xistentia | Second Song ♫ Video (Daemon: Apollod)

[ An authoritative bark, steely eyes to match the armor worn- ] Feldspar will stay in the rear with the rest of the mages, Reyson on the frontlines with the wolves, and Misto with me to...

[ She falters suddenly. Wolf ears standing tall on her head flatten back in uncertainty. Where are the Morgans, the group she'd been informing as she stepped into a portal towards the oncoming battle? This wasn't- In a blink, memories come careening into her head and cause a startling emotional mish-mash. Names, faces, a year and some change spent in Eudio and Xistentia suddenly competing with the four years from back home. It's a different type of war inside her mind. ] Apollod, [ she suddenly says, looking to the canine that's already recording her return.

Despite herself, she suddenly smiles into the feed. ]

Hey, guys, [ comes a softer tone than before. She crouches down to pet the daemon that's recording, not physically looking a day older than when she left but certainly feeling like it. ] Hopefully I haven't been gone too long.

What'd I miss?

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[ She can hear him before he actually arrives; he arrives on the salty scent wafting from the sea, the currents carrying him to her. It's a small comfort, honestly, that he's just as she remembered. She hopes she hasn't been long, but then he asks that and-

It's a fair question. Honestly, even Rose is having a hard time sifting through her memories for a correct answer. ] Home, [ she finally settles on. Then elaborates. ]

I didn't... mean to? I think. Something almost killed me here, during the war. F.A.T.E.S sent me home to save me.

[ How long ago was the war? Xistentia's was just winding down as she left; back home, it was just beginning as she left. A bit ironic, she thinks. ]

[There's a mixture of feelings when he hears this. Was he to blame? Did he, in what power he did have, let her down? He's not sure how to answer this now, and he doesn't want to. She's here now, she's safe. The moment her answer finishes, there's the scent of the ocean in her nose, and his arms wrapped around her. In his experiences, it's been hard for him to cry sometimes, given how much responsibility he has to carry.

This is one time he comes close, sniffling a little bit against her shirt. She's one of the most tangible factors of his life, and so much is tied to her, and that was all almost lost. He almost lost her.]

I... thought so many things. You were caught, killed, you were scared because of what I did.

[ There is no blame to lay on him; if anyone is at fault, it's Rose. Reckless as always and not even thinking about the ways that her falling in battle might have hurt Vanyel and Farraige. She does not, of course, with the scent of sea but none of its chill in his embrace. Selfish, she mentally chastises herself, even when only trying to help fend off D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. and her cohorts.

At least some of the lessons learned back home will help with that here. The Morgans taught her a lot... and she doesn't want to let them down anymore than she had the people she loved in Xistentia. ]

Please. You saw what I could do, [ she says, lightly. ] Nothing is gonna' scare me away. At least not that easily. [ She's returning his hold with interest now, drawing back just enough to press a kiss to the edge of his lips. ]

I'm sorry. As long as I can help it, it won't happen again.

I guess... I realized how scared I really was to lose you.

[There's no joking in him, not right now. Usually it would be how he'd cope with a near death experience or near loss for someone he holds so dear.

So he just holds onto her, slightly pulling back when he moves to kiss him. There's definitely some tears welling up in his eyes, but he's not letting them go. It's hard for him to do so.]

I'm sorry... It's selfish for me but I feel at home with you, and I'm so scared to lose that.

[ It's still difficult some days to see herself as meaning anything. Back home, she's become the face of a revolution along with the Morgans. Here, she where Farraige felt at home. It's more than she thinks she deserves to be - on both fronts, honestly - but she wants it all the same. ]

It's not selfish, [ she corrects. ] You help me feel at home too here, y'know? And I want it stay that way.

[ Not that she truly has any say, as they've now experienced. But dammit if she isn't going to try. She kisses him proper now, a light peck of her lips. She wants him to cry if he needs to but understands, of all people, that kind of vulnerability isn't something so easily shared. ]

[He does linger in the kiss, perhaps taking a little nip of her bottom lip all the same. The presence of her warmth does much to bring him back to the present, banishing the worries from his mind at least for now.]

If we're ever separated again, I promise I'll find you. If I'm not strong enough to do it now, then I will be someday.

[Stealing another kiss, he instead quietly rests his forehead against hers. There's much he wants to ask her, he can sense that something about her is quite different. That could be a side effect of the process that allowed her to return, or something more. It's hard to say, but it's a mystery he will figure out.

For now, though, he wants none of that. Just to feel her there is enough.]

[ She almost tells him not to make promises that he can't keep, but... Honestly? Rose believes it's one he could. While she doesn't think herself anyone worthy of traversing time and space for, even still, it makes her heart swell to hear that to him she is. ]

I'll hold you to that, [ she answers. And she enjoys the moment same as him. Four years. It's been four years too long since she's taken in his scent and his warmth and everything wonderful about being with him, with-

Vanyel. ] As much as I don't want this to end, [ she starts, half-sighing as she does. ] I think there's someone else we need to see.

[He nods, understanding without anything more to say.]

You sure it's gonna be a good idea to surprise him outta nowhere like this?

[Ever the (slightly) reasonable one.]

Not that I disagree, we should definitely go see him.

Honestly, I'll be more surprised if he doesn't know I'm already here and just waiting for me to come home.

[ It had surprised here a little that Vanyel wasn't one of the first voices she heard upon arriving, but- She also can't even imagine what he must've gone through this past week, her just up and disappearing. And not intentionally! ]

We're going to. But tell me, [ she starts, taking his hand in hers. ] How have you been, this past week?

Second Song ♫ Video (Daemon: Apollod)

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