↳ black market

　　　↳ ᴇɴᴅ ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ ᴏɴᴇ. ↰

@✧　Celes ↳ ᴊᴜʟʏ 29, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: come undone - tove lo
↳ ᴋʟᴀʜᴀɴ: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/9b/06/23/9b0623f79fc8b0745d7abd5fe15d698b.jpg

The black market was not usually where you could rely on finding Klahan, the more elusive of the two second-in-commands of the Dream Guard. In fact, there wasn't a place where citizens /could/ rely on finding him. Most of the time, Klahan's missions were along the firefighting line, and he didn't really leave the barracks otherwise. He didn't mingle with the citizenry on a normal day. It wasn't because he thought himself better, but because he had paperwork to do, training to oversee, discipline to enforce and, of course, a need for more sleep than the average being. But Eden had booted him out of the barracks to 'relax' and Klahan's feet had brought him to the black market.

Don't make any arrests, Eden had said. Klahan had made no promises.

Klahan had paused to gaze at the sun charms that hung from one of the stalls when the other body collided with his own. He reached up to stabilize the stranger, offering him a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "That's alright. Don't worry about it," he waved it off, and turned to move on. He had no need for false charms. There was no energy to them, nothing to signify that they were real. It couldn't fool someone who had been raised by the sun and grew in the warmth of a volcano.

The stranger, however, was following him. Klahan's lips pressed into something close to a frown, but not quite there yet. He didn't feel ill intent from him—but Klahan just wanted to make sure. Slowly, he reached out with his mind, listening to the jumble of thoughts that surrounded using Klahan to protect his wallet, and withdrew again. So, no ill intent.

With the second collision, Klahan stumbled forward a few steps, and turned to make sure the stranger was alright.

The words, however, died on his lips. It was like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over Klahan's head, the way his temperature seemed to drop and his heart froze like it had when he had died of a broken heart in the pass. The phoenix shuddered, trying to suppress unwanted memories, and took a step forward. "Where did you hear that name," he demanded, reaching out to grasp the stranger by the shoulders and give him a shake—as gently as he could muster, but Klahan's entire body was trembling from an emotion that had become so /unfamiliar/ in this life.

It had been a long time since Klahan was last afraid.

@✠　Klahan The master had sent Celes on an errand. Celes had a love-hate relationship with his master's errands. On the one hand, he sometimes got praise when he did them well, but when he didn't... the master could get quite upset. Today's errand was especially important. He knew that because the master had said so five times before sending him on his way. The black market was filled with people pushing past each other, and pickpockets. The master had warned him about those and so Celes clutched his wallet with fearful anxiety. This was very stressful for him. The only good thing, perhaps, was that the stress made the air around him colder, which meant people avoided him more, which meant less chance of a pickpocket trying their luck.

"Ah!" So confident in his people-repelling passive skill, Celes's attention had drifted to the stalls that flanked him and stopped paying attention to where he was going. He collided with a man and quickly stumbled a half-step back, greatly unsettled by something. Celes assumed it was his wallet but when he looked down it was still there, untouched. "..." Strange. The elemental started forward, an apologetic expression on his face. "I'm sorry for bumping into you!" Somehow, the air around him had warmed and people started closing in again, making Celes grimace with discomfort. His wallet was in danger! Subconsciously, despite how uncomfortable he felt close to the person he'd bumped into, Celes stuck close to him as they progressed forward, even lingering when the person stopped to look at things.

Why was Celes sticking so close to the other? Well, it felt like around him, at least Celes' wallet would be safe. And they were almost at the stand Celes needed to get to. The man was an unknowing bodyguard- walletguard? "Ah!" Another shove from behind and the elemental collided with the man once more. He winced, not because the force of the collision was particularly strong, there was just something deeply unsettling about touching the other. Embarrassed, he parted his blue lips to stammer yet another apology. "I- I'm sorry Suryakant-" Celes hadn't even noticed him mumbling the name which did not sound like a name to him. It sounded like mumbo jumbo and for a moment, the elemental wondered if he'd hit his head. He reached up and touched the crown of his head, confirming it was fine and also, with more delayed of a realisation, realised his wallet was gone.