"Yeah, sure. Technology like this is everywhere nowadays. See, look." Lumi held up his phone for a second and took a picture of them and Edmund together. He then pulled it up to show Edmund. "I can take pictures of us like this. Or I can… I dunno…" They went to their browser and looked up a pasta recipe. "I can look up how to do stuff, see? Like recipes and all sorts of stuff. Anything you can imagine, almost."
Edmund gasped, staring at the screen. "Our souls be trapped in this box…" He murmured, entranced by how much the small device was capable of. He smiled at the pasta, licking his lips slightly. "More worm bread!! Do I love the worm bread!" He laughed, sitting back as he gazed down at Lumi.
"Mayhap I show thee a few things I can do?" He inquired softly
"No, our souls aren't trapped. It's just a picture of us." Lumi explained, toying around with their phone for a bit before he put it away. He looked up at the inquiry, looking a bit confused. "Some things you can do? Uh… yeah, sure. Why not?"
Edmund grinned, then drew a knife, making a cut along his hand and muttering something as he closed his eyes. He then flicked a bit of the blood at a nearby plant, and it immediately shriveled.
"Oh, beshrew me. I did not intend for that to occur…"
Lumi jumped when Edmund cut himself, their face going pale. He cowered and took a couple steps back, his eyes wide. They had seen a lot of strange things, but nothing like this. This wasn't technocrats; this was straight up magic, or witchcraft. "T-That's… not possible…" He murmured weakly.
Edmund started to panic, taking shallow breaths as he stared at the plant he had just killed. "No… I-It was supposed to make it grow…" He mumbled, tearing up with fear. He noticed Lumi's bewildered expression and looked down quickly. "Please don't tell anyone!! Please no fire!!" he whimpered
"I'm not… I-I'm not gonna do anything, I just…" Lumi looked very tense and uneasy, and they had their arms held close to their chest. He was pretty nervous, and not entirely sure what to do. "T-That's… magic. That shouldn't be possible. Magic doesn't… doesn't exist…"
Edmund slowly approached them, puling out some cloth he had in his pocket to wrap around his hand. "tis not magic… tis just… misunderstood forces. Things mortals should not be able to do." he muttered, attempting to resolve the panicking issue.
Lumi cowered more as Edmund approached them, and he fell into a more defensive position. He clearly didn't entirely trust Edmund, especially not after that display. "Y-You… um… probably should avoid doing that as much as possible? People won't like it…"
Edmunds stared down at the raw burn scars on his legs, shaking a bit at the memories. The cold, dark, uneasy times he was forced through once he had chosen his forsaken path.
"Y-you are right. No one likes this type of woodness…" He muttered fearfully, hugging his arms tightly as he looked for a place to run.
"I-I-I have to um… I have to go to siege." He stumbled out, quickly dashing back into the bathroom
"Siege…?" Lumi looked confused as well as anxious now, and he watched as Edmund passed them to go into the bathroom. They sighed shakily and slid down the back of the couch to the floor, taking a minute to compose himself. He didn't intend to upset Edmund, but they couldn't pretend it didn't freak them out when Edmund killed the plant with his blood of all things.
Edmund sank to the floor, letting out soft sobs as his body shook with fear. He glanced for a second at his hands, terrified of what he was capable of. Terrified of what he had become. This was not what I intended. He thought, lowering his head back down as more tears ran down his face. "I am a monster…"
Lumi stayed on the floor out in the living area, staring blankly at the floor as he struggled to process everything that was happening. This guy was from the 1400's or something, somehow, and had been bunking with demons for the past 700 or so years. And now he was here in their apartment with his dark magic and weird manner.
Edmund's heart pounded as the realization of it all set in. He was far from home. He was in a different time. He had tampered with things he shouldn't have. He has spent two nights in hell, and he terrified the only friend he had. The sobs only came harder as he traced his fingers over the brand on his hand. He was a blasphemous fool. an unholy wretched creature. And he was so terribly lost and afraid
Lumi honestly had no idea what to do. They considered calling the police, but he had no idea what would become of Edmund then. And besides, he hadn't really done anything illegal as far as they could tell; he was just as confused as they were. He sighed softly and closed his eyes, curling in on himself a bit. I guess I just have to wait for him to calm down and come back out…
After a long few minutes of painfuls sobs, Edmund sighed and decided he should probably go out and apologize.
He stepped out of the room, wringing his hands together as he kept his tear filled eyes to the ground
"I deeply apologize. If thou wanst to get rid of me, I shall comply." He muttered
Lumi looked up at Edmund from the ground, fidgeting nervously. "N-No… if you leave, you'll probably get arrested or killed or something pretty quickly. I'm not the greatest guy in the world, but I still can't just let you go die in good conscience…" They sighed softly. "I'll just… have to find some way to get you to figure out modern times, I guess…"
Edmund nodded solemnly, keeping his gaze down as he tightly folded his arms. "Yes.. they surely shall kill me." He sighed out, tears filling his eyes again as she shifted his weight "I am deeply grateful. Deeply. I canst ever repay you."
Lumi hesitantly got to his feet, their legs noticeably shaking as he looked up at Edmund. "Um… I-I guess we should start with the way you talk. You'll stand out a lot if you keep talking like that. The way I talk is… uh… pretty normal for people nowadays. I don't exactly know how to teach you that, though."
Edmund continued to wring his hands, lip quivering as he nodded, continuing to stare at the old carpet. "I-I am sorry…" He mumbled shakily, taking shallow breaths as he gently nodded. "I.. I shall listen. L-Lumi sir."
"You don't have to be sorry, you haven't really done anything wrong I don't think. Just trying to help you not stand out. First of all, you don't need to call me 'sir'. I'm younger than you, for one, and I'm also not your superior, so you're not obligated to give me an honorific." Lumi explained. "Uh… I don't know exactly what to start with, so do you have any specific questions?"
Edmund nodded softly, sighing deeply in an attempt to calm himself. "Uh… I-I do not think so."
"Okay, um… I guess a good first lesson is contractions. We're pretty lazy with talking these days, so we tend to mush words together into one word. Like… uh… you would normally say 'I don't think so' instead of 'I do not think so'. You sound pretty formal and you'll seem out of the ordinary."
Edmund nodded again, trying to understand as he repeated the sentence. "So… it would be.. I uh.. Do- I do-nt?" He stuttered, finally looking up at Lumi.
"Yeah, 'don't.' Most people have a pretty casual way of talking to each other, to be honest. Even with superiors, it's still casual, but respectful." Lumi yawned and leaned against the couch. "Uh… I don't really know what to teach you, honestly."
Edmund nodded, noticing Lumi's sudden tiredness and bowing slightly. "Ought you couch a hogshead, my lor- Lumi…" He blushed slightly and smiled. "I… don't want you to become tiresome. O-over me, especially."
"I don't know what… most of those words mean. But sure, I'll go sleep. Um… this is the couch." Lumi gestured to the couch they were leaning again. "You can sleep here tonight."
Edmund nodded, wringing his hands as he stared blankly at the couch. "The… couch." He repeated, nodding to himself. "And thou shalt sleep in the master's room? Correct? Are anything needed before thou layest thyself down?" Edmund asked politely. He felt, after what he just made Lumi go through, the least he could do was please the one who took him in.
"Yeah, I'll be sleeping in my bedroom. Uh… I don't need anything before I go to bed. Goodnight." Lumi waved and turned out the lights as they left the room. He went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, and then they retreated to their bedroom so they could actually get some rest.
Edmund bowed out, silently kicking himself as the reason Lumi left the room so quickly. He gently sighed, sitting on the couch and closing his eyes as he relaxed into the cushions. Never before was he permitted to sleep on something so… comfortable.
Of course, like most nights, Edmund wouldn't sleep. Sleep brought nightmares, and nightmares brought fear, and fear brought demons. Edmund simply couldn't bear those much longer. Instead, he silently crept to the window where he resumed his examination of the slowly quieting street. The man with the powder was still outside, Edmund observed, then without thinking, he muttered something under his breath with consequently gave the man cardiac arrest, leaving him shapeless on the ground.
Edmund gasped, leaping back to the couch as he haphazardly closed the blinds once more, laying on the couch as he quivered with fear. Perhaps I am a monster. Perhaps mine village twas correct.