vatheon | I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then

Who: Sola and Vatheon
When: The wee hours of the morning
Where: Plaza
Style: Brackets
Status: Open to all CR great and small!

[At first the Hylian doesn't recognize where he is.

There's a heavy and wild intake of breath as if he doesn't expect for his lungs to expand. He scrambles for the nearest cover, nearly bowling over a hapless towel vendor in the process. He merges into the shadow of a building, nothing visible aside from piercing red eyes as he finally pauses to take in his surroundings, tense and suspicious.

What had Link done? He'd thought he'd been done for, that Ganon's resurrection was a failure purely because again he hadn't been able to spill the hero's blood. And he'd had so much time to plan, to send minions and monsters after him all along, to observe and prepare. But maybe that had been the problem, he'd waited too long. He should have attacked at the beginning when he'd been- well, not weak, he'd still defeated the Demon King, but when Link had his guard down during the reconstruction...

Dark Link's train of thought grinds to a halt as he finally connects where he is, as the jumble of memories he'd ignored suddenly appearing in his mind in favor of adrenaline still surging from his life or death battle start to sort themselves out slowly. They're hardly finished, but he knows this place now. He recognizes it.

Still standing in the shadows but no longer a part of them, Dark Link just stares.

Vatheon.

Home.]

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[The effect Sufferer's words have on him is immediate. He brings their hands to his forehead, closing his eyes in guilt and thanks and some of the tension leaving his shoulders.]

When I have a choice. The problem is it seems here is the only place I have a choice.

[He sighs, lowering their hands again but still not letting go in a subtle childish desire to keep contact with his father. He shakes his head to try and set aside those dour thoughts.]

Is everything alright here? What did I miss?

I'm sorry that's the way it is for you in your own world, Sola. I truly am. But I know that in here [Sufferer untangles one hand and lays it flat on Sola's chest, right over his heart] you are one of the best men I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

[He smiles then, and doesn't move his hand.]

Everything here is fine. You were deeply missed in your absence.

[Sola's cheeks flush and he smiles quietly as Sufferer's assessment of him. He doesn't feel like a very good man but his trolldad's faith in him makes him want to try.]

Who's still here? I know the coral likes to send people away at the worst times...

[He expects to find holes in his family, and one person in particular he's worried will be gone. Not that he knows quite what to say to him, either. If he is still here, he can't decide if he wants to seek him out or avoid him at all costs.]

[And really, as long as he tries, that's all Sufferer can ask of him.]

Psii is still here; he misses you. I don't know about Sora, I haven't spoken to him lately. But Johnny is still here.

[He knows that's the one Sola probably really wants to know about.]

I'll make sure to see Psii as soon as I can. Sora too, and everyone else that's still here.

[When he mentions Johnny though, Sola grows tense again. It's hard for him to imagine the vampire would ever condemn him outright, but... he knows he's changed, turned darker somehow, and he's not sure he can stand the disappointment he might see in Johnny's face.

Maybe that should wait...]

Oh. That's... that's good.

[Oh dear, that's not a good change. Sola might be better at hiding his emotions these days, but Sufferer can still tell when something is wrong.]

Sola.

[He puts a hand on his shoulder and gives it a squeeze to get his attention.]

Do I still love you?

It's not that I think he won't love me anymore, it's just...

[He takes a breath and lets it out slowly, looking at the ground.]

I don't want him to be disappointed that I've changed.

Life is change, Sola. It's the high cost of living.

[Sufferer puts both hands on Sola's shoulders and tries to duck down so he can look up and meet his eyes. Considering how short he is, it's not very hard.]

Do you remember when I came back? How I'd changed? How sad and lonely and damaged I was? Were you disappointed in me? Or did you understand that I had been through something terrible, and just kept loving me anyway, and helped me work through it so I could get better?

Give Johnny some credit, son. You did that for me; now he can do it for you.

[He lets out another shuddering breath and forces himself to smile for Sufferer. He doesn't know how to explain the guilt and fear that gnaws at him, how Johnny had built him up to be this beacon of hope and light and he feels as if he's smashed that ideal, willingly or not. It used to be so easy to share those feelings but now he'd rather just pretend they weren't there at all.

He'll just smile gently, a bit sad, and take Sufferer's hands from his shoulders to hold them.]

How is Grandma? And Mom?

[It seems like Sola doesn't want to talk about this, and Sufferer lets it drop. He's said what he wanted to say, and if Sola wants to talk about it more, he knows that all he has to do is ask.]

They're fine. They'll be delighted to see you back.

Can we go see them?

[There's almost a bit of Sola's old childlike shyness in the question. As much as Sufferer tells him he has nothing to be afraid of, his guilt speaks the opposition. He's just trying very had to drown it in his father's words.]

And Psii, too. I missed everyone.

[Or would have, if he'd remembered, but now he knows that hole he'd felt while back in Hyrule is the one left by family and he badly wants to fill it again.]

Of course.

[Sufferer loops an arm around Sola's shoulders, gives him a squeeze, and starts guiding him home.]

I think Psii made a fresh batch of bakalava yesterday. It's like he knew you were coming home!

What's bakalava?

[He falls into step beside his father, surprised but please at how easy it is to dust off the memory of old patterns, of the feeling that this is how things are supposed to be.]

Haven't you ever had it? It's a desert Psii makes with pastry dough and honey and a bunch of other things that I can't keep track of. It's very good.

[It feels like this is how it's supposed to be because this is how it's supposed to be.]

I think maybe I had it once? If he made it before. It might have been one of the things he used the bee honey for. It's flaky and sticky, right?

[~~That's what she said.~~]

Yes, that's it! He makes it a lot; it's a good use for all his honey.

That sounds really good.

[He gives a smile, not the same broad, light up his face like the sun smile but it's pleased nonetheless.]

Are you living in the same hive? Who all lives there now?

[Since as he remembers it seemed to change every time he looked away.]

It is good; everyone who tries it likes it.

[Sufferer is very pleased to see that smile, and beams back.]

Yes, still in the same place. Right now it's myself, Dualscar, and Psii who live there, although Rosa and Disciple are by a lot.

I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then

<333 Nor should he!

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it's baklava with an added typo

whoops!

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