[Video | Blast from the Past Virus]

[onlysanechimera]

[Zel's just sitting on a rock out in the woods with his computer set down next to him. He's running a long strip of white cloth between his fingers, idly, and there's a simple iron halberd sticking up on the other side of him from the camera, apparently leaning against the rock.]

Zolf, Rodimus... it's been a long time.

[He sighs quietly and glances down at the computer.]

I assume this was the community's idea? Probably expecting something a bit more dramatic.

[A voice calls out from somewhere behind him, possibly recognizable as Amelia's. He looks over his shoulder to reply.]

Sorry, I'll be there in a minute.

Well, I ought to get going. I suppose these things won't stay, but since they're here now...

[He wraps the bandage around a tree, tying the halberd to it upright. He gives a slight, wistful smile before leaning down to turn the camera off.]

Comments

[ifbymyhands]

Hey, Zel-kun. I guess this virus is giving us a bunch of old stuff, huh?

[onlysanechimera]

Looks that way. Why, what did you get?

[ifbymyhands]

Helium balloon.

[onlysanechimera]

... I'm sorry, I don't think I know what that one means.

[ifbymyhands]

*She pulls over a red balloon shaped like a rabbit. It even has a face on it.*

This is from one of the summer festivals we have back home in Kasumi Town. I really wanted one when I was little, and Sis bought it for me, but I lost my grip and it flew away. Kinda pathetic, isn't it?

[onlysanechimera]

Not really. I think the community's going for impact instead of what would be significant to other people. This is a very... personal virus.

[ifbymyhands]

...yeah. I guess so.

[onlysanechimera]

So, no, it isn't pathetic, is what I was trying to say.

[ifbymyhands]

I guess. It was something pretty important in the end, anyway. ...Thanks, Zel-kun.

[onlysanechimera]

Don't mention it.

[ifbymyhands]

Those things you got belonged to your friends, huh?

[onlysanechimera]

Yes, they did. Zolf and Rodimus practically raised me, honestly.

Though Zolf would probably lose it entirely if he knew what the community used to remind me of him was a bandage.

[ifbymyhands]

Sometimes this place is weird like that.

[onlysanechimera]

It's more what the bandages imply with him. There was a period where he was rather badly injured and went around wrapped up like a mummy. It was actually a bit funny, but I wouldn't say that to his face.

[ifbymyhands]

That does sound kinda funny.

[onlysanechimera]

What were mostly funny were the fits he pitched whenever someone commented on it.

That, and Lina's reaction when he took them off. Zolf was actually quite good-looking, but he was still wrapped up when she met him.

[ifbymyhands]

Pff-ahahahahaha! That's perfect!

[onlysanechimera]

[This may possibly be him attempting to cheer Kano - and himself - up.]

Lina makes snap judgments sometimes. But she does make incredible faces when she finds out she's wrong.

And I definitely didn't say that.

[ifbymyhands]

Oh, no, I believe that.

[onlysanechimera]

I mean "If Lina asks, please don't tell her I said she makes faces when she's mad."

[ifbymyhands]

Yes, yes. You can trust me, Zel-kun.

[onlysanechimera]

If you say so, Kano.

[mightletyouknowme]

What's that suppose to be, anyway?

[onlysanechimera]

Hm? Which part? I would have thought it would be fairly obvious.

[onlysanechimera]

If you mean the cloth, it's part of a bandage.

[mightletyouknowme]

I know what they are! [She looks more closely.] That doesn't mean it makes sense why you have them. If you have magic, why would you have that weapon?

[onlysanechimera]

... You remember I use a sword as well as magic, right, Sena?

And the halberd isn't mine, anyway. The community brought it here; it used to belong to a close friend of mine.

[mightletyouknowme]

[No, she did not. The magic made the big impression.]

Heh? [But he's not a faceless nobody so there's a hitch, unsure tone in her voice.] Used to?

[onlysanechimera]

The two people the items are meant to remind me of died a few years ago.

[Zel's voice has gone completely toneless all of a sudden.]

They were trying to hold off a powerful demon so that the rest of us could escape.

[mightletyouknowme]

[Unable to look at him - she's not good with this stuff - she instead looks at her desk, drawing a circle with her finger. Still, somehow, her voice makes it obvious it's because of the conversation, not in spite of it.]

You said try but...but you're still alive so it worked, right?

[onlysanechimera]

[His expression softens a little, and he lowers his voice. He can at least see he made her uncomfortable.]

... Yes, it worked.

You don't have to look like that, Sena. You didn't know.

[mightletyouknowme]

But you miss them, right?

[More than saying the wrong thing, it bothers her that this is making him sad. Somehow along the way, they'd become friends and that, at least, was very precious to her.]

[onlysanechimera]

Of course I do. They were my friends.

[They were practically family, honestly. In addition to teaching him they'd done the better part of raising him in general.]

But you don't have to worry about saying something wrong. As long as you don't outright insult them, anyway.

[mightletyouknowme]

Why would I do that? [She's not aware of her own personality.] I only tell people the truth.

[onlysanechimera]

Fair enough.

[He's finally (mostly) learned that arguing that kind of stuff is pointless. After a couple of years of doing it with Azula. The point here is to make Sena feel better anyway.]