[PRP] The Lantern (Harvard & Caroline)

[The Semblance of Unity]

He'd been reading as Caroline texted or Twittered or something, one arm lazily flung across her waist. Out of curiosity, he picked up his own phone and looked at her tweet. Weapons.

"You know," he said, leaning into her. "You can put your weapon in a golem, if you want to, if you need them out of your mind." Harvard brushed a strand of her hair behind one ear. "You haven't really told me about yours much."

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[Nothing Yet]

Watching Oliver and Melody dance all delicately around each other in conversation was one of her new favorite things for the moment, and Caroline had been careful to make sure she wouldn't be interrupting when she asked. She was still fixated on the question even after it was out of her head, still intently staring at her own tweet when Harvard's voice pulled her back into reality.

"I...huh?" That bought her a second to catch up with what he'd said. When it clicked, it was obvious that it had - she tensed, and her passively contented smile and all the other little signs of her comfort began to shrink away. "Yeah I want it out, but...isn't it--won't it be a golem of it as it...as a monster?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

His fingers ran down her arm. Harvard could feel it, all the little ways she tensed and shied away from that idea. "Yes, but it.. it won't hurt you, not like a real monster would. All the looks, none of the bite." He sighed. Harvard could tell Miserere wanted to be golemed as well, just to try it.

"It would be out of your head, but you could see it. Would that be worse?" He only knew the bare bones of her weapon, after all.

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[Nothing Yet]

"No. No--yes. Wait." She laughed just to let some of the anxiety out, which didn't really work. "Okay. So fighting them doesn't scare me. A zombie comes at you...I go on instinct, you know? Kill or be killed. But if it--"

With a shiver, she fell silent and shifted to press herself close to him again. She needed every bit of warmth and contact he would give right now.

"When it's just staring. Just staring and smiling. Then it's--what the ******** does it want. Is it planning something? Just bad at making friends? No one knows. Except it, and it's not saying!"

Another pause, and she swallowed hard as she seemed to consider it.

"Is there some kind of kill switch?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Well, you can ask it - because it can't hurt you." He smoothed a hand down her hair. "And if you decide you don't like it; you can have them put it back in your head or you can shuffle it off on me and I'll deal with it for a bit before it goes back." Harvard could tell Caroline was nervous, jittery, even. He wondered just want kind of thing was living in her head - kind of wanted to talk to it, even.

"We can go together, if you want, and you can see what's in my head, too."

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[Nothing Yet]

Some skepticism met the thought that it couldn't hurt her, a caution extending towards all the meanings of that word. Caroline pursed her lips as she continued to think, finally lowering her phone to set it down.

"I know I don't like it," she pouted, deliberately sidestepping what he'd probably meant in favor of reminding her weapon of that fact. It didn't need to be reminded, but it smiled all the same. "But...if you'll take it--if i can't..."

That was appealing, if she brushed off some of the more unnerving connections to be made.

"Okay. Yeah." Her single nod was a decisive one. "Fair trade. Together. Yeah, we should."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Harvard kissed the edge of her pout. It was a neat little sidestep and he let her have it instead of pressing about it. Besides, she had agreed.

"Then let's do it. Now." He grinned.

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[Nothing Yet]

"Ohhh, spontaneous," Caroline purred, returning the kiss in an effort to bring her own spirits up. This wasn't exactly the sort of spontaneity that she preferred, but she could play along now.

Or try.

"You lead." She offered her hand, playfully expectant. "'Cause I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Except telling you not to trust it. Don't trust any creepy monsters that come from me."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Harvard took her hand, interlocking his fingers with hers. He knew she didn't necessarily want to do this, but he hoped it would make her more comfortable with the thing that lived in her head. Caroline had already had so many troubles with the monsters around her; he didn't like the thought of another, unknown, just camping out.

"I don't think things that come from you are bad, even creepy monsters." There was a joking tone to his voice, but he was serious as he pulled her along to the labs. Once there, he informed the technician, who boredly made a note of it. "Caroline, do you want to go first, or me?"

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[Nothing Yet]

The poorly-obscured look of dismay on her face very clearly said neither, but Caroline pressed onward through rapidly surfacing regret to clear her throat and attempt to make a decision.

"You. You first." Her voice grew properly emboldened as she spoke, head held high and proud for absolutely no real reason. "Because--well, this is scary and that thing in there's so creepy I don't think you understand so I--you first. And fingers crossed it's actually a kitten."

It wasn't going to be a kitten, but that was nice to think about. She started counting kittens like sheep, and that was even better.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Okay, I'll go first." He raised their hands so he could kiss her knuckles before disentangling himself from her. "Alright, do the thing," he said to the technician, who looked bored out of his ******** mind.

Some minutes later, Harvard shook his head, finding it surprisingly empty without the weight of Miserere inside. He felt dizzy, different, almost bereft, but not quite. It was hard to focus, but Harvard was sure that would clear. As if from far away, he heard a melodious hum, like the soft sigh of a choir. There was an odd clicking sound, as well. Brows furrowing, Harvard turned to see what Miserere looked like.

Will i complete the mystery
of my flesh

It said, delightedly, clicking together what could only be described as a praying mantis' forelegs. Everything about Miserere was silver and white fire and sharp. It had taken an angular shape, feminine though, with full breasts and a slim waist. Miserere's skin was silver and had a soft sheen; it's mouth was angular and as it spoke, Harvard saw an impossible amount of teeth and a otngue of white fire to match the white fire in it's eyes. All in all, it was nothing like he'd expected.

"Uh," he said, ingeniously. Miserere swayed over to them, looking Harvard up and down and then looking at Caroline.

your eyes have their silence: Miserere said, oddly fond in its multitude of voices.

"Your turn?" Harvard said faintly.

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[Nothing Yet]

Of course it wasn't a kitten. Of course he had a monster too. Caroline tried to smile, strained and painful, but it looked exactly that. She tried to accept what sounded like a compliment, but it felt like her heart leapt into her throat, forcing out a hah at an embarrassingly loud volume instead of any gratitude.

"Okay. Okay, god, just--get it out." She flung her weapon totem towards the attendant, shaking her hands off like she'd touched something disgusting. "Get it out--"

The tech seemed entirely over this, but 'it' was indeed out of her head a moment later, as she'd demanded.

Silence from the other inhabitant of her head was standard, but the absence was otherwise almost euphoric. No pressure, no feeling of it watching and grinning as it soaked up her secrets. She'd closed her eyes from the relief, her expression bittersweet in its contentment as she lingered in her freedom.

But that only lasted until she opened her eyes again and saw what was in front of ********." To her credit, she tried to stifle the shout, but didn't manage to clamp her hands over her mouth until she was halfway through the last letter. She stumbled backwards until she collided with Harvard, and moved her hands to hide the rest of her face instead. The black, empty eyes, the smile that split its face in two, the feeling that she could swear it bled shadows onto everything - all familiar in all the ways she didn't want it to be.

"Oh, mother," he crooned, his stance a mockingly prim and proper posture for the duration of the word. "How rude of you."

His eyes (rather, the two pinpricks of red in the deep shadows where his eyes should be) passed over Harvard, just long enough for a knowing smile, before settling on Miserere.

"You are more frightfully extraordinary than I could've imagined. And such lovely teeth. A pleasure," he greeted her, paired with an overly-toothy, wolfish smile.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Miserere stood and watched Harvard and Caroline and the other with blazing white eyes. Caroline was afraid of them, they could tell, but that was only natural, wasn't it? Monstrous forms often contain monsters, they wanted to saw, but could not even fully form the thought, bound by the constraints of their own silver tongue. The thing that burst forth from Caroline - burst was the incorrect word, Miserere knew - was strange and dark where they were silver.

Harvard's hand caught around Caroline's hips as she tumbled into him. He tried to hold her steady, moving his head forward to prop his chin on her shoulder. "Caroline, it's okay. I see it, too, and boy is it being a d**k." His thumbs moved in small circles against her skin.

Miserere blinked. "gloats upon Her stunning flesh," they said. And the Her was not Miserere. And the he was not Harvard.

"—but the lunge of Her hunger softly flung
over the gasping shores
leaves his smile wan,
and his blood stopped"

Miserere met the shadow's smile with something toothy of their own, something like white fire licking at the corners of their mouth. It was not correct, Miserere thought, to be so cruel to their host.

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