[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[Anyone who passes by the fountain today might notice something unusual: namely, a certain blond prince slumped in a sitting position against it. Only, well, he's no longer a prince, and he seems to be unconscious, but only the latter part is obvious. There are no visible injuries and he's still breathing, he just doesn't show any signs of waking up anytime soon.

Every now and then his face will contort slightly as if he's in pain or disturbed by some sort of bad dream, or maybe both. It's clear that whatever happened to him while he was gone wasn't good, but he's alive and in one piece and that's what matters the most. Whether there's anything non-physical wrong... that's yet to be seen.]

Comments

[denyingreasons.livejournal.com]

[Naoki had been considering spending the whole day holed up in his room. But, the best way--it seemed--to keep his mind other places was to keep moving. Sleep worked good, too. His feet carry him on his regular route through the plaza and he doesn't immediately look around, but, when he does lift his gaze to do a cursory scan--

...

He tilts his head slightly to one side, like he can't believe what he's seeing. Then, before he even realises it, Naoki's sprinting over toward the fountain and skidding to a stop to kneel next to him.] Richard. [Patting at his cheek now to try and urge him awake. Please let him remember me.]

[ledbythewind]

[It's a few seconds before Richard responds with a weak noise, eyes fluttering open as he struggles to process what's going on. Someone is touching him... Asbel? That's the first name that comes to mind after what just happened, so that's the name that escapes his lips as a soft whisper:]

... Asbel?

[denyingreasons.livejournal.com]

[Naoki's fingers twitch a little, mouth drawing down before he reprimands himself mentally for being an idiot. Almost cautiously:]

No...it's Naoki.

[ledbythewind]

[As his vision adjusts, the blur in front of his eyes begins to take on familiar features. Green-and-black markings, yellow eyes... he recognizes the person now, realizes that he's back in Luceti. He's not sure how he got there, but right now he doesn't really care. He's just happy to see Naoki again after everything he's been through.]

Naoki...

[His voice is warmer now, tinged with relief and joy. There's no question as to whether or not he remembers him.]

[denyingreasons.livejournal.com]

[Naoki blinks once, twice, and then he's slumping his shoulders a bit in the wake of a wave of relief that leaves him dizzy. His vision's looking blurry and he lifts a hand hastily to swipe at his eyes with the back of it.]

W-welcome back...

[All right, Naoki, get a hold of yourself. No crying. Even if it's hard not to.]

[ledbythewind]

[Aww, Naoki, don't cry, you'll make Richard feel bad. Well, worse than he already does, at least. He's having a hard time thinking right now and his head is pounding, making formulating sentences rather difficult.]

How long was I gone...?

[denyingreasons.livejournal.com]

Couple days.

[Naoki shakes his head slightly to snap himself out of it, swiping any remaining remnants of tears away. More important things to concentrate on, like shifting to look at him more closely.]

Are you alright?

[Action]

[mermaidofnoel.livejournal.com]

[There was an unusual shape when Razette looked up from her position in the water, enough to prompt her to check who was out there. However, at the sight of the man sleeping by the fountain, she quickly swam over, trying to see if he's all right. She croons, trying to get his attention, seeing if that'll work with waking him up.]

[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[The sound doesn't do much more than cause him to stir slightly, though it's clear that he hears it. He's drifting closer to wakefulness; he'll just need a bit more than that to actually regain consciousness. Like, you know, being splashed with water or something.]

[Action]

[mermaidofnoel.livejournal.com]

[... Splashes water at with her tail :| This is very helpful, right?!]

[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[Helpful in the sense that it gets him to open his eyes and look around, confused!]

[Action]

[mermaidofnoel.livejournal.com]

[She chirps from behind him, glad to see him awake.]

[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[He tries to turn slightly to see just who - or what - is there, though it takes him a few moments to do so.

... a girl in the fountain?]

[action]

[loyal-arrows.livejournal.com]

[And Aldo was just exploring the village when he sees a guy passed out by the fountain. That can't be good. He'll head over and decide to make sure he's not just sleeping first.] Sir? Are you ok?

[action]

[ledbythewind]

[Richard makes a soft sound, but doesn't rouse. Waking him up is going to take a bit more effort than that, sorry Aldo. But hey, at least he isn't dead?]

[action]

[loyal-arrows.livejournal.com]

[Aldo hesitates. He could just be sleeping, but that can't be comfortable, right? So he'll walk closer, kneeling down next to him and speaking a bit louder, just enough to wake him if he's really only asleep.]

Sir? This isn't the best place to sleep.

[action]

[ledbythewind]

[At this, Richard stirs, blinking his eyes open slowly. This... definitely isn't Lastaria. It looks familiar, but he's having a hard time processing pretty much anything right now.]

Sleep...?

[action]

[loyal-arrows.livejournal.com]

You were sleeping... did you just arrive? [He's obviously rather new at this people just showing up thing, but it seems a likely possiblity if he's not entirely aware he was asleep here.]

[action]

[ledbythewind]

[He shakes his head a little and immediately regrets that as it makes him dizzy.]

No... I've been here before.

[Action] /floods you

[300yrswandering.livejournal.com]

[Even though it's been dying down, Ted still liked going around to see if there were any New Feathers who needed help. Mostly though, it was good distraction than anything else.

The sight of an unconscious Richard by the fountain? Not a very good distraction. It takes more than a few seconds to realize just who it is and, strangely enough his first thought was "Naoki would be so happy to see him", before he quickly went over to check on him.] Oi, Richard. Wake up.

[Action] /drowns

[ledbythewind]

[He recognizes that voice, or at least he thinks he does, and it's enough to pull him that much closer to wakefulness, though he's still pretty out of it. It's about all he can manage to get out a name:]

Ted...?

[Action] /cackles

[300yrswandering.livejournal.com]

[... A sigh of relief. For a moment his heart stopped at that, suddenly realizing that Richard might have forgotten this place and thus making this possibly worse than before, but knowing he remembered Ted meant that...] Welcome back, you punk. Naoki's been worried.

[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[He takes a deep breath. Of course Naoki would be worried; he vanished without a trace, didn't he? And who knows how long he was gone...]

... I'm sorry. I never expected that to happen...

[Action]

[300yrswandering.livejournal.com]

Don't apologize to me. [Though that doesn't stop him from hitting Richard lightly on the head. He'd hit him harder, but somehow just seeing him back lessened the desire to do it since it meant that at least he had one less person to worry about... or two.] He'll be glad to know you're back.

[Action]

[ledbythewind]

[Dammit Ted, he has a headache, so that really hurt. He winces and makes a slight pained sound at that knock to the head, as light as it might have been.]