming up like he's going to cradle Mikleo's face before he lets them fall to Mikleo's arms instead, thumbs pressing into his sleeves. Right, he's in this nice suit! Sorey leans back just a bit to take in the whole outfit, from bangs to boots and back again, a laugh of delight managing to bubble out of his swelling chest.] You look so fancy! It suits you better than I thought it would.

[tsunergy]

[He's so casual. Like it's been days since they last saw each other. It's so very Sorey that it hurts, clawmarks on his heart reminding him that nothing's changed, not really. Maybe it has only been days in comparison, from Sorey's perspective. Mikleo has no idea how it feels to be trapped in a seemingly eternal sleep alongside one of the Five Lords. Is it better if he doesn't know how long it's been? How much the world has changed? How many friends, familiar faces, structures and ruins and parts of their journey are gone now?

All of that is something to think about later. Right now all he can see is Sorey, and the words all sort of blur together- just like Sorey's face does, as helpless tears begin to form in his eyes. He's never been one for much crying, no excessive blubbering or weeping, even after they'd been separated. Maybe because everyone had expected him to. Edna would tease him, trying to make him react. Lailah fussed. They worried about him because he didn't cry.

(He did. He cried in his own time, when he couldn't not cry anymore. He visited that brilliant, shining light reaching up towards the sky, he reminded Sorey of what an idiot he was in the loudest voice he could muster, and he cried.)

He'd not been the touchy one, either, not between the two of them. Fistbumps and shoulder taps and light contact, that was his way. Sorey hugged and grabbed and clung, bearing the burden of expressing love the old-fashioned way, on every level. Mikleo had appreciated that about him, quietly. He'd still had his moments. Sometimes he'd needed it.

(He traveled with Zaveid for decades. The man had no personal boundaries, grabbing ahold of those around him, leaning on them, shifting close for a sly remark. He'd needed it. He'd needed it. Sorey wasn't there.)

But now he is. He is, and he's acting like everything is normal. Mikleo doesn't know how to be normal yet.]

You... [Mikleo exhales, taking in the sight of him, head to toe. He's fancy, too, dressed up for the ball. Lipstick on a pig, the words come unbidden in his mind. His lips curve into a tentative smile.] You... idiot.

[Then he shifts forward in a single quick stride, closing the distance and dragging Sorey into the tightest hug his arms can manage. This idiot, this complete dingus of a partner of his, this fool of a best friend. He has no idea how hard it's going to be to let go after this.]

[monolike]

[Between the two of them, Mikleo had always been more level-headed and in control of his feelings. Everyone thought that because Mikleo would show his irritation and anger so effortlessly that Sorey was the calm one, but it was never true. That's the thing with water seraphim, Sorey had thought fondly as he watched Mikleo bicker with Edna one day while on the road, always more depth than expected. Zenrus had told him that one day, when Sorey had been hurt over something Mikleo had done (or not done, he can't quite recall).

Mikleo's eyes well up with tears and Sorey is both surprised and relieved, because he had been waiting for it. For the acknowledgement that this is the Mikleo he remembered leaving behind (using, weaponizing, whether it was his will or not), for permission to treat this as tenderly and seriously as he wants to. Or maybe he wants to be the same, maybe he wants Mikleo to see him and return to just eighteen years old again. Maybe he wants to drag Mikleo back to the calm mornings and crisp evenings of Elysia, when they would curl up in each other's homes, on each other's beds, read books they'd read a dozen times just for the excuse to be near each other and only each other.

The breath that leaves Mikleo's chest is trembling and at the same time he does, Sorey reaches forward to wrap him up in his arms. Mikleo's fingers curl around his clothes tightly and yank him in close, as if Mikleo wants Sorey to dissolve into a ball of light and sink into his chest. Sorey goes over top because even though it seems like it's probably been a while, he's still taller. He almost laughs again, at that; Mikleo grew out his hair, but refused to get taller. He doesn't hate it as much as he pretends to after all.]

I mean it though, [Sorey says playfully into Mikleo's wonderful, fluffy, voluminous hair. The soft waves and curls smell like ice.]

[tsunergy]

[When Sorey holds him back, some of the tension finally, finally leaves his body. He can feel it properly now, not just the familiarity of his dearest and oldest friend's presence, but the domain of a Shepherd, a balm against the malevolence he'd felt in this place, scattered but still ever-present in the company of mortals. It's been more than a century since he'd existed in the domain of a Shepherd; Lailah had moved on, working to purify the land alongside new Shepherds and their squires, but after Rose's passing Mikleo couldn't do it. He wouldn't say never, for that could be a very, very long time for seraphim, but he'd felt no urging to have another Shepherd. He hadn't been able to bear it, dwelling within another. Rose had been hard enough, and he'd often been apart from her anyway. It never felt right, the way it did with Sorey. He never felt like he belonged. Sorey was his Shepherd. His one and only.

This feels like coming home, like walking through the gates of Elysia and feeling the fresh breeze of Zenrus's domain, still pure and clean of malevolence even long after his passing. The rest of their family maintained the blessing now, and it hadn't felt the same but the memories that feeling invoked hadn't gone anywhere. With Sorey, it feels the way it always does, just maybe muted a little. The others aren't here. A sad realization, but irrelevant in the moment. He's seen them for hundreds of years now. He's only had Sorey for seventeen, so having him back again is something to cherish, especially if Mikleo can selfishly keep his attention as much to himself as possible.]

Of course you do. [His arms tighten, unwilling to let go yet. Sorey's not a liar, his compliments are sincere. Even when his priorities are out of whack.] Is that really all you have to say?

[monolike]

[Their pact feels...the same, but still different. It feels more. Not as if he were somehow closer than Mikleo, but maybe that Mikleo is more than he was? How much further is he? How strong has he gotten? Did he form pacts with other Shep

Sorey gives into the urge to pull back just far enough in Mikleo's arms so he can reach up and hold Mikleo's face instead. He's not used to all the hair; locks bunch up against his fingers, but instead of looking silly it just makes Mikleo appear ruffled and honestly a little dashing. Unfair. So unfair.] We could talk about the food they have out here. Have you tried the little chocolates? I think they're hazelnut.

[tsunergy]

[His eyes are still a little wet, but as Sorey drags him back he lifts a hand to wipe at them, and he's back to smiling, some of that familiar exasperation seeping into his voice.]

I haven't looked at anything yet. Do you have any idea how distracting you are?

[He suspects that Sorey knows exactly how he feels. Judging by the way he was running around looking for his pact partner, he'd felt the same thing from the start.]

[monolike]

Not as much as you. [Are they talking about the pact? The overall vibe? The looks? Who knows, who cares, and who has time to differentiate anyway?

Mikleo gets all his tears but Sorey is still going to swipe at the dampness underneath his lashes with his thumbs anyway, desperate for some intimacy after just a couple months without his best friend. It had felt like an eternity, the silence wherever he went, ringing in his head. Nobody to turn and talk to about his observations, how he feels, when he was so unsure about meeting Rokurou. No calming, steady presence at his back, no hand he could reach and grab hold of. No partner.

The smile slips off of Sorey's face in favor of an expression more serious.] ...how long? [He asks quietly, passing his thumbs over Mikleo's cheeks again.]

[tsunergy]

[Mikleo closes his eyes briefly at Sorey's touch, unable to help his quiet revelry in being able to feel it again after so long. It perhaps betrays, before he can even think to answer, the true answer to Sorey's next question. If it hadn't been very long, would he be reacting this way? It's much easier to brush off the reunion of a faster separation. When Heldalf had severed their connection and Rose saved him, it had been all of one day and Mikleo had been stressed more than he cared to let on for most of it, but he'd able to greet Sorey with a smile and good humour, relief rather than panic. He'd thought, at the time, that had been truly awful.

He'd had no idea how bad it could get.]

Long enough, [is his answer at first, trying to shrug off the shakiness of his voice. He'd been dreading this question.] Too long.

[Not long enough yet, a more grim voice reminds him. This is a respite, a dreamworld. They were brought together again well before it was time back home. Glenwood is nowhere near purified to a degree that would imply Maotelus is close to waking. If hadn't been brought here, he would be waiting much, much longer.

He can't be evasive forever, though, and he won't waste any part of their reunion lying or dodging questions. Maybe later, when he feels more like himself, when he gets used to having Sorey at his side again. He can be quippy and vague. But right now:]

It's... been a few hundred years.

[Which says a lot about what's been missed, what's been lost. They both know.]

[monolike]

[It's a difficult concept to understand. He's only been alive for seventeen years; and now, Mikleo is several-hundred-and-eighteen years older. Seraphim really are beings who exist outside of time, but it looks like Sorey is, too. Rose and Alisha, Sergei, all the Sparrowfeathers, all the knights...every human he's ever talked to.

Dead.

And here in front of him stands Mikleo, in tears, because he hasn't seen Sorey in hundreds of years and they only get to meet in a dream. If they really are copies of their real selves, somewhere Mikleo is back home, traveling a world without Sorey awake in it, living hundreds of years and becoming someone new. Maybe he's lonely.

Seraphim back home did always say that before they came to Elysia, they were lonely.]

But you have everyone back home, right? [Sorey's voice is maybe a little bit desperate, a little bit strained. He holds Mikleo's face like he can't bear either of them to look away. This was always a possibility. He'd thought about it late at night sometimes, curled up in his bedroll under the stars, Rose snoring softly at his back. The seraphim around the fire talking and keeping watch. Sorey would sometimes stare, try to listen, but would always succumb to sleep eventually.]

Lailah and Zaveid and Edna too? You have them still? [He can't stand the thought of Mikleo walking through streets unseen and alone. Can't bear the idea of Mikleo sitting on a wall for days on end, like some of the seraphim they'd encountered in their travels. Sitting and watching, without cease, for lack of something better to do.] You- you've seen the world by now, right? [Without him. Without me.

The weight of their separation feels suffocating. Now Sorey's vision blurs, and he comforts himself with the sight of Mikleo's face.]

[tsunergy]

[No one knows Sorey better than him. Similarly, no one knows him better than Sorey. It's why this conversation is so hard. Sorey can't hide the thoughts that Mikleo's words bring to mind - about the world he's left behind, the people he'll never see again, the people he won't see for a long time - and Mikleo can't pretend he's fine when everything is assuredly not. It's better than it was, now that Sorey is in front of him again. That age-old loneliness is eased. That doesn't stop it from existing for the last few centuries, though. Sorey's unspoken fears of how difficult it's been without him, how hard it was to hold on to who he is, who he was, with half of his heart missing for so long, are valid.

He reaches a hand up to curl around one of Sorey's, smiling faintly. At least with this, he can be truthful, and at the same time hopefully offer some relief against those worries.]

They're all okay. Everyone in Elysia, too. I travelled with them for a while, and a little bit on my own. [He hesitates, then lets his hand drop and bumps his fist against Sorey's chest, the gesture light and playful.] "Seen the world", though? Don't be absurd. Even if I had a thousand years, I wouldn't have seen it all.

[There'll still be plenty of exploring and discovering to be done when Sorey comes back. They'll still have the whole world to see, together.]

[tsunergy]

[...But also-]

I... might be compiling a list of highlights for you, though. Things I know you'd like. It's getting ridiculous. So the least you could do is say thank you!

[monolike]

[Sorey barks out a laugh at that, reaching up to rub firmly at his eyes with his fist. Of course; hundreds of years is a very long time to mope. Even Mikleo can't sulk for longer than a few days.]

Right, of course. Thank you, Lord Mikleo, for documenting all the ruins you'll be happy to show me around as the resident expert.

[tsunergy]

You're welcome. Shut up.

[With an annoyed huff - that in typical Mikleo fashion is at least 50% affection underneath - he reaches out and drags Sorey into another hug, less desperate this time, instead softer, his chin tucked against Sorey's shoulder. He can't stop marvelling at how this feels, to feel the warmth of his domain again, hear the sound of his voice, inhale the scent of him. He'd been around seraphim, in nature, or in ruins for so long, he'd almost forgotten, but being this close makes him remember what he'd grown up with. Sorey, knocking on his door with a fresh bucket, smelling of goats and pleading for ice cream. Sorey, smelling of embers and meat spices as he leans over a campfire, announcing their dinner is ready. Sorey, smelling of stonework and old moss as he drags Mikleo up out of the ruins they'd been exploring all morning. Always changing depending on what he wore, where he was, what he's been up to. Humans were like that. Sorey was like that. Despite the shifting nature of it, it made them more recognizable than one might think.

He smells good today.]

Has it... been very long for you?

[monolike]

[Mikleo tucks into Sorey's arms and that in and of itself is rare enough that Sorey drops everything else in favor of wrapping Mikleo up as tight as he's allowed. They didn't hug like this often back home but it's definitely something Sorey could get used to.

His hair is so long. Sorey peeks over his shoulder to find that even with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, there are still gorgeous, luxurious waves and curls spilling down his back. Goodness, he wants to touch it, but he was banned ages ago from any hair touching that isn't safety-related, and knowing Mikleo that ban is probably still in place even hundreds of years later.]

-huh? Oh, no. [Goes back to hugging with his cheek atop Mikleo's head, looking away to avoid the tempation.] I remember closing my eyes and Maotelus dissolving into me, and then I woke up here maybe...two months ago.

[tsunergy]

[That doesn't sound so bad. Although-]

You woke up here two months ago?

[That's... weird. It's difficult to think back on hundreds of years ago, but he's pretty sure someone would have noticed if the light of Maotelus being purified had disappeared for several months. So... unless they missed something very important, that lends some weight to them being told that they're just copies of their at-home selves. A disturbing thought, considering he doesn't feel any different.

That also means Sorey's been left alone all that time. He can sympathize with that, at least, though it gives him cause to pull back again before the hug drags too long for his own comfort, giving the other a proper once-over.]

You look alright... so you managed without me this long? I'm almost impressed.

[It's... so easy, to slip right back into the ebb and flow of their relationship, playful jibes and attitude between friends. He'd worried for a long time that he might forget this, the more time passed. Those fears were unfounded, it seems. Sorey reminds him of who he is without doing anything besides being himself, and what a gift that is.]

[monolike]

I'm not a baby animal. I can keep myself alive on my own, thank you very much. [He was horrifically lonely and scrabbling for anything he could do to fill the silence in his head.

Sorey doesn't step back very far from the hug; one of his shoulders still pressed to Mikleo, their faces scant inches apart. An intimate scene to be sure, still partially in the mingle area of the hall. He's smothering. Mikleo's shoved him off for much less.

Sorey can't bring himself to care.]

[tsunergy]

Alive's not what I was worried about. Dummy.

[He used to say Sorey was hopeless without him, and the same could be said about him, once upon a time, even though he'd protested. The truth is, they'd always had each other, and had always needed each other. Accepting Sorey as his vessel had felt so natural because it was like coming home, every time. It's why traveling with Rose had been so difficult, through not fault of her own, and why he'd not joined another Shepherd after she'd retired, even though Lailah had continued with their mission with the same devotion she'd always carried, even though the more they helped to purify the world, the sooner Sorey would wake up. It was selfish, but to deny this truth would be to deny himself, and leave him susceptible to the malevolence even with a pure vessel to rely on. He couldn't bear it. He didn't belong. Not with anyone but Sorey.

The only other vessel that had been suitable for him was the feather charm currently tied at his belt, one of Sorey's, pilfered from his house when Mikleo had needed it most. It wasn't the same, but it had been enough, just barely. He should have known, though. He should have realized. Now that Sorey is back, the difference is indescribable. Like night and day. He's home.

He stays close longer than he ever would in their youth, visibly more at ease than he'd been when they first bumped into one another. Those points of contact are his lifelines right now. A part of him wants to dissolve into light and dive back into Sorey's soul like old times, but he doesn't want to break apart or have the other leave his sight. Not for a while, yet.]

...I don't even know where to go from here. But... I am here, and I don't intend to go anywhere. Whatever you need, you've got me now, okay?

[He could ask a million questions or he could want only Mikleo's presence. He could ask for ice cream for all the seraph cares, or those chocolates he'd mentioned. He's here.]

[monolike]

[This is Mikleo, of course this is Mikleo, but it's almost as if he's...more than how Sorey remembered him. More of himself. Not that Mikleo was in any way incomplete before, there just simply is no other way to explain it. His voice is softer, sweeter. His words are deeper, kinder, weighty as if listening to an old professor. The way he leans back against Sorey with so much acceptance almost makes Sorey feel a little shy, his cheeks and the tips of his ears going a bit pink.

He'd always been the one to make Mikleo blush. This is new.]

...maybe we can head outside? [Because they really are in a semi-high traffic area, and people have to walk around them and he knows he's heard something like 'lovebirds' at least a couple times. Their relationship had never been so neatly defined so the moniker feels awkward, as if it couldn't possibly fit, but Sorey can't deny the 'love' part in the least. Mikleo's as handsome as ever, but he feels so wise and magnetic that Sorey is finding himself being drawn to him in a way he never had before.

Sorey reluctantly steps back, but he also takes Mikleo's (lovely, soft, cool) hand in his and tugs a bit, angling toward a nearby arch leading into the gardens.] Some privacy. In case either of us decide to start bawling again.

[tsunergy]

[Mikleo is quick to nod and follow his lead, grateful for Sorey's foresight, since he does hate to be a spectacle and he's still not used to being so... visible. Having all these eyes on him - or to those with no resonance, on Sorey, hugging and talking to empty air - is only going to bother him over time, and he can't speak plainly to Sorey in the middle of a crowd. Or a dance floor, apparently. Sorey's last comment does draw a blush to his cheeks, so it seems not that much has changed. Mikleo is still very much Mikleo.

He's quiet as they head out, his hand drawing warmth from Sorey's, watching his back and marvelling at the simple comfort found in his presence. How many times has he walked behind or alongside Sorey? Watched the way his back muscles shifted beneath his shirt as he moved, upright and unslouched, heard the soft noise of beaded feathers jostling against the fluff of his hair, followed the beat of each footstep? Two centuries and he remembers every bit of it. The way they used to move as one, years of practice evolved into pure instinct over time. He'd missed this. He'd missed this.

At the outskirts of the party at last, the chatter of a crowd reduced to a distance lull in the background, he glances briefly down at their hands, the one aspect of this that is unfamiliar, new. Not unwanted, though, so he doesn't let go. That singular point of connection is satisfying his urge to vanish into a ball of light and phase into his vessel, to nestle in like a child burrowing into a sea of blankets. Maybe he'll get there at some point. He doubts Sorey would refuse. For now, though, this is better. Truly, like old times.

He doesn't know where to begin, so after grasping hesitantly at his options for a few moments but unable to commit - there's so many, so many, a million things he'd thought he might say when they reunited - he finally starts with,]

Rose was my last Shepherd.

[It's blurted out like a confession, a sin to be purged. He's not sure if the sin is that he seemingly gave up on purifying the world alongside the rest of their friends, or that he took another Shepherd at all. It's selfish, isn't it? They were supposed to have outgrown that selfishness, when they'd committed to sacrificing themselves for the world, sacrificing their friends, sacrificing Gramps. The responsible choice should have been to recruit more Shepherds, more Squires, work tirelessly towards their shared dream until Sorey woke up. He didn't. Selfish.

It's just. Rose was acceptable only because she'd understood them. Because she knew him. Because she didn't mind how often he left them to be on his own.]

I don't know if it matters to you, but... I thought you should know.

[monolike]

[Outside, away from all the voices and eyes, from the different pulls of malevolence and divinity alike, with the crisp air extra cold on his heated cheeks, it's easier to catch his breath. Mikleo's hand is still in his and he hasn't pulled away yet, another difference from before, though not an unwelcome one.

Sorey's eyes are still adjusting to the dimmer lighting of the outdoors, tracing over the intricate gardens and decorations, little couples or small groups of people speckled throughout instead of the shoulder-to-shoulder surroundings of the inner halls (wow those two people are just straight up making out over there) when Mikleo's voice pulls him out of his reverie.

About Rose.

It's clear from the look on Mikleo's face that he hadn't quite meant to say it- or maybe he hadn't meant to say it just yet? It takes a moment for Sorey to parse out what that could mean, Rose was my last Shepherd, that Mikleo just wanted Sorey to know. So, even though it's been centuries, Mikleo never teamed up with another Shepherd after Sorey and Rose.

...does he think Sorey will be disappointed?] Okay, [Sorey says softly, giving Mikleo's fingers a squeeze.] That's what you wanted, right? You have to be true to your own heart first.