Atop her knees, which lie bare to the sheets beneath, Eve's small hands caressed the object of interest, from behind. The object of which, illuminated by the meager rays expressed from the setting Sun, spouted from a shirtless man, who struggled to move not as a sense of awkwardness and hesitancy filled him. For one thing, he was still coming to terms at the fact, she, a Nasod, wasn't out to kill him. Ignoring it—him, she continued; her interest quipped at him, unintentionally leaning more unto the man.
Slowly, her brows arched as she fumbled with her brain as to what to do next. However, her hesitation only lasted but a second, which felt like an hour to her partner. Ghostly, her fingers traced lines only she could see and understand. Amidst it all, her costumed upper body continued to rub against the male's rough back.
…It wasn't until he flinched harshly to a certain touch did she gasp in pride.
She noticed not a spark traveling up her arm, as she parted from him.
"There, it shouldn't 'cramp' up anymore. You… You shouldn't overheat as much as you do, Raven." As per her usual, she stated the obvious, drawing nothing from the body she had once touched so intimately. She stood aback onto her knees, contemplating whether she was going to get a response. At least, a simple, gruff "thank you" would suffice.
After a few moments of silence, she decided enough was enough and made her way to leave, a sigh drying her throat.
A hand latched out to her wrist.
"You're human."
She stiffened.
"I—"
The grip tightened.
"You're human."
Raven could've swore he's seen her open up one of her own arms, seen her glass eyes sheen, seen the way she's analyzed everything around her with the ", but that didn't explain the beating of a heart. It wasn't the churning of gears or the soft humming of being a Nasod. That was something he has heard from her body in the few times they were simply that close, and he couldn't believe it. His trained ears weren't lying to him, but she was?
The facade shattered.
"…R-Raven, you're hurting me."
Immediately, he let go as if he was slapped. It wasn't because he was, in fact, hurting her. It was because he never delved in the thought that Nasods could lie. It was never one of his thoughts. It… He looked up from the hand that had once gripped her to the reddening of her wrist.
—Something had changed, but he had no idea what, how or why.
"Who are you?"
She couldn't meet his eyes as they bore into hers. Instead, she turned tail and ran.
'No one was supposed to find out.'
Raven frowned at a thought, staring at the door with little focus.
A little whisper escaped him, "'We all have our own secrets.'" Like his own, hers were beginning to fall apart.
- [:|: Break :|:] -
A weird sense of consciousness rushed over her, opposing to the dull feeling of all her physical senses but one.
"It's still weird talking… like this," she could feel the familiar voice scratch at his head in embarrassment. "I still think it's stupid to be talking here," again, she could feel his movement as he turned back, then back, continuing, "Stupid Rena telling me to come here when I could be training." A sense of uselessness overcame her, "Big Sis isn't… combat ready either…"
The stare he gave her…
"It's not the same, ya know?" There was a dull feeling to her knees as Elsword got onto his, after reaching her bedside. "Sometimes, a week feels so short, but this one felt like a month." His voice cracked, "Big Sis is hurt pretty badly, and Chung blames himself." Her own throat dried and her body rose in temperature, "I'm— I'm trying so hard, ya know? To live up to my sister's shadow, to convince Chung it… it wasn't his fault, to… to stay strong—Ugh, I'm just rambling," a wet sensation overtook her metaphysical arm. "Its not the same…" he trailed off.
"Aisha… I—you wouldn't mind if I res…"
It was then that she realized why his sensations felt so dull to her.
'…Just how is he even awake?!'
"Ugh," the sudden soreness of her body filled her with disgust, as she tried to so hard to refuse her body and it's desire to stretch, else incur the probability of waking a boy who grown used to fighting. Succeeding with little joy, she was thankful for her upper body and head being propped up. "Too bad he's only cute when sleeping."
"Oh."
Again, displaying masterful control over her body, she did not flinch. "H-Hey Raven." She couldn't stop the small smile tugging at her parched lips.
"Hey."
His voice came out much quieter than what she expected. However, that she could understand, as she watched him approach her.
- [:|: Break :|:] -
Rena gasped in delight as she finished up. 'Simply exquisite!' The juices that filled her body had sent a shutter of bliss up her spine, and she couldn't help but squirm, riding it out. Releasing the hard object in her hands, she looked at her handy work.
"I hope Chung will cheer up…" While food wouldn't necessarily cheer him up, she hoped it would have him look fondly upon the traditional Hamel dish in remembrance. It wouldn't do him any good to forget; she, of all people, would know. It would at least reinstall his reason—his "heart" …At least for his safety and those around him. And perhaps, he'll stop researching all by his lonesome, all day, everyday.
'Breaks are as important as the actual work after all!'
Then, there was the whole mess between Raven and Eve, mostly Raven, but they were coming together nicely! Although, she couldn't read his mind, a lot of the aggression he once held had begun to fade, and no longer had Eve played the passive-aggressive role—which may be due to her… new code, but still, it was a good thing! She would miss the cute little curious thing that was once was Eve though… and with a smirk crawling onto her features, Rena shook her head. Every once and a while, a "glitch" would appear~
How cute for her to deny her emotions!
To her, Nasods were just another sentient race. They were, after all, another construct from the Gods. For all their computations, there are somethings math, science, and all that stuff couldn't explained …Emotions were one of them.
A memory flashed through her mind.
She frowned, "Now, I'm making myself a bit down…" Patting both her cheeks, she cheered herself, "At least one of 'us' has to be happy!"
After all, Elesis was still recovering, in a coma and being her brother, Elsword was endlessly worried (if not the rest of them), regretting some of his final words to her… even if he didn't actively show it, straining himself in his training with Conwell. Aisha, on the other hand, was in a similar state akin to Elesis' but it could be argued that Aisha had it worse. It, of course, furthered Elsword's resolve to train.
"Stupid girl…"
Sooner or later, their group was going to fall apart. It was a group she help to found, a group that she watched grow faster than any of her kin, a group she had come to care more than she did her own family. It wasn't as if she didn't have the same resolve as Elsword either. For how goofy she was acting earlier, she only allowed to be like so, alone. Otherwise, she was beginning to become as stiff as Raven could be, as she threw herself at the aforementioned male, honing her skills with Erindil among other things. It happened so naturally that reverting would require her to give up her life's quest.
A sad sigh left her. She let her hand drop from the mixing spoon to her side.
She didn't know what to do.
Such a fact hit her with the force of Elesis' legendary swings. It went as far as to cause her knees to buckle under the pressure as those swings had once done.
She could remember the helpless look Elsword gave her when their closest companion fell, when he feared losing his sister for the second time, when Eve consulted her about giving up her emotions, when Raven confessed the pain she brought by simply being around him.
Her "mysterious" age couldn't prepare her for this. By the Gods above, all of them were still in one piece and alive. However, that only furthered her—their—want, wish, need to repeat such feats, which only grew more difficult as they traveled. Each of them threw themselves at training—each of them unforgiving to their own bodies as they began to fail.
Thinking of others but themselves was crippling, but each one of them were selfless. A fault, while innocent in nature, was the opposite in practice. Selflessness encouraged lone-wolf plans; she wasn't above such a observation either. Selflessness encouraged self-sacrifice, the worst sacrifice possible in most cases. In most cases, it could be prevented, diverted or thrown out the window without even being thought of. From a strategic standpoint, it was a loss of a human resource. During these times, any resource was a key asset. Worse of all, it drew out only negative emotions that simply took too long to recover from.
…They all knew what was happening. At the same time, they all decided to ignore it.
The boy, Elsword, only knew "lead by example." Even so, he was only a naive boy, who taken arms to prove his worth, had begun to learn how the world treated it's community. Taking sudden responsibility upon his own shoulders, he figured getting stronger, no matter the price. He was going to become the next perfect example of a "good" heart going down the wrong road…
Aisha… bless her heart, only could convey her compassion in ways she had developed on her own, and in Aisha's callous environment, it was one of the greatest hearts the elf has seen. However, faced with their current situation, the purple-haired hair was as lost as she was… nevermind the fact, she currently was inactive.
Raven was but a broken man still gathering his shattered body, mind and heart. She's seen even "stronger" men fall to things that fall short in comparison to his past. The only things he has left is his virtues… which lie on a fine line.
Chung was just the "cutest little thing" forced into war. As shown by his fighting style, he wasn't quite ready to face it head-on. Nevertheless, he only did so because, like Raven, the young but strong boy wasn't quite ready to conform his ideals to the unfair world around him for it was more important than his own person.
Eve, a person of more secrets and a colder shell to break than Raven, was a simple creature, in nature. She was as curious as a child with wide eyes but as smart as some of the Eldest of Elven. As any child, they picked up the habits of those around her, whether anyone wanted her to or not.
The last addition of their group, a young woman of legend, was simply a young woman hosted upon a pedestal. She had enough—a late rebellious stage if one had to say—even if she had done so for the greater good. However, in doing so, misfortune and blood had began to become Elesis' norm, so much that her nature had neared taken a 180 degree. Under it all, Elesis still carried some of her old self, unable to give up, whether it be her life, or the lives she cared for to the terrible world she had just barely survived… only to end up bed-stricken again.
…Not like she could criticize them.
Nonetheless, there… there was still some time. A sad, but nonetheless, proud smile brought her back to her feet—only to realize there was someone behind her.
"R-Raven—?"
His serious features softened and that had stilled her to silence. He approached her, allowing a similar smile Rena had to overcome his lips, "Aisha is awake."
The elf gasped, "R-Really?"
His lips curled into a smirk, "Have I ever lied?" He withheld his frown, coughing into his hand, "Could you call Eve down?"
Rena shook her head, disapprovingly, "I thought you were beginning to make up with her."
"…I- Something happened earlier today." The scar-ridden male gave a weak, apologetic smile, "I don't think she'll want to see me…"
"All the more reason to go see her yourself, but fine, I'll go this time, Raven."
In return, he bowed his head slightly, before making his way to leave, "Sorry to bother you with that… I'll go get Chung."
"Wait!" She reached for his Nasod arm, "Where's Elsword?"
Raven could only grin and wave.
At that, she could only laugh.
- [:|: Break :|:] -
Chung sighed, contently, as he relaxed against the cold wood of his chair. He had finally made his balls grow! His research has even extended the duration they could last before they'd burst!
A knock resounded suddenly, followed by a familiar gruff voice, "You in, Chung?"
Quickly, the prince hid his balls, and made himself presentable before he responded with a tense edge, "D, Do you need something, Raven?"
"No, I don't," the black-haired man said simply, before opening the door.
In doing so, he was greeted with the sight of Chung's flushed cheeks, liquids dripping from his seat and silence.
"E-Er," the timid boy started, "my balls are… uhm…"
Raven felt his brow twitch ever-so-slightly, "Do you even—no, of course not; nevermind."
"Uh." The blond squirmed, feeling the liquid soak his pants.
Amused, Raven shook his head, before softening his voice, "Aisha's awake, ya know?" Chung's eyes widened, and sought to stand, but Raven held him down with a hand to his shoulder, "Before you rush off and embarrass yourself, go get another pair of pants."
Shaking his head for the second time in the conversation, he left—just as Rena with Eve in tow were making their way through the same corridor.
The former mouthed, 'You better make-up with her,' followed by a finger across her throat and a sadistic smile. In return, he gave a vigorous nod. With that, the elven descendant continued on with a little hop on her steps.
And so, in the path of Eve, he stood. "Ev—"
She took one step closer, before looking up to him. "You're in the way." Her expression wasn't quite one of annoyance.
At the distance, he could hear the familiar humming of a Nasod. He matched eyes with her; two shades of gold not quite glaring at one another.
"I trust you, Eve."
A scoff came as quickly as it was halted.
"A change of heart? Simply over one fact you decided to be true?"
She was calling him a hypocrite.
'Ironic.'
"Did you even realize your words?" Before he looked off to the side, mildly embarrassed, "And, I had actually come to trust you some time ago— I just…" She didn't let him continue his train of thought as she decided to drop the whole conversation and go around him.
"Eve," a hand, again, struck fast to attach itself onto Eve's arm, "tonight at 1, the graveyard."
Eve wretched her arm free, "You should despise me." Raven couldn't get a read of her face from his angle.
"—Note to self: fix head leakage…" The blond blinked as his door shut behind him. "Oh, hi Eve!" Then, he turned towards Raven, "Sorry for making you wait for me."
"Hi Chung," was all she said before walking away.
"It—It was nothing."
And so, they began walking.
"…I know it's bad to eavesdrop and it's not my place to say but," the Hamel prince stopped in his motions, "her giving up her emotions was a way to appease you, I think."
'Why is he saying something from long ago—'
A bitter laugh left him, "I changed my arm for a similar reason." Raven gave him a glance, "It's not something you need to worry about." Gesturing to his mechanical arm, he continued, "The only thing you need to worry about is your comrades, and yourself." Turning away, he began walking too. "You shouldn't worry everyone… Elsword isn't in the right mind to tell you that."
Chung shook his head, before he held his head up. "Sorry!" His apology contrasted with his bright smile.
Aes: …April Fool's would've been the perfect date to post this, but before I realized, I couldn't.
Editing:
Notes I made to myself throughout the writing process:
Aisha takes it upon herself to cheer the group up. Via Magical Girl stuffs
Immortal = Mundane MC
Metamorphy = Sailor Moon (there's a meme reasoning that falls deep somewhere)
Twilight = Kaze no Stigma's Kazuma
Nova Imperator = Isekai-gone-wrong MC
Code:Sariel = Plastic Memories' Isla
Centurion =
Shatki = DxD's Yasaka + a hint of innocence (how that survived thru the plot, I have no idea)
Bloody Queen = A yandere missing a love-interest
Mad Paradox = …Honestly, I'm just tired of hearing of his HA and whatnot. Sorry to say.
Diangelion = Scary.
Prime Operator = Fem Iron Man. (Not Iron Heart)
Herrscher = Wannabe Death-reincarnate, I suppose.
(Oversimplified summaries of what I think)
Third jobs as a whole = "edgy" af.
Let's change that, ne? …Although, if you're coming for jokes and humor, I don't think you're in the right place.