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Characters: Eiji and Ilda
Date: Late May
Location: Around Aifaran
Situation: Dealing with guilt and annoyingly persistent parasites
Warnings/Rating: Dead and dying children (from their canons), survivor's guilt

When the space parasites were first noticed, Eiji was quickly isolated and decontaminated, killing his infection before it could cause any problems. Or so he'd thought. The problem was that his Talent for restoring recently rotted organic matter to life? It also applied to the parasites. He was just as infected as he'd been in the beginning, except he had plenty of reasons to be in denial about it.

And that denial was why he was still wandering through the city, looking for a little girl that he knew had died a year ago in his world. Someone he'd failed to help. But it was easier to be in denial and insist he was okay and so was she, rather than face the truth all over again.

"Alfreed? Are you here?"

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Ilda had resumed her morning walks only a couple of days ago, finally deciding that it was time to put the fiasco behind her and move on with her life in Aifaran. Or, at least, she tried to. The fear and paranoia the space parasites had brought to her might not have been real, but the reaction they'd gotten out of her had been very much so.

She avoided The Temple, of course. The priests would probably remember her for starting the riot; the damage had only been minimal, but she'd managed to work up a crowd into attacking it. It certainly wasn't her finest moment.

She was near the docks when she heard a familiar voice, and she turned around just in time to see Eiji coming out of the corner. She remembered him from the rescue mission.

"Eiji! Hi!" she called out, walking over to him.

Eiji hadn't experienced the paranoia quite as severely, and that was probably because he was naturally a pretty trusting person. But he'd still gone out of his way to keep a low profile throughout the whole infection.

He jumps a little when Ilda calls out his name, but he doesn't run or anything. He just...completely fails at not looking suspicious.

"What are you doing here?"

My, he's jumpy! Ilda grins. It's a little like sneaking up on her twin brother back home, and it makes her want to mess with Eiji a bit more. Surely he's not not up to no good? (Okay, that confusing, even for her.)

"Taking a walk, which I do on a regular basis because exercise is good for you! And also because it gets boring. And I like being around these parts. Have I told you I lived in a fishing village? I never really thought I'd miss the sea, but apparently I do." She pauses for a beat, then looks at him knowingly. "What are you up to, hmmm?"

That is a lot of conversation coming at Eiji all at once, and it takes a moment to parse through it and figure out there's a question he's actually supposed to answer there.

"Me? Nothing. Not really."

Ilda had been focused and serious during that mission, but now she’s more or less back to her usual bubbly, chatty self. And she’s not about to let Eiji off the hook so easily.

“Are you sure? You seem to be looking for someone. Is it a girl?” she teases.

Well, yes. Technically, he is looking for a girl. But Eiji has a feeling he's completely missing the context.

"...Kind of?"

Why exactly is she teasing him?

The worst part is that this isn't even the infection. He genuinely does not catch onto any kind of romantic talk.

“Well, what’s she like? I can help!”

Ilda’s quite surprised that Eiji’s upfront with her - most people would go into denial, based on experience. So why was he jumpy earlier, then?

In any case, she wants to get to the bottom of things, if only to satisfy her curiosity.

Eiji starts to answer, but then he hesitates. It seems like everyone he's talked to has told him she couldn't be there. So why would Ilda help?

She catches his hesitation, and sobers a little. She’s not really sure, but there’s something about his expression that seems to say he’s not searching for a lover or stalking a crush.

“Sorry!” she apologizes, for the lack of a better thing to say. But her momentary seriousness is quickly replaced by her usual enthusiasm; she just can’t seem to help it. “Is it personal? I’m pretty good at finding people especially when I really want to, but if it’s too personal, maybe you can ask Yato! All it’ll cost you is one copper rhinn, and I won’t charge for the referral!”

Eiji sours at the mention of Yato. The so-called god who only performed chores for money. No, he wouldn't be able to help. Not when Eiji was sure that this was one of the things that he would have asked for.

Is it possible he really does have a desire after all? But it's only for the things he can't have?

"I really don't want to get anyone else involved, if I can help it," he admits finally. "I don't think they'll believe me, anyway."

"Oh. Well... fair enough." So he's one of those types. But that expression, though! He might not want any help, but something about the face he's making right now - longing? - just makes Ilda want to extend a helping hand. Maybe even hug him. Maybe.

"Why won't people believe you, though? Is the one you're looking for a god? Because I didn't believe Yato when he said he's a god. Although there's so much strangeness in this city anyway, so it's kind of hard not to believe things around these parts! So who are we looking for?"

Yes, she's not letting you off that one, Eiji.

You might not want to hug him, Ilda. Eiji's still got parasites, and a particularly aggressive infection. Forget a bath in disinfectant--they're going to need to leave him in a swimming pool for a week.

But still, despite his caution, he can't help but feel a surge of regret as he admits, "A little girl. Someone who's supposed to be dead."

Uh oh. That look of regret warrants a hug, and Ilda would do just that if only Eiji hasn't been so jumpy. In a rare moment of restraint, she holds back, thinking it might not be a good idea, and instead frowns. A little girl who's supposed to be dead?

"You don't mean... the missing girl, from the ship?"

He shakes his head.

"She's from my world. Her name is...was, Alfreed."

It takes a little longer to admit, "She died in a war. I couldn't save her. Or at least, that's what I thought, until I saw her a few days ago."

"Really? You saw her here?"

She'd seen some things, too, back when she was infected by the parasites. And they weren't nice things -- mostly blood.

She suppresses a shudder at the thought, then turns back to Eiji. Her cheerfulness mellows noticeably, their conversation allowing her to focus on more important matters. Alfreed was dead, but Ilda's also heard about the world they were now in, and about the Dreaming...

"Where did you see her last? That would be a good place to start looking," she says without much fanfare, tucking her hands into her pockets.

"At the soup kitchen. But she ran off."

He'd only taken his eyes off of her for...what? It couldn't have been more than a few seconds. But she'd disappeared.

"I haven't seen her since."

"Want to try again? Retrace your steps, maybe? Ask if anyone else saw her?"

It's not that Ilda actually believes him, but... it's just like her thing with Yato. She's still not convinced that he's a god, but he's someone in need, and she just can't bring herself to not help. In Eiji's case, she's seen, very clearly, that finding Aifreed was important to him. So what if they'll be spending the next couple of hours searching aimlessly? It's been weeks since she's started helping Yato, and he doesn't have his shrine up yet.

Eiji hesitates for a moment before nodding. Yeah, going back to where it started should help. He might find something he missed. And maybe she stayed nearby.

Still, there's something that he can't help but feel paranoid about.

"Okay. But I don't know about asking anyone else."

Ilda notices his hesitation. Well, if I was looking for a dead girl... yeah, I wouldn't want to ask around, too.

She tries to not make it look like it was a big deal, if only to ease his discomfort. "Then let's not. We should be able to find a clue or two somewhere. Although I suppose I should really stop talking so I can actually do some looking. Let's go?"

Eiji nods, relieved.

"Thanks for believing me."

This time it's Ilda who hesitates, because she doesn't really believe him. And it makes her feel kind of bad. She isn't really leading him on, is she? She's still helping him, just like how she's helping Yato, even if she's not completely into the point of her friends' endeavors.

"Of course! What are friends for, right?" She grins, hiding her conflicted thoughts. "Come on, we better get started."

"Thanks."

He leads her back toward the soup kitchen, through the alley he last saw her.

"I saw her run through here before. I don't know if maybe there's somewhere in here that she's been staying?"

Ilda frowns. "Maybe, but we might have to call out her name or something to draw her out... not what you have in mind, right?" It would be faster, yes, but it would also draw attention to them, and that's one thing Eiji doesn't want to happen. She respects that.

She puts on a smile. They need to stay positive! "What else do you know about her? My twin and I play hide-and-seek a lot, but I always catch him because I know what he's like! Like he's afraid of the dark, so he never hides anywhere that's really dark." Ivarr would probably have something to say about that, but he's not there to challenge what she's saying.

Eiji shakes his head. Honestly, he just wants to withdraw into himself, away from everyone. But Alfreed needs him, and he can't just disappear.

The day of her death replays in his memories, the way it always does. The school had become a makeshift hospital, helping care for them until they could safely be evacuated to the actual hospital in the capital. She had been crying, but too dehydrated for any tears to form.

"She...she was hungry. And thirsty, when it happened. I think she might have come here, looking for food?"

It makes sense, right? And maybe she'd seen Eiji and run away because she thought he'd died, just like he thought she had.

Edited 2018-06-22 01:19 (UTC)

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