[ open ] Quest Catch-all!

[swordfucker]

Who: Guren Ichinose & Various
Where: All around town
When: The month of September!
What: QUEST RELATED CATCH ALL. There's an open bee prompt since Guren is a red, so anyone is welcome even if you didn't plot with me! Newbies too, once they get in!
Warnings: None. Will add if necessary!

A. Bees to see - OPEN

[Guren feels as though he's been going a little easy on the quests lately. It's time to fix that. He's antsy, he's got an empty jar in one hand and his other on his sword, and he holds it up to anyone who might pass him by.]

Have you bothered getting any honey yet? You can come with me.

[And with that simple line, they're off! Unless your character has any resistance, of course, but assuming they don't, Guren leads them right into the forest.]

I wouldn't be surprised if these things were huge and mutated, so let's be prepared for that.

B. Wildcard - OPEN

[If you want to hit Guren up for a different quest, even if he's a red, feel free! Try to ruin his day? Just see what he's up to? This is my generic space to say anyone can tag me even if I didn't plot things with them, so feel free, or hit me up at zeloser to work something out, if you want!]

Closed prompts in the comments!

Comments

[passio]

In Flavo. It’s important. I don’t want anyone else to know.

[ their private little getaway, turned into a second home of sorts—a place for just the two of them, to talk and cry and share secrets they can’t risk with anyone else.

he’s never had a place like that. ]

[swordfucker]

I'm heading there now.

[He gets it. And so, he closes his laptop, grabs his jacket and heads towards Flavo immediately. He's still tired looking, even if he's been trying to get a few more naps. The exhaustion of the memories, of everything he's done, has been enough to weigh him down extra. It's like he's in the same spot.

He can't ask Dextera to sleep with him every night. That's just unfair. It feels unfair, at least...

Anyway, he's at the house as fast as he can be, inside and lingering near the door, unable to sit down when he's thinking like this.]

[passio]

[ dextera isn’t far behind him, though he lags a few minutes making sure that the strangeness of his scar isn’t visible through his clothes. he doesn’t know if it’ll go back to normal. it must.

the ring goes in his pocket, and he lets himself in after knocking. for all the urgency of his message, and the conversation that must have been difficult on him, he looks normal. he doesn’t look like he’s particularly exhausted or in pain, though he might be just a little paler than usual—or it could simply be the light, the difference is that small. ]

…

[swordfucker]

[The second Dextera steps in, Guren is moving over to be closer to him, eyes running up and down to check him. He... seems okay, for the most part, doesn't he? Guren can't tell. Maybe if he can't tell, it means he's fine. Or maybe, he's so not fine that he looks fine? What a stupid thought. Guren scolds himself for it, and decides to just ask.]

Are you okay? It really went okay?

[passio]

[ dextera nods, simply. he’s worrying guren, so he’ll be honest—the more he says, even if it’s unpleasant, the better, right? then they can put this all to rest, and guren won’t have to hurt anymore. ]

He said… he doesn’t trust you. But he knows how we both feel, about each other.

[ that’s one hurdle, but earning sinistra’s trust is probably just an impossible task. ]

[swordfucker]

It's probably better not to trust me.

[Hm, what a mysterious thing to say. But he glosses right over it, reaching out and pressing fingertips to Dextera's chest, like he wants to feel his heart.]

Is he going to come with us?

[passio]

[ dextera doesn’t like to hear guren say things like that, but then he’s moving on like he never mentioned it in the first place. his heart is beating faster, whether or not guren can feel it through the fabric of his clothes.

he nods, but he looks just a little more distraught. ]

He wants to. He thinks he’ll die when he leaves here, though.

[swordfucker]

I already thought of that.

[He hopes to ease that fast-beating heart. He can feel it, at least with focus, and he wants to ease that expression from Dextera's face, too.]

There are protective spells I can try to keep his body intact. Backup plans to that would mean trying to send his soul into something else, to carry it over, and finding a way to bring him back.

But whatever it takes, I'll find a way for him to live there, as long as he wants to come. I promise. [Empty promises again, but he wants to. He has to.]

[passio]

[ it’s enough.

that’s what dextera wanted to hear. he wanted to place the burden of finding a way to do it into someone else’s hands, and he’s still being selfish, but he simply doesn’t know what else to do. trying to think about it any more makes his scar hurt. ]

…

[ he nods. guren doesn’t need to know that sinistra promised him he’d always be there in dextera’s heart, since it was the private assurance of an older brother, but there are other things to say, too. ]

He said… he doesn’t know if you want him to come. Because he’s difficult. He called himself a “parasite.” Of course I said… he wasn’t. But it’s you he’s worried about.

[swordfucker]

Tch... He's such an idiot.

[Sorry Dextera, these are his true thoughts! He drops his hand away from Dextera's chest and steps back, further into the house so he can get away from the doorway.]

I'm the one who offered it in the first place. I called him family, and he told me he didn't think people became family that simply. How the hell is any of this simple?

[passio]

[ don’t call his big brother an idiot!

dextera can’t be offended, though. sometimes, he feels like his brother wants to die again, even though that can’t possibly be true. for all the pain dextera has suffered, he wants to stay alive, and he doesn’t understand why his brother might not feel right coming back to life after so long.

he follows guren. ]

He’s not used… to being wanted.

[swordfucker]

...I know.

[Sighing, he presses his palm to his forehead, staring at the ground and then glancing back up to Dextera as he drops it again.]

What should I do?

[It's one of those rare moments in that Guren is the one asking this question. He's trying. He's really trying to show Sinistra that he is wanted, that Guren does care, but it's always going to seem forced when Guren met Dextera first. When he loves Dextera. So what? Is there a way to help?]

[passio]

…?

[ it genuinely catches dextera off guard, and it shows on his face—for a moment, his pain and fear disappearing under the force of his surprise. guren is asking him? he doesn’t know. he doesn’t know anything, but… he should. they’re brothers. they’re twins.

how does guren earn sinistra’s trust? it’s hard to say. ]

…

[ he’s quiet, for a moment. ]

Don’t give up, but… [ the all-important “but.” ] I think… I have to be better first.

[swordfucker]

I don't like how you're wording that.

[Bluntly!! But, he moves a hand to run down the side of Dextera's arm, comforting.]

What do you mean, "better"?

[passio]

[ was it bad? it may have been bad, and his fingers twitch—he wants to touch his scar, but he doesn’t want guren to see it. quickly, he shakes his head. ]

It’s not like that. [ mostly. ] I know I’m unfair to him. I have to… let him breathe.

[swordfucker]

That's called giving him space, not "being better." Come on, don't think down on yourself. You can do it.

[Maybe Guren can even be a distraction? A help? He squeezes Dextera's arm.]

Let me help however I can. You can ask to spend time with me whenever you want, you know. [haha...] ...But anyway, you're here with me right now, so it's okay. You wanted to show me something?

[passio]

[ dextera is just glad he didn’t push it. he’s hiding something and he feels a little bad—but surely, he thinks, it will go away. when it goes away, it won’t be a problem anymore, so it’s useless to bring up to guren now. ]

Ah…

[ the ring. right. he fishes it out of his pocket, holding it in the palm of one hand so guren can see what it is. with his other hand, he explains it quickly. ]

It’s dangerous.

[swordfucker]

[Ah. It's one of those. Guren's eyes snap to the ring, and he holds out his own palm like he wants to hold it.]

Dangerous how?

[passio]

[ dextera hesitates on dropping it into his hand, but he needs to free up his hands anyway. he places it in guren’s palm, and then quickly closes his fingers to keep guren from even thinking about putting it on or anything equally reckless. ]

It can permanently erase a memory. Just once, I think… but…

[ it’s tempting, is the problem. ]

[swordfucker]

[Ah.

That is dangerous.]

You've had your own memories erased. You know how it feels. [He says it low, carefully, glancing down at his closed hand.] It's not something you should do willy nilly. Maybe at all.

[...]

Were you considering it?

[passio]

[ dextera knows. he shouldn’t do it, because he’s been suffering so much without his memories—but he’s suffering with them, too, so is it really better this way? ]

…

[ he nods. he didn’t come here to lie about this. ]

I keep thinking… I can help you. But I know it’s not… like this.

[swordfucker]

[He wondered if it might be that. He gets it. He really does. But—]

All of those memories are what make me who I am right now. [He squeezes Dextera's arm, again.]

I already have some issues with my memory. It's okay that I remember those things. I need to. Okay?

[passio]

[ they hurt him so much, though—it’s hard for dextera to watch. while he’s had the ring, in the aftermath of this memory sharing, all he could think about was the sight and sound of guren crying under the weight of his guilt.

then, he told himself that the guilt wouldn’t go away. it didn’t for dextera. this thought only assuaged him briefly. ]

…

[ he nods again. ]

That’s why… I’m giving it to you. I don’t trust myself.

[swordfucker]

...Thank you, Dex. I'll take care of it.

[He tucks it into his pocket now, and then pulls out another one to show him.]

I've got this one, too. It's a little different. I can tell who brought back a color of something... three times. I can't figure out how it might be of any use to me, yet, so I'm hanging onto it. If you think of anything, you can let me know.

But that memory one... that's something to use in an emergency. [Like, in the instant that Shinya or someone else heard they had died, or figured it out. God.]

[passio]

[ it’s a much nicer reward than the one dextera got—it’s sinister, really, for someone like him. he’s got so much to think about with his memories, and after everything he saw, from himself and others, it’s hard not to feel like it would be merciful to erase something. ]

You’ll be better with it.

[ he does pick up the ring that guren is showing him now, though, examining it. what use is finding out who’s responsible for the color? three times doesn’t seem like enough to get information from. ]