drawnbythesword | 15 [Action]

[It was two weeks he was gone. Two weeks ago Asbel departed from Luceti to go on a mission. It wasn't anything too out of the ordinary. A simple mission off to the mountains to combat third party soldiers. If there was one thing Asbel knew how to do well, it was fight. Not that the mission went off without a hitch, but... Well, it was successful, at least.

Asbel walks through the plaza towards his house, his white coat draped over his shoulders instead of being worn, and his left arm is hanging in a makeshift sling. He probably should stop by the clinic to get that treated properly, but... Well, he's more concerned with getting home to everyone first. He wants to see Cheria and Richard again. If you spot him in the plaza, you're certainly free to inquire and perhaps try to get him to go to the clinic, but...

Regardless of what happens in the plaza, Asbel soon arrives at his house, calmly opening the door as he steps inside.]

Cheria, Richard, Isamu... ...I'm home. [He's looking pretty beat, and there's that whole arm issue, but... he's home.]

---
[Voice]
[Sometime later, after recouping a bit, Asbel pulls out his journal, wanting a few answers. Two weeks is a long time to be away in a village where things can change overnight.]

Did something happen in the village while I was gone? It looks like something went down at the Battle Dome.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Asbel just frowns a bit when Richard says that.]

...But I want to. [Is it so much to ask to be able to do more? ):]

If you'd really like to learn, I could try to teach you how to contact the spirits here.

...You could?

I could certainly try. However, there's no guarantee that it would work. That part is all up to them.

Any help you could offer would be more than enough, Richard.

In that case, I'll be happy to begin teaching you as soon as both of us are feeling better.

...Thanks. I really appreciate it.

[Richard smiles at him, then pales as he starts coughing, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth.]

Ah, Richard! [Asbel reaches out to grab Richard by the shoulder instinctively.]

Are you alright?

[The coughing fit doesn't last that long, fortunately, and when he pulls his hand away, there's only a few bright red spatters of blood on it. He's doing much better than he was earlier this week, really!]

... it's all right. It's almost worked its way out of my system by now.

[Asbel sees that blood there, Richard. Don't think he doesn't. However it was earlier this week doesn't matter to him, because this is the first he's seeing of it.]

Richard... What happened?

Let's just say that the Malnosso finally decided it was time to bring me in for some experimentation.

[He really, really doesn't want to talk about it beyond that, so please don't push it, Asbel.]

[The fact that they took Richard while he was gone hits deep.]

...I'm sorry, Richard.

[Yeah, Richard's pretty sure he knows what Asbel is thinking right now.]

That isn't something you need to apologize for. There's nothing you could have done to stop it even if you had been here.

...But if I was here, I could have done something. Anything... Even if it wasn't something I could have done to prevent your kidnapping.

... it's all right. It happens to everyone eventually... to be honest, I was lucky that I managed to avoid it for nearly two years.

...Really? Two years?

It was two years for me on the 21st, not counting the times I returned to our world.

It was only a year before they got me...

[Richard just shifts slightly until he's resting his forehead against Asbel's good shoulder with a soft sound. He's not going to say anything, but he feels much more secure with Asbel around.]

...Richard?

... I'm sorry. You shouldn't be worrying about me while you're injured.

[Asbel just gives you the biggest lineface ever.]

You honestly expect me to not worry about you after telling me to not worry?

There are other people far more deserving of your concern than I.

Even if that's the case, then I'll just give all of them and you my concern.

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