awashlogs | (may catch-all) when devilman no uta comes on

[ the sheep metaphor is certainly the more appropriate one, even if ryo is a shepherd that dextera should be far more hesitant to follow. but it’s that cool head that gets him every time.

he wishes he knew more sign, but he’s only just started and there’s no way he could communicate everything he wants to say with some basic sentiments anyway. so, for now, he’s stuck with his gestures—though ryo makes him feel a little silly for it, even if he understands what dextera is trying to communicate. ]

...

[ he nods like he’s guilty for asking, like he’s embarrassed for worrying so much. because he is. of course ryo can take care of himself, but—

sorry. what a terrible crush this is. ]

Don't look like that. [ The worrying is entirely unnecessary, but so is the feeling of embarrassment, in his opinion. Briefly, his thoughts stray to Akira, to that time when he shoved a burger in his face and insisted that he eat it because he was worried Ryo wasn't eating enough. That too was objectively pointless, but he appreciated the sentiment all the same. ]

Worry is a natural part of the human condition.

[ it's amazing how ryo simply stating facts can make dextera feel a little worse and a little better at the same time. it's something that the archangel would have done, too, if he were here. it's belittling, almost, like a reminder that of course he would do these things that don't make any sense, because he's only human; but at the same time, it's a comfort, knowing that someone cares enough to mention it. ]

...

[ he tenses his hands briefly, and nods again, deeper this time—acknowledging ryo's words, and accepting them. in moving, he notices that the light filtering through the trees catches a glimmer of something, and he realizes that it might be the beginnings of a spiderweb. ]

[A spiderweb is right. They're difficult to see, especially when everything is still so grey in the forest, but there are more of them as they continue on. And for whoever wasn't watching Guren closely enough ahead, they wouldn't have seen the woman step out from between the trees, seemingly from nowhere, to greet him.

It looks like they're deep in conversation. A conversation where her hands are all over Guren as she steps closer and around him, leaving webs trailing that anyone distracted or lacking in talent may not be able to see, and her kimono is slipping from her shoulders.

It looks like he's having a good time!!

Well, actually, he looks a little distracted. It's not the jorogumo so much as the voice only for him in the back of his head, two forces of temptation at once. He's not moving at all, and he's very aware of those webs, but it looks like he plans on just standing there. Well, he has thoroughly captured her attention, after all.]

[ The moment Ryo catches sight of the glistening silk threads, he knows they're in spider demon territory. He reaches a hand inside his coat for one of his knives just in case he needs to cut through those threads, following Guren with guarded caution until a woman steps into view.

He grabs Dextera by the wrist and pulls him behind one of the thick trees. From there he watches the conversation between Guren and the woman, observing and running different scenarios through his head, honing in on solutions in case anything goes wrong.

He releases Dextera's wrist and offers him an open palm — if he has anything to say, write it instead of doing charades. ]

[ there's a lot that's happening, right now. dextera's eyes find guren after he's pulled off to the side by ryo, but then immediately his eyes drift to the woman on the other side—the line of her exposed neck, her shoulder, the way the kimono slips down her creamy skin and is about three seconds away from exposing a breast. ]

...

[ dextera takes an embarrassingly long second to watch this display, actively ogling, before he remembers that this is dangerous and guren could get eaten and oh ryo's hand when did you get there? he shakes his head, blinking away that enchantment—is it truly his fault that the sight of a loose kimono around a beautiful woman's shoulders is so appealing?—and awkwardly palms the air until he finds ryo's open hand. his eyes are still, a little bit, more interested in guren and the jorogumo.

at the human contact, however, he remembers himself completely and writes out one word:

A-T-T-A-C-K? ]

[Guren is still holding the attention of the target. He's being wrapped quite thoroughly in a web, and the way he holds up his arm to look at that seems like he's startled by it— but it's really a sign to Ryo and Dextera. She's got strong webs! Obviously. And Guren is looking to soon be at the center of one.

She takes her hand to Guren's face, turns it away from that arm and to her, and that kimono slips scandalously further. It looks like she's going to kiss him.]

[ Dextera, why are you like this. Ryo tosses him a frigid glare when he notices that the other's ability to pay attention to anything that isn't exposed skin on a pretty woman appears to have gone out the window. He just told you to keep in mind that she's a spider, Dex. Why are humans so easily distracted by their base desires even when it's detrimental?

He's just about to grab him by the shoulders and give him a firm shaking when Dextera snaps out of it on his own; good, he's not completely hopeless, then. He regards him quietly when he starts writing on his palm, not liking the touch but he's willing to ignore the discomfort for the sake of communication.

When he finishes writing, Ryo glances over to Guren again for a fraction of a second to assess the situation before nodding. ]

We shouldn't wait longer. Try approaching her from behind, if you can.

[ ~~dextera likes the touch.~~

dextera still finds his gaze slipping to the jorogumo more than guren, even though he's trying to follow ryo's look and subsequent assessment. her shoulder is out... he's about to see a titty... but really, her proximity to guren unsettles him, and waiting any longer might end up in guren suffering a venomous bite that even that regeneration of his may not be able to recover from.

he nods in return, slaps his face to try to get it together, and slowly, silently, creeps out from behind the tree after that. if he can get the drop on her, he might be able to purify her before they actually have to fight. it won't be easy on his body, but the faster the better, right? ]

...

[ he wants to get her away from guren, though, before he does anything—so with one of those many, many bones he keeps on him at all times, he tosses a distraction to her side with the hope of straying her from the virile young man she's slowly ensnaring in her web. ]

[ Damn it. Dextera does a good job of drawing her attention to the side, but her wandering would just mean that his distraction didn’t succeed in keeping the threat all to himself. He’s not bitten, thanks to this, but she’s put on high alert. Guren cant see Dextera, right now, but he can tell he’s not used to hiding his presence, and he doesn’t want to find out how well the spider woman targets people like that.

His web free arm grabs at his sword, suddenly, and runs it straight through her stomach. All at once, her eight legs rip out of her body and latch into the ground, and Guren has his other hand struggling to hold around the blade of his own sword at her back. Cutting his own hand is fine, as long as she doesn’t get away, but now her face is morphing and there are fangs. She’s definitely back to trying to go for Guren. Sorry, Dex!! ]

Now! Watch out for her legs! [ She will definitely try to smack Dextera or stab into him with those like she’s doing to Guren now— he’s got two sunk into his back, and he’s trying to lean himself away from her face while holding her still. ]

[ Right now, Ryo wishes he had his video camera with him so he could record all this. That being said, he remains hidden behind the tree and continues to watch from the sidelines since he has no intention to join the other two in battling spider-chan over there.

ryo is this tweet at the moment tbh ]

[ dextera wouldn’t have let ryo join even if he tried, anyway! he’s got enough to worry about with guren and the swords and the legs and the fangs and and and—he tries to keep ryo’s cool gaze in the back of his mind to keep himself calm, guiding himself with the potential of disappointment of disapproval.

is it healthy? surely not, but it’s what works, just like that frigid look kept him from lingering on the spider for too long. even without doing anything, ryo’s mere presence has a great influence on dextera’s behavior. (for better or worse.) ]

Nngh...

[ rational thought! is it rational to be self-sacrificial? probably not! but he’s going to try, and the way his thoughts lead him is to make sure that guren doesn’t put himself in any more danger.

when he gets close enough, she kicks out like a horse with her unoccupied legs, but dextera can use that to his advantage. the way it goes is thus:

he grabs her by one of the legs, leaving his sword abandoned on the ground while he tightens both hands firmly around the tibia. it looks like he might just snap it in half, actually, but then his hands are glowing white-hot with the purification energy that both guren and ryo have witnessed by now. swinging around his sword helps to channel and focus it—coming from his hands directly, compared to his weapon, is the equivalent of getting a light tan on a clear day versus looking directly into the sun.

it’s a pretty disgusting sight, actually. the spider hisses as her body twists, caught in different places between melting and ashing, before she disappears entirely as if she was never there at all.

left in her place is a small, crystalline orb like the one dextera carries around with him... and he makes a motion to grab for it before he stumbles and hits the ground with a nearly comical thud.

he missed. ]

[What a powerful attack... Guren is in awe every time he sees Dextera use his light, really, no matter how close it gets to his own skin. It's hot and blinding, and when it's gone, there's a crystal and Dextera is falling.

Guren isn't fast enough to catch him, thanks to how blinding that purification had been, but he's moving without thinking, anyway. His sword drops to the side so both of his arms can reach for Dextera, pulling him up and turning him enough that he can lean against Guren while he checks how he's doing.

Again, Guren was saved from a potentially venomous bite, and he couldn't even help him not fall... He feels a little bad, since the intensity of that attack was definitely due to him causing Dextera to drop his sword to help. But there still weren't too many injuries, right? Guren just has some spider leg stabs, and those aren't a big deal.]

Dextera. Hey... [His voice is commanding and worried, trying to make sure his friend is still alright, maybe still conscious, anything...

Ryo you can come out from your creeper tree now.]

[ Incredible. When the word purifying came up earlier, Ryo wondered what it meant in the context of defeating a spider youkai and looked forward to finding out; he didn't expect it to involve literally a living being being reduced to what looks like some sort of... crystal, he thinks — he isn't entirely sure when he isn't standing close enough to get a proper view of the orb.

He steps out of his hiding place and walks over to where the other two are, looking at Guren and his injuries for a moment before turning his attention to Dex. ] Is he conscious?

[ dextera is a dumb idiot, but he'll probably be fine, especially since there are no other hungry ladies in the immediate vicinity to feast on the three of them. hopefully. but hey, now guren knows what'll happen to him if he ever goes balls to the wall demonic and dextera has to kill him! it'll be a great time for everybody. ]

...

[ he's mostly conscious, in and out. his eyes are closed, but when ryo approaches, he weakly lifts a hand to insist that he's responsive. it's a little embarrassing, actually—which is probably why he responds to ryo more immediately than guren, a question in the air besides. ]

[Hey, that's exactly what he's thinking about! He can't even be bothered with any emotions over Ryo getting a response first because he's too busy thinking about what kind of strain this must be on Dextera's body. Why is that... Where does this even come from? The way his fingers curl more into Dextera's arm as he holds him is so slight that it might go unnoticed.]

Asuka, grab that crystal for him.

[There might not be spider ladies in the immediate vicinity, but Guren isn't about to wait and see how many will keep coming. He's meaning to look into that, actually, but not right now. He keeps his eyes on Dextera this whole time, his frown only deepening.]

Can you stand?

[ if ryo goes to grab that crystal, it won't hurt him, per se—all it is, after all, is the jorogumo's essential thoughts and emotions reduced to a basic, perfect form. it isn't intended to be a weapon, but even someone without empathy at all will be inevitably forced to feel the same things she has upon touching the crystal.

what those things are is straightforward enough. a deep, abiding hunger focused on anyone who might wander into her territory—perhaps even unsettling in its litany of eat/kill/eat/kill—and a laser-like attention on the town's residents in particular. she was here to get rid of them, enough so that her very soul contains that desire.

neat! ]

...

[ when guren asks about his ability to stand, on the other hand, dextera nods without actually making any attempt to move. ]

[ Ryo does as told and goes to pick up the crystalline orb, regretting it the second his fingers curl around it. Caught by surprise, his entire body goes still when a rush of something floods through his system like gasoline on fire — hunger is a biological drive Ryo can understand, but what he's feeling goes beyond a base physiological need for more nutrients. It's an insatiable, unending desire to kill them.

He quickly shoves the orb into a pocket, hoping that it will stop doing the thing now that it isn't directly touching his skin. Will his Prada coat protect him from spider feelings. ]

[ Guren looks at Ryo for a brief moment, but he decides not to say anything yet. Dextera’s nod is all he needs to shift and try to help him up. Depending how much it seems like he actually needs the help, he’ll act more or less like support. ]

[ don't worry, ryo, as long as you're not directly touching it you're fine. ~~orbs can't hurt you that coat is prada~~

dextera realizes a moment later that it was probably not wise to let him touch it, however, considering the last time that someone touched an idea sephirah without dextera checking it first, he buried himself and died!! so that's enough for dextera to claw his way back to consciousness, though he still seems winded, leaning on guren. ]

...

[ more than that, though, he's worried, and he reaches out even while aware that ryo can't just hand it over without inducing whatever he just experienced all over again. ]

...I'll give it to you later. [ That was an unpleasant experience and he would rather not touch the damn thing again so soon, so it's staying in his pocket where it can't hurt him a little longer. ]

You did a good job. [ He adds after a moment of quiet thought, deciding that Dextera deserves a little recognition for a job well done. One thing he learned as a university professor is that people thrive on praise from authority figures. ]

Ah...

[ dextera's chest tightens at the praise, even though he definitely would have gotten himself killed if he tried to pull something like that where other people weren't around to help him. he's not likely to do it again soon, but he'll gladly accept that with a shy duck of his head.

more importantly, though—that crystal definitely has something of note in it. the point of purifying her was to see if anything like that came up, but it's too bad that ryo had to be the one to deal with it. there can be some lasting effects from such a rush of emotion, so dextera makes a distant note to himself to check on ryo later, privately. ]

[ Guren is still quiet in all of this, though now his gaze isn’t focused on either of them so much as a spot between them. A figure only he can see, as always, in a school uniform, crouching and smiling at his dropped sword. ”You didn’t do anything exciting this time, Guren. Are you worried?”

He ignores her, eyes staring through her as he makes sure he keeps one hand on Dextera’s shoulder, holding his leaning. Mahiru picks up the sword, and to anyone else, it looks like it floats smoothly into the hand Guren outstretches now.

”No matter what you do, you won’t be able to hold back forever.” ]

Shut up.

[ It’s muttered, and he doesn’t care, but he also won’t make her vanish. He looks back the way they came. ]

Let’s get out of here.

[ Your sword waifu is so nice, Guren... Ryo glances at the sword as it floats back to its owner and then starts heading back toward the town. No use in staying here now that the quest is done. ]

I hope the reward isn't more knives.

[ that brings him back pretty effectively, and dextera glances to guren, then to ryo, and back to guren again. he's more or less okay now, well enough to walk, though if they get attacked on their way back through the forest he might be pretty useless.

for now, he just retrieves his own sword, and nods idly in agreement with ryo's sentiment. the last thing any of them need is more knives. ]

...

[ guren's wounds will heal, won't they? it's that quiet mutter that dextera is worried about, and he exhales softly. more to deal with, later, but it's definitely time to head back now. ]

(may catch-all) when devilman no uta comes on

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)