fallenconstellation

[fallenconstellation]

"I mean... it is pretty recognizable as you, though."

"I look way hotter than this."

#{{aster... #gleamknight #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

"Oh, hey, I got murdered once." Not fun, he doesn't recommend it.

#{ic} #{dash commentary}

[fallenconstellation]

"I guess that makes sense. But what if the kid finds out they're really good at lying and decides to keep doing it?" ... he knows Kay.

"I don't think it hurts too much. Most kids are terrible liars, after all. If they're taught to do it and it doesn't work, they might just think it's the wrong way to do things.

But yeah, just not teaching them to lie would definitely be more ideal."

#{{date vc: mizuki lies to me all the time :( #inheritai #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

"An observatory....!" Aster's eyes practically sparkle. "From all the way up there, we'll have totally unobstructed views of the sky! That's amazing!" Before he can let his mind get too wrapped up in that thought, he shakes his head, snapping back to reality.

If everything's going to be moved, it sounds like they don't have anything to worry about, other than perhaps bickering over the catalogue system used in the library. And yet, somehow, he finds himself even looking forward to doing that.

It's a big step for them-- one step closer to the life they'd always talked about.

'...something that Richter never thought they'd be able to have for the past few years', a small voice reminds him.

"Hey, Richter? Thank you. For everything. I'm really glad we're going to have a place to call our own. I'm sure Emil really appreciates it too, even if he's not here right now." He rubs the back of his head sheepishly, grinning. "You know there's nowhere else I'd rather be than with you."

It's a simple sentiment, but he means it. If he had it all to do over, he wouldn't choose any other course than one that would bring them to this moment.

"So, can we go see it in person? We gotta go scope it out so we can decide where to put everything, right?"

For that brief moment of worry, it's a relief then to suddenly see Aster so excited-- and in a rare moment of unashamed joy, Richter allows himself to laugh gently at his friend's reaction. He expected nothing less than that familiar, excited exclamation; the keys in his hand gone within an instant, and the boy up on his feet in even less amount of time. Normally, perhaps the half-elf would remind Aster not to get too ahead of himself, but..

Really, Richter didn't have it in him to scold him to act as though he needed to put a lid on his excitement-- because despite that his was so quiet in comparison.. the feeling mirrored in the half-elf as well, lighting his heart up in a warm, wonderful flame.

"We have more than enough time to get all of the details sorted, but.. yes, Aster. I am indeed serious," as he took the hand offered to him, Richter couldn't help the smile that settled over his expression; softening the greens of his eyes as he stood. "The Stars are capable of having everything moved for us, so there's no need to worry on that front-- all you have to concern yourself with is where to put everything once we get there, though that is something I'm sure we can do together."

Planning where to keep their research, which room their experiments would go in and so forth-- what a wonderful opportunity to be given, to be able to simply live alongside someone you cared for.

"It is in the Sky-Strewn Isles, and it is more than a house-- the top part is an observatory, so that we may study and map the stars of this world. There's a library, and multiple rooms to use-- I've even made sure to include an extra bedroom should Emil ever come back." His voiced quieted at that, unsure if the boy would even want to join them.. but the choice was there if they could ever see each other again.

".. it does feel something close to a dream, doesn't it. But I promise it is real-- we will finally have a place to call our own, after all the years of wishing it so.. and perhaps, it will be more than we both could have ever imagined."

Letting go of the other's hand, Richter lifted his own; smoothing it across Aster's mess of blonde hair.

"Thank you for still wanting to be at my side, after everything we've gone through. No matter what happens next in our lives, I will sure to stay with you every step of the way."

#eternalrecurrxnce #{{WAILS #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

"...should we really be teaching kids to lie like that?"

Says the boy who's had a fake ID to reach the restricted section of the library since age 12.

#isola mini #{dash commentary} #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

"Hehe, it's not so hard. I'm not really a physical activity kind of person..." he rubs the back of his head, chuckling. That's a bit of an understatement; he used to play hooky from gym class back in the day.

"Buuuuuut I do like solving puzzles, and it's pretty easy to anticipate the patterns if you think ahead!" Aster strikes another pose, his tiny dragon spiramon mimicking the movement. "You can think about it like a sequence of numbers!"

He taps his hand to the beat, repeating the names of the poses out loud as he inches closer to his friend.

"How's your timing, Lloyd? You're so good at sports, you've got this in the bag!"

"Man, how many more of these things do we have to go through..?!"

Though they'd only gone through a couple of the holes so far, shaped to their bodies and the positions they were expected to make, Lloyd was already looking tired; having narrowly avoided being knocked into the water on the last run. His hands were on his knees, bent over as he tried to catch his breath; while Twoishe chirped in excitement, ready for the next challenge.

"This kinda reminds me of tryin' to get through one of the temples back at home.. never thought I'd have to do one of these dumb puzzles again. How come you're so good at this, Aster?"

❱❱  :   —   ( @fallenconstellation​​ )

#twohundredpower #{ic} #event: challenger's path

[fallenconstellation]

At first, Aster is so wrapped up in his book that he doesn't quite hear what Richter's saying. It's only when he's asked to offer his hand that his attention is pulled from his studies. He knows his friend well enough by now-- this must be important.

He lays the book to the side, offering his hand with a questioning glance.

"Something else we need to talk about? You sound so serious..." Part of him worries there's more secrets to be revealed, more horrible things to have to come to terms with, and then...

"Wait, are you kidding?!" Aster's eyes light up, and he springs to his feet, eyes practically sparkling as he holds the key in Richter's hand. "Our own place?" It's a dream come true!!

"Oh man, we'll have to move all our books, but that's not too hard... I do have a lot, but we could get a truck maybe? I don't know how to drive... but maybe you could? Can you drive? Maybe if we..." he trails off, shaking his head. Now's not the time to get hung up on the details.

"Sorry, I'm just... this is all we ever wanted, y'know? We talked about a place like this for so long back in Sybak, it's kinda unreal that we're finally going to get to have it." He smiles, offering Richter a hand up.

"Of course I want to be there with you. Tell me all about it, OK? What kind of place did you get? Where is it?"

"-- there's one more thing we must discuss, Aster."

As his friend poured over his books, notes between the two of them flung around the room of the boy's apartment, Richter leaned over his shoulder; motioning for the other to open the palm of his hand. When he had, a set of keys fell from Richter's fingers; the ring landing in one swift motion as a smile began to form on the half-elf's face.

"After all the time we've spent at one another's homes in this world.. I thought it might be time to find a place we can share together. One where the mess of our research won't get in anybody else's way but our own."

It was his greatest wish just to be able to see Aster again, but to be able to do this now.. something that he could only dream of during their childhood, something he could only pretend would somehow be possible.. it filled Richter with an emotion that remained completely indescribable; filling his heart with a warmth that spread across his entire body.

"That is to say.. I've had a home built for the two of us to live in. We won't have to save our stories for the next time we see each other-- nor say goodbye at the end of the night. That is, of course.. if you would like to stay with me there."

@fallenconstellation

#eternalrecurrxnce #{{I CRY EVERY DAY BEE I CRY #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

"This place is incredible!!!!!!" Aster has been in and out of every door, zooming around the house at top speed. He hasn't even unpacked yet...

"I can't believe we really get to live here!!!!!!! I've got to get all my books out of boxes..."

#{{NERD HOUSE NERD HOUSE #{ic} #{ref}

[fallenconstellation]

"Ohhhh, that." Whoops.

"Maybe I just got a bad one. We should try again!"

...

"I can't believe the first time I've ever seen you back down from a challenge was a milkshake. Who would have thought!"

"......"

"I am not afraid of some horrid concoction. I would just rather not end up on the floor after consuming it-- like what happened to you yesterday, unless you've forgotten."

#{{he's pushing buttons #eternalrecurrxnce #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

"Could it be... you're just scared to try it?"

"Absolutely not!"

"And you are not trying it again, either!"

#eternalrecurrxnce #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

"But do you want to try it?"

".. if this trend of eating dangerous foods keeps up, I may have to accompany Aster everytime he wishes to go out for something.." Richter sure was grateful that he had Dr. Baizhu's number on speed-dial!

#eternalrecurrxnce #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

remember him

"Don't die!"

#{{JHGFGHJHGFGHJ #{{aster vc: been there done that #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

"Why is it so... brightly colored?" He had to get one of those shakes. For science!

#{dash commentary} #isola mini #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

@originskey

"Right, right, but what about the summon spirits? Have you met them? I've only met the one, Ratatosk, but that didn't exactly end well..." He rubs the back of his head. He's had a lot of questions for Kratos since he'd met him, and now he finally got the chance!

...at least he hopes the other knows he's not Emil, now. He has his notebook at the ready, almost as if he was interviewing Kratos. Lloyd had told him that his dad might have some interesting information for him, so he just had to follow up on that lead.

"But it's all right, it's fine now. It's just, there's a lot I couldn't learn at the academy, so I'd be fascinated to hear some of it from you! My primary research was in summon spirits and history, but I'm sure I'd be fascinated with anything you could share with me, Mr. Aurion!"

#originskey #originskey 02 #{ic}

[fallenconstellation]

@miraidawn

"Hey, what kind of phone is that?" Aster's eyes are practically sparkling as he looks down at the other's device. It's not like he's never seen a phone before; he's become quite familiar with his. Now that he thinks about it... he has a lot of questions for this guy.

Deep breath. Richter told him he needs to cool it with questioning strangers. One at a time.

"It's really cool, I like the design. It just doesn't look a lot like other phones I've seen, that's all."

#miraidawn #{ic} #miraidawn 01

[fallenconstellation]

"Huh?" Aster tilts his head to the side-- surprise breaks through the hesitance in his voice. Richter doesn't usually joke around... and he would never joke about this.

It's usually such a sore subject that they avoid it; is that what Richter is trying to do?

"You know what I mean," he grips his sleeve, leaning against the wall. "It's OK if you don't want to talk about it, I know it's hard. I just never realized how bad it was. Like, I knew it was bad, obviously, but... you must have been so scared. I know I was." It's a moment he'll never forget now, seeing it from two perspectives. And it makes his heart break even more for Richter, who's had to live two years with those images burned into his mind.

"We don't have to keep talking about it, but there is something I need to say before we drop it. Please, it's... it's important to me, OK?" He finally meets Richter's eyes, steeling his determination.

"It wasn't your fault that Ratatosk killed me. I'm sorry you've had to live with this for so long, but I remember now. And... I don't blame you, OK? Please remember that. None of it was your fault."

He holds Richter's gaze for a moment longer before taking a deep breath, inching a bit closer to the door.

"I can go now if you don't want to talk about it, I know it's... it's kinda awkward, isn't it? Talking about your own death and all..."

Though the book he was reading once held all of his attention, as soon as that gentle knock reached Richter's ears, it was if it hadn't been there at all in the first place; emerald gaze lifting to meet with Aster's as he lingered in the doorway. Though, there was almost something amiss with the boy; his smile not quite reaching his eyes, the way it began to falter the more he began to speak.. and immediately, Richter felt concern ebb onto the features of his own face.

"Aster?" within an instant, the book was closed; placed down gently onto his desk as the half-elf slowly rose to his feet. Though he chose not to question the other immediately-- instead allowing his friend to explain himself further, to give the reason as to why he was beginning to look so distraught.

It sounded.. important. To the point where it would shake someone as bright and cheerful as Aster to his core, but..

"What happened to you there..?"

.. those same emotions did not mirror in Richter. His brow creased, slightly; furrowing downwards as his lips followed suit into a frown, but..

".. I'm afraid I'm not quite certain what you mean. What are you talking about?"

#{{I'M SORRY THIS IS SO LATE #{{but i die every day #eternalrecurrxnce #{ic} #event: fragmemoria

[fallenconstellation]

@eternalrecurrxnce

"Hey, Richter. Can I talk to you about something?" Aster's still smiling, but it's not like him to look so nervous. He knows it's a sensitive subject, but he'd promised not to keep secrets anymore. And honestly...? If there's anyone he'd want to talk about this with, it's Richter. He's one of the only people that could understand, after all. He was there, too.

He walks into Richter's room with only a brief knock as warning, just like he had back in school. They'd fallen back into their old routines so fast... it makes him happy that despite all that had changed, some things never would.

"I, uh. I've been remembering some stuff lately. I was with Emil, out in the mist, and I saw some stuff. About when we went to see Ratatosk." He runs a hand through his hair, leaning against the wall as his hand tightens on his sleeve.

"I remember what happened to me there, now. And not just from seeing it. I remember being there." His gaze is cast at the floor as he continues.

"I'm really sorry. I had no idea you just had to stand and watch like that. It was horrible."

#{{WAILS #{{this is going to take me out i know it #eternalrecurrxnce #eternalrecurrxnce 07 #event: fragmemoria #{ic}