the_campus | [Event] It couldn't last forever.

Entry tags:

[Event] It couldn't last forever.

[The lights going out had certainly surprised Henry, but he had been prepared for such a thing. He didn't fully understand the "electricity" that this place seemed to have, and thus, lacking that understanding, he had decided to prepare in case it disappeared.

Just like it had now.

Candles in that old-style holder and lit, Henry at least had some visibility despite the pressing darkness. Making sure to store away the others (at least after making sure Eleanor and Jack had ones themselves) he's started off into the Campus, looking for anyone lost in this darkness to help them find their way back to their dorms, or wherever else it was they wanted to go.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Heheh... She even gave me a present.

[His voice sounds almost disembodied before he returns with an armful of suitable brushwood, feeding the fire carefully to ensure it stays lit. He disappears once more to get a little more to make sure they can keep feeding it through the night without going too far.

Ryou gratefully accepts his treat and the bread with a polite murmur of gratitude. He hasn't really eaten today, as far as he can tell. His body doesn't seem to have, anyway, judging by how empty his stomach feels.]

A present? Please tell me it didn't involve a blade or blood.

[Henry cranes his neck a little to follow Jack when he comes back over, worry clearly written across his face. It doesn't look like it involved blood...]

Really, highness, what do you take me for?

[He teases affectionately as he finishes piling up wood and goes to sit beside them. Henry had asked them to get along, and he was trying.]

Actually... she gave me her Rose Cards.

Should I really answer that?

[He's teasing right back, relief a bit clear in his voice. It ended well, then, or at least civilly. Which is about all that he can ask for, though he'd like more.

He glances up when Jack comes over, lifting up the blanketcapemix for him to slide under he if so chose to.]

The Red Rose Cards? What for?

[It's a bit of surprise, though not badly so. It must have been quite a gesture for her to do that...]

[Mindful of Henry's comfort, he pauses to take off his armor before he does join him under the peculiar pile of warmth. It's a little comical, really. He shakes his head slightly, smiling a little.]

She wanted to make amends.

[He's not going to sour Henry's mood by pointing out why she'd want that. Nope, instead Henry's just getting a second long-haired beauty curled up at his side. This is starting to become a habit.

He hopes it isn't a vice.]

She was worried over how to 'make friends'. I guess she really does have her girlish side.

For a king, I'm almost a child in private half the time, aren't I? It doesn't seem too hard to believe that even the Rose Duelists have their strangely soft or feminine sides.

[Even with how terrifying Eleanor can be berserk-- No. That event is not something he needs to think about, especially not now, curled up like this.]

Still, that's good to know. I'm sure it wasn't easy, and you would have been in your full rights to stay at odds... but I appreciate it that you're trying. Truly, Jack. Thank you.

[He's more than happy for Jack's presence, but that doesn't stop him from reaching over to snag some more bread out of the bag and pass it to both of them. He may not be as hungry as Ryou, but he's still hungry none the less.]

[He watches with approval as the annoyingly thin boy thanks Henry graciously before tucking in. He looks like he needs it. He accepts his own pleasantly, biting into it fiercely. He may have manners, but that doesn't mean he can't be a little rough with his food. Swallowing it down in a couple of bites, he shoots Henry an amused look.]

Eleanor I'd believe it of, but Harriet seems more like a man most days. Seeing her like that was quite surprising.

[Noticing the awkwardness, he moves the bag so it's behind Henry's head, where it can be easily reached.]

Staying at odds would only fracture our group. While I won't hesitate to tease them, it seems they've yet to realize the lack of malice behind it.

[Henry seems grateful for the move, if just because he seems intent on passing it around. It's not the most... graceful meal he's ever had, but that makes it that much better, somehow.]

I'm sure they'll understand, given time.

[If amends can be made, and if Jack can be taken back with them... it will be like that whole painful experience never happened. That's more than he could ever have wanted.

Henry lets his eyes drift up to the stars above them, reaching up a hand after a moment to trace along them. There's nothing recognizable here, nothing familiar to cling to, but he seems to be "drawing" little patterns in them regardless.]

[Ryou watches him curiously, staring up at the unfamiliar stars and following the patterns Henry is drawing with his eyes.]

...? What are you doing, Father?

[On the other side of Henry, he probably felt someone jump.]

[Henry's calm expression warms with a bright smile at the address and he gives Ryou a fond look. He turns his head a little to flash a slight grin at Jack, but otherwise doesn't explain.]

Making something recognizable. These stars... they're strange and unknown to us, another bit of proof that wherever we are is a strange land. So... if there's nothing that I remember seeing here before, I'm making something to see myself. I'm curious if these patterns ever change, or if this sky is the same each night.

[He continues to "draw," tracing a simple design here and there. A sword, a card... and a rose, of sorts.]

...!!!!

[What the hell did he miss?]

I see... That makes sense. Even in Japan, I've never seen stars like this, but the stars aren't usually all that clear in Domino City anyway.

[Unless you're on top of the Duel Ship or standing on Kaiba's massive ego.]

In England, the stars can always be seen on clear nights. It's a favorite of mine to be able to sleep with the drapes back. It's hard to see the stars clearly from a bed, but even the gentle moonlight against the floor... it's quite a relaxing thing.

[Henry lets his arm fall back around Ryou, closing his eyes. Thinking of home is making him miss it now, a little, but he would never say he could regret coming here. Not with his returned friend and his new son against him like this.]

Sometimes... it's better in the rain. Hearing it softly and gently drum outside... it's almost like a lullaby of its own.

It sounds beautiful... It's said that in a lot of big cities in the modern area, you can't see the stars at all without help. Because the lights are so bright, and there's so much activity, that the stars are mostly obscured.

[His voice is slightly dreamy. This really is a comfortable situation.]

I can never imagine such a thing. A city like that must be blinding, to be so bright as to block out the stars. Even with our castle fully lit at night for business, one just needs to lean out a window and look up to see it. Even our lights can't challenge those heavens.

[He can see it even now... though the years are far back. The quiet bustle of the castle, his mother's voice calling out orders, his grandfather entertaining a much younger himself and Christopher with petty little games because they can't sleep with all the din and bustle...]

Heh... so much seems strange in this time, almost backwards to me...

It's what they'd call the 'price of modern comforts'. People live together in such close quarters that there's thousands of lights in such a small area. And the lights are brighter than candles, or flames, because people have reached the point of being too used to the technology to be comfortable with natural light. Most technology gives off bright lights too, so it just adds to it.

You could say that people are fighting against nature, despite the lack of a need to do it. People are so used to it, they never stop to think how odd it is.

How strange. I can't say I'm really yearning to go to the future, then.

[Especially with Japan's schools. He's still reeling over that one, sheesh.]

Though admittedly... I am impressed and a bit fond of all the medicine that you seem to have. It's as if you have an answer to almost any wound or sickness.

That's true... A lot of diseases were eliminated with innoculations, and others have been driven back quite a bit. Medicine progresses slow compared to other developments, but it's worth it.

[Hm... thinking about it...]

I think the library has some medical textbooks. When I first came here we spent a lot of time in the library, looking for clues, and I definitely saw some then.

Hm... I might have to take those with me whenever it's time to return home, along with as much of the medicine from that office as I can manage. Considering I'd imagine it appears the same as the food or clothing, it certainly won't hurt to take all we can carry.

[It might change the flow of history... but if it can get that better medicine circulating in his time, he'll take that risk.]

I think you're right... the medicine replenishes. There always seems to be more of it when I go back. I wonder if this might cause a temporal paradox, though... who knows?

...Temporal what?

[Ryou, ancient Englishman here. Use less modern ideas, please.]

Ah- Sorry! [Words, how does he do them.] A 'temporal paradox' means basically... Well, I'll give an example.

If you take something to the past, and use it to create that something in the first place, then it creates what movies and books refer to as a 'time loop'. Since it was created in the past, it's no longer created in the future, but if it wasn't created in the future, it can't have been created in the past. That's a temporal paradox!

I see. So it's a strange sort of... "fold" in time, that's not quite supposed to work?

Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Fiction makes a lot of fuss about it but since it's never been tried before, it's impossible to know if it really would backfire or not.

Quite honestly... I'd rather risk that then not try to take something back. We already changed time by bringing back Eleanor and Harriet; I can't imagine something like altering our level of medicine would do much more damage than that. And even if so, it's better to try. I couldn't forgive myself if one of my family died of wounds or illness that could have been cured if I just brought something back.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject