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#11
Fletcher's eye darted between Theo's, expression growing more and more intense as the man went on. And then Theo went small and started running from the idea, and Fletcher's grip tightened on his shoulder as if to keep him from backing away from hope. "I don't care. This is more important. Come here, we're trying it again." He didn't bother to wait for Theo's answer before wrapping his arms around the man and snugging back up close. He buried his face like he'd done before, planting an affirming kiss on his neck before speaking again. "How about this? Can you hear this?"
#12
Last post by GoblinFae - April 22, 2024, 05:33:24 PM
Theo was equally frozen in a bit of shock and stared back at Fletcher quite stiffly as if afraid to move or breathe too harshly. "I. Don't. Know," he replied in an equally anxious and almost clipped tone, his eyes wide in uncertainty.
"Like I felt you talk and I recognize kind of the feeling but...I don't know if I imagined it. But, I think I—this is so stupid—It's not possible—I probably just imagined it, but I thought I heard your voice. Not the words. But,—" he cut himself off abruptly and shook his head again. "Forget it. I'm sorry. You were comfortable too. I didn't mean to bother you."
#13
Kkärsvig's eyes went wide as he saw the carnage in medical.
Kkärsvig muttered something in the language of his people before rushing over to Elara, trying not to panic. He had left her here. He had abandoned her. His breathing quickened before he got ahold of himself, seeing Fletcher put a hand to Elara's neck, seemingly searching for a pulse.
"Oh gods...she's dead isn't she..." and then his eyes landed on Fenris. Fletch was a step ahead of him, and was already telling him to help him turn her over.
He dropped to his knees beside Fletcher and set his frying pan down that he was still holding.
"Aye, I can help," his voice was tinged with sadness. He cared for Elara...he saw her as a daughter.
He helped Fletcher turn Fenris onto her back.
"Erm...I don't know much about medicine...but she don't look good..."
Fenris was still in her shifted form. Fenris's chest wasn't moving at all, and her eyes were frozen open, staring blankly at nothing. Blood leaked from her mouth. Her pupils however, had changed into eclipses, a strange light emitting from behind her pupils, giving her eyes a sort of ringed light effect.
Kkärsvig looked around.
In the chaos, the map that Elara had been so obsessed with had landed on the ground, and despite being soaked in blood, had the same eclipse on it, and was slightly glowing. Just enough to look unnatural.
——————————————————
The fighting on deck had stopped. Much of the ship deck was stained red.
Aikios meanwhile, had spotted Nik and made a beeline for him, murderous intent in his eyes.
"Oh Nik...Elara I always knew was a fool but you?" Aikios laughed. A cruel, taunting laugh.
"You I thought would figure it out. You seemed like a smart one but what can I say?" Aikios shrugged.
"Birds of a feather I guess," and then he lunged at Nik, intent on ending his life.
#14
It took him a second to realize what he'd just heard, but when he did, his entire body spasmed from the shock. Then, slowly, he extricated himself from the embrace, bringing Theo into focus. "Wait," he grunted, and drew back a little further to look the man over, holding him firmly by the shoulder. The realization of what had happened wholly displaced any residual sting of grief. "I'm sorry. Did you just hear me?"
#15
Last post by GoblinFae - April 22, 2024, 04:29:22 PM
Theo let every drop to be wrung out of Fletcher as he continued to murmur words of comfort and soothed him with gentle hands. At one point he took to scratching lightly at the other man's scalp and combing his fingers through his hair as he once had remembered his own mother doing to him as a boy. Elijah too had done it for him a few times and he had always secretly loved it.
When Fletcher pulled him down, Theo went without protest and returned to embracing his lover. The vibrations against his skin were familiar even if he could not decipher them. But, he froze, his arms tightening and stiffening around Fletcher because perhaps it was just his imagination but for the briefest moment he was sure he had heard Fletcher speaking. His brain could not comprehend the words but the sound had been there and his heart began to hammer with concern that he was losing his mind. Or maybe he just imagined it in his desperation to feel close and connected to Fletcher.
Either way the replying response came out of his mouth before the realization had even fully registered. "You're welcome, my heart."
#16
Theo's embrace drew the poison with an intensity that he wasn't ready for. He was a weepy, snotty mess in the man's arms, face burrowed into his leg as so much grief released all at once. And still, he felt the shame of it. He was the child he'd told Theo not to be. Or...maybe just the one his dad had beat out of him. He certainly gripped the blanket like one, and sobbed like one, and desired comfort like one. After it had all come out, he lay there quietly, forehead pressed hard into Theo's thigh like that touch would never be enough.
Never. Never had this happened. Never had a lover held him like this. And all it came out as at the other end of this release was...anger. More disdain to pile on top of what he already had begun to throw at Ven's memory. He sat up slowly. Wiped his face with his hands, then the sheets. Without saying a word, he slid his arms around Theo and pulled him back down to the bed and held him tight once more. He tucked his face in between the man's jaw and shoulder, stubble prickling as he nuzzled in. "Thank you," he mumbled to an ear that couldn't hear him.
#17
Last post by GoblinFae - April 22, 2024, 02:51:29 PM
He opened his legs and arms to make space for the other man. Fletcher was dragged and folded into the comfort and safety of Theo's arms. He held the back of the other man's head and rubbed his back while tears ran scaldingly down his neck and shoulder.
"Let it out, beloved. It's alright, I've got you. You're safe here. I've got you. You've been so strong for so long all alone. You can lean on me now. I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."
#18
Last post by Hyacinthus - April 22, 2024, 02:31:14 PM
"...Teen years. Before that, probably not. You gotta consider how long it takes a wild dog to mature when—"
"Hey, sunshine, are you still with us or what?"
"Huh?"
Nearly dropping the ink quill in his right hand, Kinara looked up from the scrawled letter he'd been attempting to read over. It had gotten so dark now between the dense forest and the oddly moonless night that it took most of his concentration just to maintain his place on the page—that wasn't even taking into account the whole bumpy, barely existent road bit. Instinctively, he quickly folded up and put away his letter, as if it were under threat of being taken away; An odd enough reaction to being jolted to attention, as literally no one cared enough about the thing to do so, to his knowledge.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, sunshine. You plan on staying with us this time?"
The bunny-eared boy gave a quick look about. As far as he knew, he was still where he thought he should've been; In the back of the caravan's trailing carriage, seated closest to the exit, on the right. He was, of course, not alone; seated across from him, to his slight discomfort, was something like a giant of a woman. She had to stand at least 6 and a half feet tall, an educated guess on Kinara's part between having had her tower over him earlier in the day, and meekly looking up at her even now, as they were both seated. His own five foot and some odd inch frame seemed to shrink even more so in the shadow cast over her by a lantern just outside the carriage. And she wasn't just tall; she was coated, almost literally, in an admirable layer of muscle from neck to toe, the occasional scar here or there telling the tale that it wasn't just for show. Piercing emerald eyes bore into the smaller boy from beneath a short, wild mop of crimson red hair— not with intended intimidation, sure, but that didn't mean it wasn't there.
"O-Oh, sorry, I was just—"
"Ass-deep in that letter, again, for the... what—3rd time in a row, now?"
Kinara, flustered enough to bring a tinge of red to his cheeks, began to attempt explaining himself (again) but was spared by a soft hand reaching over from his side and patting him on the shoulder. "C'mon, cut him some slack. He's probably writing home to a sweetheart or something." Kinara's eyes averted from the larger-than-life lass to a much more realistic figure; A young lady, probably somewhere around his own age, with long, auburn hair and deep emerald eyes. She had a neutral, olive skin tone that gave off the impression that she took decent care of herself, yet sported a small tape bandage just along the cut of the left side of her face. What drew Liv's attention more than anything else, however, were the pair of goggles that sat atop her head—a style unlike any she'd ever seen before—and the small, bizarre-looking object— like a rhombus, covered with strange symbols— sitting in her lap. It looked like... some kind of relic? A key, maybe? Or the removed pommel of a blade. But surely it wasn't... right...?
"I think it's smart to keep up with your loved ones while you're away from home, anyway—If they need you, or vice versa, and all that."
"He's probably been gone, what, a few moons from home? If he's still that strung on his some girl's tits that he can't put her out of mind for more than a night, he shouldn't have left." Came the larger woman's extremely tactless reply, earning a deep flush and spot of panic from Kinara, and a much less impressive frown from the brown-haired girl. "Wha—No that's—How can you say something like that out loud!?" Exasperated, Kinara practically shouted at the woman across from him, forgetting himself in the process. This, surprisingly, didn't earn a scowl, nor a disapproving look in the least from his verbal aggressor... But a deep-bellied laugh, hard enough to rock the woman in her seat—slightly unnerving, as the carriage uneasily shifted under her merriment. The auburn-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Classy. Really."
"You'll have to cut her some slack as well, I'm sure. Usually, people don't tease others about their sex lives unless their own is fairly barren."
The laughter stopped cold. A chill ran down Kinara's spine as the rather jovial look in the larger woman's eyes turned nearly feral—like a wild animal, twice scorned. Her gaze, along with Kinara's and the brown-haired girl's, turned to the corner next to the giantess. There sat a young man, with dusky brown skin and black, locked hair. He likely stood somewhere between the giantess of a woman and Kinara himself in height, and his coal black eyes seemed so narrow as to avoid reflecting even the slightest bit of light under the canopy of the carriage.
What was most unique about this lad in particular, however, wasn't him at all; It was actually the serpent, coiling slowly around his slender, sculpted body which demanded the most attention. Near pure white, it was— with cream-colored patches of scales here and there, and what seemed to be an onyx jewel, darker than the snake's amber slit eyes resting atop its forehead. As it comfortably moved from one side of his shoulder to the next, the snake eyed each one of the carriage's passengers, before nesting itself somewhere along the man's arm. This display, even if only slightly, unnerved Kinara; It did not, however, bother the likely moments-away-from-murder redhead across from him.
"...You wanna say that to my face, guy?"
"I'd have to get you down on your knees first, I imagine."
The woman hands slowly curled into fists as she moved to stand, eyes narrowing even further.
"Try it."
"Oooookay! So I don't think we properly introduced ourselves yet!" Kinara suddenly interjected, a last-ditch attempt to defuse a bomb on a very short wick. All eyes moved back to him; the redhead, albeit somewhat annoyed, gave one last glare towards the darker-skinned man, before settling back down in her seat. "I mean, we're all going to be a team on this venture, right? We should at least know a little about each other's stories, right? Or... or just names?" He near-pleaded, defensively waving his hands as he did so. There was an odd moment of silence which seemed to stretch on into infinity, as all three (well, four) other individuals in the carriage gave him a once-over, as if surprised by this sudden outburst, before the auburn-haired girl, with a bit of a smile, spoke up again.
"Well I think it's a good idea, anyway. You never know; Getting at least a little personal might help if we got separated or something, and needed to verify identities." Crossing her legs, the young lady finished her words with a nod, rather content with her own reasoning. The young man in the corner nodded in agreement as well, his serpentine friend moving to coil about his neck now—loosely, mind you. "Good point. It might also help us out as far as working together in combat. Who's strongest in what spot, as it were." He chimed in, hand-waving his own explanation in. This left the crimson-haired woman alone, as far as agreements went, and while she did originally look about the group, a bit surprised by how quickly everyone got on the same page, her shoulders—and whatever leftover hostility they held—eventually gave way to reason.
"What, so he's the 'leader' now? Whatever. I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a couple juicy secrets outta you lot." She eventually replied, earning a collective sigh or eyeroll out of the group. Kinara in particular was just happy that no one's head was rolling—eyes were fine. Sitting back down, he cleared his throat a bit, took a deep breath, and nodded to himself. "Right! So, um. I guess... I should start?" He eventually spoke up again, as the collective carriage once again rolled their eyes and sighed, though now on a much lighter tone.
"Right, sorry, dumb question. So! My name is Kinara— I'm from Summervale... kinda. It's a long story."
#19
It was the first time he'd really heard it. Theo had said all of it before, and Fletcher, who of the two of them had been the one to drive home that the other man never listened, had truly done the same back to him all along. But listening now, it finally sunk in. Theo wasn't a weak thing to be protected. Theo didn't expect the world of him while repaying him with table scraps. Theo was here. Present. An equal. Someone just as strong. And for the first time in his life, Fletcher wasn't alone.
His lips parted, but what did he even say? He shook his head slowly, not even knowing why he did it, and as he did his mouth began to quiver. And then suddenly he couldn't contain it anymore, and with one hand clapped to his mouth in the shame of it all, he began to weep.
#20
Last post by GoblinFae - April 22, 2024, 01:25:15 PM
Theo watched it all in knowing silence. There was no judgement in his gaze and the moment Fletcher was settled again, he scooted closer so that their knees just barely brushed together. He took the other man's hands in his own and tilted his head enough to try and catch Fletcher's gaze.
"My heart," he started with a gentle laugh, "if I could not see how much you care for me, I might think you just got what you wanted of me before trying to push me away already. You have as bad timing as I do."
He gave his hands a tight squeeze. "But, in all fairness I am not you. And you are not him. And this," he motioned towards where the flask was stowed with his chin, "this is not good. That's true. But, you also won't be facing him alone. I'm here and I will be here. I promised you that before all this. I maintain and reaffirm that promise now. We'll get through this and we'll see where it goes from there. Just stay with me here in this moment. If you can be patient with my drama and hellfire I can be patient with your grief and mourning. And when spring comes and we are lighter some of our burdens we can sit together and discuss where things should go. All I ask of you is your honesty and your willingness to try. Everything else we can figure out together. Just as we have been doing, yes?"
