Once a grand cathedral dedicated to the Holy Triumvirate, all that remains now are ruins ever since the religion was rejected strongly in 1823. While the religion is back in favor, the cathedral was never restored. (+3 Defense, +2 Offense)

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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby crow » 12/19/2017 5:13 AM

Such was Prosper's conditioning that even moments after his outburst, he could feel the recoil of dread lashing hotly through his core. His face had gone tight again with tension, his hands clenched beneath the tablecloth. But whatever reaction he had expected from Ryo, the sight of the god grinning and inviting Prosper to hate him had not been it.

The longer Ryo went on, the more Prosper felt himself at a loss for words. He... didn't understand. He couldn't understand. Moments ago, before the mood of the dinner had soured, he had thought he was finally gaining some semblance of an idea about what motivated Ryo, but since then he had felt it slip away, replaced by a vaster chasm than he had previously been aware of.

He hadn't lied--- what he felt for Ryo wasn't hate. But everything had changed too quickly, and he was... He was overwhelmed. He stared at the key as it formed in Ryo's hand, trembling; and trembling, he lifted his hand slowly to it, as if not quite daring to believe it was being offered.

As soon as his fingers closed around it, he snatched his hand back. He rose, and ran from the room, down the stairs and past the flustered waiters; out of the restaurant; into the cool of the night air.

He didn't stop running until he was several blocks away, and the burning in his legs and lungs were no longer so easy to ignore. Slowing, he caught his breath, focusing on the quiet rhythm of it. For a moment he did not allow himself to think at all.

He wasn't running away--- at least, not as he had threatened. He had taken the key, and he meant to return to Ryo's home eventually. But for the moment... He slumped back against a telephone pole, resting the back of his head against it, closing his eyes. He needed to think. And he needed to be away from Ryo's scrutiny to collect his scattered thoughts.

As his heart rate evened out, he turned the events of the day over in his mind. Now, under the glare of the street lamps, his reactions seemed foolish. Everything had been perfectly mundane, from the breakfast to the clothes and dinner. Inna's visit was the only oddity, and it already seemed as if it had happened weeks ago, rather than just this morning.

Taken at face value, many of Ryo's actions had been... kind. Kinder than Prosper deserved, considering how little he had done. But then there were the things Ryo had said, the other things he did... Their conversation over dinner replayed itself in Prosper's mind, and he had to fight down another hot surge of fear flooding through him.

Ryo had said... Ryo had said he wouldn't harm Prosper. And thus far, he hadn't. That much was true.

Maybe Prosper could trust that, at least a little.

He was silent for a moment, staring at his shoes. Shoes they'd purchased today, he remembered. He hadn't come to a real conclusion, but it was already late, and Prosper felt that he had gotten all the answers that he was going to get from himself, as he was now. There was just the small matter of finding his way back... He'd been a fool not to ask for an address.

A shadow passing overhead made him shrink back, but his eyes widened as it resolved itself into a form that he knew.

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"Hiya, Prosper," said Inna, perched atop the lamp-post like an overgrown bird.  The lamp guttered beneath her for a moment, before going dark. A faint glow lit the skin of her throat then receded into her body, and her eyes were bright and owlish against the dark backdrop of the sky. "What's the matter? Are you running away?"

Well, he supposed that was what it must have looked like. He smiled, ever so slightly. "No," he said. "I'd like to go back now, actually. Inna, you.. said you knew the way before, didn't you?"

"Yup!" said Inna, grinning cheekily back. "I memorized it, so I can come visit you later." Prosper frowned at that, but he tried not to dwell on it, to let it alarm him. He knew that he needed to address it, but now wasn't the time. "Did you want me to show you the way?"

"I'd appreciate it," said Prosper.

First Inna's eyes widened, and then her smile. "Whoa! You're asking me for help! That's never happened before," she said, laughing. "Okay, come on! I'll fly real slow, so you can keep up." Nodding, Prosper followed as she darted down the street.

It would... It would be alright. Maybe. Somehow.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, however, a larger shadow passed in their wake, staying in the deep dark where it wouldn't be seen. It watched them go, and pale eyes narrowed beneath its cowl. It waited a moment, then took wing, trailing white sparks in its wake as it flew steadily higher...
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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby ToxicShadow » 02/01/2018 4:05 AM

He hadn't meant now.

But once Prosper was on his feet and out the door in a rush, the god made no attempt to stop him or chase after him. Ryo had his reasons. Part of which was testing Prosper, to see if he would return on his own. Another factor was intentionally giving him the space he apparently desired, even if it was just for a short while. People sometime needed time to themselves, after all, to process things. Ryo would not entirely deny him that.

The god finished his meal, as if nothing unusual happened at all, and none of the staff dared to actually question why the person that had come with him bolted and left him by himself. Even though it was an almost alarming scene; none of Ryo's other guests had done such a thing before. Prosper was unique.

As things were happening sooner than he intended, Ryo didn't go straight home. He had other business to tend to, other things to sort out. Originally, he had planned to get to them maybe tomorrow, or the day after, but there was no reason not to do it now.

When he had finished with his few errands and arrived home, having gathered up things that Prosper would likely need in the coming days, and realized that Prosper was not there, Ryo found himself pacing back and forth in the living room as he awaited the other man's arrival. It was only after several minutes that the god stopped in his tracks, coming to a few realizations that he hadn't bothered considering before now. Prosper had only taken a key with him. He didn't take any money. He didn't finish eating. He was prone to passing out. He probably didn't know where he actually was. He didn't even know the home address. Nor did he have any form of identification or means of communication if something happened.

The god exhaled loudly and clenched his hands into fists. Was he... actually worried? There was another brief moment of consideration, before Ryo turned on his heels and ascended up the stairs, making his way down the hall, into his room, and out onto the balcony. His steps were hurried.

Once on the balcony, his black feathered wings unfurled, not at all out of place even though they had not been there previously, and the god took to the sky. "Where the hell are you? You didn't pass out in some ditch somewhere, did you?" Ryo practically shoved his voice, the words, into Prosper's head.
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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby crow » 02/01/2018 9:19 PM

"Come on, we're almost there," said Inna. Prosper was already running to keep up, his breath coming raggedly from having run such a distance. Inna had offered to slow down, but inevitably she would speed up again, and after the third time, Prosper had stopped asking. Perhaps it was just as well; he hadn't meant to be away so long. It was just that he hadn't thought through how far he must have been from Ryo's home when he ran out of the restaurant, that was all.

He could make out a group of tall buildings, but none of them looked familiar to him. The last time he'd seen it from outside, it had been daylight, and he hadn't had a chance to look at it for very long. He could only trust Inna's assurance that they were going the right way.

They were nearly to the entrance when the voice came. There might have been some irony in that, if Prosper had been in a place to appreciate it. As it was, he merely froze. Inna flew on some distance before realizing she could no longer hear him running behind her and doubling back, her brows knitting together in concern as she took in his pale features. "Hey... are you okay?"

"I'm--- I'm fine," he said. He closed his eyes for a moment, willing himself not to drop down into a crouch. If he let himself curl up now, he wasn't sure how long he would have to stay like that. He focused on breathing.

The not-sound of the voice in his head had been different--- no bells, no echo, none of that strange inhuman inflection that accompanied Elouan's words. He tried to focus on that. The panic subsided, and he straightened, still pale and sweating, but no longer looking sick or startled as he had. "I'm fine," he said again, to Inna and Ryo both this time. He didn't know if the words would reach Ryo, or indeed, how to project his own thoughts, if such a thing were possible, but Ryo had seemed to expect an answer, so he had to hope this would suffice. "I'm outside the building... I'll come up soon."

"Who are you--- oh. Oh, is that---" Inna's eyes widened at Prosper's words, her eyes darting to the entrance. Perhaps the realization of who it was Prosper had addressed had reminded her of her own master, or maybe she just didn't want to be around in case Ryo decided to put in an appearance himself; within moments, she was aloft again. "I, um, I think I'd better go," she said.

Prosper nodded, not that she stayed to see it. With Inna gone, he sighed, and walked the rest of the way to the entrance.
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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby ToxicShadow » 10/21/2018 6:14 AM

As the words were spoken for him, with him in mind, Ryo recieved the message. Unlike the constant murmering that hummed in the back of his mind around the clock, as many voices spoke over one another and jumbled up to the point it was only background noise, like the static of an old television set, Prosper's words for him were well defined. It was effortless to hear, ringing out loud and clear over everything else; the god suspected it had to do with their unique connection. Without even realizing it himself, a faint, genuine smile pulled at his features.

From the sky, it was effortless to locate Prosper within the following moments, just outside of the entrance, as he had said. Rapidly, the god descended from the sky on feathered wings, landing not much out of arms length of the other man with surprisingly little sound. Without any hesitation, Ryo stepped forward, reaching out for his partner, wrapping his arms around his form and pulling him close in an embrace, their bodies pressed closed together as he held on almost too desperately. At the same time that his arms embraced him, wrapping around him, so did the god's soft, black feathered wings, wrapping around and shielding Prosper from most of the outside world.

For a moment, Ryo said nothing at all, only heaving a sigh of relief as he held on without any indication that he'd be releasing the other man from the embrace any time soon, before finally admitting out loud, "I was worried."
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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby crow » 10/29/2018 6:43 AM

Prosper didn't know what he expected. No, that was a lie. What he had expected was to walk into the building and make his way up through the elevator--- time to collect himself, to think of what he would say and do when he faced Ryo again. Maybe it was foolish of him, given that Ryo had spoken into his mind like that... But it hadn't occurred to Prosper that Ryo would come to him, because the thought of it felt as though it ought to be beneath the contempt of a god.

He was wrong.

There was only the slightest of noise, a rush of wind and the rustling of feathers, before Ryo alighted in front of him. Before Prosper had the opportunity to do anything more than process this, he found himself swept up into an embrace. His field of vision was engulfed by black as wings drew up around him.

Wings. Wings? For a moment, his heart stopped and he froze, his spine going stiff. But then he realized they weren't his own, and the tension eased incrementally from the taut line of his shoulders. Not his... Not his, but Ryo's. Just a strange coincidence, that was all.

The sigh of Ryo's breath tickled at the back of Prosper's neck, and Prosper shivered slightly at the sensation, despite himself. Only then did Prosper fully realize what they were doing, how closely his body was pressed against Ryo's---

But they'd been here before, he reminded himself. Ryo... fed on contact. This must have been no more alien to him than breathing... Than eating a meal, perhaps.

"I was worried," Ryo said. His voice was low, and it felt strange to hear it so close. Prosper nearly shivered again, his eyes closing almost involuntarily. But the hug wasn't... unpleasant, he realized, with a little surprise. The terror that he had felt at the restaurant didn't return.

Slowly, as if he doubted what he himself was doing, Prosper reached up and wrapped his own arms around Ryo's waist. He didn't pull, and he didn't squeeze, but he returned the hug gently, almost gingerly. This was what Ryo wanted, wasn't it?
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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby ToxicShadow » 01/21/2019 2:45 AM

No, this behavior was not like Ryo at all.

He said it himself: he was worried. What he was feeling now, and how he was acting upon it, was foreign to him; or so he told himself, although it was possible that these sorts of thoughts and feelings, that lead to him being worried about Prosper and clinging onto him like this, had lied dormant inside of him, pushed so deep down that he could deny their existence at every turn. Even now, he did not admit the depths of it, or even try to consider it, but the god was grasping desperately onto something tangible, even though it hardly was.

Feeling the other man's arms wrap gingerly around his waist, the god inadvertently hugged Prosper even tighter, although not so much that it would bring him any harm. Staying just like that for a long moment, Ryo inhaled his partner's scent, continuing to familiarize himself with it, before sighing again.

Then, their surroundings soon melted away into something else. No longer were they standing outside the building entrance, out in the prying eyes of others, but they were now standing, still embraced, within the front room.

It was only once they were safely inside the apartment, with the assistance of the god's abilities, that Ryo was able to pry himself off of Prosper, retracting his wings and slowly releasing his hold on him. Although, he did not dismiss his soft, feathered wings yet, nor did he take more than a single step away.

"You ran out, so far from home. You didn't take anything but the key with you. I thought you'd end up in a ditch somewhere, half dead again." Rather than sounding angry, a hint of the god's concern was actually seeping into his voice, even though he was trying to speak more matter-of-factly.
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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby crow » 07/14/2019 2:37 AM

Prosper felt Ryo's arms tighten around him, crushing them together almost to the point of pain, but not quite. It startled the breath from him, but... it was funny. He wasn't scared. There was still a voice nagging at the back of his mind that he should be, that he shouldn't let down his guard, but Ryo was so obviously unsettled, or relieved, or whatever this was, that Prosper couldn't quite think of him in the moment as something to be feared. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of Ryo's heartbeat, the rhythm of it assuring him somehow that all was well.

He didn't know how long they stayed like that. It felt almost as if time were suspended for a moment. He opened his eyes only when Ryo released him, and though he hadn't expected to be back at the apartment, that detail felt more like an afterthought. He glanced at Ryo's face when Ryo spoke to him, then looked away.

"I..."

It felt as though he had been at a loss for words ever since he met Ryo. If Ryo had been angry, then it almost would have been easier. Begging forgiveness, carefully prostrating himself before a master who could crush him with a thought, was not a happy script, but it was one he knew well.

He had no idea what to do with this.

But it felt as though he had to say something. He wasn't entirely sure why, but it felt wrong to just stay silent. Not that the words that came out of his mouth made any more sense, but he found himself speaking anyway. "I'm... Thank you. For... worrying about me." His words were halting, awkward, and that phrase--- 'thank you'--- felt as though he had pulled it out from someplace miles and eons away. He hadn't; he remembered thanking Elouan too. But back then it had only ever been for the absence of a harsher punishment, for mercies by exception. Relief, at most, rather than anything like real gratitude.

Even now, it felt strange and terribly presumptive to say something like that. But he was thankful. He hadn't realized it until he'd said it, but there was something... warm about the thought of someone thinking about his welfare. Bit by bit, it made him feel more like a person again.
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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby ToxicShadow » 07/14/2019 4:42 AM

Ryo didn't know what to expect, but for Prosper to so clearly thank him for worrying about him, in spite of the words being halting and sounding as though they were probably foreign to his partner, at this point, made it sink in all the more. That Ryo had been genuinely worried. And it wasn't entirely just because his dying would, inevitably, lead to the same fate for the god. That was part of it, certainly, or so he thought, but not just that.

Not even certain on how to respond, the god settled for clearing his throat, taking a step back, and turning to gather up one of two small boxes sitting neatly on the glass topped coffee table. He decided to get this out of the way. "I picked up a few more things for you after you left," he explained, while opening the first box to reveal a name brand wallet, though it was simple in design. "I didn't know what you'd like, so you can pick one out for yourself later, if you want, but something like this is necessary to survive in this society." Before handing it over, he opened it to pull out a few things. "I got you an identification card. I... don't know if you even have a family name, but since you're my wife anyway, it has what I use. I'll change it if you want, I guess." He had put some thought in it, but Prosper Katsuro didn't quite have the same ring to it as Ryo Katsuro. With the next cards pulled out, he carried on, "With that name, I arranged it so you are authorized to sign for my cards, so I got a few in your name. They're usually more convenient than physical money." After replacing the three cards, he also noted, "Though, there is cash here, too."

After his explanations, he reached out for the other man's hand, lifting it and placing the wallet there in Prosper's hand with a bit of a smile. "Next time you go out, you'll safely be able to buy whatever you want, food, clothes, even a way home." So Ryo would worry less about him. Hopefully.

"Aside from that," he started again, reaching for the second box on the table, "I got you your own phone." The god went through the motions again of opening the box, and showing Prosper the mobile phone that was inside. It was the newest model smartphone, and was intentionally identical to Ryo's phone. The phones were a matching pair. "There is hardly anything else like it these days. Not only can you call me and send me messages, you can use it to pay for things, to navigate, to take pictures, to do practically anything on the internet, and it has at least a handful of useful applications, too." All things considered, it was highly doubtful that Prosper had ever even handled such a thing, so the god added, "I can show you how to set it up and work it, if you want. I already saved my number and our address in it, but that's it. It has a book, though, that generally explains how to use it and a few other things here in the box." He put the cell phone securely back inside the box, before handing it over to Prosper, too. "Take all of that with you when you go out, the wallet with everything and the phone. If something happens, you have what you need to either take care of yourself or reach out to me without having your thoughts go directly to my head, though that works, too, if you prefer."

Once that was settled, Ryo handing over things he found necessary for Prosper to be able to safely go out freely, he reached out again, wrapping his hand gingerly around his wrist, and began to move toward the stairs, intending to pull Prosper along with him. "Now, it's late." It wasn't really that late, even though the sun had set, but something about this day made Ryo want to relax, at the very least.
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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby crow » 07/15/2019 12:58 AM

Prosper was still not quite meeting Ryo's gaze, but he had the curious sense that his words had... unsettled Ryo, somehow. No, that wasn't quite the right word; something a little milder... Was Ryo flustered by this? It felt absurd to think something like that; Ryo had so much power at his disposal, and nothing he had said or done thus far had done anything to suggest that he even possessed a sense of embarrassment.

And yet, the impression remained. Prosper found himself tempted to study Ryo further, looking for clues. But Ryo changed the subject quickly, and Prosper found himself looking at even more things that Ryo had purchased for him.

His fingers traced almost reverently over the leather of the wallet. Something like this... His old life had been a long, long time ago, but he still had vague and distant memories. In those memories, he could only have dreamed of ever owning something so finely made.

He looked at the cards more as an afterthought. The name wasn't an issue. He hadn't really thought of his family in years, with everything else that had been going on, and he doubted he'd have anything to go back to now.

Something brought him up short, however. "When did you find time to take a picture of me?" he said. It was strange seeing a miniature of his own face on the card. He knew that it must have been him, but the man in the picture felt like a stranger: tired, thin, with wary dark eyes. His own features, but older than he remembered them, and yet strangely younger than he felt, since he hadn't had much opportunity to look at himself in mirrors after he had entered Elouan's service.

There wasn't much time to dwell on that though. Ryo presented new things one after another, offering explanations that were almost too much to take in. Prosper shook his head, not in refusal but in disbelief, quietly overwhelmed. He didn't understand the specifics--- the full functionality of the smartphone, in particular, was hard for him to wrap his head around--- but he understood the general spirit of what was being offered to him: autonomy. The ability to go where he liked and do as he pleased, so long as he kept himself safe and kept Ryo informed.

A small, wry smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "It feels a little like you're preparing to send me off on my first day of school," he said. It felt terribly irreverent to say, and he could feel his stomach dropping slightly almost before the words were all out of his mouth, but it was only a small one. After everything that had happened between them these past few days, even Prosper doubted that Ryo would take real umbrage to a few words like this.

Prosper let himself be drawn away, leaving the wallet and the phone together on the counter. They would be there for him to find again in the morning. It felt a bit strange to have belongings, and a part of him wanted to keep them close, but he could hardly start taking everything he owned to bed.

Instead, he focused on Ryo's hand around his wrist. Ryo could have gripped him harder if he'd wanted, pulled him along by force, but his touch was gentle, almost tenuous.

It wasn't as though Ryo had never forced the matter, or used some of the leverage he had to get Prosper to do as he liked, but he didn't do it nearly as often as he could have; certainly not as often as Prosper expected. Prosper doubted it was something Ryo did for his own enjoyment. If someone had the power and the means to get what they wanted, he imagined it must have been very tempting to use it. The fact that Ryo wasn't doing that was, Prosper was coming to realize, an attempt to let Prosper come to him.

Prosper hesitated a moment, then bit his lip and decided to go for it, pulling his hand back just slightly so he could thread his fingers through Ryo's.
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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby ToxicShadow » 06/19/2022 3:25 PM

As he had been so entirely focused on handing the necessary things over to Prosper and giving at least somewhat comprehensive explanations, Ryo hadn't initially offered any responses to the other man's words, but it was not that he had ignored them intentionally. At least, when the comment was made about preparing to send him off to school, the god was somewhat bemused. "It's probably akin to that," he allowed.

The fact was, Ryo was actually familiar with doing these sorts of things and had no thoughts about it, setting someone else up for at least surviving in the modern world. Not because he often helped folks like Prosper, but simply because at least two of his siblings were rather useless at it. They still resided within their decrepit shrines that had nearly fallen into a state of total disrepair and remained fairly disconnected with the world. Were it not for the fact that they were gods, although weak as they were, their shrines would have already decayed long ago. But they still refused to move on with their lives, to live in a place similar to what Ryo had chosen, amongst others. However, they were at least set up with the barest of necessities, because Ryo insisted on it to ensure their survival and some hints of assimilation into current society. They were the same things he'd prepared for Prosper, such  as dentification cards, credit cards, mobile phones, and so on.

"If I only I knew what all to prepare for you," he said so quietly, it may not have been heard. What could he offer him that he would like?

Ryo stopped short on his way to the stairs. He could have never expected, after having witnessed his partner practically flee from his presence in the restaurant, even if he had now returned, for Prosper to lace his fingers into his own of his own volition. It was a small, surprising action, but a comforting one, that practically made the god's heart stir. He glanced back toward Prosper only for a moment, but was unable to hide his evident delight, squeezing his hand just a little tighter, before continuing to make his way up the stairs. Holding hands was such an innocent thing, but fundamentally felt different to all the things he had done with others, and made it all the more charming. The god didn't just hold hands with anyone and everyone.

"Are you feeling well?"

Prosper had returned to him, and nothing seemed amiss, but, apparently, he continued to be concerned, and had no idea what had gone through Prosper's head while he was gone, so Ryo ventured to ask.

Although, something else came to mind, as well. "I never had the chance to take your photo earlier," he explained to give an answer to his partner's earlier question. "But making a photograph is not a difficult matter for me to do." He held his free hand out in front of him for a moment and a small portrait of himself appeared within it, in his same ensemble from the night Prosper had died and was subsequently rescued, which he showed to Prosper. "Anything within my memory and imagination, making a physical image of it is not a noteworthy achievement." All of the portraits of his parents had, once, only existed within his memories but, as if he was afraid he would forget them, he created such images of them.
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Re: God, Are You There? It's Me, Prosper [P] [L]

Postby crow » 06/19/2022 6:19 PM

A soft huff of laughter escaped Prosper as he listened to Ryo's admission. If someone had asked him even this morning whether he felt that he would be able to laugh in Ryo's presence, he would have said no; and being fussed over in this manner was hardly the strangest thing that had happened to him lately. But it was strange in a way that was mundane--- and now that he was thinking about it, he was beginning to recognize why it felt alien to him. In Elouan's service, he had been one of the longest survivors, and for a long time he had devoted any spare moment to taking care of the more junior among them, however futile a task that might have been. And although his memories of his time before that were hazy, he recalled that he had been the eldest among his siblings. He couldn't recall a time that he had been treated like this at all.

Feeling Ryo's grip on his hand tighten, Prosper briefly thought back to what he could remember of his younger siblings. He probably held onto their hands when they were younger... But no, perhaps it was best not to pursue that train of thought. If he began to think of Ryo like a younger sibling, that would probably make his new role more difficult in other ways.

The problem was that Prosper had never had a lover--- had never had time for that sort of thing. There was no frame of reference for him to fit against anything that was happening now. At Ryo's question, Prosper studied him, fighting the urge to avert his gaze. It would be some time before he would be able to do this without fighting his old instincts, but he had resolved to make a conscious effort. Now that he knew to look for concern, it was easy enough to find--- and strangely, in that moment it wasn't Elouan that Ryo resembled, but his companions among the servants.

Maybe that was it. Maybe if he thought of Ryo as one of them, all this would be easier. "I'm fine," he said. "I just needed some air. I think it will take some time before I... adjust to everything that's happened." This time he tried to explain himself a little more, like he might have done for Jon or Evie. It might have been a stretch to say that he was 'fine', but at least he wasn't physically unwell. He was only a little tired after returning here on foot, and he had no one but himself to blame for it; and anyway, exhaustion was hardly a novelty to him.

All the thoughts flitting through his mind were chased away by Ryo's demonstration of his ability, however. Prosper's eyes went wide as he watched the photograph materialize in Ryo's hand. The outfit looked familiar, though he couldn't quite place it. Part of him was relieved to know that no one had taken a photo of him in secret--- or, worse, that he had sat down for one in the last few days and simply didn't have any recollection of it. "Do you..." Prosper caught himself just before asking whether Ryo created the furniture here too. Instead, he said, "Do you have any other photos like this? Ones that you made." At least that sounded a bit less like incredulous gawking, and more as though he was trying to learn more about Ryo the way that a companion might.
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