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 Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 10:42 pm
Jamie Delacroix | 20/25 | catching up to Beel There's was no doubt in Jamie's mind as he'd watched Beel flee that they'd meet again. The Otherworld never made things as simple as a cut-and-dry goodbye, if the escape attempt could've been called that at all. This time, though, Jamie wasn't going to wait. He had questions and—his mind flashed to the real Shiloh again—it felt unfair to let all of this just go. Maybe that was selfish, but in the moment he didn't care.
It was still somewhat difficult to breathe as he gave chase, but Beel hadn't gained much ground on him and he'd taken quite a rough beating, so Jamie knew if he pushed himself he could make it, he could find him. And he did, just ahead, and he called out, "Stop!"
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 9:44 am
0/25 | Beel | Wheezing
Beel didn't want to stop. He didn't want to stop and get caught and be murdered. He didn't want to die; he didn't want to die, he didn't, he didn't, he didn't. Despite his pace slowing, despite his legs tripping over themselves, he didn't stop. He couldn't go like this, couldn't end this way, couldn't—
He tripped into a spectacular mess, splayed on the floor. Bony fingers scratched at the rug as he tried to push himself up.
"Leave me!" he hissed at the voice that called out to him.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 9:52 am
Jamie Delacroix | 20/25 | conflicted There were a lot of different sentiments coursing through Jamie's veins in that instant. He was angry, sure, but he was also confused and conflicted about the way his stomach flipped. It made no sense to worry for a monster or feel bad for the one who'd manipulated him and used him and hurt others around him, the ones who legitimately cared. Sometimes—a lot of the time—Jamie hated how it felt to be a bleeding heart.
Jamie didn't stop running until he'd reached Beel, but then his hands went temporarily to his knees and he panted, eyes squeezing shut to fight the stinging, coughing against the burning of his lungs. Eventually he caught his breath and spoke again.
"I c-can't," he wheezed, "I need t-to talk to you... I need to..."
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 9:58 am
0/25 | Beel | Crawling
"T-There's..." Beel wheezed again, hands scraping along the floor as he pulled himself away, "Nothing to—"
He stopped, finding sudden recognition in the voice. He turned and looked over his shoulder, watching Jamie as he struggled to recapture his breath. "You?" the voice crackled, almost in disbelief, almost...
"I have nothing to say to you." Beel's voice still sounded vaguely of Shiloh's only warped in indescribable places. He coughed, limbs trembling as he continued to struggle against the ground.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:09 am
Jamie Delacroix | 20/25 | not letting him get away The voice, if nothing else, was definitely enough to squeeze his heart and throw it awkwardly around his ribcage. It wasn't wholly Shiloh's, but still occasionally recognizable as such, especially in desperation. That was a slap in the face if Jamie had ever heard one.
"I-I don't care..." The courage came a little easier this time, but he didn't know how long that would last. "If not me, then... S-Shiloh. He deserves to know. He-"
Would Shiloh want to know? Would this only hurt him more?
"Y-You..." Jamie didn't want to touch Beel, but he steeled himself and did it, grabbing his arm try to and hoist him up. It still felt sickening to the touch. "... need to come with me."
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 11:42 am
0/25 | Beel | Giving up...
An inhumane gurgle left Beel's throat when he was grabbed, skin soft but not in a velvety way. It was soft like moleskin, smooth, almost like rubber...
"And what good would that do?" he felt himself get lifted up to his feet regardless, body thin and airy like it almost wasn't real. "Do you think he'd want to remember any of this?" he continued to speak, tone like gravel, "This pain? Torment? Heartache?" Beel knew Jamie knew. Shiloh had told him; he remembered that conversation, lights dim, a few nights after Blackfrairs...
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 11:55 am
Jamie Delacroix | 20/25 | dragging Beel to the atrium "D-Don't you think... I've thought about that," he hissed, refusing to let go of Beel's arm. It was relatively easy considering the state of his being, like a phantom poised to fall apart at any moment. This was something Jamie had to get off of his chest before it ate him alive. "Don't you think I-I've dealt with this long enough to know?? I'm going to hurt him. I-I already have."
There was no way to escape heartache. Both he and Shiloh were already so far entwined in this Otherworld garbage that trying to shield each other from it probably wasn't going to work.
"He deserves to hear from you..." Jamie ground his teeth as he tugged Beel toward the only place he really knew where to look. The atrium door was shut tight in the distance, but it wouldn't deter him from trying.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:02 pm
0/25 | Beel | Is dragged...
Beel went without much effort.
"So be it." was his empty response, feet dragging on the ground as he followed Jamie down the hall. "You were the one that made this choice."
The door to the atrium is, in fact, still tightly sealed. There were sounds coming from inside. Someone was in there, at least.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:12 pm
Jamie Delacroix | 20/25 | knocking "I-I'll take responsibility for my choices," he muttered. No matter what happens. It felt almost like there was nothing else he could do, but that wasn't the entire truth. Jamie could turn now, he could run, he could pretend, but that wouldn't solve anything. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he vowed to face the consequences he knew he'd have to.
Someone was here, they could both hear them shuffling around inside. Hopefully that someone was Shiloh. Jamie wanted to be done with this quickly; it was like ripping off a band-aid. With a shaking fist, he knocked.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:21 pm
0/25 | Beel | |: really
At Jamie's knocking, there was silence. The movement and sound behind the door stilled, and there was nothing except for rain on the window. Beel sighed.
"For ******** sake," it was the Shiloh in him, but Beel reached forward to open the door himself, flinging it open, "It's not like we have all the time in the world," there was an uncertain urgency to his voice as he spoke.
25/25 | Shiloh Beaumont | ?!
At the knock, Shiloh had frozen. At the voices squabbling and the door flinging open, he startled, fingers curled around a black notebook in his hands.
"You...?" His eyes locked on Jamie's initially, but he soon turned his attention to the grotesque thing next to him, "What in—?!"
He took a stance against both of them. "Didn't I tell you to leave me alone? Didn't I—" his words fluctuated back to Lace, to the mention of his rabbit friend. His resolved wavered.
"W-What do you want..." he resigned, though his patience was obviously worn thin.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:32 pm
Jamie Delacroix | 20/25 | trying to explain The impatience, the gruffness, it was familiar for sure, but Jamie tried hard not to think about it. Those quirks weren't something he had time to dwell on right now.
"Shiloh I..." It was hard to speak as the door swung open and they were greeted with an undeniably wary resistance. The demand for his departure rang strong in his head like Shiloh was speaking it out loud again. The bruises under his clothes ached. His plan to return hadn't accounted for this and he hardly knew what to say. "I'm sorry..."
With a short, gentle tug on Beel's arm, he brought the fetch further forward.
"I d-didn't know you were gone..." he choked over his words for a moment. "He took your place... and I thought..." What did he think? If Shiloh saw Beel would everything come flying back, all his memories? Doubtful, but... now that he was here Jamie was unsure how exactly to proceed.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:43 pm
25/25 | Shiloh Beaumont | Not buying it...
Sure, there had been doubles, and yes, Shiloh had been aware of it. He remembered his first conversation with Thorne here, he remembered when he was told that no one would ever come looking for them. He sighed—and it was shaky at the recollection—but...
But this? That was what took his place? Shiloh looked dubious at best. Sure, it was bad to doubt anything about the Otherworld, but the more Shiloh stared at the corpse, the more it felt like a slap in the face.
"...do you think I'm stupid? That's what you came back in here for...?" His jaw was set, ridged, "To say my place was taken by some walking corpse?"
Beside Jamie, Beel chuckled.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 1:01 pm
Jamie Delacroix | 20/25 | looking to Beel for answers "Do you think I'm stupid?"
The question struck Jamie like a slap to the face. Of course he didn't think Shiloh was stupid. If there was one thing among the many that he'd learned about him it was that he hated that, he hated being called stupid, and Jamie would never go out of his way to make him feel like that.
"Of course I don't... I would never... t-think you're stupid," he replied, looking suddenly crestfallen. The only thing that brought him any comfort was nudging Beel a bit too hard in the ribs in an attempt to quell his mockery.
"Can't you change back?" And now his gaze shot to the corpse, bringing with it the stronger realization that yeah, this looked pretty farfetched in all honesty.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 1:11 pm
0/25 | Beel | ow ):
Beel's laughter ceased when Jamie nudged him in the side, hissing at the pain. As he nursed the invisible wound there with his hand, he grinned a lipless smile, "Not on my own, no, not here." one of his long fingers reached up, tapping at his cheek, "I lost my glamour when Mercer took the mask."
"Now, if someone were to let me borrow their own..." He looked pointedly at Jamie, or well, as pointedly as he could with his lacking eyes.
The real Shiloh Beaumont, meanwhile, was looking increasingly agitated with the twosome. It wasn't safe in the atrium, he needed to leave here...
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2016 1:22 pm
Jamie Delacroix | 20/25 | letting Beel borrow the mask... Good. At least Beel had gotten the message that Jamie wasn't in the mood for his sass. It was surprisingly easier to act without as much hesitation when he wasn't around all the older adults, all the people who had better handles on the situation than he did. It wasn't without its difficulties by any stretch, he still had to deal with the guilt and the worry and the way Shiloh grew obviously agitated with each passing second, but he could manage to speak without holding back.
"So it's... the mask that keeps you looking that way? B-But what about... back home..." with a small sigh, he shook his head, heart tight and aching. "Here-" Without another word he took off the mask, held it between his fingers with the slightest moment of doubt, and handed it over. "Show him."
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