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Post by Liechtenstein on Oct 16, 2010 15:23:27 GMT -8
It wasn't hard to imagine why Aric felt out of place in the bustling port town. He stuck out like a sore thumb, his refusal to dress according to modern fashions made sure of that. A few people stopped to stare at him, most walking away muttering something about how strange he was. A few, however, were sent skittering off after he fixed an intense stare in their direction. He didn't really care though, his armor was comfortable. He felt more at ease in his natural clothing than that of the "modern" era. Ever since his memories had come back he hadn't really felt at home anywhere on this earth.
He was seperated from those he recognized and connected with, and he was still confused. Germania was dead and gone. Why then had he come back? It didn't make any sense to him, so he'd set out to find the people he hoped could make sense of it for him. Somehow his quest had carried him all the way to the busy city by the ocean, ships coming and going, and people everywhere. None of them seemed to be the people he had come looking for though. Momentarily abandoning his quest he ducked himself down away from the swarms of people, slipping into the shade between two buildings.
The blonde leaned up against the wall, sighing deeply. So far his searching had turned up nothing, for all he knew his family and friends were all dead, and he would never find them. That couldn't be the case though, not when their nations seemed to still be holding on. He shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment. Nothing made sense anymore. Those he knew were long dead, gone with their nations, but now he couldn't find those who should still be here. What had become of the world since his passing?
Quietly he wished that Rome could be here, could help him make sense of things. Even if he was convinced the mad Roman was indeed out of his mind, it would still be more comforting to have him back. He had never had the chance to admit it out loud really, but he cared for the man. It wasn't really a romantic sort of caring, but he cared all the same. He could remember the day he had raised his sword against the Roman, had felled him. He hadn't said a thing, hadn't shown any remorse, until after he had buried his friend. Then it had finally hit him. Rome wasn't coming back.
He could recall having spent the rest of the day up on that kill crying, feeling thankful only for the fact his family wouldn't be able to find him here and see him in such a state. Aric remembered falling asleep there, and returning home in the morning only saying that Rome was gone, and he wasn't coming back. He couldn't think of a time before then or even after then that he'd ever cried. Not even on the day he had convinced himself would be his last. Of course, fate had gone and proved him wrong, forcing him to be born again for reasons unknown.
Aric was too lost in thought to even notice what was going on around him. He was too busy trying to ignore their world and make sense of his. Although slowly he freed himself from the claws of memories.
"Just where did all of you go?"
His voice was low, speaking only to himself. Even if anyone else heard him, he doubted they would care anyways.
Unless of course...they knew him.
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Post by Arthur Kirkland on Oct 24, 2010 10:44:08 GMT -8
There was something incredibly alluring to a sea port that Renato, for all his age and wisdom, could not fully understand. All he knew was that the smells of the sea mixing with the smells of a city was nearly as addicting as the cold breeze and spray of the ocean... and if his love of the sea wasn't greater than his love of people, he might've found himself once again land-locked.
But that was neither here nor there as he sat comfortably in an iron-frame chair, watching as a submarine was dragged up onto the quay for repairs. That was something that still came as a mild shock to him in this life. With all him memories telling him things like this shouldn't exist and yet seeing them right in front of his face... it was almost like having a thin paper image over top of the real image, leaving him with an odd double image that he had to close his eyes really hard and concentrate on not seeing what-had-beens.
Sipping on a cup of coffee (and why did coffee not exist back when he was around? It wasn't fair...) and letting his eyes slip from the submarine to a pair of pretty girls to an equally handsome man he allowed himself a moment to just... relax in the sun. Chuckling to himself, he decided it was a privilege of age to be able to get away with that sort of thing when he should be out training or shopping or looking to hire those new positions on his crew. In his opinion, if he was supposed to have a new person on his crew, they could come and find him - he'd already gone to the Hiring Depot and told them what he was looking for.
Eyes closed, sun baking his bones, he was about to doze off when he heard the beginnings of a rumor floating around the docks. Some blond guy in town... something about weird looking clothes. And a scowl that frightened. Carrying a big sword. Blinking brown-eyes back open, Renato looked around, mildly interested in hearing more about these rumors - they sounded vaguely familiar...
... but what were the chances of running into that man in this lifetime? It could be any weird blond with a fetish for ancient weapons and odd clothing after all...
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Post by germania on Nov 2, 2010 9:58:06 GMT -8
His eyes scanned the crowd, something in the back of his mind telling him to look. He didn't know why, but he just felt like he should look. In looking his eyes caught on something eerily familiar across the way. Sipping coffee of all things. He frowned deeply, a disapproving look. Leave it to the stupid Roman to indulge in something like coffee. If it was even THAT idiot Roman. Maybe it was just a man who looked like him. Then again, if anything he'd heard was right, Rome was alive too. He had been hunting this long to find his old friend and rival, and now he'd found him.
He slipped out of the alley thinking Only one way to find out for sure. That way was to go across the street and see for himself it was him. Quietly he made his was through the crowd, the people parting the way for him as if he were Moses and they were the Red Sea. He could hear the whispered words of 'freak' or people asking themselves if there was a carinval in town. He was too obvious in his outdated clothes, but he hated modern clothes. Even as he came near enough to confirm that it was indeed Rome he had seen, he decided the man looked stupid in the clothes of the modern era. They didn't suit him.
Aric had no idea how he could creep up on someone when everyone was pretty much staring at him like he had two heads. Somehow though he made his way quietly up to the Roman, hesitating before saying "You know, usually when you kill someone, you expect them to stay dead." To anyone else, it might have seemed like a threat, or maybe a sign that Aric was angry. To the Roman though, he knew it would only seem like a hello. Rome had always been smart enough somehow to see through Aric's anger to tell when he was happy. Right now, he was just feeling relieved that somehow his friend was alive after all this time.
The guilt of killing his closest friend, even if it was what was best for his family at the time, had nearly drvien him mad. He'd gotten over it by visiting Rome's grave when he could, promising the grave, marked with the skull of a wolf, that he would never forget him. And he hadn't ever forgotten him, to the point where he had died upon that very grave. Then again, he wondered if that counted anymore, since he wasn't dead anymore.
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Post by Arthur Kirkland on Dec 2, 2010 13:44:22 GMT -8
He'd just been taking another sip of the bitter drink when a voice so familiar and yet one he hadn't heard in thousands of years spoke up behind him. Spitting his drink out in surprise, Renato doubled over, coughing and choking as some of the coffee went down the wrong tube. "Christ..." he muttered to the table, eyeing the knocked over cup and dark brown liquid racing to fall over the sides of the table. Knowing he'd garnered some seriously odd looks from his reaction and that a waitress from the coffee house was quickly coming his way, he sat back up with a final cough.
Turning around, he wasn't surprised to see Germania's scowling face. Giving the man a wry grin as he looked the blond man over, he was suffused by a whirl off odd emotions - happiness to see the other man, embarrassment for making a spectacle of himself, the faint traces of a lingering fear that traced back to his memories of dying, wonder at how the former nation managed to track him down in the big wide world. "I could say the same thing - usually when you're dead, you stay dead. Not that I'm going to complain about not being dead." he laughed.
"It's good to see you." he continued after a slight pause, meaning every word.
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Post by germania on Jan 4, 2011 16:00:42 GMT -8
Aric barely flinched when the man choked, as if it were a daily occurance. Nothing ever really phased him anyways, he was too serious around those his age to allow anything to do so. There was no reason to look as if time had made him soft, not in front of this particular man. Besides, Rome was a grown man, and Aric was almost positive the choking spell would pass quickly, and it did. The grin that the Roman gave him was simply charming, in it's own odd way. He had certainly missed seeing it, although he would never openly admit to the man that he had.
He chuckled in a way that was amused, but perhaps still serious, lacking of real amusement, at the come-back. "It's good to see you too." The comment was said as an afterthought, and he was sure it was obvious, although by now he was convinced Rome would know when he was sincere about things. He wasn't a liar, and he always kept his word, and he tried to say what he meant most of the time, so perhaps he could say he was an honest man. But knowing what he'd done to his best friend, even knowing he was alive and well now, it didn't sit right with him to call himself that.
Calmly he grabbed a seat that hadn't been touched by the sweet-smelling brown liquid Rome had been drinking (coffee was what they called it? He wasn't sure.) and sat down, staring blankly at the Roman. He was quiet for a long time, obviously thinking over his next words carefully. Finally he spoke in a low and even tone "Look...Rome...about what happened between us..." For a short moment he paused, wondering if he should go on. Something within him forced him on, knowing he had to get it out. "I'm sorry...I'm not quite sure what I was thinking back then, there was so much chaos and I needed to expand. It was a foolish idea.." He sighed.
"I kept my word though, no one knows what happened that day, no one knows what became of you, and no one ever will unless you wish to tell them."
He meant every word, and it wasn't every day anyone got an appology from the man. He didn't like to admit to his mistakes, everyone knew that. He owed Rome this though, there was no want for any bad blood to arise between them because of the past. It was done and gone, and as unsettling as it still was, they were alive now. He just wanted them to move on.
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Post by Arthur Kirkland on Jan 23, 2011 18:42:34 GMT -8
Renato kept quiet for a long while, unusual for him but as the waitress came and mopped up the mess he had made, he forced a smile onto his lips and pretended to flirt with her like nothing was wrong. It wasn't until after she left that he stood, looking at the other with a strange look in his eyes. "Walk with me for a bit? I'm.... not comfortable speaking about this around mortals." he didn't wince or show any sign of the old fear he had - not of Germania, no. The only time he'd been afraid of him was the moment when he'd come to kill him. His fear was a faint thing of padded walls and no freedom and people screaming around him.
Starting to walk out of the outdoor area, Renato kept quiet, wanting to be as isolated as possible when it came to talking about his life and death. From what the other had said - aside from the apology that had stunned him - he'd been relieved. No one knew where he'd been buried. And his grandchildren had been spared having to see him die. That was... a relief. Something that had always pestered him after he'd regained his memories as a teenager.
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Post by germania on Feb 6, 2011 8:43:55 GMT -8
Aric watched with mild annoyance when the Roman began flirting with the waitress, even though he knew it was mostly a rhuse. Rome's lack of real attachment to people had always annoyed him. It just didn't seem right in his mind for a man to flit about from so-called lover to the next romantic interest. He wouldn't admit to it, but when Rome had seemed to lose interest in him he had been a little depressed at the thought of the man not bothering him so much. Outwardly he'd always pretended to hate the man, but they both know that was far from the case, if he hadn't felt some emotional attachment to the man, he never would have stayed so loyal.
There would have been no reason for him to protect the man like he did, to support him, to honor his last wish.
A slow nod was all the Roman got when he spoke. Quietly he rose to his feet, letting Rome walk ahead of him. He trailed in his shadow silently, like a loyal dog following it's master. How easy it was to fall right back into old habits. It felt comfortable to simply tail his old friend, allowing the other his dominance, even if he always retained his alpha-dog mentality. His expression was grim, as it always was. Mouth turned down in a small frown, eyes staring uncaringly out at the world.
This was how it had been and always would be. The tall Germanic man holding his tongue, keeping up just two steps behind the Roman. His dark silence was his halmark, something which had always unnerved everyone but Rome. The empire had never seemed to mind it, and had simply made a game of trying to get him to display some emotion on his face. He had always resisted most of the man's antics, but there had been some occasions where the man's childishness had brought a smile to his face, just as his children had once upon a time.
He missed those days.
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Post by Arthur Kirkland on Feb 13, 2011 11:37:21 GMT -8
Renato was experiencing the strangest emotions. It was like popping a dislocated joint back into place - everything felt like it slid back into place with Germania at his back. He pondered that, even as he kept an eye out for a place where they could - somewhat privately - talk to each other without any mortals overhearing them.
He nearly walked past a small alleyway before it caught his eye with the lack of human life down it. Turning down it, he walked a fair distance, until the sounds of the city were muffled by the walls. Finally feeling safe enough to talk, Renato leaned back against one of the grime-streaked walls and eyed his ages old friend. "Thanks. For everything, Germania." the nations name slid off his tongue like he'd only been talking to this man the day before and not millennia ago. "Ha - I shouldn't keep calling you that. What's your name this time around? Mines Renato."
And no, he wasn't trying to avoid talking about certain subjects - not at all...
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Post by germania on Mar 20, 2011 14:29:26 GMT -8
Germania followed at his heels, frowning in disgust at the alley the Roman chose. It had to be a filthy dirty alley didn't it? Oh well, it was what the man wanted. He had no choice but to accept it. That was how things had been, and always would be. He stayed quiet, listening to the man speak. It calmed him and made him feel safe just to hear the sound of his voice. How he'd missed hearing Rome talk to him.
"Aric. My name is Aric."
Short, sweet and to the goddamned point. He hated talking too much, it just made one seem stupid, even if the words were intellegent. Rome rambled, and it was annoying. Still, something else was going on, something that stirred him to speak more than he had intended. Something else was bugging Renato, something hiding just below the surface gnawing on his mind and making the usually unconcerned man curious. What was it that he was trying to avoid.
"So what's happened to you in the time we've been apart?"
That seemed a good place to start. His eyes seemed to ask another question 'what aren't you telling me?'. There was so much more about Rome's rebirth he wanted to know, but the man had to be willing to tell him. The days of beating him to a bloody pulp to get him to spill the beans on something seemed so far gone. They had been kids then, young and stupid. He'd had aggression issues, and Rome had been a smartass. Hell not much had really changed had it?
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Post by Arthur Kirkland on Apr 10, 2011 13:53:56 GMT -8
Crossing his arms across his chest, Renato didn't reply right away, trying to think up the best way to go about voicing what exactly had happened to him in this life without remembering exactly what happened. It was something he'd been straying away from for almost forty years - and the memories of the times in that room, with the probes strapped to his temples were still as strong as they had been when he'd been a teenager...
Shuddering slightly and paling, Renato decided that maybe he should just stop thinking about it. Again. He didn't need to relive old memories. It was rather ironic though. His ancient memories of rushing through the countryside and slaughtering thousands - all the blood, gore and pain didn't bother him in the slightest, but his newfound memories... of him being helpless. Unable to find the strength to defend himself...
"Ahh - lots of things. I've run into a few of our old friends along the way, too. Been enjoying myself for the most part, sailing the seas and being free from the whole 'empire' thing." he forced a smile onto his lips. He was cheerful. Happy. There wasn't a shadow in his past. He refused to acknowledge it. "And you? Been as much of a stick in the mud as I remember you? Even to his own ears, the chuckle he let out sounded rather off. Wincing, he looked away, lips pursed. He knew he didn't want to talk about it... but... this was Germania. Aric now. Would he see the former empire as weak? Would he understand? Or would it just be one more difference between the two of them?
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Post by germania on Jun 14, 2011 9:29:38 GMT -8
Aric narrowed his eyes. He had seen Renato blanch for just a moment, going pale and looking more afraid than he'd ever remembered seeing him. Come to think of it, he had never seen the man show fear before. Something was definately off. He stayed quiet though, a fearful and patient silence. Brooding almost, as if he was angry that the man wasn't going to tell him everything. He never had before, why should he now?
Even when the Roman spoke, something was off. His tone was nervous, his smile, faked. His laugh sounded cracked and emotionless. This was not the man he had once known. Something had changed him. Something was not right with Rome.
The blonde shrugged at the question, brushing it aside almost. It was the only answer he would give, speaking only to voice his concerns. "You're hiding something from me Rome...I don't like it." He fixed his gaze right into Renato's eyes. "Do you not trust me anymore?" As if he could think less of the man, he admired and loved him. He had seen him in death, he had been there at his weakest times to support him.
The lack of apparent trust bit deep and hurt him more than any blade could.
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Post by Arthur Kirkland on Jul 3, 2011 18:59:15 GMT -8
The smile he’d pasted on his face so readily before quickly slipped off at the admonishment from his friend. ”I...” It hurt, looking straight into Aric’s eyes and for the first time in their long history together, he was forced to drop his own. ”I trust you. More than myself. It’s just...”
He could feel it even now, remember the cold chair that would suddenly become hot after the intense pain and the smell of cooking things. How he had no control of his limbs as they twitched violently and his heart raced painfully. They’d called him insane.
Shuddering briefly, Renato dragged his eyes back up to briefly meet his long time friends. ”Something happened to me... just a short bit after I got my memories back. Something that changed me for so long... so long that I still haven’t managed to really get over it cuz I really just don’t want to think about it... it hurts.”
Thinking made him feel sick. Thinking reminded him of how many years it took him to be able to eat meat without smelling his own burning smell. Of how when he was tired that his limbs still shook like they had in the bonds that kept him from resisting. Of how everything felt so woozy and dead while he was on those drugs and how his very real memories were called lies and delusions. Insanity.
Well. To the doctors he may have been crazy, but Nefertiri and Aric reminded him that he wasn’t insane. He was Renato Vargas - the former Roman Empire.
And he was so thankful he wasn’t crazy.
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