dappledleaves | CICONIA: WHEN THEY CRY

Yeah! As for me, I'll get... this!

[ He plucks watermelon flavor taffy bag off the rack. ]

Perfect. Now to look for the peeps!

[ Sinclair gets dragged yet again... but he'll feel someone staring at him again--the same kind as before, coming from somewhere beyond the glass walls of the candy store. ]

[...

this time, Sinclair doesn't look around actively but he uses the mirrors at the top of the store to see if he can notice anything.]

Ah, they're on that back shelf I think.

[ Brb using parallel processing power to look up if selcom ais can work out if someone is spying on you]

[ Selcom AIs can find your friends nearby, but not much else unless Sinclair has hacking skills. When looking at the mirror, Sinclair will just see who walk past the store normally and some very young children putting their faces up against the glass wall to look at the candy on the display. None of them are staring at Sinclair.

"Mama! I want that one! Pleeeease?"

It must be a ciconia-born that presses their hand up against the glass and looking over at their mother, begging her for some candy. How does it feel to be a ciconia-born and not having to strive to be a gauntlet knight? Perhaps it's just something neither Sinclair nor Oria would know in their lives. ]

Found them! I dare you to try the hot tamale flavor one!

[ Oria laughs, plucking a blueberry icee flavor from the back shelf.

Meanwhile, the direction of the stare no longer seems to be coming from outside the store. This time, it feels like it comes from Sinclair himself. ]

I don't feel like dying from my tongue catching on fire.

[Sinclair simply cannot be dared over things like that. And unfortunately, hacking was not in Sinclair's training and he'd need electrodes to connect to another person anyway but...

Charon scan for any viruses and intruders. Reinforce firewalls. Isolate it.

Sinclair's gaze falls on the ciconia born child outside. The family must have been wealthy, he thinks. And there's a tug of longing.]

[ Oria was about to respond, but he sees Sinclair watching the child outside with their parents. He's quiet for a while but then wraps an arm around his shoulders. ]

Hey.

[ He smiles as he leans into Sinclair a little. It can't be helped with their current position. ]

You ever want a family?

[ Meanwhile, the intruder has been identified, but catching it seems significantly harder. Multiple attempts of Charon ramming Mephi into it had some close calls, but ultimately, the problem isn't solved. In fact, the little hacking avatar, a rook, attempts to turn security against Sinclair instead, like how an immune system attacks itself under certain circumstances. ]

[ Sinclair blinks, leaning back into Oria. He picks out the strawberry peeps]

... yeah. I always thought it would be a nice thing to have a real home with parents to help you learn things. I know it's not always perfect or easy or even nice, but the stories always made it seem so comfortable.

[Sinclair's memories are distorted, strange and unpleasant. He doesn't have a single sibling for Sibling day and for a factory born child, that as good as saying he'd never belong anywhere. So he had retreated into books he could touch, films he could see with his own two eyes and..

Charon, it seems like we have something that doesn't belong here. He needs to be free from it. A young voices echoes out and soon the intruder rook will find themselves backed into a corner with a devastatingly strong mental grip]

... Yeah.

[ Oria doesn't say much, because he feels that he has the experience. They say that the grass is greener on the other side, but is it really? Oria had learned to make do with what he has. He swallows his feelings, because to him, this is much more important than a romantic relationship. ]

I'm sure Aria always saw you as a younger brother that she could get along with. She treasured you so much. Remember that one time when she brought food for a makeshift picnic when you were transferred to the squad for the first time? When she was making the food at home, she was always fussing about you liking her food. She was so nervous about it, especially those potato dumplings. You know how many mistakes I ate that night? It was nuts. She wanted them to be perfect.

[ The rook is gripped like the ratshaking emote, but it doesn't flail nor does it attempt to escape. In fact, perhaps he can identify it, but the longer it's here, the worse it gets. It seems to be an information gathering type that relays info right away. ]

Ahaha...I remember that.

[ He wont ever the warmth Aria and Oria shown him that day. It had been the first time he had been with people, not just carted around on an operating table, thrown into impossible training simulations again and again.

There had been time to relax and to talk and to enjoy food that was made with his tastes in mind. The Sinclair back then had been a wary, creature waiting for the another shoe to drop while craving any sense of real human connection he could get]

... that was my first time on a picnic, eating with other people. I didn't realise...

[it still hurts when he thinks about Aria's absence, a lingering shadow that haunted their every step]

...she was a good sister. A good person...but I hope you didn't get too sick eating all those dumplings.

[ Demian looks down at the rook. He can identify it if course, but he wont chase it back to the source.

"Leave. Only we're allowed to exist in this place." And the rook is crushed, every element gathered up and isolated. The fire walls rise up higher, twisting with fire and blood. It must be a strange mindscape to see, brilliant easy fields to navigate on one end; a broken wreckage on the other]

I didn't! But luckily, I felt hungry that night, so I had no problems. It was her persistence that was crazy. She was sooooo much nicer to you than me!

[ He sounds jealous, but he really isn't. Oria doesn't like being doted upon, so that was perfectly fine with him. There's a solemn look in his eyes for a moment as he smiles a little. ]

... I know that it's not like me to bring up past experiences and memories, but someone once told me that it's better to remember Aria has someone you had positive experiences with instead of as a memory that hurts.

[ With how he still gets nightmares about the missile exploding on Aria, it's what he tells himself at the very least.

The hacker avatar disappears, crushed into nothing. Its presence has now disappeared from Sinclair, but for a moment--just a fleeting second, Sinclair will feel the emotions that he feels when Aria smiles warmly at him.

But it's a phantom, nothing more. ]

That's because you liked bullying her as her younger brother. [Automatic, amused but Sinclair takes those words to heart]

...yeah. Remember them as how they were, right?

[Sinclair hesitates for a moment, wishing he could hug Oria and help him feel better too.

But then, there's that strange odd warmth and Sinclair blinks. Oh. Huh? What? Oria might notice Sinclair's eyes are suddenly damp. Sinclair looks down hastily wiping at them. What was that? He's not sure if it's warm or painful]

Yeah--

[ Oria turns his head to look at Sinclair's face and his attention is tuned into Sinclair wiping his eyes. ]

... It's okay to cry about it, you know. I'm here.

...I should be saying that to you.

[He turns a little into Oria, quietly huffing. It feels wrong to be the one crying when Oria was the one who grew up with her, and was related to her and this whole time, wasn't even allowed to grieve properly. ]

[ Well, Oria isn't Aria and he doesn't think that he's good at comforting people. However, seeing Sinclair like this makes him sad too, so he uses the arm that he already has around Sinclair to pull him into a proper hug despite not liking hugs. It's a tight hug to help comfort Sinclair and make him feel secure. ]

I'm fine.

[Sinclair shakes his head but he wraps his arms around Oria in turn. He's warm and steady.

None of this was fair, but was anything ever?]

[ Nothing is ever fair, but they must accept how things are.

Then it will be easier to handle.

Hopefully.

Oria gives him time until he can get his bearings again. In the meantime, they can just hug it out in candyland here. The employee doesn't even say anything either. ]

[What was it someone had said to him so long ago?

Know your place.

Was it always going to be like this? Helpless children in the face of overwhelming power and might?

Sinclair takes a few moments to recover and he pulls away in embarrassment]

...sorry. I got your shirt wet.

Eh.

[ Oria merely shrugs it off. ]

You know how bad I am in trying to make other people feel better, so if what I did helped you, then it's worth it. C'mon. Let's go buy these.

[ Sinclair may have pulled away, but Oria links their arms together so that they can go purchase these! It's fine! Don't think about feelings.

I got nothing else going on... ]

Mm. [He tries to ignore the fluttering in his chest. Stupid.

And it's all good and well as they return back to the base, and put up with simulation training with that one knight they'd never accept as part of their kette.

It's fine, it's fine, it's fine.

Then Siblings Day rolls around]

Edited 2024-11-02 01:23 (UTC)

CICONIA: WHEN THEY CRY

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