It's odd. He stands there, perplexed as Suzaku steps in. A part of him is Aindreas again, smug that his older brother is standing up to the bully but a part of him is not and wonders if Suzaku's only stepping in because he can't shake the odd ties to a fake life.
The demon cracks the whip at Suzaku this time since he's being the insolent one, and it's Tech's turn to react without thought.
"Hey, dickbag." The rubble Tech was holding gets launched at the demon, pegging him upside the head. "Don't you dare lay a finger on him." It's with a fierce loyalty that he threatens this asshole, and while said asshole is ready to take on both of them -- they get saved when he's called off by what must be a superior. Tech's shoulders slump in relief when the demon goes and then he looks at Suzaku, fighting the urge to hug him because...that would be weird, right?
"Yo. Thanks for stepping in. You didn't have to." His eyes veer toward the shop again...the place where it all fell apart. "Have you gone to the dungeon to see F...Fitz yet?"
Yes, he definitely was about to slip and say father.
Suzaku is ready to fight, if those demons make a move on the other man but luckily the demon gets called away by a superior, leaving them alone for now. He watched after them for a moment, just to check that the superior isn't handing him a better weapon, or giving him more specific orders of what to do with the troublemakers.
The his eyes returned to Aindreas. Or whatever his name actually is. "I did. They shouldn't treat you like that." Suzaku was used to the world not working the way he wished it to work but that didn't mean he stopped trying.
He looked towards the shop, remembering despite himself. "No." He shook his head, catching that slip. It was difficult, to remember.
"I got caught up in some trouble and... I wasn't sure he would want to see me."
A reminder of everything. "Also I'm not sure why he has been imprisoned. Surely he is no less to blame than us."
Brainwashing was brainwashing. Suzaku doesn't quite believe that everything you do when not in control of your mind was forgivable... But it's complicated.
More it depends on who it is. He is more likely to excuse others rather than himself.
"I don't know either. I don't understand it anyway. I think he worked with Barbas to set this whole thing up -- that's about the extent of what I gathered. His personality within these walls was something that was with him back in his world, waiting to come out."
He looks around the rubble, solemn and thoughtful. While many people seemed to want Fitz accountable for it, Tech found he could care less. The doctor was only trying to find a way to survive when the odds were stacked against him. Was that really all that bad? But then again, morality had never really been his strong suit.
His eyes drift back to Suzaku. "I don't have a name, if you're wondering. It's definitely not Aindreas. I'm a god. The god of technology. Most people just call me Tech. Is your actual name Suzaku?"
He worked with Barbas? Suzaku frowned at that but still. Without knowing all of the situation he couldn't exactly judge. He didn't know him. Had never met him before he had become his father and even then it had not given him much insight as to who he was as a person.
His personality was something that was with him in his world, that was similar to the rest of them. Kate had said that Katherine was her worst traits and Suzaku hadn't been all that different. Indeed Suzaku Fitz was potentially a better person that Suzaku Kururugi.
Monika had said that the time was not right to know who Aindreas was and Suzaku had wondered at the dramatic tone but still he is surprised when Aindreas... Not Aindreas... tells him. A god? A god in hell? A god of technology? Tech.
He stared at him in shock for a moment trying to pair that information with the smart little brother he had in his memories. It took him a moment to realise he had been asked a question.
"Yes." He nodded. "Suzaku Kururugi. It's nice to meet you properly... Tech."
"Yeah. Sup, man?" Tech, unlike Aindreas, is not polite. Tech, unlike Aindreas, tries so very hard to come across as cool. He holds up his fist for a fist bump because screw conventional greetings like handshakes or bows (because Suzaku Kururugi definitely sounds like an Eastern name).
"Kinda funny, isn't it? I'm pretty sure I'm way older than you. And our mom was my age in appearance, so that magic sure was good at throwing out all logic. But whatever." He leans against the side of the building, taking a hit off of his vape pen. The smoke billows skyward.
"I'm still pissed at you for sacrificing yourself, yanno." He comments with a tiny smile. In the end, it didn't matter. They both were forced to go back to normal. "You were always looking out for me when you should've just been looking out for yourself. It's not like I was kind to you after the whole assassination failure."
It is strange, he looks like Aindreas but he's not him. Obviously. He's less polite, less formal. Which isn't a bad thing, it makes him similar to most the people in hell and Suzaku has been in hell a while, knows how people are.
Though not long enough apparently to understand the gesture Tech is making. A closed fist pointed at him. Suzaku nodded, politely, masking his confusion as best he could.
It was strange how their logic had been twisted. Kate and Fitz were indeed older than him but certainly not old enough to be his parents. Tech looked closer to Kate's age than Suzaku's and if he were a god... who knew how old he truly was.
He looked down, shook his head. "You had no reason to be kind, it was the way we were. I am sure if the tables had been turned I would not have been kind to you after failure." He frowned. "I apologise though, my actions meant you were trapped in the brainwashing for longer."
He looks at Suzaku, fist still up and waiting. "C'mon, man. You're not gonna leave me hanging, are you? Geesh. It's called a fist bump. It's like a handshake, except yanno. Like the name implies, we bump fists. You must've been pretty sheltered, huh?"
There's a pause as he processes Suzaku's words and then turns to look at the shop where it all went down.
"I don't think you had it in you to be cruel to Aindreas. Regardless of how you were raised. You always would have had a protective streak. And I didn't mind it, really. Being trapped. We were happy, for the most part. It's more than I've ever really had in my normal life."
He shrugs. Maybe he shouldn't get so candid with Suzaku, but it does feel like there's a certain rapport that came from being fake brothers once.
A fist... bump? At least Tech's explanation was easy enough. Like a handshake but bumping fists. He made his hand into a fist and reached out slowly to tap the fist against Tech's. Like that? It seemed strange, he's not sure he's ever seen such a gesture. Though he would disagree with being sheltered.
"It's more than I had as well. Suzaku Fitz was a better person than me, I think, in the ways that counted."
After all thanks to his curse he had managed to not become a murder, despite his attempt. It was the awkward thing, that that boy raised as a demon was a better person than he was in reality. Kate was struggling with reminders of Katherine who she saw as the worst part of herself but truly Suzaku Fitz might have been the best parts of himself, parts that were long gone in reality.
He smiles and nods when the fist bump is given. Yup, that's right. And now he knows how to do it so he can be the coolest among his friends!
"Being myself again isn't really the strange part. The strange part is that there's ghosts of everything I did in Hellburbia. Like I fucking know you're not, but you still feel like my older brother in a way. There's a lifetime of fake memories for things we did -- playing sports out in the yard when we were little and after I scraped my knees one too many times, I actively swore off sports altogether. Being paraded around in suits at a variety of father's events and having to be on our best behavior while we acted more like a list of accomplishments than actual people. And remember that one bully Tamrak that you beat the shit out of when he was trying to steal my lunch money?"
He laughs. The memories are so vivid, it's like he could reach out and touch them -- flip through them like a camera roll.
"It's weird to have it be so fake, yet feel so real. Like we actually lived that when we only lived barely a fraction of it."
He's right. That was the strangest thing. He remembers his own life, isolation, war, fear but interwoven are these fake memories. A brother he never had, a mother he never had. Playing sports out in the yard, going to school. They hadn't been a family that showed emotion much but that didn't mean that emotion wasn't felt.
Even now. "Tamrak had it coming." Bullying younger kids. Suzaku wondered if he was real. Another sinner. Or one of the demons. Or just someone their minds had created.
It might have been less weird if they only remembered the few months they had been trapped. But Tech is right, it's a whole life. Childhood memories that were not his at all.
"You still feel like him. I never had a younger sibling in my real life, but I understand now."
Why some people would burn the world to build a better one for a sibling, why they would fight wars to keep them safe.
His lips quirk, a faint smile as Suzaku's insistence that Tamrak had it coming. It's such a Suzaku thing to say. Except how would he really know what is actually a Suzaku thing to say? He doesn't know him and yet he does. It doesn't seem like there's anything that's going to fully delete Suzaku Fitz.
Tech knows what Suzaku means. About never having a sibling, but feeling like one existed now. It's strange and awkward. Would Suzaku even like Tech -- as obnoxious and mouthy and arrogant as he is? Would he find it weird to hear him fling a string of curses and be anything less than the perfect model of a student and a brother?
Well, it doesn't matter because what Suzaku says causes Tech to tilt his head and ask: "Understand what?"
"What it is like." He looked at him. "Why people would go to such lengths to protect them."
He had always understood in theory. But Suzaku had never really... Had a family. He had had his father until he was ten but even then... Their relationship had not been close. But he had witnessed Lelouch tear down and remake the world, for justice yes. But also for Nunnally.
To make a better place for her. Just as Suzaku Fitz would have done anything to make sure his brother could survive what he had believed to be a deadly attack on their home.
"Ah. Yeah..." he answers, fidgeting with his jacket sleeve. He's not sure how to feel about it -- this fierce loyalty borne from fake emotions. Tech's not used to loyalty to begin with, let alone of the familial sort.
"Well," he begins and words fail him for a moment. He stares at a pile of rubble, quiet for a moment before before he says. "Well, at least you're absolved of the responsibility now. No more going to great lengths and no more reason to protect me. I can protect myself. And I probably could have there too -- except I got spoiled and just started to expect you to fix my messes."
And it had worked, really. The bullies eventually stopped targeting Aindreas because they knew they would have to deal with Suzaku.
"You wanna go see our old house? I'm curious to see what actually survived the storm."
He has made Tech uncomfortable, he can tell that and his jaw tightened in embarrassment. Perhaps he should not have said anything. He bowed his head.
It didn't change his feelings, or his mind. But he would make sure not to be so obvious in future. Tech could protect himself, but that wouldn't prevent Suzaku wanting to make sure he was safe.
He knows himself that much.
"We can do so."
He's not sure how exactly he feels about that but he is curious, so he thinks he would like to see.
He looks at Suzaku momentarily with a frown -- noting the jaw tightening and the silence. Tech's not Aindreas, but he feels like him. And because he feels like him, he also feels like he knows Suzaku enough to know something is bothering him. He's not obvious about it. He never is. It's all subtle in his body language. And Aindreas would pretend not to see it, just to not bring his brother any embarrassment.
But.
Tech is not Aindreas.
He steps closer and dares to place his hand on Suzaku's shoulder with a sort of familiarity. "I don't want you to be disappointed when you don't find much of your brother in me, yanno? Er...his brother. Um. You know what I mean. I feel like we spent our whole lives trying not to disappoint one another or our parents, and now it's like....I can't shake this feeling you're absolutely gonna hate who I really am. I mean, fuck. Half the time I don't know who I am and that's even before this Hellburbia mess. At least Aindreas was sure of himself."
He blinks at him, surprised at the closeness yet also not surprised. He looks up at him steadily.
He doesn't expect Tech to be Aindreas. Not really. He knows he is different, they all are after all. "I won't be disappointed." He shook his head. "I know you are not him, I am not him either. You may hate who I really am."
After all Suzaku hates who Suzaku truly is so it would be normal for others to do likewise. "I do not have any expectations."
Or rather he does, but he knows them to be false and tries to put them out of mind.
"You'll find my tolerance for people is pretty fucking high," he flashes a confident grin. "And my moral compass is also pretty fucking flexible. So I don't think there's anything you could tell me that's going to make me love you any less."
Because it's a love. And there's no skirting around that. The love may have been fabricated within these walls, but it feels so real even now. He doesn't imagine that's the sort of thing that's going to fade either -- not when they shared a lifetime together in their memories.
Tech draws back, starting to walk the familiar path toward their former home. "All I'm trying to say is I just don't want you to feel you need to step in and fight my battles for me. Because I have a tendency to get myself into trouble and now I'd feel pretty shitty if that trouble bled over onto you." He flashes a faint smile.
Suzaku looked shocked, he was shocked. More than shocked honestly as he stared at him. It's not so much the declaration of love, because it was what he felt to. A brother, family, someone he loved even though they were feelings based on a foundation of lies.
But no one. Not ever in Suzaku's life had declared such a thing. That they would love him regardless. He is not sure he can believe it. After all Tech knows nothing about him. There's nothing to say Suzaku's actions would even make him regret that.
But it's... Almost overwhelming and if Tech was trying to make Suzaku not want to fight for him, it is the wrong tactic.
"Yeah, I bet. You got those fighting skills. Those aren't the sorts of things they just fabricate out of nothing in a fake life. I'm sure it's something innate -- just like me being the fucking nerdiest nerd around was all innate." He smiles, briefly.
"So. Tell me about you. What was your deal back home? What do you do here? How long have you been here, anyway? I'm coming up on almost a year. It'll be a year in..."
He ticks off his fingers, doing a silent count.
"April. Shit. We're just around the corner."
It's not a milestone he ever expected to reach. He thought he'd be out of here by now. Has he not been trying hard enough? Okay. New goal. Second year? Try to be more like Loki.
Tech was right, it wasn't the sort of thing that just manifested brainwashed or not. He had been sporty and capable of fighting in their fake life because he was capable in real life, just as Tech was clearly as intelligent and scholarly as Aindreas had been.
"A year is a long time. I've been here a year and... four months." Roughly. It felt much longer and also shorter all at the same time.
"I was a soldier back home, a knight. My world has been at war for a very long time."
Was it still? He wished he knew. Had he managed to plunge it further into turmoil by ruining Lelouch's plan with his untimely death?
"A knight? Shit, so you're all like....medieval times? That would explain you not knowing the fist bump." Tech ribs Suzaku with a small smile.
The smile fades off as he mulls over Suzaku being here for an entire year and counting -- arriving only a few months before him. And yet, they hadn't met until Hellburbia. Tech had kept pretty well to himself, though. And Suzaku, quiet and reserved as he is, probably did the same.
"Sorry..." he offers. "About you getting stuck in this place so long. I've been doing every fucking thing to try and get out of here, but...obviously I haven't found the solution yet. Because I think the whole thing about 'redeeming yourself' or whatever is bullshit. Not a single person can get out that way..."
"Oh. No." He shook his head. "It's not medieval. It's the year two thousand and eighteen." Which might not mean much to someone not of his world. "We are a long way from the medieval times, knights fight in large robots, called Knightmare Frames."
Rather than on horseback or whatever they did back in the past. "I've not heard of anyone who was redeemed, though people do seem to disappear, no one seems to know if that means they escaped though."
He has been doing... Not much to escape. He figures he deserves to be here and also he doesn't have the first clue about how to start trying to get people out. He's never done great working alone.
"So like, what? Is this some weird hybrid of the two? You guys evolved to have giant robots, but also still got stuck in the backwards way of kings and knights and shit? Well, I guess you didn't actually say there were kings and queens, I just assumed that part." If there are knights, though....it makes sense. Knights serve royalty. It's just such a bizarre combination in his mind. He can't picture anything in the 2000s being anything other than what his world is.
"Sounds weird, dude. And it sounds like the sort of place that makes adjusting to all of this harder than it should be." He gestures toward the world around them as a means of indicating hell. Because while hell could be backwards in many ways, it tended toward the modern world with modern amenities. "At least....being Suzaku Fitz for a bit probably made you understand things a little better."
"It's only really Britannia. They have an emperor, lots of princes and princesses and they rule... Ruled a lot of the world. Other countries are ruled differently. Before the war Japan had a prime minister, no knights or anything like that. Japan is where I am from."
This place was very weird, hell was strange and he struggled sometimes when many of the other people came from similar places to each other. Often their worlds were close but at the same time different to his own.
"It did help I think. Just the knowledge that was put in my head... It brought things into context."
If there was a prime minister before some war, then it stood to reason there's not one now. And that Japan had lost said war. Maybe they got absorbed into this empire or maybe they just forced their young and able men to fight for Britannia. Whatever the case, why is it always a war? No matter where you go, even in hell, there will always be someone vying for power.
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The demon cracks the whip at Suzaku this time since he's being the insolent one, and it's Tech's turn to react without thought.
"Hey, dickbag." The rubble Tech was holding gets launched at the demon, pegging him upside the head. "Don't you dare lay a finger on him." It's with a fierce loyalty that he threatens this asshole, and while said asshole is ready to take on both of them -- they get saved when he's called off by what must be a superior. Tech's shoulders slump in relief when the demon goes and then he looks at Suzaku, fighting the urge to hug him because...that would be weird, right?
"Yo. Thanks for stepping in. You didn't have to." His eyes veer toward the shop again...the place where it all fell apart. "Have you gone to the dungeon to see F...Fitz yet?"
Yes, he definitely was about to slip and say father.
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The his eyes returned to Aindreas. Or whatever his name actually is. "I did. They shouldn't treat you like that." Suzaku was used to the world not working the way he wished it to work but that didn't mean he stopped trying.
He looked towards the shop, remembering despite himself. "No." He shook his head, catching that slip. It was difficult, to remember.
"I got caught up in some trouble and... I wasn't sure he would want to see me."
A reminder of everything. "Also I'm not sure why he has been imprisoned. Surely he is no less to blame than us."
Brainwashing was brainwashing. Suzaku doesn't quite believe that everything you do when not in control of your mind was forgivable... But it's complicated.
More it depends on who it is. He is more likely to excuse others rather than himself.
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He looks around the rubble, solemn and thoughtful. While many people seemed to want Fitz accountable for it, Tech found he could care less. The doctor was only trying to find a way to survive when the odds were stacked against him. Was that really all that bad? But then again, morality had never really been his strong suit.
His eyes drift back to Suzaku. "I don't have a name, if you're wondering. It's definitely not Aindreas. I'm a god. The god of technology. Most people just call me Tech. Is your actual name Suzaku?"
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His personality was something that was with him in his world, that was similar to the rest of them. Kate had said that Katherine was her worst traits and Suzaku hadn't been all that different. Indeed Suzaku Fitz was potentially a better person that Suzaku Kururugi.
Monika had said that the time was not right to know who Aindreas was and Suzaku had wondered at the dramatic tone but still he is surprised when Aindreas... Not Aindreas... tells him. A god? A god in hell? A god of technology? Tech.
He stared at him in shock for a moment trying to pair that information with the smart little brother he had in his memories. It took him a moment to realise he had been asked a question.
"Yes." He nodded. "Suzaku Kururugi. It's nice to meet you properly... Tech."
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"Kinda funny, isn't it? I'm pretty sure I'm way older than you. And our mom was my age in appearance, so that magic sure was good at throwing out all logic. But whatever." He leans against the side of the building, taking a hit off of his vape pen. The smoke billows skyward.
"I'm still pissed at you for sacrificing yourself, yanno." He comments with a tiny smile. In the end, it didn't matter. They both were forced to go back to normal. "You were always looking out for me when you should've just been looking out for yourself. It's not like I was kind to you after the whole assassination failure."
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Though not long enough apparently to understand the gesture Tech is making. A closed fist pointed at him. Suzaku nodded, politely, masking his confusion as best he could.
It was strange how their logic had been twisted. Kate and Fitz were indeed older than him but certainly not old enough to be his parents. Tech looked closer to Kate's age than Suzaku's and if he were a god... who knew how old he truly was.
He looked down, shook his head. "You had no reason to be kind, it was the way we were. I am sure if the tables had been turned I would not have been kind to you after failure." He frowned. "I apologise though, my actions meant you were trapped in the brainwashing for longer."
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There's a pause as he processes Suzaku's words and then turns to look at the shop where it all went down.
"I don't think you had it in you to be cruel to Aindreas. Regardless of how you were raised. You always would have had a protective streak. And I didn't mind it, really. Being trapped. We were happy, for the most part. It's more than I've ever really had in my normal life."
He shrugs. Maybe he shouldn't get so candid with Suzaku, but it does feel like there's a certain rapport that came from being fake brothers once.
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"It's more than I had as well. Suzaku Fitz was a better person than me, I think, in the ways that counted."
After all thanks to his curse he had managed to not become a murder, despite his attempt. It was the awkward thing, that that boy raised as a demon was a better person than he was in reality. Kate was struggling with reminders of Katherine who she saw as the worst part of herself but truly Suzaku Fitz might have been the best parts of himself, parts that were long gone in reality.
"Do you find it strange, to be yourself again?"
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"Being myself again isn't really the strange part. The strange part is that there's ghosts of everything I did in Hellburbia. Like I fucking know you're not, but you still feel like my older brother in a way. There's a lifetime of fake memories for things we did -- playing sports out in the yard when we were little and after I scraped my knees one too many times, I actively swore off sports altogether. Being paraded around in suits at a variety of father's events and having to be on our best behavior while we acted more like a list of accomplishments than actual people. And remember that one bully Tamrak that you beat the shit out of when he was trying to steal my lunch money?"
He laughs. The memories are so vivid, it's like he could reach out and touch them -- flip through them like a camera roll.
"It's weird to have it be so fake, yet feel so real. Like we actually lived that when we only lived barely a fraction of it."
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Even now. "Tamrak had it coming." Bullying younger kids. Suzaku wondered if he was real. Another sinner. Or one of the demons. Or just someone their minds had created.
It might have been less weird if they only remembered the few months they had been trapped. But Tech is right, it's a whole life. Childhood memories that were not his at all.
"You still feel like him. I never had a younger sibling in my real life, but I understand now."
Why some people would burn the world to build a better one for a sibling, why they would fight wars to keep them safe.
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Tech knows what Suzaku means. About never having a sibling, but feeling like one existed now. It's strange and awkward. Would Suzaku even like Tech -- as obnoxious and mouthy and arrogant as he is? Would he find it weird to hear him fling a string of curses and be anything less than the perfect model of a student and a brother?
Well, it doesn't matter because what Suzaku says causes Tech to tilt his head and ask: "Understand what?"
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He had always understood in theory. But Suzaku had never really... Had a family. He had had his father until he was ten but even then... Their relationship had not been close. But he had witnessed Lelouch tear down and remake the world, for justice yes. But also for Nunnally.
To make a better place for her. Just as Suzaku Fitz would have done anything to make sure his brother could survive what he had believed to be a deadly attack on their home.
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"Well," he begins and words fail him for a moment. He stares at a pile of rubble, quiet for a moment before before he says. "Well, at least you're absolved of the responsibility now. No more going to great lengths and no more reason to protect me. I can protect myself. And I probably could have there too -- except I got spoiled and just started to expect you to fix my messes."
And it had worked, really. The bullies eventually stopped targeting Aindreas because they knew they would have to deal with Suzaku.
"You wanna go see our old house? I'm curious to see what actually survived the storm."
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It didn't change his feelings, or his mind. But he would make sure not to be so obvious in future. Tech could protect himself, but that wouldn't prevent Suzaku wanting to make sure he was safe.
He knows himself that much.
"We can do so."
He's not sure how exactly he feels about that but he is curious, so he thinks he would like to see.
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But.
Tech is not Aindreas.
He steps closer and dares to place his hand on Suzaku's shoulder with a sort of familiarity. "I don't want you to be disappointed when you don't find much of your brother in me, yanno? Er...his brother. Um. You know what I mean. I feel like we spent our whole lives trying not to disappoint one another or our parents, and now it's like....I can't shake this feeling you're absolutely gonna hate who I really am. I mean, fuck. Half the time I don't know who I am and that's even before this Hellburbia mess. At least Aindreas was sure of himself."
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He doesn't expect Tech to be Aindreas. Not really. He knows he is different, they all are after all. "I won't be disappointed." He shook his head. "I know you are not him, I am not him either. You may hate who I really am."
After all Suzaku hates who Suzaku truly is so it would be normal for others to do likewise. "I do not have any expectations."
Or rather he does, but he knows them to be false and tries to put them out of mind.
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Because it's a love. And there's no skirting around that. The love may have been fabricated within these walls, but it feels so real even now. He doesn't imagine that's the sort of thing that's going to fade either -- not when they shared a lifetime together in their memories.
Tech draws back, starting to walk the familiar path toward their former home. "All I'm trying to say is I just don't want you to feel you need to step in and fight my battles for me. Because I have a tendency to get myself into trouble and now I'd feel pretty shitty if that trouble bled over onto you." He flashes a faint smile.
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But no one. Not ever in Suzaku's life had declared such a thing. That they would love him regardless. He is not sure he can believe it. After all Tech knows nothing about him. There's nothing to say Suzaku's actions would even make him regret that.
But it's... Almost overwhelming and if Tech was trying to make Suzaku not want to fight for him, it is the wrong tactic.
"I'm used to trouble."
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"So. Tell me about you. What was your deal back home? What do you do here? How long have you been here, anyway? I'm coming up on almost a year. It'll be a year in..."
He ticks off his fingers, doing a silent count.
"April. Shit. We're just around the corner."
It's not a milestone he ever expected to reach. He thought he'd be out of here by now. Has he not been trying hard enough? Okay. New goal. Second year? Try to be more like Loki.
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"A year is a long time. I've been here a year and... four months." Roughly. It felt much longer and also shorter all at the same time.
"I was a soldier back home, a knight. My world has been at war for a very long time."
Was it still? He wished he knew. Had he managed to plunge it further into turmoil by ruining Lelouch's plan with his untimely death?
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The smile fades off as he mulls over Suzaku being here for an entire year and counting -- arriving only a few months before him. And yet, they hadn't met until Hellburbia. Tech had kept pretty well to himself, though. And Suzaku, quiet and reserved as he is, probably did the same.
"Sorry..." he offers. "About you getting stuck in this place so long. I've been doing every fucking thing to try and get out of here, but...obviously I haven't found the solution yet. Because I think the whole thing about 'redeeming yourself' or whatever is bullshit. Not a single person can get out that way..."
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Rather than on horseback or whatever they did back in the past. "I've not heard of anyone who was redeemed, though people do seem to disappear, no one seems to know if that means they escaped though."
He has been doing... Not much to escape. He figures he deserves to be here and also he doesn't have the first clue about how to start trying to get people out. He's never done great working alone.
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"Sounds weird, dude. And it sounds like the sort of place that makes adjusting to all of this harder than it should be." He gestures toward the world around them as a means of indicating hell. Because while hell could be backwards in many ways, it tended toward the modern world with modern amenities. "At least....being Suzaku Fitz for a bit probably made you understand things a little better."
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This place was very weird, hell was strange and he struggled sometimes when many of the other people came from similar places to each other. Often their worlds were close but at the same time different to his own.
"It did help I think. Just the knowledge that was put in my head... It brought things into context."
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If there was a prime minister before some war, then it stood to reason there's not one now. And that Japan had lost said war. Maybe they got absorbed into this empire or maybe they just forced their young and able men to fight for Britannia. Whatever the case, why is it always a war? No matter where you go, even in hell, there will always be someone vying for power.
"Was it ever something you had a choice in?"
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