#.it's like a dream although i'm not asleep ; healingbrews | vit.torio.

[dimensionalspades]

. He stared out the window, brows furrowing. Were all the buildings on the planet this way? It seemed almost like they were going to crash into each other. The transportation he'd seen while they were walking to her home seemed almost blindingly fast.

. "Suppose I would be more incredulous if the world had not changed in nearly a thousand years," he said as he shifted his weight and stood back up.

. "It's been a week, and I still imagine we'll wake up back in the Fog." By the damn campfire again. He didn't realize how much he'd grown to hate it until they were away from the Realm. He focused on @healingbrews after a moment. "How are you feeling, Hinoka?"

[dimensionalspades]

@healingbrews said: He's returned from another trial and Hinoka had worried about him more than usual. She immediately approaches him and holds his face in her hands before she kisses him hard.

. Vittorio caught Hinoka's silhouette first when he returned, the soreness of his shoulder still radiating out despite the wound being gone. Seeing Tarhos always made him ill- the memory of betrayal and severed heads made fresh again even after so many hundreds of years. Nevertheless, he tried to shift his expression as he approached, push away the feelings of nausea and exhaustion.

. The feeling of her hands was pleasant, the sudden kiss surprising, but welcome. He returned it shortly, hands on either side of her head and thumbs brushing her cheeks.

. "I see I'm missed," he said when they parted, resting his head on her shoulder briefly. His arms moved around her waist, resting in her smaller presence for a moment. It was good to come back to something kind.

[dimensionalspades]

@healingbrews said: It's hesitant, nervous almost. They're away from the campfire but this time she wants their 'messing around' to mean something. Scarred hands cup his face as she pulls him into a longing kiss. (Vittorio)

. His return to the campfire was always both good and bad. Good, he was out of the trial grounds and among friends. Bad, because that meant he was still trapped here. Of two parts about the fire, but unable to do a thing about either. At least it was warm.

. As she approached, his expression turned far more pleasant, concerns about the campfire and situation momentarily assuaged with her presence. When she cupped his face, he leaned into it and gladly kissed her back.

. "Always pleasant to be greeted so warmly."

[dimensionalspades]

@healingbrews said: “I don’t want to be alone.” [Vittorio]

- affection || accepting -

. The campfire was both a place of refuge and a reminder of how trapped they were. No matter the trials they escaped, the killers they evaded, they always landed back at the campfire. He could visit other subrealms, did sometimes, but there was no real escape that he'd found. And being separated from the others did not sound at all appealing.

. So sometimes he would sit and rest against a stray log, dozing on and off to the sound of quiet conversation held by others nearby. It was calming, almost like he was back on the road. He could pretend night was falling as tents were set up and horses were untacked.

. The illusion broke when Hinoka approached and spoke, and there was a brief moment where he seemed somewhat lost. But he refocused on Hinoka, glad to see her.

. Wordlessly, he lifted an arm, the other still slung lazily across his stomach, fixated partially on the feeling of the fabric there. He would let her curl up under his arm, settle in for the moment and watch the fire flicker.

[dimensionalspades]

@healingbrews said: "Shit" It's seethed, "I think I broke my ankle..." [For Vittorio]

- unprompted || accepting -

. The structure was some kind of bastardization of the smithy from Portoscuro. Bent and broken and twisted into a shadow of the lively place it had once been.

. And it's upper level had collapsed from under them.

. He had run up the stairs to the upper floor, intending to drop out of the window (already preparing for the sting in his legs). But then he'd seen Hinoka and the entire plan went to pieces. Tarhos rounded the corner and slammed his blade into the ground, narrowly missing the pair by inches. The molding floor gave way with a shrieking groan and all three had tumbled down.

. Along with them came part of the roof, the Knight taking the brunt of the fall with an echoing snarl.

. Vittorio could already hear him getting back up. When Hinoka relayed the injury, Vittorio was quick to slip his arms under her knees and behind her shoulders, holding her close as he quickly jogged out of the wreckage. Behind him, he heard the sound of metal scraping and he set her behind an overturned wagon, looking her over for injuries before he peeked around the edge towards Tarhos.

. "Stay here, carissime, I'll get his attention." He stood and darted out from behind the wagon, whistling shrilly to get his attention. "Tarhos!" The Knight was quick to take the distraction, Vittorio kicking into a sprint away from Hinoka's hiding place.

[dimensionalspades]

TAG DROP: Vittorio Toscano

[dimensionalspades]

"Ah, so I will just need to joke about where I come from." It was a joke, but he wondered how different that aspect was. In Portoscuro, most of the time someone could simply arrive, say they were from Greece or Hungary or Spain, and he would not bat an eye. Could he get a job as a teacher or archeologist just by way of explaining how adept he was?

"Hah! I can lecture about the occult or Portoscuro itself. I could talk about my home for hours." His tone turned somewhat melancholic, thinking about home and how far he'd been flung from it. But he tried to push the thoughts back for now. No sense dwelling.

"Resume, internet, on line. Ways of getting information, I take it." From context, that's what he gathered, at least. "I assume most people would miss you if you disappeared," Vittorio said, squeezing her shoulder.

“I’m sure you’ll catch on quicker than you think, a lot of things these days is simply learned by doing,” She answers kindly, and she laughed at his nervous joke, “Honestly? With how people joke about time travelers visiting the far past being recorded in monuments, I don’t think it would be that odd.” 

“Could always become a historian or a teacher, I can see your resume now being ‘Experience: Lived it.” 

Hinoka giggled, the weight she’d been feeling earlier seemingly lifting the more they talked. Still, she mulled it over and wondered if there would be adverse effects on him due to all the modernization. Could his body even be able to handle vaccinations or withstand modern disease?

Maybe it was a good thing she was a doctor after all. 

“We’ll start with baby steps though, get you a library card and you can start catching up when you can. As lovely and instant as the internet is, I think it would overload you a little too quickly. Rabbit holes are much easier to dig online.” 

She leaned her head against his shoulder, a soft sigh. 

“I just hope I can readjust to being back. How do I explain being gone for so long and so suddenly? That’s even if I was noticed to be gone at all...”

[dimensionalspades]

. He listened, even if his attention continued to wander and snap to different things. She'd previously explained the 'cars', even if most people seemed to be walking.

. It was exciting in some measure, but otherwise he wanted to stay close to her, sure that if he was struck by one of those cars he wouldn't be spawning back by the campfire. That arm remained around her, a warm weight on her shoulders- if anything, he needed the grounding feeling for himself.

. He wondered how she would be now that she wasn't just surviving? Would he be lost in a world that didn't fit him, or would they stick together as they navigated what had happened to them? No one else would understand as they did.

. "It's incredible, if... loud," he said after a moment. "I'm unsure how I'll fit given how unfamiliar I am with everything. Do you think they'll accept that I'm not from this time?" he asked with a chuckle- though, there was a note of hesitation in his voice.

“Ah that’s a fair question to ask, although I suppose it depends on where you are. There are many European countries who still maintain that exact meal for breakfast. For a long time my breakfasts consisted of hot rice, an egg, and a little soy sauce all mixed together. Like a porridge.” 

She laughed slightly. 

“For most people it’s just a cup of coffee, others it’s toast, eggs, sausage or bacon. There’s a lot of choices. If I get the chance I usually have a protein shake or some fruit.” 

She’s distracted by Vittorio as he asks about the buildings. She too looks up and made a noise. 

“Not always, sometimes they are offices for businesses. Banks. Corporate companies, things like that.” She explained, gesturing to a few signs that would be on the marquees outside listing the housed businesses. 

“Sometimes lawyers or doctors will lease out an office space for their practices so they have plenty of uses. I’ve never lived in a high-rise type of apartment to be honest-- I’m afraid of heights.” Hinoka admitted, “But some people do live in these buildings if they’re luxury apartments or hotels.”

[dimensionalspades]

. The world felt too loud, and he almost missed what she said due to it. He wondered if this way of life had been built this way because of necessity or simply meandered into this claustrophobic landscape. How much he'd have to study about the development of the world.

. "How does a 'modern breakfast' look?" He asked, brows lifted. What differences were there? Where in the world were they? He had a dozen questions, but for now, he would trust that Hinoka knew where she needed to be. "We mostly ate bread, meats, and cheese in the mornings." Though, on the road, they more often ate things that kept long distances, or used a local shop in town to bake fresh bread.

. "Do many people live in these buildings?" He looked up again, once more reminded of the sharp and high walls of castle Portoscuro. But these were everywhere.

The doctor flustered as Vittorio pulled her to his side. The hand on her shoulder is warm and comforting, the same as it had been in the Fog. Whenever they would reunite at the campfire. It was easy enough to build a relationship with someone when the options were limited. Now that they were out, that Vittorio had freedom, Hinoka worried that they would drift apart. 

She tucked some hair behind her ear, laughing softly. 

“You flatter me, Vittorio,” Hinoka smiled, leaning her head against the crook of his arm, her hand touching his before she turned her attention forward, “At least now I can make you a proper modern breakfast...Hope your system can handle it.” 

[dimensionalspades]

. He said nothing as she spoke, simply listening and letting her talk out her worries. That same sense hovered over his shoulders, the feeling that they weren't actually out, like the Entity had found a new way to toy with them.

. "Overwhelming, but I've been to many places within the fog. It's far more pleasant than those. Besides, I have you with me." Vittorio's hand was gentle on her shoulder, pulling her to his side. "I don't mind exploring unknown places if I have such good company."

. The world felt different. In some ways, good. Walkways and roads were more flat than bouncing along in a carriage. But the buildings soared above, almost like they'd teeter into rubble if one pushed on them too hard, and the claustrophobia from that made him feel somewhat unnerved. But, if Hinoka didn't seem too worried about it, he would try not to, either.

“I wish I could say that I feel at ease now that we’re out of that hellscape but,” She sighed softly, wringing her hands as she walked the familiar yet unfamiliar path back to her apartment. 

“I also feel like I’m going to wake up and be next to the campfire. I have no idea how much time has passed since I’ve been gone. Do I still have a place to live? Gods do I still have a job?” 

Hinoka laughed to try and brush off the stress creeping into her voice. 

“At the very least, I hope my apartment will be of some solace to you, I know all of this is probably overwhelming.”