[ it's too far away. ]

[arcanepower]

Who: Belthazar & open
Broadcast: Yes
Action: Bishop
When: 8/18, morning

[video;]

[Belth awakens with a gasp like he hasn't breathed for a while. That isn't true, exactly, but he's just had a very long and very strange dream in which he was home. For all intents and purposes, he thinks he was home... after several years, and the crumpled Sunreaver robes at the end of his bed attest to it.]

Adra?

[His voice is small and still.]

... ah.

[... He's gone. Belth has already done his share of inconsolable crying, but he wants to cry again knowing that he's back here and Adrasteius is not. He squeezes his eyes shut until the tightness in his throat subsides, and then he sits up.

Belth is a mess. His hair is disheveled more than usual, and he's wearing nothing but black pants. His skin is entirely pale and mostly unblemished, but there's a glimpse of an intricate tattoo on his back as he leans over to put a long-sleeved black shirt on.

As he glances around, he realizes... there's a light indicating that he's being recorded. He practically howls in frustration and slams the off button--

-- only to turn it on a minute later.]

I went home... I think. This place is very strange. [He rubs his head.] It feels like years, but it's only been a few days. It will take some getting used to.

All of my belongings appear to be in order, but if I find a book missing, I will be very upset.

[action;]

[Belth can be visited in his room or found huddled in the personnel room as per usual. Things must be back to normal if he's hiding beneath books, right?

Probably.]

Comments

[ino]

[ It's so like him, even though he's apparently been gone for years, that she has to smile a little. And she'll reach over to lift up the book so she can see his face ]

No? Are you sleepwalking right now, then?

[arcanepower]

[He frowns up at her, his black hair forming a messy half-curled halo.]

I don't want to be awake, but I've already slept too long.

[He sprawls out with his arms flat against the floor. The rest of him is still under the beanbag.]

Someone else might leave if I sleep again, anyway.

[ino]

[ Oh, honey. :( She knows ... how you feel ...

She'll move to sit down properly next to him, moving the beanbag off his back ]

If that was how it worked, I think we'd have a fleet full of insomniacs.

[ After all, if not sleeping meant she got to keep the people she loved here, it wouldn't be hard for her to make the choice ]

... I'm sorry, though. I know you two were close. It's never easy, with people like that.

[arcanepower]

[He curls up with his knees underneath him, very near cuddling Ino but not quite.]

He isn't just a friend. He's--

[The first one that comes to mind isn't in Common.]

An'da. Father. He found me and took me in when no one else would, when I was tossed out of my own home. [Oh no, he's rambling again.] I didn't know-- I couldn't have known-- and he did not know either, and then he was gone, and then I fell asleep and woke up on Azeroth and everything happened and now I am back and he is gone and I can't even thank him.

[ino]

[When she sees him getting closer, she'll go ahead and reach out to touch him gently, on the shoulder. it's an invitation to, well, actually cuddle if he wants to -- and hopefully reassuring ]

Bel -- do you think he doesn't know?

You said he's like a father to you, didn't you? Do you think someone like that wouldn't know how happy his child is to be with him? He wouldn't have taken you in if he didn't think you weren't grateful for it, and if he wasn't happy to have you there anyways.

[arcanepower]

[He lays on his side then, definitely curled up against her now. His head is nearly in her lap, but not quite; he uses his arms as a pillow instead.]

I... I suppose you are right, but I still-- I still...

[He sucks in a deep breath.]

I will see him again if... whenever I return. There is that. But on Azeroth, I do not remember all the things I remember here, and neither does he.

He took me in anyway. He is really... something.

[ino]

Would remembering the things that happened here change the fact that he cares about you?

If not, which I'm pretty sure is the case ... then I don't think you should worry so much.

Besides -- any good person would take you in. Not that he isn't exceptional in his own way, but the way you talk about it makes it sound like you aren't worthy, or something.

[arcanepower]

[He wants to say yes, but he's already dealt with Adra not remembering before, and it was fine.]

I'm not.

[He says it casually, as it's a fact he's accepted, and turns to peer up at Ino.]

I've spent a lot of time on my own. I've been kicked, shouted at, spat on, and mistreated because I am poor and small. It has always been that way.

Some cities rebuild better after being destroyed. Silvermoon stayed the same.

[ino]

[ ... She frowns down at him. ]

Maybe I don't know a whole lot about elves or the place you came from, but I've known you long enough to say that you're very talented and very smart. If other people can't see that -- it's only because they're total idiots.

And maybe it doesn't mean much, but if I ever hear about someone saying something like that to you -- [ She forms a fist, pushing it into her palm to make a show of cracking her knuckles ] -- you can bet your ass they're gonna be sorry.

[arcanepower]

[If he had a little more confidence he might be like OF COURSE I AM. Instead he blinks at her as his cheeks turn red, and then he realizes he's blushing and hides his face in his sleeves.]

Th-- thank you. [It's one thing to proclaim it loudly to make himself look bigger-- something he hasn't done in a while-- and quite another to have someone agree with you.]

I just keep hoping... if I know enough magic, they'll respect me. But all the knowledge in the world couldn't earn me a place among the Kirin Tor now...

[ino]

[ She ruffles his hair fondly. ]

Kirin Tor?

[arcanepower]

[He closes his eyes.]

It's an organization for mages. They have a whole floating city full of knowledge passed down by humans and elves alike. But... the leader threw out all the blood elves after the war began, and she slaughtered everyone who resisted.

[He lets out a soft sigh.]

I wanted to-- I wanted to join their council. I thought I could change Silvermoon if I was that powerful. If I worked my way up, then they could not ignore me and my common blood.

[ino]

[ Okay, Ino is not sure what a "blood" elf is and how it's different from a regular elf, but ... ]

Why would she do that?

[arcanepower]

Supposedly there was a blood elf who stole an artifact and endangered the world with it.

Lady Proudmoore took care of me in Exsilium. It's hard to believe she would turn into such a monster, but everyone I spoke to says it is true.