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 Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:51 am
It was a lot to take in. To watch the words spill from one, the other, pain piled upon pain and his heart hurt for them both. He wanted to say -- *do* -- something, anything! Raise the dead and say 'here, no one has to be alone anymore!' or to haul Axinite down from on high n set him center stage to explain his reasoning. To take away Faustites fault and blame in all the mess of it. He knew that man had years of Faustite serving under his banner; bore witness to the high stakes, n shared bits of suffering across either side.
N when it came to given orders? Well, ********, what else could Faustite have done? Disobeyed — yeah — no. Not an option, never a choice.
Helio had a right to be angry, but how could Faustite have done anything other than what he was asked. Especially when it all seemed easier that they divorce themselves of each other for survivals sake -- rather than -- what? Die together and spend an afterlife alone?
Seemed like a shitty choice.
*And if it’d been you —* tiny little voice that rattled round constantly in his empty head — oh so often screaming ‘damn the consequences’, ‘date the fire’, ‘love the flame’; a demanding thing that wrapped around his heart and spine and squeezed till he was nothing more than impulse and drive. The one that took all his thoughts and reminded him how love was always worth the Risk.
Maybe Faustite couldn’t’ve born it back then. Had already given too much: mind, body, soul. His entire family.
But so had Helio.
And didn’t Helio have some say in what he was willing to give his life for? In who? Even if it hurt the one he was giving it up to — autonomy for these things was important!
Albite was torn. Heaved a broken sort of whine for the new feeling of not knowing which words to speak, felt like he'd blinked and missed what was coming -- watching the strike fall, land, quick as a snake delivering it's bite, before he was reaching to snag that offending hand away -- "Hey!" sharp with shocked snarl as if to say *None of that bullshit!*
Because this didn’t have anything to do with his questions about the burns anymore….
"Hey--" hissed the single word down to a whisper, octaves soft as he shifted his weight to try and play barrier between his beloved boy and the fresh old pain he’d dredged up from the crypts.
This was not how he'd expected any of this to go.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 1:53 am
To hear Heliodor go off like a ******** bomb — Faustite was feeling too sluggish to match his step, still sleep-wearied as he was. Hearing him dismiss Faustite's losses out of hand had deepened Faustite's frown, and he felt some unnameable tangle form in his gut. He knew Trey wasn't dead. Joellen wasn't dead. His family couldn't recognize him without him endangering them if they made but a single error. What Heliodor faced in loss with his family was exactly the same as what Elex faced in loss with Heliodor.
But that didn't matter, because Heliodor wouldn't see it that way. Wouldn't realize that the conversation they were having would be no different had he discussed this very thing with Trey or Joellen. He would take Faustite's place as they would take his place. They would be cursing him out, dismissing his pains and efforts to grant them safe harbor in a ubiquitous, but quiet, war.
So Faustite's attention followed him while the burning thing was at a loss for words. Each attempt to speak produced nothing.
Then Heliodor struck him squarely in the face. Faustite stumbled back, his hands shooting up to cup over his nose, and black rivulets escaped abruptly. An inkwell's worth spilled on the floor. Faustite glared balefully up at him, more hurt than ******** both of you," he cursed in a broken voice. "You deserve each other." He spared seconds to gather his thoughts of the space, of a home before home, then vanished in a fit of blackened smoke.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 2:06 pm
Helio was about as shocked as both Albite and Faustite was as his fist made contact. The comprehension that he even swung was there, but…far away. He didn’t resist as Albite grabbed the offending appendage. Didn’t pull back, didn’t do anything expect take in the stunned and hurt expression on Faustite’s face as black slipped from the target zone onto the ******** you both. You deserve each other.”
The dredges of anger in Helio flared up at the words, but the fire didn’t last long as Faustite disappeared leaving him staring at the void where the half-youma had ********.” He cursed to himself, stepping back and away from Albite. There was no doubt in his mind that he’d royally screwed the pooch, but god DAMN it why did it feel like no matter what he did he appeared the bad guy. He was the one that somehow made the mistake? He triggered the attack that likely would leave him with scars as reminders, HE was the one to just throw the punch and just mess up what should have been a civil, adult conversation.
He hadn’t even realized he had begun to cry until the first drip from his face tickled his chin. Everything was a mess. “I shouldn’t have come back.” He muttered quietly.
“Sorry to have dragged you into this.” He apologized to Albite, not turning to face the man as he wiped a hand across wet eyes. He took a deep breath.
The tears began anew much to his dismay. “Dammit.”
Frustration at himself.. At the situation…at…everything had the young man doing the same as the General. Running. A moment spared for the right vision, and the corrupt disappeared.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 3:15 pm
"Holy ********..." he blinked and they were vanished before his eyes, spiting curses, shedding shocked tears. Leaving him stood alone, brain on fire amidst the deafening silence that dwindled down to him and his own breathing. Alone. Alone, alone, alone with his thoughts in his space; the one thing he couldn't stand to be! Trying and desperately failing to wrap his head around -- just -- what the ******** had happened.
Stepped over the splotch of damning black with a flutter of papers to follow and paced the length n breath of the place as if it'd un-skew his own thoughts that much faster. He and his boy had played this game before -- knew that it wasn't a game -- despite having all the unspoken rules of one. If he chased? The harder he chased? The more viciously he demanded an outcome that felt closer to a resolution -- Albite always felt like kerosene in those moments -- knowing inherently that he'd push Faustite into tight corners that would erupt in vicious escalation, and maybe if it'd been over anything else he would've wanted to!
Not this, not here, not when Faustite had so many other places he could go to hide that Albite knew he couldn't reach. The Keep in him roiled for that, demanded he go after one, the other; tie them down and make them kiss it all better someway -- the blood on the floor smeared ugly under a misplaced step; Albite twisted to rub it in as if he wanted the stain to have permanency along with meaning so he wouldn't ******** forget...
He could only screw up the same way so many times.
He settled on the idea that not one or the other could possibly mean -- any of that. They couldn't have. Helio'd come back, and Faustite hadn't moved on and -- Albite scrubbed the meat of his palms over his face, pressed until he saw static, then turned all his aimless energy into getting his s**t together. Raiding subspace, drawers, errantly thinking of how he wanted his office redecorated in something less heckticly thrown together -- stone cressent moons, pitch blacks, earthier greens -- tables made to be more similar to scimitar shaped circles than squares. Hell, maybe he could compel some ******** wall crystals to go like an elementary science project for rock candy?
"Never have I ever, met a pair of people more meant for each other than those two," ripped free a duffle that he hadn't ******** with since hanging with Hina n Haru over the holidays when his place'd been Haunted something severe, dumped it out and loaded it up with things that felt more necessary than a snack bag and underwear, "********, twinned down to the reaction times n speeds at which they run! M'ah buy them ******** mittens, take away all the knives, their shoelaces ---"
That was an idea. Tearing a page outta Faustites playbook and just pulling a straight up kidnapping. <********.." it's fine, you've got this, ******** Adult you complete n utter piece of -- "Alright! Alright! Cerbs! Watch the place, kay baby? M'ah go out n --" and what exactly was he supposed to do? "Keep my promises."
Cause Faustite hadn't asked for any of this today, had come willingly of his own accord into a mess too sharp to handle without warning, but Aelius? No matter what Albite'd dragged him there for in the beginning, he remembered warning the guy that if he ran -- there would be consequences.
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