mortevatem:

    _{Struggle? Oh yeah, isn’t it some sort of sport…? He blinked at the faint recalling of her speaking very vaguely about it to him. Now, though, she said it was the same as it had been. Ace doubted such. Places changed, minutely, with the seasons and coming and going of familiars. Life was just the way it was that even an omniscient presence, a deity even, couldn’t notice the small changes in a society until they became so grand, so large and beyond human comparison, that the location was indeed, not the same. It may hold the same buildings, but he doubted it was just as he’d seen it before.}

    _{But it was quaint, peaceful, a town of simple desires. He almost wanted to live there, if it was even possible, but duties and responsibilities kept him away from a small provincial town. He supposed in that sort of environment he’d want more, as he figured that was how the young girl before him was, but here he wanted less. No more hustle and bustle and gunshots ringing in his ears, if he could help it. Some things just didn’t come true, though.}

    _{Here. How were things here? She shouldn’t have asked.}

    _{Brows fell momentarily in worry as he recalled his days. Sure, he had been bored, but that was because without military authorization, he could not be deployed. The stables were being remodeled, so he wasn’t allowed there either. The only thing to do were reports and to read, see his classmates and watch them speak all to the same degree of conversation. The war was far from over, which meant at any time a siren could go off, loudly calling for the collection of Class Zero within a single room. Along the way, he’d be cheered and rejoiced onward, but their words fell on closed ears.}

    _{Missions were missions.}

   _{The bird in his arms chirped in concern, far too intuitive in slight changes in emotion, and called the youth back into reality. With a faltered breath and a reassuring smile they both knew was fake, though it only lasted a second, he attempted to make it less than what it was. To say that he had been shot at or speared at or really anything on the battlefield that he found normal would only worry her. A lot of what he did would cause her concern. “… It’s about what it is… A little less work recently, but… I survive.”}

         _{Had it truly been so long since he had been to Twilight Town? Since they had first met? Surely that meant, then, that she would have to take him back one day. Perhaps soon, though the chances of that happening at any point in time were, admittedly, slim. To be able to bring him back to the world that she inhabited would be a wonderful thing indeed, though she could not be assured that he could make it through a portal safely… or that she would be able to anyways.}

         _{A lovely but impossible thought that she would simply have to ignore for the time being, perhaps for longer than just that moment, because it was worlds away. That old mansion was worlds away, but he was right there, her friend whose brows were furrowed and fallen and eyes expressing worry, and she wondered for a moment if it was truly her place to ask how things were doing in this world. Really she had no ties to this world, not really, but at the same time there was absolutely something that tied her there—Ace.}

         _{There would always be a reason to return to those lavish halls that confused her to the extent that she simply could not understand where she was going, as far as she was concerned that reason would always be there. Even if Ace were to disappear one day… when she doubtlessly did, there would always be some sort of reason. And she wondered if he was okay there, what he did to pass the days other than reading and going out and risking his life for a war that he had to fight.}

                                             _{To worry about him had become second nature.}

         _{Surely less work meant that there was less to be done for the effort and therefore things were safer? Then again, perhaps it did not mean that at all, and it appeared that going on these missions concerned her friend. Or perhaps not concern him, but rather cause him to have little to do with his time, because she supposed that there must be ample time to do things in if there was less work. Reading was one thing that could fill up much time, but even it could not fill up that much.}

                                                      _{To survive was not to live, was it?}

                  _{”What have you been doing with your time?” Probably a silly thing to inquire of, but she felt the urge to ask. Ace couldn’t have been simply doing nothing, because that was not his way, but that didn’t mean that boredom was prevented in any way.}