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Yes. [Urahara's chest rumbles underneath Al and his arms tighten just a bit more.] Quite the unpleasant deal, I'm afraid.

[Al stays where he is, lingering in the hug, the feel of being held and not alone. He won't be able to sleep, for sure.]

... it was worth it, though.

He was.

And that's all we can live for... Not an eternity, but something that's worth the pain and regrets, something so beautiful that the future can't rip down because painful as the memories are, we'd still refuse to give them up because of how much we lived and loved in them.

There's someone you lost.

Where I grew up before I met Yoruichi-san, then combined with what I am... I've lost many friends and comrades. [And best friends whose funerals he wasn't able to attend because of his wrongful exile, deaths he wasn't able to prevent, things like that.] It's what life is like, both here and there.

[Al reaches up, takes his hat off, and winds his arms around Urahara's neck, turning the hug around on him.]

_{[Accepting the hug, Urahara rests his head against Al, taking comfort from the twining hug they have each other wrapped in. It's odd how much things have changed here in the city. At hope, comfort was a solid kick to his head and a shout to stop pitying himself, or the gentle draping of a body against his, but here... Here, people were more demonstrative with their emotions, even those from home. Such was the nature of Adstringendum, he supposed.]}

[Al feels himself drifting, but he can't stay here.]

Will you be able to sleep?

[Whispering.]

Not easily. [Just as quietly.] You?

Insomnia.

[He gives a soft laugh.]

You too? [He's chuckling as well.] Whatever shall we do with ourselves?

[Al bursts into soft, cathartic laughter and buries his face into his shoulder.]

We're pretty hopeless.

Ah, but at least I'm in good company~♥

... thank you for being here. It means a lot, Urahara.

Ah, ah~ What did I say about thanking family~?

[Al nods, and curls up closer with him. Despite the heartsickness, he's exhausted from the day, and Urahara is surprisingly warm.]

There is... at least one more thing about Alois.

... yes?

[Urahara sounds more serious than he's ever heard him, and that alone makes him terribly wary.]

Whatever he's been through, at least part of it has been sexual in nature.

[Al slowly, painfully shuts his eyes. He'd known -- but he'd hoped it wasn't true. He'd suspected, even with Jim. His aversion to touch...]

What made you sure?

The way he talked and acted when I asked him about 'Father'.

_{[A pause and a heavy sigh.]}

He carded his fingers through my hair quite expertly.

... who is it?

[There is the edge of something fierce and terrible beneath those simple words. A subtle reminder of how dangerous Al actually has the potential to be.]

I don't know. He only referred to him as 'Father'. I assume he was the one who gave him the name Trancy.

_{[And while Urahara's tone isn't as fierce as Al's and the danger there much more subtle, it's clear he probably wouldn't react well to Lord Trancy showing up either.]}

... we'll deal with that if he ever shows up.

[He's quiet, but that awful note is still in his voice. Luca and Jim are beyond precious to him.]

What kind of monster...?

_{[A heavy sigh ruffles Al's hair before Urahara brushes it back into place with gentle, comforting fingers.]}

I don't know.

_{[There were some of those in the higher numbered areas of Rukongai. Depraved and power hungry, but too weak to prey on anything else aside from children. Easy money, easy targets and innocent. There's always something about purity that brings out the worst in some people.]}

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