"Oh, so you noticed that," Riley lets the tea leaves swirl in the pot, and takes a knee to peer at the contents of liquor cabinet below. The selection isn't as extensive as it could have been given the limited amount of space; but what it lacks in variety, it most certainly makes up for in quality.
( He and Aidan also didn't need to be told that Lia would have disapproved -- he and the Dragon could drink their fair share and handle themselves well enough, but the impression it would give others who did not know them so well would not be so good.
It was, in some ways, important to keep up appearances. To be as human as they could manage to appear -- especially in the little details. )
He brings out two bottles then: one for himself, the other, for his companion.
"I rather like it though. Gives the room just a bit of character."
There was a quick comeback to that - something involving logic, correlations, Old World Gentlemen and their resistance towards change - but it's almost instantly buried another wave of pain. It's sitting at the back of his head now, together with the rest of the things that he would have been thinking about if he wasn't so damned tired.
So Hikaru's shifting, taking care not to jostle his own body too much as he's letting one arm flop over his chest (because if he moved it any lower he's pretty sure he'd crack another rib), dropping the other to where the ash from the cigarette he's got between two stiff fingers can drip to the floor instead of the carpet. He's turning, as well, watching Riley move around.
He's lost count of the number of times he's found himself in a situation like this with the Daywalker, and he'll never forget the first (1801, this office, the night he realized that he was quite possibly dying all over again and it was the thought of leaving Lia behind/never resolving things with Alistair that made him realize that he was getting sick and fucking tired of it). He'll never forget, as well, how Riley always seems to do exactly the right things, and have the right words, and know when not to say anything at all. It's hard, almost impossible, to unlearn the responses he has developed to this sort of kindness, to tell himself, instead, not to relax, to keep up the front, to look for the soonest possible way to get out while he still could (before he broke).
So there he is now, watching the other King, wishing he could turn away and at least have enough time to not look exactly the way he felt, and knowing full well that he just couldn't do it.
Living could be such a bitch. Feeling occasionally made it that much worse.
He'll never say it, of course, but that Hikaru always manages not to throw up that front, therefore allowing Riley a peek into that vulnerable side of him... it's comforting.
It's not lost on the Daywalker, how each subsequent lifetime is harder, therefore giving some logic to how Hikaru chooses to pull a little bit further away.
So he settles into taking his cues where he may, just continues to wait, not exactly watching his comrade while he gathers himself together. He is not Jessiah who might tremble with impatient, frustrated energy -- all borne from the simple truth that Jessie Vice cannot stand to see a dear friend in evident pain; nor is he Aidan, who views all the Kings as his children, after a fashion.
So Riley waits, drops his gaze to one of the bottles in hand. That Hikaru is in the room with him does not mean he cannot give his friend a measure of privacy -- if only in as much as he can by averting his eyes from the agony the younger man is currently in.
And because of that, Hikaru did not say anything until he had finished his cigarette and finally managed to fix his gaze back on that ceiling: he did not trust himself with words.
"Do you mind getting... you know..."
He needed to patch himself up, and his own room was now way too far.
Riley rises at that, steadier now on his feet than weeks before, and all the more glad for it.
He says nothing when he sets the bottle on the table in front of his companion, before stepping to where he, Aidan and Liandrin keep the emergency kit well-stocked for circumstances such as this.
He doesn't offer to help, instead decides to drag a chair over, to keep the Blade King company.
All of that leaves Hikaru just enough time to force himself up: on his elbows first, then a push made of nothing but willpower and that stubborn need to handle what he can at the moment, to cling to what little control he still has.
He reaches for the bottle with a quiet "thanks", and cracks it open. Then he's setting it back down, and focusing on peeling what's left of his shirt off.
The wounds are no longer trying to eat him; they have gone still, and gape at the open air, silent and ugly, as wounds are wont to do. There are bruises, as well, and a few small cuts.
Now, for that kit.
"Middle East," he offers, by way of explanation. "You probably knew that already, though."
Quietly pouring himself a drink as he turns his gaze away from the wounds to look casually off to the side.
There is very little that he can do at this point. But he can always listen, and talk, if necessary. Hikaru ( for all his bullheadedness ) and time, will do the rest.
"Bad enough, but nothing that we couldn't handle."
'We' being relative, and not because of a lack of skill on the part of his operatives. The Middle East had been a convenient distraction for Hikaru, all things considered.
"Get yourself patched up," he says it gently, sliding his gaze back now.
He's worried about you. Very worried. He hasn't said much, but he's been keeping an eye ( and sometimes, an ear ) out for any word on you and your activities.
"And I know that you'll protest: but I, for one, am glad to see that you've come home."
He wants to ask, he really does, what the problem is. But he knows better than to push you when you seem so adamant to run from whatever is bothering you.
And oh, he suspects it's not just the Aria Thing. He knows your patterns for her, but there's been a new one emerging, though he can't quite put his finger on it yet.
He doesn't respond, at least not immediately. From the way he goes still, however, at your last sentence, it's almost like your words were another wound that he has to deal with.
"Already on it."
That is said softly, while he's taking his coat off, while he's peeling the armor from his skin.
'Home'. Falner still counted as that, right? Sometimes, it was hard to believe that.
"What is wrong?" He'd wanted to let it lie, but you have been utterly out of sorts and he's worried, you know how he worries. You are, after all, someone who is as close to a younger brother as he will ever get.
"I swear by my life and the lives of everyone I love and care for that nothing from whatever conversation we have will ever leave this room."
You're not in any shape to bolt. And if you try, he can certainly stop you.
To his shame, the mere mention of the Living Land's name is enough, at this point, to make him flinch. Perhaps he would be better with it, though, if she was the only issue at hand.
He's quiet again, and staring down hard at the roll of bandages and bottle of antiseptic he has at hand now. This is hard to deal with, this whole business with Riley Falner choosing, with pinpoint accuracy, when to be unfailingly direct.
Fuck fixing himself up. He needs another cigarette first.
"I can handle my business well enough on my own, Riley. It's just been hard lately, that's all."
He needs to make this last attempt at deflecting your attention, and he needs you to let him at least try.
Doesn't he always let you? Really, Hikaru. Whatever it is, if it is so terrible, then say so. Yes, he might have appointed himself as the school teacher running check on the whole lot of you to properly balance out Aidan, but you've had enough time as friends to at least feel like you can speak plainly his way.
"If you tell me not to ask, I will not."
He realizes, a bit belatedly though, that calling you out like that has opened up two possibilities. He amends then, "And I do mean that." Quiet now, concerned.
"If you wish not to speak of whatever it is that weighs on your mind, then we can turn this conversation to you telling me instead what it is that I've missed since Liandrin put me on house arrest."
The world turns, out there. And he remains here, recuperating.
No words first, because over the ringing in his head, the pain of his injuries and the magnitude of the situation he's in at this moment aren't easy to deal with, especially when one tops it off with what Riley's saying to him now.
He should be able to trust Riley. He should be able to trust all of the Malice Kings, given everything that the lot of them have been through. The losses, the hardship, the victories that did not at all feel like victories. He knows as well, however, that the people he loves the most have also been watching him carefully, too carefully, and are incredibly quick to shut him down "for his own good". He's also firm in his belief that there are bigger fish to fry, and he certainly isn't the only one with problems that need to be handled.
This is why there are things that he does not tell them, even if he and many of the others should be "fine" now after the talks, the arguments, the negotiations. This is why he keeps pulling back, even when every other instinct in his bones and blood is telling him to rest easy and let the closest of his friends - his family - catch him when he starts to fall.
The look that the Daywalker will see the moment Hikaru finally looks up to meet his gaze is dark with one too many things, and the physical pain that the Blade King is in seems like the least of it. That is broken by a sharp laugh, a shake of the younger man's head. The bitter twist of his lips partially disappears from around the cigarette that he places between them.
"Honestly? I don't know where to start." And he isn't referring to what Riley's missed. Not at all. "I don't even know whether I should."
And this one's reclining in his seat. Yes, he is watching you carefully now, but it is out of concern, the kind of concern that spans the length and breadth of your friendship.
Perhaps they have all been watching you too closely, with attention that is more like scrutiny than anything else.
"Begin wherever you deem appropriate, old friend." Lifting his drink to his lips now. "I have all the time in the world."
It takes him a while to respond to that, and when he does, it's after his expression has eased into something less angry, less defensive. Some of the helplessness and confusion that he feels is welling up to the surface, see, before he can stop it. It's mingling with the loneliness and the sadness that he's been wrestling with ever since he woke up to this new life. It never really left, and, at times, it just gets worse.
"Why does it feel like none of you trust me anymore? Why are all of you so intent on holding me back from doing what I can for you?"
He can deal with the more personal shit later. Besides, maybe if he puts it off long enough, he won't have to talk about it with you.
"Hikaru..." How is he to explain that it is just that they -- the Kings, the three blades, based solely on what he has heard -- are worried, without you taking it the wrong way. He has tried to counter-balance the scrutiny in his own way, has he not kept his distance to give you room to breathe?
"Brother, we are not your enemies. We are your family. And perhaps, sometimes, family gets a little," how to put it, really. "We worry. It is as simple as that."
Because of the 28th life. Because none of them know what this means. Because the Darkest Vigil was hard on everyone and it's been a mere three years into peacetime that it feels like things could shatter at any moment.
"I do not think that any of us wish to lose you again." A sigh at the end of that as he sinks back into his chair.
He wants, so very badly, to believe that. He's wanted to since things started getting tense again, when it felt like doors were being shut without his consent, without so much of a head's up.
Maybe he lets go, at the end of it, because it's coming from Riley. The two of them have always had a unique sort of understanding that neither of them could find with any of the others. Maybe it's because, in spite of everything, Aidan is so far up there for Hikaru that there are many things he wouldn't dare to bother the man with, but Riley is not nearly as distant to him. But the depth of the love he feels for the both of them is the same.
There are no words for the entire stretch of time that it takes Hikaru to finish his cigarette. The tension's bleeding out of him, leaving nothing behind but heavier, sadder, more hurtful things.
"Can you help me with all of this?"
It's a soft request, full of all of the vulnerability that he's finally willing to show the other King. This is a step towards understanding what he's been told, and coming back around to the people who care about him.
And this one is letting out a breath that he had not realized he had been holding up until that moment, before he is wordlessly coming over to crouch in front of his companion to take the bandages with the efficiency of one who as done this countless times before.
"I was only waiting for you to ask, old friend."
He'll help you see to your wounds, he'll also keep the silence that does not press. You will speak to him of your thoughts when you wish to, and he can be patient for as long as it is necessary.
And what you'll discover is the fact that he's relaxed under your fingers, and the heavy stones of emotion within his gut and chest are starting to drop away. He focuses on a new cigarette, content, for the moment, with letting you take charge of the matter at hand.
That, too, is how he lets go.
"I'm starting to wonder if things are ever going to work out the way I want them to, whenever I try to take something for myself."
Doors have been closing on him, left and right. Even a guy as resilient as he is can only take so much.
A few months back, he would not have been able to handle you getting close like this. Now, however, it's only making him realize how much he has missed it.
It is really, really good to have you back. Honesty is a terrible thing, but it's also something that's needed more often around these parts these days.
"Maybe so, but I'm also starting to wonder how long I'm going to have to wait. Seems like all I do is screw up when I try."
He tops that statement with a small smile. It's a broken thing, wrecked, as it has been, from too many fucked up chances and too little room to breathe.
He's going to dare to put a gentle arm around your shoulders at that, because he may not be able to lift the weight that has settled there, but you have never been too heavy to carry, even if most might think otherwise.
You are family, Hikaru. You are a younger brother to this old and ancient vampire.
"Then perhaps you should not think of it as waiting." It's not the most comforting piece of advice he could hand your way, but it is something at the very least?
"What was that old saying: the journey, not the destination?"
He rather liked that one. It was a fitting analogy to the lives most of the Kings had to lead.
He's going to laugh at that, but the sound's caught somewhere between being bitterly amused and just being indicative of how far gone and how much closer he is to being at the end of his rope than it actually seems.
"I really, really hate that saying sometimes."
He has not moved away from Riley, though. Letting go takes practice, right? And this one has always been a quick study.
Chuckling softly at that. He's also noted ( gratefully ) that you have not moved away. It's an improvement, and he has never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"It can sound incredibly trite when you're in the middle of nowhere with no bloody clue where to go next."
Literally, metaphorically -- it's all the same, really.
"I am almost afraid to say, old friend: but please don't throw yourself back in the general direction of the Middle East." Those wounds worry him. He understands that you can take whatever is thrown your way, but it hasn't exactly been the most stable year thus far.
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( He and Aidan also didn't need to be told that Lia would have disapproved -- he and the Dragon could drink their fair share and handle themselves well enough, but the impression it would give others who did not know them so well would not be so good.
It was, in some ways, important to keep up appearances. To be as human as they could manage to appear -- especially in the little details. )
He brings out two bottles then: one for himself, the other, for his companion.
"I rather like it though. Gives the room just a bit of character."
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So Hikaru's shifting, taking care not to jostle his own body too much as he's letting one arm flop over his chest (because if he moved it any lower he's pretty sure he'd crack another rib), dropping the other to where the ash from the cigarette he's got between two stiff fingers can drip to the floor instead of the carpet. He's turning, as well, watching Riley move around.
He's lost count of the number of times he's found himself in a situation like this with the Daywalker, and he'll never forget the first (1801, this office, the night he realized that he was quite possibly dying all over again and it was the thought of leaving Lia behind/never resolving things with Alistair that made him realize that he was getting sick and fucking tired of it). He'll never forget, as well, how Riley always seems to do exactly the right things, and have the right words, and know when not to say anything at all. It's hard, almost impossible, to unlearn the responses he has developed to this sort of kindness, to tell himself, instead, not to relax, to keep up the front, to look for the soonest possible way to get out while he still could (before he broke).
So there he is now, watching the other King, wishing he could turn away and at least have enough time to not look exactly the way he felt, and knowing full well that he just couldn't do it.
Living could be such a bitch. Feeling occasionally made it that much worse.
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It's not lost on the Daywalker, how each subsequent lifetime is harder, therefore giving some logic to how Hikaru chooses to pull a little bit further away.
So he settles into taking his cues where he may, just continues to wait, not exactly watching his comrade while he gathers himself together. He is not Jessiah who might tremble with impatient, frustrated energy -- all borne from the simple truth that Jessie Vice cannot stand to see a dear friend in evident pain; nor is he Aidan, who views all the Kings as his children, after a fashion.
So Riley waits, drops his gaze to one of the bottles in hand. That Hikaru is in the room with him does not mean he cannot give his friend a measure of privacy -- if only in as much as he can by averting his eyes from the agony the younger man is currently in.
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"Do you mind getting... you know..."
He needed to patch himself up, and his own room was now way too far.
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He says nothing when he sets the bottle on the table in front of his companion, before stepping to where he, Aidan and Liandrin keep the emergency kit well-stocked for circumstances such as this.
He doesn't offer to help, instead decides to drag a chair over, to keep the Blade King company.
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He reaches for the bottle with a quiet "thanks", and cracks it open. Then he's setting it back down, and focusing on peeling what's left of his shirt off.
The wounds are no longer trying to eat him; they have gone still, and gape at the open air, silent and ugly, as wounds are wont to do. There are bruises, as well, and a few small cuts.
Now, for that kit.
"Middle East," he offers, by way of explanation. "You probably knew that already, though."
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Quietly pouring himself a drink as he turns his gaze away from the wounds to look casually off to the side.
There is very little that he can do at this point. But he can always listen, and talk, if necessary. Hikaru ( for all his bullheadedness ) and time, will do the rest.
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'We' being relative, and not because of a lack of skill on the part of his operatives. The Middle East had been a convenient distraction for Hikaru, all things considered.
"I'm home a little earlier than intended."
Hence. Well. This.
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He's worried about you. Very worried. He hasn't said much, but he's been keeping an eye ( and sometimes, an ear ) out for any word on you and your activities.
"And I know that you'll protest: but I, for one, am glad to see that you've come home."
He wants to ask, he really does, what the problem is. But he knows better than to push you when you seem so adamant to run from whatever is bothering you.
And oh, he suspects it's not just the Aria Thing. He knows your patterns for her, but there's been a new one emerging, though he can't quite put his finger on it yet.
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"Already on it."
That is said softly, while he's taking his coat off, while he's peeling the armor from his skin.
'Home'. Falner still counted as that, right? Sometimes, it was hard to believe that.
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"What is wrong?" He'd wanted to let it lie, but you have been utterly out of sorts and he's worried, you know how he worries. You are, after all, someone who is as close to a younger brother as he will ever get.
"I swear by my life and the lives of everyone I love and care for that nothing from whatever conversation we have will ever leave this room."
You're not in any shape to bolt. And if you try, he can certainly stop you.
"What is the matter, Hikaru? Is it Aria?"
Might as well cut to the chase, right?
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He's quiet again, and staring down hard at the roll of bandages and bottle of antiseptic he has at hand now. This is hard to deal with, this whole business with Riley Falner choosing, with pinpoint accuracy, when to be unfailingly direct.
Fuck fixing himself up. He needs another cigarette first.
"I can handle my business well enough on my own, Riley. It's just been hard lately, that's all."
He needs to make this last attempt at deflecting your attention, and he needs you to let him at least try.
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"If you tell me not to ask, I will not."
He realizes, a bit belatedly though, that calling you out like that has opened up two possibilities. He amends then, "And I do mean that." Quiet now, concerned.
"If you wish not to speak of whatever it is that weighs on your mind, then we can turn this conversation to you telling me instead what it is that I've missed since Liandrin put me on house arrest."
The world turns, out there. And he remains here, recuperating.
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He should be able to trust Riley. He should be able to trust all of the Malice Kings, given everything that the lot of them have been through. The losses, the hardship, the victories that did not at all feel like victories. He knows as well, however, that the people he loves the most have also been watching him carefully, too carefully, and are incredibly quick to shut him down "for his own good". He's also firm in his belief that there are bigger fish to fry, and he certainly isn't the only one with problems that need to be handled.
This is why there are things that he does not tell them, even if he and many of the others should be "fine" now after the talks, the arguments, the negotiations. This is why he keeps pulling back, even when every other instinct in his bones and blood is telling him to rest easy and let the closest of his friends - his family - catch him when he starts to fall.
The look that the Daywalker will see the moment Hikaru finally looks up to meet his gaze is dark with one too many things, and the physical pain that the Blade King is in seems like the least of it. That is broken by a sharp laugh, a shake of the younger man's head. The bitter twist of his lips partially disappears from around the cigarette that he places between them.
"Honestly? I don't know where to start." And he isn't referring to what Riley's missed. Not at all. "I don't even know whether I should."
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Perhaps they have all been watching you too closely, with attention that is more like scrutiny than anything else.
"Begin wherever you deem appropriate, old friend." Lifting his drink to his lips now. "I have all the time in the world."
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"Why does it feel like none of you trust me anymore? Why are all of you so intent on holding me back from doing what I can for you?"
He can deal with the more personal shit later. Besides, maybe if he puts it off long enough, he won't have to talk about it with you.
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"Brother, we are not your enemies. We are your family. And perhaps, sometimes, family gets a little," how to put it, really. "We worry. It is as simple as that."
Because of the 28th life. Because none of them know what this means. Because the Darkest Vigil was hard on everyone and it's been a mere three years into peacetime that it feels like things could shatter at any moment.
"I do not think that any of us wish to lose you again." A sigh at the end of that as he sinks back into his chair.
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Maybe he lets go, at the end of it, because it's coming from Riley. The two of them have always had a unique sort of understanding that neither of them could find with any of the others. Maybe it's because, in spite of everything, Aidan is so far up there for Hikaru that there are many things he wouldn't dare to bother the man with, but Riley is not nearly as distant to him. But the depth of the love he feels for the both of them is the same.
There are no words for the entire stretch of time that it takes Hikaru to finish his cigarette. The tension's bleeding out of him, leaving nothing behind but heavier, sadder, more hurtful things.
"Can you help me with all of this?"
It's a soft request, full of all of the vulnerability that he's finally willing to show the other King. This is a step towards understanding what he's been told, and coming back around to the people who care about him.
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"I was only waiting for you to ask, old friend."
He'll help you see to your wounds, he'll also keep the silence that does not press. You will speak to him of your thoughts when you wish to, and he can be patient for as long as it is necessary.
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That, too, is how he lets go.
"I'm starting to wonder if things are ever going to work out the way I want them to, whenever I try to take something for myself."
Doors have been closing on him, left and right. Even a guy as resilient as he is can only take so much.
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"We are allowed good things, Hikaru. I realize that sounds trite in light of recent events, but it does not make it any less true."
The other chair is too far away, so he's just going to sit by you and drink from his own glass.
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It is really, really good to have you back. Honesty is a terrible thing, but it's also something that's needed more often around these parts these days.
"Maybe so, but I'm also starting to wonder how long I'm going to have to wait. Seems like all I do is screw up when I try."
He tops that statement with a small smile. It's a broken thing, wrecked, as it has been, from too many fucked up chances and too little room to breathe.
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You are family, Hikaru. You are a younger brother to this old and ancient vampire.
"Then perhaps you should not think of it as waiting." It's not the most comforting piece of advice he could hand your way, but it is something at the very least?
"What was that old saying: the journey, not the destination?"
He rather liked that one. It was a fitting analogy to the lives most of the Kings had to lead.
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"I really, really hate that saying sometimes."
He has not moved away from Riley, though. Letting go takes practice, right? And this one has always been a quick study.
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"It can sound incredibly trite when you're in the middle of nowhere with no bloody clue where to go next."
Literally, metaphorically -- it's all the same, really.
"I am almost afraid to say, old friend: but please don't throw yourself back in the general direction of the Middle East." Those wounds worry him. He understands that you can take whatever is thrown your way, but it hasn't exactly been the most stable year thus far.
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