[continued from here] [first post for October 18th]
Akihiko pulls a long, slow breath in and out through his nose. He feels both relaxed and energized, loose-limbed and pleasantly charged the way he does after a good warm up. His eyes have even drifted closed at some point.
So that’s what a second awakening is like, huh? He wouldn’t have guessed it would be so…comfortable. The brand new presence in the back of his head is unmistakably different from Polydeuces, but just as effortlessly familiar. Had it been the same way for Amada?
He opens his eyes to find Shinji staring at nothing in particular, his mouth slack with surprise. As Akihiko watches, his gaze refocuses but loses none of its astonishment as it snaps to meet Akihiko’s own.
“...Aki, what the hell was that?”
For a moment, Akihiko isn’t certain what he’s talking about. The only thing he can think of is… “Wait,” he replies. “You saw it too?” Were second awakenings actually visible to everyone? Or maybe just to Persona users? And outside of the Dark Hour, too–
“I–” Shinji clutches loosely at the front of his hospital gown with his free hand. He drops his gaze again, his brow furrowed in concentration, eyes darting back and forth like he’s trying to examine the inside of his own heart. “Castor, he…”
Oh. Everything suddenly clicks into place. It hadn’t been Akihiko’s awakening Shinji had seen.
“Yeah.” Akihiko is taken by surprise when the word comes out as a breathless laugh. “Me too. Polydeuces isn’t there anymore. It’s Cincinnatus now.”
Shinji’s mouth twitches upwards and he snorts softly. Akihiko suffers a moment of intense confusion before he realizes: mister-history-buff probably recognizes the name. He wonders what it says about him that Shinji finds funny; he’ll have to remember to look it up when he gets the chance.
The amusement slides from Shinji’s expression, replaced with befuddled concentration. His fingers curl and uncurl in the fabric over his chest. His other hand– the one still clasped solidly with Akihiko’s– flexes too. It doesn’t seem like he even realizes he’s doing it.
“Hey,” Akihiko murmurs, concerned. He’d been so caught up in how easy his own re-awakening had been that he’d just assumed it had gone the same for Shinji, and he probably shouldn’t have. After all, Shinji’s first awakening to Castor hadn’t exactly been…a peaceful event. He leans in a little closer and gives Shinji’s hand a brief squeeze. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothin’s wrong, that just felt–” Shinji’s jaw works silently for a moment. “So damn weird. It’s not– It isn’t bad, but it’s–”
“It’s a lot.”
“Yeah, no shit.” Shinji runs a hand through his hair, a nervous habit he’s never been able to break even after he started wearing a hat nearly twenty-four-seven (his other hand still hasn’t let go of Akihiko’s, and the realization hits like a bolt of giddy adrenaline). “I ain’t a fan of not knowin’ why it happened either.”
“It happened to Amada too,” Akihiko says. “When he told us about it, Mitsuru said that it was something there had been theories about for a while, but that they’d never actually seen happen before. The idea is that if a person changes enough, their Persona can change too. She called it a ‘second awakening’.”
“Huh…” Shinji laughs. Just once, and the sound is thin and utterly exhausted. “I guess they recognized the promise we made too,” he says, slanting a tired, crooked smile at Akihiko.
It’s hard to breathe suddenly, like the tide of warm gratitude and affection that floods his chest is taking up all the space usually reserved for his lungs. He swallows past the knot in his throat.
“Yeah, I– I-I think they did.” Akihiko’s voice rushes out in a thick, emotional whisper.
His grip on Shinji’s hand tightens and the movement tugs Akihiko another centimeter forward. It strikes him now, for the first time, that he’s been leaning in like this for a while now.
It strikes him, as well, just how little distance there is between him and Shinji’s smiling mouth– near enough to feel the warmth radiating from his skin.
It would take so little effort to close that gap entirely, wouldn’t it?
The thought makes his jaw ache and his breath skip in his chest.
…What thought would that be, exactly?
What the hell is he thinking?
What the hell is he doing–?!
He can’t just–
He can’t.
He’s still leaning in closer to Shinji as though drawn by gravity, but he wrenches his attention away from the stupid, catastrophic impulse that had almost overcome him.
Instead Akihiko presses his forehead to Shinji’s and closes his eyes.
It’s an old, familiar gesture between them, and the wave of comfort it brings is so intense that it even overpowers (most of) his mortification, leaving him feeling very close to serene.
Shinji sighs, long and relaxed, just as soothed by the gesture as Akihiko is. Mercifully, he says nothing about what Akihiko had nearly done.
He’ll think about that narrowly averted disaster later.
18 notes
·
View notes
DEMECIA IN TURMOIL!
Breaking news coming from Demecia. As of February, the 3rd 2024 at 15:21 PM Valaroan Time. His royal highness, King Jarvan Lightshield III, was by all official accounts believed to have been assassinated by Sylas Dredgebourne as he attacked his guards during a public trial in which he would be found either innocent or guilty of first degree murder. It is believed that he or an unknown acquaintance murdered our king in a bid to create chaos and escape.
Before his escape, Sylas announced that the age of mages was coming and that the ruling class of Demecia could peacefully accept him and his kind, or it would arrive through blood and war.
Sylas Dredgebourne is at large and presumed highly dangerous. Citizens of Demecia are advised to report any sightings of the escaped felon and to keep their distance. Sylas is a powerful mage who has shown little concern for the lives of those around him.
Newly coronated, King Jarvan Lightshield IV has announced that from today onwards, every mage or magic sensitive person will need to be registered to ease the minds of everyday citizens and find the unknown accomplice.
If you or anyone you know, believe that they are a mage or potential mage, then please call the Mageseekers hotline on 1300 675 331.
Glory to Demecia.
9 notes
·
View notes