[Any lingering doubts he may have held evaporate the moment his name passes her lips. He knows her voice, as he knows the shape of her mouth, the colour of her eyes—and, when he steps closer and reaches out to brush his fingers against her hand, he knows the warmth of her skin. Konoha is sitting before him at this table, solid and real, the only familiar thing in a sea of unwelcome unknowns.
And every bit as trapped in this strange place as he is.]
It is.
[It is really him, just as it’s really her. They are both unwilling guests of a sprawling, supernatural resort that could not possibly exist in either of their worlds. But it does exist somewhere, and it has stolen both of them here for reasons nobody has yet been able to tell him. It is confusing and frustrating and frightening, he still doesn’t know what to do about any of it, and his joy at seeing a familiar face is tempered by the knowledge that she too is suffering alongside him. Nonetheless, he does feel joy, because he knows at least that he isn’t alone.]
I’m so glad to see you—and so sorry you’re here. Did you just arrive as well?
[Liem’s touch is just a brush against her hand, so light that it could be dismissed as a trick of her mind, a phantom touch of a man she had once known so intimately… and she cannot let it remain just that, like a potential figment of her imagination, not for a single instant longer. Desperately, she releases the shocked cover for her gasp to reach out instead, fingers shaking with the surge of confusing emotions until she can clasp his hand in both of hers.
And there, there… Gods, but he feels exactly like she remembers. The shape of his knuckles, the tension in his tendons, the curve of his wrist, the faint chill of his skin and the slow beat of his heart…
He feels so real.]
Liem…
[A thousand questions bubble up her throat at once. What had he been doing? Did his companions succeed in their quest and return him to good health? What about the princess and his duties? Was he filling his days with good work? Was he happy? But it’s too many, and they aren’t even the answer to the actual question he asks her. She can’t just skip over that, of course not, no, she’ll-]
I did… There was- I woke up in this wet forest in a large room… and then everything just…
[Happened. All over again. How many times was this now? Three? How could one woman be taken three times? If it happens twice, it can happen thrice, she knew that was a saying for a reason, but she’d thought this time… this time finally…
Tears of relief and sadness glisten in her eyes, the initial fall temporarily hidden by her mask. She can’t hold off asking a single instant longer, even if there are a thousand things about their new circumstances that need discussing.]
… are you alright?
[She doesn’t mean here. Her hold on his hands tightens, warm and strong.]
[Liem would be even more concerned if he knew the truth of how Konoha had awoken in this resort, in a forest that was full of snares and pits, without so much as a robe to cover herself. The fact that she didn’t appear in the basement rooms helps to explain how they’d avoided crossing paths until now, but even the brief description she gives is enough to make Liem’s brows draw together slightly behind his mask. He’d met enough other newcomers in that shoddy basement that it hadn’t occurred to him other new arrivals might appear elsewhere.
Well, it matters little now. However they arrived, they have both found their way here. Liem lifts his other hand to place it comfortingly over her clasped ones.]
I am well, Konoha.
[Stressed out, perhaps. Fuelled mostly by caffeine and stubborn determination. But he is as healthy as he’s ever been, short of the luxurious stay he spent in Noctium, toward the end when he’d started treating himself a little better.]
I have been to Taldor since we last spoke, in as good health as I ever was.
[Like, he did wake up on an altar, but that’s all behind him now. The important thing is that his head is fully attached to his shoulders, and Konoha no longer has to worry.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
—Konoha
[Any lingering doubts he may have held evaporate the moment his name passes her lips. He knows her voice, as he knows the shape of her mouth, the colour of her eyes—and, when he steps closer and reaches out to brush his fingers against her hand, he knows the warmth of her skin. Konoha is sitting before him at this table, solid and real, the only familiar thing in a sea of unwelcome unknowns.
And every bit as trapped in this strange place as he is.]
It is.
[It is really him, just as it’s really her. They are both unwilling guests of a sprawling, supernatural resort that could not possibly exist in either of their worlds. But it does exist somewhere, and it has stolen both of them here for reasons nobody has yet been able to tell him. It is confusing and frustrating and frightening, he still doesn’t know what to do about any of it, and his joy at seeing a familiar face is tempered by the knowledge that she too is suffering alongside him. Nonetheless, he does feel joy, because he knows at least that he isn’t alone.]
I’m so glad to see you—and so sorry you’re here. Did you just arrive as well?
no subject
And there, there… Gods, but he feels exactly like she remembers. The shape of his knuckles, the tension in his tendons, the curve of his wrist, the faint chill of his skin and the slow beat of his heart…
He feels so real.]
Liem…
[A thousand questions bubble up her throat at once. What had he been doing? Did his companions succeed in their quest and return him to good health? What about the princess and his duties? Was he filling his days with good work? Was he happy? But it’s too many, and they aren’t even the answer to the actual question he asks her. She can’t just skip over that, of course not, no, she’ll-]
I did… There was- I woke up in this wet forest in a large room… and then everything just…
[Happened. All over again. How many times was this now? Three? How could one woman be taken three times? If it happens twice, it can happen thrice, she knew that was a saying for a reason, but she’d thought this time… this time finally…
Tears of relief and sadness glisten in her eyes, the initial fall temporarily hidden by her mask. She can’t hold off asking a single instant longer, even if there are a thousand things about their new circumstances that need discussing.]
… are you alright?
[She doesn’t mean here. Her hold on his hands tightens, warm and strong.]
no subject
Well, it matters little now. However they arrived, they have both found their way here. Liem lifts his other hand to place it comfortingly over her clasped ones.]
I am well, Konoha.
[Stressed out, perhaps. Fuelled mostly by caffeine and stubborn determination. But he is as healthy as he’s ever been, short of the luxurious stay he spent in Noctium, toward the end when he’d started treating himself a little better.]
I have been to Taldor since we last spoke, in as good health as I ever was.
[Like, he did wake up on an altar, but that’s all behind him now. The important thing is that his head is fully attached to his shoulders, and Konoha no longer has to worry.]