hadriel_logs | Event Log: The Hope of a Child

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Event Log: The Hope of a Child

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the The Hope of a Child event
Where: All over the city!
When: January 23rd-Feb 1st
Warnings: Youths

By now, the gods have probably done enough weird crap to you while you're asleep for you to be a little suspicious- but it's not like you can just not sleep, especially when there are a few supernatural forces making your eyes droopy and your body feel heavy.

And now, when you fall asleep, you'll wake up somewhere else and you'll likely have quite a different temperament- you'll be younger, maybe a little more naive and innocent, and you won't exactly remember all the wild stuff that's happened to your adult self. Maybe now you'll be a little more trusting and emotional, hm? The gods could definitely use a little boost in power, and what better way to do it than to harness the power of overemotional kiddos!

Or maybe you aren't affected at all and find yourself surrounded by youths. What are you going to do when your best friend doesn't know how to cook for themselves? Or your bitter rival is throwing a temper tantrum because they broke their favorite toy? Nobody asked for this kind of responsibility, but think about what would happen if nobody was around to take care of these babies...

► This log covers January 23rd-Feb 1st.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you trip over a kid and die, please let us know here.

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You-- 「You don't get it... 」

I c-cannot... 「They can't see me like this... He's supposed to see this divine being, not a sad child. But instead of refuting a little more because how can he possible be a good king when he is this weak — he's too tired to do it anyway — he takes the unspoken offer, burying his face on her shoulder. She sounds so convinced about what she says, could it be true someday? Can he make his dad proud? It's a little hard to believe right now.」

[Yehudit gets it a lot more than he would think. Not from personal trials and tribulations, but from what she can't help but see in people. Both the good and the bad.

[She brings her hand over the back of his head, offering solace through her actions as much as her words.]

Do not worry. I won't tell. [An unnecessary promise, but sensing his trepidation so much on what others would think of their king like this, she feels that Atem needs to hear it.] You are a good person. That is what matters.

「She won't tell... That's more appreciated than he can express at the moment — even though he squishes her a little tighter when she says so — she's not wrong, hearing it helps. She's certainly not the first one who had offered her help or a shoulder (less literal) to cry on, in Hadriel and at home, but at this point, maybe, she might have been the first one he allows in. It's probably the tiredness and the strangeness of the situation in which he can no longer keep himself together. While he doesn't really do other much than let his silent tears fall, he doesn't quite restrain himself from it either, taking comfort in the company of his new friend. There is no need for him to explain anything to her, or at least, it doesn't feel necessary, and it also helps. It's like, if she knew what he's feeling.

So long passes before the boy falls dozes off, fortunately the night is short and sooner than later the air doesn't feel as chilly as before. At least, maybe, they can rest more comfortably now.」

[Even as he falls quiet, she doesn't let go. Perhaps Yehudit just remembers the way her mother or father would hold her when she was first assaulted by the many thoughts inside her head, unable to tell the difference between which is hers and what belongs to someone else. It's hard, even now, to live with that. Is the pain she feels even her own at all?

[Yet she's reluctant to tell Atem this, afraid that he might feel like her empathy means any less or that he would reject her if she did. In a way, she's selfish, not wanting to be alone.

[Despite her determination to stay awake long enough to look after him, before long the girl drifts to sleep as well. The images in her head are but flickers of another's memory rather than dreams.

[When Atem wakes, Yehudit will still be there, nestled against his side and bundled in the cape he had lended her again. Her arms having slid under his arms and her head rested to his chest, both for warmth and comfort.

[She really misses her parents...]

Edited 2018-03-17 05:17 (UTC)

「He tried so hard to stay awake, he had told her he'd keep her safe after all, but, sadness can be absolutely exhausting. It hardly is a restful sleep, but it's better than what he'd had gotten so far. It's strange, however, to wake in such unknown location, and actually holding someone. It takes him a moment to get his bearings. Ah, yes, the pain in his little feet is enough to remind him of everything.

He doesn't move too much so he doesn't wake her up. She, of the two, is the one who seemed to need the rest the most. At least he doesn't feel like bursting into tears anymore. In fact, it was like he didn't feel much of anything, he can't say he likes this better.」

[She doesn't hold it against him for falling asleep. Yehudit tried to do the same, but in the end they were both just as tired, and the brief darkness of night was oddly comforting as daylight flashes over.

[Atem doesn't have to wait very long before Yehudit starts to wake as well. It takes her more time to remember where she is, who she's with, and what happened. And when it reality finally dawns on her, her heart skips and she jerks away from Atem.]

S-sorry. [She rubs her eye with the back of her hand, now alert from embarrassment.]

You say sorry a lot...

「It's not accusatory, at least. It's just a thing that he might have caught on in that moment, in which his mind seems a bit more calm, a little blank, even. Thoughts pile up but don't seem to stay for long, his main concern, going home, even seems a little distant.

It is really hard trying to fall asleep again with how the day already is shining, it's a force of habit, staying awake when there is daylight, not that he doesn't wish he could sleep a little more.」

How did you know, where I was?

Sor--

[But Yehudit stops herself before she says it again, not wanting to disappoint him or... something. She ducks her head, sitting on her knees as she lets the wake setting in. The sun burns her eyes and she has to avert her eyes to the cave's shadows before she speaks.]

I told you. I am strange. ["Different" more like it, but hey, that works.] Sometimes I know things that I shouldn't.

「He notices, but, at least he doesn't say anything about it. She moves away and he can finally move his legs again, since he didn't move at all after he woke up, not wanting to disturb her by doing so; they ache a little. He gets up slowly, stretching his arms and shoulders, he dusts his clothes a little — they look so dirty now — as he misses the softness of his bed and the soothing aroma of the incense he would always wake to, used through the night to keep insects away from his chambers. He misses his maidens, urging him to take a bath with a smile. He really misses home.

And his dad.」

Are you a sorcerer?

[There's a longing for her own parents that Yehudit can't deny, but she at least knows that they will be there if (when?) she makes it home again. Atem... He won't have that, will he?

[She frowns at his question, hanging her head as she stares at the back of her hands on her knees.]

Some people may think, but... I do not know. I hear and see things and sometimes people get upset and angry that I know them. I am unable to control it.

[And if she were a sorcerer of some kind, she would know how to do that, wouldn't she? So she must be something else entirely. Something more unnatural and not God-given. Her shoulders tuck and muscles tense at the thought.]

Edited 2018-03-26 11:28 (UTC)

「That is actually a very strange ability. Atem looks at her (as if it were the first time) from head to toes, and of course, she doesn't seem to be carrying anything alike the Millennium Necklace. There is no way that someone like her would be carrying something so precious after all. But how else could she possibly know these things, and what reasons could she even have to lie about it? He sees none, all he can do is trust her, she had been kind to him...」

Can you see the future, then?

「The things that she had told him, were they visions of some kind? Was that how she knew about his father? But right now the past doesn't interest him. And at the very least, he doesn't seem frightened or mad, given the nature of his home and how this kind of magic isn't unfamiliar to him.」

[No, there are no items necessary for this. In some ways, that made things only worse.]

Future, past, present... It can be a thought, a secret. Something they don't want anyone to know.

[Let alone a filthy little girl like Yehudit.]

「Atem bites both lips and his mouth becomes a thin line on his face. It seems he's thinking about something surely Yehudit would have to deal with at some point of her life (or death), he's wondering if he should ask her about his future. She has told him enough, even if her words at that moment hadn't made sense and merely seemed as empty comforting ones. People usually just spoke these things to make others feel better, he did, all the time, but he was never sure things would go well. But she knew, right?

He lets out a sigh a moment later, what would the point of knowing even be? Sounds difficult and overly complicated, also, boring. This is not how the Necklace was used back home, was it?

But there is something he wishes to know.」

Am I dreaming?

「It surely felt like it. And he surely hopes he is.」

No. [The answer comes abruptly, definite. She knows this as fact, though avoiding looking Atem in the eye when she speaks.] Someone else is.

[Yehudit has caught glimpses and brief thoughts of people in the city, finding that this type of thing happens here often. It didn't take her long to figure out what this is, even if she doesn't want to see the truth of it or how it ends.

[Such isn't always her choice to make.]

「The long sigh he lets out is filled with disappointment. It would have been easier to go on with that train of thought.」

Someone else... 「He's not sure what that means, nor he's sure if he wants to find out, he's got quite enough roaming in his head just to add another worry. Part of him wants to ask her if he's ever going to be able to go back home, but he doesn't know if he'll be able to deal with the let down.」

Let's go back to the city. I'll carry you...

「What other option do they have?」

[From her expression alone, she is reluctant to tell Atem the truth. Such things often only bring hurt to those who wish to hear it.

[Nevertheless, Yehudit is grateful that he doesn't press the matter further. It won't be long before it doesn't matter, anyway.]

Are you certain? I... I am fine here. [Her arms wrap around her knees, chin tucked as she feels smaller than ever.] It's quiet...

[She doesn't like to be alone, but she likes some of the things she had seen from people's thoughts in that city much less. Truth is often something Yehudit wishes she could remain ignorant of.]

「It takes him a moment to understand what she means. It's not until that moment that it occurs to him that she can hear him.

She can hear his thoughts.」

...

「He takes a step back, perhaps not quite away from her, but mostly at the idea that he can't simply shut his mind, it's always busy, never totally blank, not even when he's asleep. If she cannot control it, it must be like a constant annoying buzzing all the time.

She is fine, but he's not, not truly, he misses all the comfort he's used to, but she has already done so much for him, he could give in for a while, can't he? It's not like he can go back home anyway. It's always going to be that way for him, putting someone else's needs before his. This is not the start of it either.

He gives the entrance of the cave a longing glance before he goes sit next to her.」

[For a moment, his physical silence tells her something else. But Atem isn't entirely silent to Yehudit, no matter how much she may try to block it all out. It creeps back in, and she's back to not being able to tell what thoughts are hers and what belongs to someone else.

[It's mercifully quiet out here. No humming of people or their problems and fears to plague her mind. There are some good things in there too, but those are so, so few and far in between...

[Her knuckles pale as they form into fists over her knees, her body so rigid that she starts to shake, before burying her face over the back of her hands.

[In that moment, Atem's thoughts and worries become static in the screams that she Yehudit's own demons.]

Please don't hate me... [She sounds so small, smaller than even that hungry little girl by the water.] I didn't mean to...

[She can't help that people get mad when you know things they don't want anyone to know, and how could she blame them? Who would want to be around such a cursed person?]

「Atem flinches at her words.」

I don't hate you... I would never. You're my friend, Yehudit.

「He's not sure what (else) he can do so she believes her, but he looks truly hurt that she'd think that way.」

[It's an answer Yehudit could have so easily plucked from Atem's mind in any other circumstance. But her own head is cloudy, and it's hard to think straight through all these feelings of her own. Perhaps they're just easier to process because she's out here, devoid of the noise of other people's thoughts. It's just her and Atem.

[And again, while she could have so easily heard the reply before Atem even spoke, it means something more. To actually hear it.

[She breathes out a shuddering exhale, her shoulders slacken.]

I-I only wanted to make you feel better. So you're not alone. Th-that's all. [And instead, she's the one who feels awful and afraid.]

I know... 「She had said that many times. He places a small hand on her head, stroking along her hair a little awkwardly as if he was trying to soothe her fears.」

We'll stay here as long as you want. So that way, none of us will be alone.

[Much like the apologies, it may be more for her own sense of security than Atem's. Selfish, really, but isn't everyone to some extent?

[Yehudit can't help herself from flinching at the initial contact, only for the tension to slowly wane from her bearing. Deep breaths. Calm thoughts. Think of sand.

[Hesitantly, she leans against him, finding herself not at all impartial to Atem's kind and comforting gesture.

[It's okay. They're friends, and he doesn't hate her, and for now neither of them have to be alone. So it's okay.]

Edited 2018-04-10 23:50 (UTC)

「Without further ado, Atem allows the other child to lean against him. It is strangely comforting to him that he can offer her some succor, he probably will never notice that, even as an adult, but such thoughts have no importance right now. For what is worth, the many fears he has at the moment, even the sadness, take a second place, allowing himself to (selfishly) let that feeling fill him as well.

It is all okay...」

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Event Log: The Hope of a Child

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