[ dreamwidth is trying so hard to gaslight me while i'm doing these tags YOU WON'T CATCH ME ALIVE WITH YOUR RANDOM FONT CHANGES DENISE
anyway. his fingers still, for a moment. ]
... A letter from someone from home.
[ and it seems like temenos is deciding. there's a long pause where he's just holding still, then...
... after a moment, he carefully moves to reach for the book he keeps in his pocket. out of the book, near the back, he pulls out a folded piece of parchment, and after a moment's hesitation, he sets it in front of axel so he can see its contents. ]
Axel's giving pause as he mentions that because he knows Temenos is an extremely private person. So, if he gives any indication he wants to change the topic or otherwise not mention further this letter, he can conjure up anything in turn.
But, he doesn't.
He begins to read, line by line, word by word. Then, at last, his name falls upon who has written it at all. ]
[ axel is right - he is very private, and about this, maybe more than anything.
... but.
if there is anyone in this place that he feels he could tell this story to, it is axel. if there is anyone he could trust with the most tender, vulnerable parts of his own story, it's his teammate, someone who has earned that much. he'd thought the same of crick, when he told him the very same - that after all they've been through, perhaps he has the right to know.
he leaves the letter in axel's sight, and doesn't look at him, when he speaks. ]
... You could say my dearest one. [ and looking at that letter - written in his familiar, just slightly messy scrawl - ripped open a wound that had already been torn into the week of memories, freshly scabbed over and now just bleeding. ]
Roi and I were both foundlings; that is to say, our parents left us at the church when we were babes. We aren't related, but the Pontiff personally took the two of us under his care.
[ The fact that Temenos dares trust him with such an intimate piece of his personal life doesn't pass him by. Quite the opposite, really.
They've both managed to become closer and closer as time goes on in this place. But, it doesn't mean they know all there is about one another. ]
A dear brother.
[ One who so happens to resurface in memories by gifting of such a letter. ]
...Five years is a long time for someone to go without writing a letter. And you hadn't found a clue about his whearabouts at all, right? It might be also too much to hope, but I can't help but want him to be alright anyway.
[ axel's optimism is... sweet, and not surprising, really. it reminds him of the pontiff, for a moment, and he lets out a soft noise, finally folding the letter again. ]
... No. Roi is dead. The person who killed him... while I never got to meet her, I met the mastermind of it all, and she referred to him as a victim of their organization's works. While it could have been to rile me up, as she was attempting to taunt me into anger, the physical evidence of it all remained.
[ in a sense, the information that the group from solistia came back with was familiar, but it confirmed a thought temenos had long before, after understanding some of the inner workings of the moonshade order, and perhaps worse, after the discovery of a journal that described someone as being hunted.
having his letter picks at that wound, though. perhaps now, after everything, it can finally scab over, and start to heal. this is a backtag so maybe axel can see it; his thoughts are turbulent before they finally clarify. Everything was always for him.
... Just say it. he thinks. Talk about him.
... and then, finally... ]
...Roi was always very brave. Reckless, even, sometimes. He is the very reason that I learned to doubt the way that I do.
[ You'd think that one of these days it might somehow dim. But no, it stubbornly sticks like an ember that refuses to go out.
Either way, Axel's listening to Temenos rather closely. ]
...Sucks to hear that's the case. It's never good when you lose somebody close to you, but even worse when somebody can mess around with you about it.
[ Then, there's a pause when he sees the thought bubbles rise; a conflicted an assortment of them. One, after another, when some sentences are clearer than the rest. He can't help but be a little nosy sometimes in this regard, whoops. ]
He sounds like a pretty commendable kind of guy. Always striving forward in the face of danger type of deal, sounds like? I wouldn't call him a bad guy to look upward to.
I can't say I know him either, for obvious reasons, but I have a feeling he'd be glad that you never strayed from your path. From wanting to question things, and working hard to always find answers.
[ Those of which people might not want to face, can't face, or refuse to face, even if it is staring down right in front of them. It's probably not much comfort in the face of loss being a reminder once more, but all the same, Axel can't help but think it true. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
anyway. his fingers still, for a moment. ]
... A letter from someone from home.
[ and it seems like temenos is deciding. there's a long pause where he's just holding still, then...
... after a moment, he carefully moves to reach for the book he keeps in his pocket. out of the book, near the back, he pulls out a folded piece of parchment, and after a moment's hesitation, he sets it in front of axel so he can see its contents. ]
no subject
Axel's giving pause as he mentions that because he knows Temenos is an extremely private person. So, if he gives any indication he wants to change the topic or otherwise not mention further this letter, he can conjure up anything in turn.
But, he doesn't.
He begins to read, line by line, word by word. Then, at last, his name falls upon who has written it at all. ]
...From a good friend of yours?
no subject
... but.
if there is anyone in this place that he feels he could tell this story to, it is axel. if there is anyone he could trust with the most tender, vulnerable parts of his own story, it's his teammate, someone who has earned that much. he'd thought the same of crick, when he told him the very same - that after all they've been through, perhaps he has the right to know.
he leaves the letter in axel's sight, and doesn't look at him, when he speaks. ]
... You could say my dearest one. [ and looking at that letter - written in his familiar, just slightly messy scrawl - ripped open a wound that had already been torn into the week of memories, freshly scabbed over and now just bleeding. ]
Roi and I were both foundlings; that is to say, our parents left us at the church when we were babes. We aren't related, but the Pontiff personally took the two of us under his care.
[ so not just his friend. his brother. ]
He has been missing for five years.
no subject
They've both managed to become closer and closer as time goes on in this place. But, it doesn't mean they know all there is about one another. ]
A dear brother.
[ One who so happens to resurface in memories by gifting of such a letter. ]
...Five years is a long time for someone to go without writing a letter. And you hadn't found a clue about his whearabouts at all, right? It might be also too much to hope, but I can't help but want him to be alright anyway.
For both of your sakes.
no subject
... No. Roi is dead. The person who killed him... while I never got to meet her, I met the mastermind of it all, and she referred to him as a victim of their organization's works. While it could have been to rile me up, as she was attempting to taunt me into anger, the physical evidence of it all remained.
[ in a sense, the information that the group from solistia came back with was familiar, but it confirmed a thought temenos had long before, after understanding some of the inner workings of the moonshade order, and perhaps worse, after the discovery of a journal that described someone as being hunted.
having his letter picks at that wound, though. perhaps now, after everything, it can finally scab over, and start to heal. this is a backtag so maybe axel can see it; his thoughts are turbulent before they finally clarify. Everything was always for him.
... Just say it. he thinks. Talk about him.
... and then, finally... ]
...Roi was always very brave. Reckless, even, sometimes. He is the very reason that I learned to doubt the way that I do.
no subject
Either way, Axel's listening to Temenos rather closely. ]
...Sucks to hear that's the case. It's never good when you lose somebody close to you, but even worse when somebody can mess around with you about it.
[ Then, there's a pause when he sees the thought bubbles rise; a conflicted an assortment of them. One, after another, when some sentences are clearer than the rest. He can't help but be a little nosy sometimes in this regard, whoops. ]
He sounds like a pretty commendable kind of guy. Always striving forward in the face of danger type of deal, sounds like? I wouldn't call him a bad guy to look upward to.
I can't say I know him either, for obvious reasons, but I have a feeling he'd be glad that you never strayed from your path. From wanting to question things, and working hard to always find answers.
[ Those of which people might not want to face, can't face, or refuse to face, even if it is staring down right in front of them. It's probably not much comfort in the face of loss being a reminder once more, but all the same, Axel can't help but think it true. ]