mallow_logs | [Open] Through the soot and the ash

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[Open] Through the soot and the ash

Who: Amery Vallet and YOU
What: A new arrival
Where: Orlea
When: Today
Warnings: None, yet

[Good people of Orlea, there was now a very ~~handsome~~ sooty man in your midst. Sooty. From head to toe, except for the pale rings around his eyes from the flying goggles that he now held in one hand. His Dragon Corps uniform, underneath the ash and grime that turned everything black, was blue and gold. The scent of ash and dragonmetal was strong. He had just come from the middle of war, except now neither his girl or the other men were anywhere to be seen, and this certainly wasn't Thremedon or any Ke-Han city.

Needless to say, Amery was more than a bit confused, though at least he wasn't gaping at everything he passed like it was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. No, he didn't appear curious or surprised about being in this place, but rather calm and controlled. He never showed too much emotion, though he felt it.

Honestly, what he really needed was a shower and a change of clothes, though the smell of ash and dragonmetal would probably never fade away.]

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_{[Balfour had been looking through the new posts on the network when he saw this. He gasped, fumbling his device, and then grabbed it back up, darting out the door without a word.

Amery. Amery was here. Here!

Sorry, Amery, but you're about to find yourself tackled to the ground and squeezehugged.

Guess who lives in the building you just passed.]}

[Guess who wasn't expecting to suddenly be tackled? Your brother, Balfour, that was who. How many people would tackle him and have it not be an attack. Not many, which is why he instinctively assumed that it was an attack, and immediately acted defensively. That involved some manhandling while he pried Balfour off of him and twisting around to pin him down underneath Amery. At the very least, it didn't involve any bone breaking.]

_{[Well, the good news was that this was Balfour, and Amery's reaction was not at all unexpected. Therefore, when manhandled and pinned, he went easily, grinning all the way.]}

Amery! I've missed you!

[Hostility gave way to confusion again, and he frowned. It took him a moment, but eventually he recognized his brother. The brother he hadn't seen for years and had been much younger the last time. He let go though, moving to get up again.]

Balfour?

_{[Balfour sat up quickly, wasting no time in hugging his brother again, clinging to him for a few moments, his head in his chest.]}

It's been years! I've missed you so much! How'd you get here?

_{[Though, that did bring up a rather unsettling thought: did this mean that he was dead in his world? And Rook? Was he dead, too?]}

[Oh, Balfour. The only one who was dead was Amery. Just...don't tell him that, because he wouldn't believe it anyway. Or actually, do tell him. He still wouldn't believe it.

And then there was hugging, and Balfour was probably getting all sooty. He settled for resting a hand on Balfour's shoulder for now.]

I haven't the faintest idea; I merely woke up here. I don't even know what this place is.

_{[No, there was not hugging. There was squeezing the life out of Amery. Because guess what? He missed you. And he doesn't give a rats ass about getting soot on his face. It had been there many times before.]}

You're in Orlea. I actually live pretty close to here.

_{[He laughs and pulls back, grabbing his brother's wrists--not the hands, never the hands--and just. Clinging. Dear god, Amery, please don't disappear like the rest have.]}

You know, Rook was here for a bit. Just long enough to crash my birthday party that I threw, but hey. He's doing pretty well for himself, you know? Mellowed out a bit, I think.

_{[Because really, all Rook did was make him nervous waiting for him to be an ass.]}

I don't know exactly where this is, but we're certainly not in Volstov anymore. I suppose it's similar to kidnapping? But the people here...they're really nice.

_{[Also, yes, Amery, your baby brother is twenty-one now.]}

[Hugging, squeezing the life out of him, close enough. Though after this, they were both going to need a shower.

Orlea. That didn't mean a thing to him because it wasn't a place name he recognized. However, the mention of Rook caught his attention.]

Rook? Mellow out? [He arched a brow.] I didn't think the man knew the meaning of it. He's not here now, though?

[He hadn't missed the mention of Balfour's birthday, he honestly hadn't, but one thing at a time. And right now, in between trying to figure out what was going on here, it was Rook.]

Nor did I, but he actually was not cruel to me. Not like he usually was.

_{[Oh, so casually mentioned. Balfour even shrugs a bit. It was something he was used to.]}

Let's see... It's been four years since, well... _{[He awkwardly tries to find the words. How do you just. Tell your brother he's dead? You don't.]} Since I last saw you, and he last saw me...six months before he came here, I think? I don't know. He's changed, I guess. The war is over. I guess he has other things to vent his aggression at. But no, he's not here, not anymore. I'm sorry.

[Wait a minute. How does Balfour know anything about Rook? Amery had been so distracted by the mention of the man, that he hadn't even realized. But he did now. Thus, he got even farther away from asking about Balfour's birthday.]

Since when have you been talking to Rook? [And since when has Rook been being cruel to Amery's baby brother?] When did the war end? I was just there. The war was most certainly not over.

It's been four years since you...

_{[He sighs, rubbing at his face.]}

Can we...ah, go somewhere a little more private? I don't really want to talk about it in the streets, and I sincerely doubt you would want any passers-by to overhear your business.

_{[Yes, he remembers. And hey, look, those gloves should look very familiar to you, Amery.]}

Edited (Clarification. ) 2013-06-21 06:34 (UTC)

[Fresh air's a good thing, typically, so that's what Caleb was doing. Just strollin' down the streets of Orlea being his awesome self failing to not think about what could possibly be going on back home in Ipswich. So there was some brooding going on there, too. It was by chance he chose to look across the street and see a familiar face. At least he thought it was a familiar face from first glance. Enough to stop in his tracks and doubletake.

With wide eyes for a moment before they narrowed and he scowled.

He remained still for the moment, though because something seemed off about the familiar face across the street from him. Something definitely seemed off. He was soot-covered, first of all, definitely not in the outfit he was wearing during their last encounter, hell his first impression was someone from some war was across the street if it wasn't for the fact he didn't recognize the uniform styling at all.

After a moment of debating on what to do, though, he decided to cross the street in order to speak to the man]

Hey!

[Now, it could be said that with confusion came irritability-and Amery was difficult to deal with on a good day. Needless to say, that meant he wasn't all that interested in whatever Caleb had to say to him. However, he still had manners, so he turned to address the boy. And that's what he was, a boy. Probably not much older than Balfour had been the last time that Amery had seen him.]

Yes?

[Something was not right here. Even ignoring the fact that he was somehow someplace that he had never seen or heard of before. Balfour did have a point though. There had to be better places to discuss matters than in the middle of the street.]

Certainly. I presume since you've made the suggestion you have a place nearby?

I do have a place nearby, but... I sort of have a roommate? I was thinking we could go somewhere else. There's plenty of empty places, and you need a place here, anyway, right? Were you going to stay here, in Orlea?

_{[He looks hopefully at his brother, shifting a bit.]}

It's free. You don't have to pay. I can help you find a place and then we can talk.

[A roommate. Well, at least Balfour wasn't keeping to himself and not socializing with people. Though right now, that wasn't one of his top concerns.]

Honestly, I wasn't planning on staying anywhere here at all, but if I must. [Then yes, he supposed he would stay in Orlea.]

Let's find a place, then.

Well I hope you stay.

_{[But he leaves it at that until they walk up to an apartment building. There's open apartments throughout, and he basically pokes around until he finds one, then looks to his brother for approval.

Have some puppy eyes, Amery. He's so hopeful! Tell him he was a good puppy brother and chose well with the apartment!]}

[It wasn't as though he had a choice, was it? He said nothing as he followed Balfour though, looking around the apartment that he had been led into.

Well. It was better than his room in the Airman-though a lot of places were-and he supposed it would do if he had no other choices.]

This will be fine.

You look exactly like someone I know from back home.

[Don't mind him aiming to focus on any giveaway on who you are, Amery]

I'm Caleb Danvers.

[Caleb politeness for "Tell me who you are and if you're Chase and lying I will kick your fucking ASS"]

Edited 2013-07-13 19:52 (UTC)

_{[Would it? Balfour looked hopeful, rolling his shoulders.]}

Well, we can talk here, and then later we can find you a better place if you don't like this one.

_{[Please tell him that's unnecessary. This place is so close to his apartment with Reid, after all. He likes it. He likes being so close to Amery.

He runs a hand through his hair, pushing it back like Amery's in an attempt to make himself look a bit more proper. All it did was make his hair go wild. That worked :I ]}

What a coincidence.

[Don't mind him being not really interested, Caleb.]

Amery Vallet. It's a pleasure to meet you.

[Oh please. If it came to a fist fight, at least, Caleb would be the one getting his ass kicked.]

... Nice to meet you too.

[Mostly because WOW HE CAN SENSE HOW MUCH YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT THIS]

[Look at the man, Caleb :| He's covered in soot, smells like ash, he just stepped in from the middle of a war.]

Was there something in particular that you wanted?

[HE came after having his ass kicked then kicking the ass of someone with your face. :|]

I just wanted to figure out at least one thing that would help me recognize you from him in public.

[You could just go by the scent of dragonmetal that's sure to stay with Amery for weeks. Or the fact that Chase was eighteen and Amery was twenty-five. Or many, many other things.]

I wasn't aware there was actually anyone else here who looked so much like me.

He's not here as far as I know.

[Power ages people, though, so for all he knows Chase could've been from a different point and Used like cray-cray :|]

Then it doesn't seem like we have much to worry about, now do we?

[Though it was true that he was curious about just how much he looked like whoever Caleb was talking about, he wasn't in the mood for any games.]

People tend to randomly appear here.

[And disappear :|]

Even so, I highly doubt there would be any mix-ups.

[As though anyone could mistake Amery for someone else or vice versa after talking with him for even just five minutes.]

This is fine.

[Really, it was, Balfour.

Balfour :| Don't make big brother have to fix your hair now. So ridiculous, what was he ever going to do with you?]

Now, what else have I apparently missed?

_{[Balfour tried again with his hair, shoving it back with both hands and holding it there. When he dropped his hands, his hair stayed in place for a few seconds, and then sprang up and all out of control. Damn it.

Have a mildly distressed look.]}

Amery...when I was sixteen...you died.

_{[It's said in a whisper and whoops, look who's not making eye contact. Instead, he'll just tug and twist and worry at those gloves on his hands, gloves that don't quite fit, never would fit properly.]}

I took your place. Anastasia wouldn't have anyone else.

_{[Oh, shit, Anastasia. How was he supposed to tell Amery that he'd lost her? That he'd crashed her on a suicide mission?

That mildly distressed look just got even worse.]}

Those're pretty big words. I don't mean any offense by it, but they definitely are...

[Because if Chase were to people watch Amery for a little bit, the only thing that he wouldn't be able to easily fix - and that was provided he didn't know a spell for it - would be the height.]

And what do you mean by it?

[Considering the war he had been fighting in back home, the one with dragons and magic and magicians, Amery honestly didn't see how bad it could be that one person looked so much like him they could be mistaken for each other at a glance.

If only he knew.]

[Balfour, please. Amery didn't really care one bit how Balfour's hair looked right now, anyway. He was rather pre-occupied by other things.

Such as news that he had apparently died. You would think that a man would remember something like that. But all it brought to mind was the very unsettling feeling of falling. The one he kept trying to ignore and push to the back of his mind.]

I-... [What was he even supposed to say to this, how was he supposed to wrap his mind around the notion?] How did it happen?

They...they had wind magic... You fell.

_{[His voice had dropped to a whisper, and he kept wringing his hands.]}

You fell. Anastasia was thrown and--

_{[He choked up, shaking his head. He couldn't continue to talk about it. It had hurt, when Amery died. It had hurt and he'd had nightmares for months. It didn't help that he was the one on the dragon just weeks after and that he was being tormented by the other airmen, that Rook had threatened to knock him off Anastasia.]}

Edited (finishing that sentence derp) 2013-08-30 05:30 (UTC)

I-...

[No. He needed a moment, to keep his composure and still process everything, so he fell silent. Suddenly, a lot of things made sense. Such as the uneasy feeling of falling that he had been getting every now and then. Though even if it made sense or not, it was still a lot to take in and process. How could he have died if he was here, alive.]

I see.

[That was all that he could safely say right now, and even then his tone was carefully emotionless to conceal his feelings on the matter.]

I'm sorry.

_{[Balfour shifts and lowers his head. What else can he say? He's afraid to tell him how much it had hurt, how scared he had been, and that he still had nightmares.]}

W-well...you're here now. Just stay, okay? Just stay.

It's not as though it's your fault.

[He understood though, he knew-or maybe he could only guess what his death had done to Balfour. His brother had taken his place in the Dragon Corps, tried to live up to what he'd left behind. Bastion, what the other Airmen must have put him through.]

There doesn't seem to be anywhere else I can go. Of course I'm staying.

_{[Even though it really was sad news, was something terrible that Amery would have to come to terms with, Balfour couldn't help the tiny little smile that had bloomed across his lips. Amery was staying. That was all that matters, now, is that Amery was going to stay.]}

I'm glad. I've missed you terribly.

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[Open] Through the soot and the ash

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