*` relentless.

it was only when he felt soft lips against his own that he opened his eyes out of pure surprise — he didn’t expect crow to proceed with the game in such a way. his cheeks turned into a dark shade of red as he took note of what he tasted like — bad idea, very bad idea, because it meant he didn’t back off right away and even held onto the front of crow’s jacket for a moment to kiss him back.

breaking from his trance, however, he broke the kiss, looking off to the side as he was unable to quite face his best friend right now. “d-don’t you think this prank went a bit too far…?” rean managed to ask, though deep down he hoped that for crow it wasn’t just a prank. that he decided to go ahead with the kiss for another reason entirely. 

what reason was it, anyway…? what was he hoping for?

the kiss was nice, yes — but he had already pretty much accepted that they couldn’t be more than just friends. he couldn’t be getting his hopes up now. he shouldn’t.

a prank, huh? so rean really thought that this was all just a prank? crow chuckled softly before lifting his hand and gently holding his chin. “who said that this was a prank, rean?” crow then asked, “i never said it was one for example” he added, then pressed another quick kiss to his lips.

pocky day!

@azurewake​ :  he remembered these snacks from back in erebonia, and that little game you were supposed to play on a specific day. and maybe, just… maybe… he'e be able to get rean indulged in this game. with one end of the pocky in his mouth, he wrapped his arms around the raven’s figure, waiting for him to bite off the other end or just get the game.

lilac eyes watched as the other bit on one end of the pocky stick, thinking at first that he was intending on eating it as normal — that is, until he felt arms wrap around his figure to pull him closer. it took him a moment to realize what was actually happening, and his cheeks turned a pink color as he stared at crow’s face, now closer than he expected.

“u-um… crow?” eyes trailed for those red eyes down to his lips, wrapped around the stick. it was an embarrassing thing, to be playing this game with crow of all people, but after some consideration he took a breath, leaned in to bite down on the other end and then closed his eyes. 

he knew he should’ve kept his eyes open — but being so close to crow made him way too nervous, and if he opened his eyes now he was sure to back off completely. instead he started eating without looking ahead at all, and thus he had no idea at which point of the stick the other was.

it was all left up to crow if they’d stop before their lips touched or not.

and so he took the bait. crow couldn’t be any more amused. he sure loved to tease his friend like this. now he wasn’t sure how to advance. he could be a jerk (and proceed to have rean give up all hopes for... whatever), or he could just proceed and seal this game with a kiss. 

“while i’m here to see you… i also need to tell you something. i imagine you both are very good friends, like you always were. but you’re scared of pursuing more than just that, are you not?” getting straight to the matter at hand, ishmelga rean stared at him with bright gold eyes.

he didn’t want crow to make the same mistake he did. he thought it’d be fine, to put off his feelings and just never pursue them, only to end up not dying with crow and being all alone. he had too much time to think back on things, and realized he made the wrong choice. if they continued that way, they’d make the same mistake he did; never pursuing their happiness and feeling unfulfilled.

what... was he trying to imply by that? his genuine feelings he was harboring for rean? “so, ya tryin’ to say that i should reveal my true feelings for rean as soon as possible? ‘cause there might be a time in which we both would no longer be here?” sounded plausible.

truth be told, crow had always been worried about his true feelings for the raven. from friends, to classmates, to rivals, to best friends. partners in crime, through and through. “so, that’s what happened to you? you weren’t able to confess your true feelings to your version of me? that it?” he frowned at that statement, was unsure what to make of it. he heaved a sigh, shaking his head.

of course crow would end up thinking he was his own rean. at this point in time, he wasn’t aware at all of the diverging timelines. of the fact there was a timeline where they didn’t manage to save everyone and stay alive. but it happened, and he was living proof – could he even be considered living at this point, though?

he had to take the time to talk to him now that he wasn’t under such heavy influence of ishmelga. there was no way of knowing if he’d get another opportunity like this one. after a moment, he slowly took his mask off to reveal the rest of his face. the strange red markings only extended further.

“i’m sorry, but i’m not your rean.” he had to tell him how it was, as much as it pained him. “my crow is… i was supposed to die with him, that day i fought ishmelga.” but he wasn’t able to. he wished he would have died along with him and millium, truly.

“i just wanted to… be able to see you one last time, even if you’re not my crow. before i really am swallowed whole by ishmelga.” 

before there wasn’t any more trace of rean in him, just pure malice and desire for world domination.

huh. 

this all seemed so weird. did it have something to do with the mist all around spiral? crow wasn’t sure, but whatever was going on-- if this man wasn’t his rean, where would he be then?

he frowned upon sampling the young man. “wait, wait wait...” he cleared his throat. “so you’re some doomed timeline version of rean? how’s that even possible!? and if you’re here, where’s my rean?”

he knew now for a fact that this dude wasn’t his rean, because he remembered that they actually defeated ishmelga. then why did he exist? how did he exist? was this all related to spiral?

the misty atmosphere made things eerie – chilling, even –, and despite being together just moments ago, now rean didn’t seem to be anywhere near. and yet… there was a voice in the distance, one that greatly resembled rean’s. and it called for him.

“crow…” there was no sense of urgency though, despite the situation. like whoever was calling him wasn’t bothered by the mist at all. like they weren’t actually real. not supposed to be there at all.

after a moment, footsteps could be heard, until a man – wearing an outfit very similar to the one rean wore during the world war, the only difference being the red scarf around his neck – appeared, long white hair, bandaged right arm and a very unusual left arm. there were also red markings on his face, which was partly covered by a mask. and the weapon at his hip… it was like an exact replica of rean’s tachi.

“ah… so here you really are alive.” there was almost a bit of a relief in his voice, which sounded way too similar to rean’s for it to be a coincidence.

@azurewake​​ | mistified starter

ah, that damn mist sure didn’t want to go away! it made even everything harder for the male anyway-- like he may have good eyesight, but walking through a thick mist is what he was uncapable of!

“man... i just want to go home! i shouldn’t have left for errands anyway!” crow clicked his tongue, but then he froze when he felt a... strange yet familiar presence. 

it was like... rean, but also it wasn’t like him... very strange. was he starting to hallucinate thanks to the mist? oh, that was really not what he needed now! but then he stood in front of someone, his eyes widen at the sight. `

this... this couldn’t be rean... rean didn’t look that way! maybe he really ways hallucinating. “y-yeah, uh... rean” he cleared his throat, “it’s still a few weeks away until halloween! and what exactly do you mean with ‘being alive’? we’re both roomies, remember?”

pursing his lips, he considered crow’s idea. it was late at night, so they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere even if they tried. they would just end up lost.

so, yes, as much as he didn’t want to admit, he was right. they’d be better off taking a break and trying to find a way out tomorrow once they could actually see something. that sounded like a plan to him.

“…alright, you win. we’re going to take a break and look for a way out tomorrow morning.” rean visibly relaxed after a moment, and then moved inside the kitchen with crow, looking around to see if there really was only instant ramen around for them to eat. “huh… i guess we’ll have to make do with this for tonight. we can eat something better tomorrow.”

he took one of the instant ramens and put some water inside of it before putting it into the microwave to heat up. rean did admittedly prefer fresher foods, as things like this reminded him of when he practically worked as a junior soldier for osborne… but it was just for tonight.

“i know we’ve kept in contact through our arcus… but i’d still like to hear how things are going in jurai. any progress since last time we talked?” he glanced over at crow as he leaned against the counter.

“there are some grocery stories nearby we can visit for food. i could even try getting things for fish burgers. been craving them after all!” crow offered with a wink. sure it wouldn’t be like anticipated, but since rean was such a big fan of them, he wouldn’t mind doing them once. he looked at rean when he asked the question. ah, what would he tell him?

“oh, yeah! stark and i are being helpful as ever! the people are supporting each other, too. it took them a while to warm up to me again...” he sighed; he really didn’t feel good talking about this for some reason. they knew he was the grandson of the late mayor after all. 

she didn’t have any luck finding her brother just yet, and it was starting to get late, so lumine decided to call it a day and head back to what would be her accomodations. on the way however, she noticed what seemed to be a place for gambling?

it wasn’t something that interested her in particular, but… she did wonder if she could find someone inside that knew useful information. so she stepped inside.

looking around, there were a few people, but the one who caught her attention had a fluffy coat and grey hair. she approached the man and sat by him, watching him gamble.

“you look like you have experience.”

@azurewake​

oh... if his best friend knew about this... but crow did tell him that he went to take a walk for some information gathering. he just didn’t mention where. and he always wanted to try the casino in spiral anyway! 

humming a song while he was adding more coins into the machine, he waited for a good score and...! yes! not quite the jackpot, but it was good enough to earn a little more. his friend sure would wonder where he got that money from... and crow would have to tell him... although he knew he wouldn’t like it. 

his focus, however, suddenly got disrupted by a girl sitting next to him. oh, another jackpot! he’d think, if there wasn’t someone else tugging on his heart-- ahem, anyways.

he gazed at the girl with a smug smile. “heh, ‘course! took me a minute to get used to the machines, but they’re no different than the ones at home!”

rean couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

there was no way to get out of there. they were trapped, and told to live ‘ordinary lives’ inside this place. 

this wasn’t what he wanted. he wanted to leave, go back to his world, to zemuria, to erebonia, to leeves… and just work as an instructor for his students. they surely were all worried sick by now, wondering where he could be, and here he was, not knowing how to get out.

“no… there’s got to be a way out, crow. are you really just going to give up?” he didn’t really want to be separated from the other again, but he also couldn’t bring himself to be selfish. it’d mean he’d be accepting whatever sick game the organizers were playing with them here.

“it’s nice to see you again, after these couple of months, yes… but we both have things we have to do back in zemuria, don’t we? i have to continue teaching juna and the others, and you were with stark helping the people of jurai, right?” now that he thought about it, they also had the promise they had to fulfill where rean would go to jurai and eat with the both of them.

he sighed and looked around the room. “it sure makes sense now why this place seems to comfortable… they want us to feel comfortable here.”

“me? givin’ up? who’re ya taking me for?” crow couldn’t resist a dry laugh escape from his lips. “and i totally get you there. as much as i trust stark, i still can’t leave him alone do all the work by himself.” crow now sighed just thinking about it.

it wasn’t the fact he could leave stark alone, but he agreed on helping the student as well. and now he just disappeared! crow really felt bad. the fact he couldn’t even call him made it harder for him to know if stark was alright. ah, it was all so bitter. 

and now that rean mentioned it... it looked all too domestic here. “seems like they want to make sure we don’t sleep on any rotten mattress or some shit. can’t say i’m complainin’, though.” but there was probably a catch.

“though it makes it seem like... they don’t want us to never leave again. give us the feeling of ‘home’ or something like that...” crow shrugged, then headed for the kitchen.

he was getting hungry, and he wanted to check if something was there. “hm... just some instant ramen...” he muttered, before he looked at rean.

"oh?"

now he was a bit confused. he looked around and frowned. this place didn't look strange at all. it looked like any other ally he'd walk into if he got lost.

and this man tends to get lost ever so often thanks to being in a new place. he looked at the lady and heaved a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

oh?

for some reason crow was a bit... taken aback by that. it had been a good while since all that stuff happened back in the world war. he understood that rean wasn't having it if he were to lose a close friend.

but now they were in a strange place together, unaware of what dangers there'd be outside.

it was obvious that rean didn't want to lose him. again. no matter what.

the older man huffed softly, lips turn into a smile while his gaze was fixed at the raven. "heh, i'm not goin' anywhere, rean. i promise."

he wouldn't leave this idiot alone either. he was way too much of a danger magnet anyway.

so he wasn’t the only one that ended up without any of his belongings. crow, too, had suffered the same fate, so he could assume that it was the same for all of the people that ended up here against their will. at least that was something to go off of.

“ah, so you too. my tachi and my arcus II were taken from me… i ended up just with a wooden sword. did they give you a replacement like that too?”

at the mention of information, he perked right up. if there was something he really needed, it was information, and if crow had some then it was all the better. he could trust his word on what he had been told.

“so, what did the bartender say? this isn’t an ordinary place, i take it.” there was probably something bigger at play, some reason they were taken here. but now that he thought about it… crow was talking as if he had arrived not long ago as well, wasn’t he?

“wait… when exactly did you arrive here in spirale? because i just arrived today. did you arrive today too, crow?”

if that was the case, then perhaps they needed the both of them together for something. both chevaliers. could they even be useful to them without valimar and ordine by their side though? he wasn’t sure.

still… even if they met in not so good circumstances, he was happy to be able to see crow again after these few months.

perhaps that was the silver lining in all of this.

ah, how’d he have to start this... heaving a big sigh before talking, he looked the raven straight in the eye. 

“well, you see... there’s no way to get outta here. if you even TRY to leave... don’t even. that’s all.”

that sounded all very optimistic if he was being honest. but what else did he have to lose? he wanted to be as honest as possible to the other, and he was only repeating what the bartender told him. 

“the bartender told me ‘bout a bunch of... people running this place. but there’s no way to find or contact them, y’ know? then he just told me to ‘enjoy my stay in spirale, try to live an ordinary life’...” he scoffed at that. well, there were many ways on how to live an ordinary life.

“yeah, i did arrive today. i have no idea when... didn’t check the time” he shrugged while his gaze was still fixed on rean.