khuioduan | video

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Thank you, those of you who helped me when I first arrived. I don't think I caught any of your names, or I would contact you personally.

[Kei looks much calmer, his hair neatly combed, every visible piece of his suit in place. That said, there's a barely detectable waver in his voice.

The use of video is very much intentional - he hadn't been in a state of mind to give his name to anyone when he'd first arrived in Aifaran, and he wants to be recognized.]

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[Oh, it's this one. And looking much better than last time. Padparadscha responds to the video in kind, the image opening somewhere close to the sea. The water shimmers in the background, and the rest of the background is taken up by Padparadscha's excessive hair, blowing and glistening in the breeze.]

Oh, so you're feeling better now? I was wondering what came of you after that.

...You look different.

[Why yes, that is certainly the most significant thing he could be commenting on.]

[It takes Lobco a moment to get everything working. Technology is not exactly her forte, and she's still not entirely certain if she's got everything working.]

...hi...? [She says uncertainly, feeling incredibly stupid. She's seen messages but never got around to asking someone who to use this herself. She wants to make sure it's even working first.]

[Kei reaches out to switch the encryption level. Much as he'd wanted to get in touch with those who aided him when he'd first arrived, he would rather their conversations not be visible to just anyone. Having too much information about himself - about their meetings - visible to just anyone would be embarrassing at best and dangerous at worst.]

The medical facilities here are quite astounding. I wouldn't have expected them to be able to help.

[Though he smiles, it doesn't quite reach his eyes.]

[Kei reaches out to switch the encryption level. Much as he'd wanted to get in touch with those who aided him when he'd first arrived, he would rather their conversations not be visible to just anyone. Having too much information about himself - about their meetings - visible to just anyone would be embarrassing at best and dangerous at worst.

Besides, his first meeting with this person went particularly poorly.]

I suppose I do.

I'm sorry for giving you so much trouble. I wasn't quite in my right mind.

[An apology largely to head off any future negative interactions. But an apology nonetheless.]

Thank you. You were very kind.

[Even now, he can't be entirely sure how much of that was real. He's not sure how to feel about wishing it was, the realization of what had happened after he began returning to his senses.]

I'll admit I wasn't sure what was wrong with you. I'm still not very familiar with the anatomy of soft creatures, but at least they could help in the end, huh?

[He seems a lot happier in mood than he had been last time they spoke, but something about it strikes Padparadscha as a little off. A not quite genuine smile, and a wish not to have the conversation overheard - they wonder what it is he's decided on, in the absence of that person he seemed so attached to.]

[Chase gives a blank look at that; it doesn’t really matter to him that much. Better than the trouble it could have been, at any rate.]

Who did you think I was?

"Soft creatures"... you're not human either, are you?

[It's more noticeable now in the video than it was when they'd first interacted - Kei barely even recalls the actual content of that interaction. And there's no point in concealing that he's not human from someone who saw him dissolving.]

I was dying, again. I must have been revived somehow upon arriving here, as I'm sure I was already dead where I come from.

[The smile slips, then. So much has happened, and right now even Kei can't keep up that facade long.]

[...Exactly how much did he say while not quite in his right mind?]

I'm afraid you'll have to refresh my memory.

No. I'm a gem, but I was wondering a little about you. I'd never seen a human do what you were doing. [It was...unusual, and presumably to do with his ill state if he's not doing it anymore. Interesting, but odd.

The remark on dying explains it, though, and Padparadscha lets out a bit of a hum.]

Well well, you're lucky then, as I understand it. "Death" is supposed to be a final thing, isn't it? But you don't seem at ease.

{It's hard to miss that slip.]

"Belial."

[Chase being Chase, he doesn't think to consider that that topic might be awkward at all, so he responds with the bluntest answer possible in this situation. Sorry, Kei.]

[...Of course. Who else would it have been, really? Kei hesitates, conflicted between the many possible answers. In the end, he settles on the truest reason he can give.]

Belial... was my entire reason for living.

[He tries to appear calm. He really does. But for a moment the mask breaks, and he looks terribly sad.]

I'm from the planet Sturm. If I'd been left like that, I eventually would have vanished. [It doesn't seem to matter much if he says that, here. There are so many varied types of people from so many different places.]

I suppose I should feel lucky, shouldn't I. [But he doesn't, and he has far less reason to keep up the facade here than he did at home. Particularly with someone who's already seen him at his worst.]

Ah, so you're from a different planet. But I don't think it makes much of a difference to the people here. [It does mean some of them are very different in anatomy and form, but just the fact of them being different doesn't seem to do much to opinions here.]

Well, you don't have to. And I think you have a reason not to when you're making a face like that.

[Chase understands that, sort of. He knows the feeling of losing his purpose, at least.]

You must find another one.

[It's not said unsympathetically, but his voice is still a little lacking in inflection.]

This Belial's ideals...what were they?

It's seemed that way so far, yes. Much as I look human, it's a pleasant change.

...Thank you. [He's dealing as best as he can, really. So much has happened in just the past week.]

I suppose so.

[Hard as it is, so soon after the fact.

........And he's just going to edge around that question. Thankfully, his writing's given him plenty of practice.]

He was a great hero.

I'd never met a human before to be surprised how much I look like one, but it was a little funny to find out.

[Courtesy of their leader, they imagine. Their history stretches back much further than the gems themselves.]

Ah, and I didn't introduce myself last time, did I? Padparadscha.

[Living for a hero doesn't seem to Chase to be a very good idea. But he's not here to criticize other people's choices.]

From your planet?

[It works!! She colors a little at his words, and gives a small bow of her head.]

You are welcome. I'm glad to see that you are doing much better. Were any of your injuries lasting...?

...No. He was from far away. He... saved me.

Yes, unfortunately. The doctors here do think they can treat it, however.

[Kei is not so sure.]

[ACTION]

[As Kei is sending this, he's walking back towards the Dreaming Bridge. He's been informed which room he's to stay in, and has been given the keys. It's just a matter of finding it.]

Kei Fukuide.

[He smiles slightly, a tad lopsided.]

I might not have remembered, with the state I was in. It's better we introduce ourselves now anyway.

No, I'm not sure you would have. [Even Padparadscha had been able to see that with their lack of familiarity with how living creatures work and think.]

It's harder to remember things when you're broken for us as well, so I suppose that's one thing we have in common.

[...He finally realizes that Kei's reaction to this Belial might have...reminded Chase of someone, which has been informing how he's been approaching this conversation. But that brings home the fact that something must have happened—]

...What were you doing before you arrived?

[Trying desperately to win Belial's favor back, to prove he could still be useful. (Trying not to accept that he'd been completely thrown away.) But he's not going to say that.]

Fighting. At that point, I didn't have long to live.

Aside from that.

[From Kei’s reaction, it’d been pretty clear he’d been in a fighting mindset, after all.]

What were you fighting for?

[That's too much to answer. There were so many things, wishful thinking, desperation, trying not to acknowledge his losses and repress the negative emotions the only way he could think of. A way that didn't work well, that was utterly useless here.

Kei looks down. It's better than looking at the camera and letting his expression be seen.]

I'd rather not answer that right now.

[A small pause as he takes that in, and then—] I will not force you.

[But trying to get at the ideals behind the Belial-worship doesn't seem to be doing any good right now.]

...You have something else you can fight for?

[Well. It could be worse. Lobco's just glad to hear that he'll be okay. She vaguely recalls what he had been talking about in his delirious state.]

Were you able to find the person you were looking for? Belial, was it?

[Lobco settles down in a couch in the living room of the dorm she has been assigned. She doesn't think she'll stick around here for too long, but she has to admit it's pretty comfortable. At the very least, much more free than her previous accommodations.]

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i'm not deep enough into ultraman for this

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