[ OPEN? CLOSED? ] as you die, you will understand.

[passio]

WHO: dextera + others! i’m open to anyone but please tell me by PM or at pavaal if they haven’t had at least like, one conversation.

WHAT: dextera forces himself to face all the people he bailed on after dying.

WHERE: the town!

WHEN: forward dated to late june, and probably the 1st and 2nd of july.

WARNINGS: death death death

[ for the first time, dextera wakes up from death to a sky that isn’t red. it’s all as grey as the world around him, and slowly, the memories return to him—the bogeyman, his brother, the feeling of his very soul being taken from his body. then, there’s a long expanse of nothing. now, his consciousness has returned.

he keeps out of the way at first in this sketchy body, staying private, staying safe with a friend he’s sure won’t tell—there are things he’s not ready to talk about, and faces he’s not ready to see. after a few days have passed, though, and his features reform, color returns, and his voice continues to stay just out of reach, he can finally be seen around town again.

he saw the post. he knows guren announced his death. he’s just hoping that no one will ask about it, if they see him. ]

...

[ as ever, he's silent. ]


( i'll be posting closed prompts in the comments for people who want them, otherwise... go HOG WILD. )

Comments

[passio]

[ dextera doesn’t flinch at the gun, oddly, perhaps, for him. he’s usually so nervous, on edge around ryo—but not now, and he simply holds his hands up in the most placating gesture he can manage when he’s sketchy and wrong and feeling just outside his own body. ]

…

[ he signs something, but it seems as unintelligible as if his voice were blocked. still, the action itself should be clear enough that it’s him. against all odds, dextera has wandered into his house.

or, as it stands, has very purposely broken in. ]

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo watches him try to sign something, canting his head just slightly to the left. Not only is the silhouette eerily familiar, the signing is too, even if he cannot understand what the figure is trying to convey. ]

Dextera. [ He states it with a note of doubt in his voice, because he can't quite believe that this is the real deal—some apparition conjured up by the town itself to fuck with them, perhaps.

He still doesn't lower his rifle. That's not a risk he's willing to take yet. ]

[passio]

[ it is, it is dextera, but even he pauses like he’s not entirely sure that it’s true. his memories are fine, but as he is now… well, it’s something to figure out later. something he plans to dwell on, while he feels like he’s still dead and yet walking, standing here with ryo’s rifle trained on him. ]

…

[ he nods, slowly. ]

[apocalypticist]

Unbelievable. [ Ryo shakes his head and slowly lowers the rifle, though he still holds it in Dextera's direction. ]

Is it really you?

[passio]

[ dextera knows that this is insane, for people who aren’t used to coming back from the dead. this feels par for the course for him, however, excluding all of this. the white blankness of his body. ]

…

[ he nods again, gesturing to himself, motioning that something was taken from him—from his chest. his soul was removed, and although he’s technically fine now, dextera himself has a whole host of problems with that that won’t be addressed for a little while longer. ]

[apocalypticist]

Something was taken...? [ hm. ] Are you referring to the crystal your body turned into?

[ The one Guren took and is probably using as the world's most depressing paperweight. ]

[passio]

[ that… could be right. it’s his soul, after all, and he doesn’t know enough about death here. the bogeyman did suck it right out of him, and if dextera has no way of reuniting with it…

but that’s conjecture, and conjecture won’t help him here. still, he nods, and then takes a slow step forward. ]

[apocalypticist]

Ichinose-san took it. [ Your soul gem is safe and in good hands, congratulations. ]

But since you came to me and not him, I assume you don't want to see him right now.

[passio]

[ dextera nods again. if guren took it… that’s fine. he’ll be able to get it back later, but for now, he doesn’t want to go to guren. his hazy instinct brought him here, to the person he knows will be able to keep a level head about all of this. he doesn’t need the emotional reunion right now.

he just needs to… recuperate. he signs something again, just as uselessly as before, but the gesture itself is obvious. he points to himself, and then makes a meaningful motion at the floor.

he wants to stay. ]

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo looks at him for a moment, quietly considering whether he should let him stay or tell him once again to leave. Then he lowers the rifle to his side so it's no longer pointed in Dextera's direction. ]

You can stay. [ He turns around to head back into his room, motioning for Dextera to follow. Once inside, he closes the door behind them and leans the weapon back against the wall. ]

[passio]

[ dextera exhales, but there’s no sound of breath from him. even if he moves like it, he’s been struck completely silent by this form—like a ghost, but all he can do is hope it isn’t permanent. he’d rather be dead than feel like this for the rest of his life. ]

…

[ he follows ryo into his room, and almost immediately, he leans back against the wall to slide down into a sitting position. he just wants to rest. he doesn’t know. he wants ryo to tell him what to do. ]

[apocalypticist]

There's a spare bedroom you can use, but if you don't want to risk being seen by my housemate when she returns you may want to sleep in here.

[ there's a slight pause before he adds: ] On the floor.

[ he's sure he didn't really need to clarify this, but it's better to be clear so dextera knows what his options are. he isn't sharing his bed with anyone, much less some sketchy figure who gives him weird uncomfortable feelings—and maybe some vague positive ones too, because he's starting to find dextera's presence somewhat preferable to his absence. ]

[passio]

[ dextera would not expect anything different of ryo. even offering his floor is a bit of a surprise, but it’s a welcome one anyway—so he nods, and from the sitting position he’s already in, he moves to simply lie down on the floor. ]

…

[ he does turn his face up slightly to look at ryo, however, and there’s a flutter of movement that looks something like blinking eyes. slowly, his features are filling in. ]

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo notices the movement, gaze lingering on Dextera's face for a couple of seconds as though he's waiting to see if it's going to happen again. Then he turns to open the wardrobe and gather the blanket and two spare pillows he keeps there. ]

Here.

[ He holds the pillows and the blanket out for Dextera to take. One of the pillows is missing its case and is kind of flat and the other has a strange smell. But hey, better than nothing, right? ]

[passio]

[ thanks, ryo.

except dextera doesn’t feel anything at all, when he takes these pillows. even the one with the strange smell just seems like it’s there, even if he does pause to sniff it because he’s still a weirdo, underneath it all. ]

…

[ he places the pillows on the ground, and pulls the blanket over his shoulders. honestly, like this, he looks just about as dead as his actual corpse did. ]

[apocalypticist]

[ Don't smell the pillow, Dex!! ]

Goodnight, Dextera.

[ He was going to stay up for another hour or so to type notes on his laptop but honestly, it's getting late and the dead has come back to crash on his bedroom floor, how is he supposed to work like this. There's plenty of time to be productive tomorrow after he's gotten a good night's sleep, so he puts his laptop away and changes into pyjamas before getting into bed.

With Dextera in the room, it takes longer than usual for Ryo to fall asleep, but eventually he manages to drift off into slumber. He dreams of wings to fly with, of falling into the vastness of space from somewhere bright and warm. He stirs early in the morning, slowly blinking his eyes open. ]

[passio]

[ having ryo tell him goodnight, like all this is normal or at least not completely abnormal, does get a reaction out of him. he shifts under the blanket, turning to look at ryo with that same distant focus as before—staring, as he does, until not even he can stay awake any longer.

his own dreams are of nothing at all, possibly because the sleep he does get is somehow deep and restless at the same time. he wakes up feeling worse, in some ways, but he looks better.

by the time the morning filters into ryo’s room, dextera is clearly dextera. he’s still pale, desaturated as many were during the incident with the shadows, but his body is returning to him in stages. he still feels… empty, though. he feels like someone else. ]

…

[ …right. he’s in ryo’s room. ]

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo covers his mouth with his hand to stifle a yawn and shakes his head to clear it of sleep before sliding out of bed. He's not the type to linger in bed after waking up—he's gotten his night's rest and staying there after waking up isn't conducive to having a productive day, and it makes the body associate the bed with being awake.

He looks to Dextera, mentally making the comparison to the desaturation during the shadow incident, and notes that he seems to be slowly turning back to his usual self. ]

You're looking better today.

[passio]

[ dextera doesn’t notice that his body aches from sleeping on the floor until he moves to sit up, and he winces—at least, however, it’s clear on his face. there are small details that haven’t filled in yet, and he looks incomplete, but anyone who looked at him would recognize him.

he looks down at his own hands, when ryo points it out, and he’s quiet for a moment. ]

…

[ he still can’t go out like this. ]

I’m sorry. For showing up suddenly.

[apocalypticist]

It's fine. People are wired to seek out familiarity, and you're the type of person who looks to others for guidance and direction.

[ Ryo assumes that's at least part of the reason he came to him, besides not wanting to see Guren right now. He begins to change out of his pyjamas and put on his usual clothes (sans the coat, since they're indoors and he can't get the bloodstains out or fix the damaged sleeve by himself), right hand smoothing the front of his shirt. ]

Besides, I owe you one. That amulet you gave me saved my life.

[passio]

[ ryo is right. dextera wants direction, he can’t help it—ryo may not be an expert at providing it, but his demeanor is enough to keep dextera calm.

he looks up when ryo claims the need to repay him, however, and only upon looking closer does he realize that there are still small scratches across ryo’s otherwise flawless skin. he frowns. what happened, after dextera died? ]

Were you hurt?

[apocalypticist]

I was flung through a glass window.

[ Which kind of sucked tbh, but at least Josuke took care of the worst of the cuts, and now his own healing factor has ensured that all that's left of his remaining injuries are thin lines that will disappear completely before the day is over. ]

The impact with the wall should have broken my neck. [ Or the glass shards should have severed an artery, made him bleed out. ] It didn't.

[passio]

[ hearing that gets the first open display of emotion on dextera’s face since he showed up here, but even that seems subdued. his eyes widen slightly, lips parting in surprise, but ryo is clearly fine now. whether that was the amulet or something else, dextera is glad that he handed it over.

ryo would have died without it, and that would be much worse than dextera meeting the same fate. ]

I’m relieved.

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo is glad too, because dying does not sound like a good time, even if it isn't permanent. ]

I'm going to make breakfast. Do you drink coffee?

[passio]

[ the one-two punch of worrying about ryo and then having ryo offer him sustenance is almost too much. this, at least, is not something the archangel would ever do for him.

dextera would frankly drink poison if ryo gave it to him in a cup and told him to take it. ]

…I don’t know. [ a helpless little shake of his head, as he watches ryo, which is his way of saying that he doesn’t remember if he’s ever had coffee before. ]