death_begins: (Forever feels like home)
Yuca Collabel ([personal profile] death_begins) wrote2010-08-31 03:25 pm

Thirtieth Rebirth [video]

[The camera flickers on and finds Yuca, once again, sitting peacefully in his garden, an arm wrapped around his knees. He's got cuts and bruises here and there from his fight with Merlin, but for the most part, he still looks pretty okay. The flowers are just starting to bloom, and his fingers barely brush against one, as if he isn't sure of the texture.]

I wonder if this is what he meant.

[A quiet sigh, as Yuca pulls back.]

It's useless though, isn't it? They're all going to die, come winter, and all I'll have left of them are recordings and the memories that they once were green.

[He seems a little conflicted there, resting his chin on his open palm and pursing his lips, thoughtfully. He still hasn't looked at the camera yet, and for a moment, it seems almost as if the video was accidental.]

Maybe I can replant them in pots and carry them all inside for Winter...

[Something that seems like a daunting task- Yuca has probably planted well over a hundred of them in the small clearing, and it's obvious that when they bloom in full, the flowers will form a white blanket against the cold ground.]

I'm sorry to those that happened across me during the last event. It was something that I wanted to avoid, but... hopefully, you've all managed to recover now.

[A thoughtful pause.]

If I build a greenhouse around them, I can keep them safe before it gets too cold. It seems like so much effort though, when they're just going to die eventually anyway. I don't understand why people put themselves through this. [He sighs- he still hasn't even so much as glanced over to the camera.]

Well. It's a learning experience. Rain might cry if I let them all die, anyway. Does anyone know if they'll have a few extra flowerpots when it gets to late fall? I'm going to try and get all of these inside in a month or so. Some special light bulbs might be appreciated too. You can never start too early with these things.

[God what the hell Yuca, who are you talking to. The sunset casts an orange glow on his face, and Yuca closes his eyes and reaches for the PCD, flicking it off with a casual movement.]

[Voice // Private // Unhackable]

[identity profile] innerfirewithin.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[It takes a good twenty minutes before Zuko works up the nerve to even turn on his PCD's response function, let alone talk to the priest. The mental breakdown had been too much. Too much. And apparently, with Yuca talking to himself about Rain and flowers and death, it had been too much for him too.

A quiet inhale of breath before he speaks.]


Yuca.

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Zuko.

[He addresses him back, nothing more. At least he's still there enough to remember his name.]

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[identity profile] innerfirewithin.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:36 pm (UTC)(link)
... Fletcher Tringham had a greenhouse, before the Animus sent him home.

Use it.

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll have to find a way to transport them.

[A quiet pause- his tone sounds... far away, at best.]

Thank you.

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[identity profile] innerfirewithin.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[The fact that Yuca is talking to himself and obsessing over flowers is only slightly worrying to Zuko, seeing as the last time Yuca had a slip of sanity, his arms almost got torn off.]

Focus.

[His tone is a bit harsh, if not sharp.]

Plants can't be that hard to move.

[Voice // Private // Unhackable]

[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Well...

[He clears his throat, tries to sound a little more- there. It only partially works.]

...I do have to dig them up. Carefully. And replant them into temporary pots, and replant them again in the greenhouse. But- I do have a few months.

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[identity profile] innerfirewithin.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:47 pm (UTC)(link)
If you start now, they'll be fine.

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[identity profile] law-of-reason.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[Long silence. Almost like he forgot he started a recording, or that it triggered by accident.

Though in the end he only speaks up because he's annoyed with his own hesitance.]


Still taking care of your flowers?

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[A pathetic laugh.]

Ha ha, I don't have any pots!

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:50 pm (UTC)(link)
...yes.

[He hesitates as well. Yuca clutches at the PCD and wets his lips, trying to think of something to say that didn't involve what had happened during that event.]

....they're- blooming. Still in the early stages, but they'll get bigger soon enough.

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[identity profile] innerfirewithin.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[An uncomfortable silence as Zuko contemplates just turning off the PCD... but the event, and the enormity of everything inside the boy's head... it's too much and Zuko's rigid sense of what's right simply will not allow him to walk away.

He's frustrated, though, and it shows when he speaks.]


What happened?

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I've never had them.

[Ho hum.]

I brought the pollinated seeds back in a foodbowl. I guess I could replant them in those, but I only have two bowls, so-

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[identity profile] innerfirewithin.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:55 pm (UTC)(link)
That's not what I'm talking about, Yuca.

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not feeling very well right now, I'm sorry.

[He almost shuts off the feed- almost. But something about Zuko's- concern? Was that it?- something made him hesitate.]

It's- it'll pass.

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[identity profile] law-of-reason.livejournal.com 2010-08-31 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[Is terrible at idle conversation; still can't really make himself mention anything that happened before.]

If the seasons here obey normal laws of nature, you should still have a month or more to transplant what you want to.

[Voice // Private // Unhackable]

[identity profile] innerfirewithin.livejournal.com 2010-09-01 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
[Was concern the right word for it? Zuko has plenty of concern... mostly for the people in Adstringendum he cares about should Yuca snap again, but for Yuca? Possibly. Maybe. It's difficult not to sympathize when you know what he's carrying around constantly.]

Don't bother lying to me, Yuca, I hate it when people lie to me.

It was an event. It was the Animus' fault.

[But it WAS Yuca's fault that Zuko wanted to kill himself, wanted to die. His cheek muscle twitches at the thought, bile rising in his throat at how close he was to seriously contemplating death, but his voice remains steady.]

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-09-01 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
Mmhm. But there are a lot of them, and I don't have any pots, or anything- I could use a bowl, but I only have two of those.

[Pause. Yuca chews the bottom of his lip.]

...I think I planted too many.

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-09-01 12:02 am (UTC)(link)
[He sighs, curling up again and scrunching up his shoulders- not that Zuko can see, but the rustle of clothing, the heavy exhale, that was the only thing that transmitted in the quiet silence that followed.

Before, finally-]


I saw Alphonse. Twice. [It's quiet, almost barely a whisper.]

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[identity profile] law-of-reason.livejournal.com 2010-09-01 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
I might have some glass jars I don't need. Cracked; I can't store much in them, but I don't like throwing things away.

They're flowers. It's not something that comes in 'too many' or 'too few.'

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[identity profile] innerfirewithin.livejournal.com 2010-09-01 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Zuko is silent for a long moment. His first instinct is to go find Al and demand what in the flying fuck was he thinking. His second instinct is to demand whether or not Yuca hurt Alphonse... but neither makes much sense to him. Of course Yuca wouldn't harm Alphonse. Al was on some sort of pedestal to Yuca that not even Yuca understood.]

Yeah?

[God, talking to Sasuke is so much easier than this shit.]

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-09-01 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
I'd gladly borrow them, then, if you don't mind.

[A bit more cheerful- all false, of course.]

Thank you, mister Kurotsuchi.

[Aaaand silence. Awkward silence.]

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-09-01 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
I didn't want to- I thought-

[He huffs, frustrated.]

He came across me during the event and realized I was lonely. [He has no qualms about telling Zuko this, as he knew the other had felt the same thing and there was no sense keeping something he already knew from him.] And he thought that he could keep me company- like that would make it better.

[He sounds, bitter, angry, confused, like he's been wanting to vent about this but not knowing exactly how.]

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[identity profile] law-of-reason.livejournal.com 2010-09-01 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
[Even more awkward silence. This sort of discomfort was pretty much an alien experience.

But in the end, (some form of) directness wins out.]


...is it like that all the time?

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[identity profile] innerfirewithin.livejournal.com 2010-09-01 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Of course Alphonse would. Of course he would endure the agony of Yuca's empathy to sit with the boy and endure his loneliness with him. Of course, of course. Idiot.]

Nothing makes it better.

[It's said rather dully, because what point was there in lying? Zuko understands, freakishly well, how painful that pounding ache is.]

But I bet it can be made bearable.

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[identity profile] neverquitedies.livejournal.com 2010-09-01 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
[He gasps a little for breath, and it hurts. Everything hurts.]

He's- you don't understand what he is. [Yuca doesn't know how to explain it either.] He's trying for nothing. He's wasting his time and his precious little life. I'm not- I'm not some conflicted villain that can switch my entire way of thinking with one eloquent speech.

[He doesn't know what to do or what to say.]

...do you think I'm a monster? [Somewhere, deep down- the same place that spawned his idea about the angels- he hopes that Zuko can say yes.]

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