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[ OPEN/CATCH-ALL ] we garner this poor hour of ease.
WHO: dextera, and others.
WHERE: the town.
WHEN: throughout november, labeled accordingly.
WHAT: some important prompts (following guren for a canon update), some not-so-important prompts (snow!), and eventually, possibly, quests.
WARNINGS: dextera’s existential despair is gonna be BIG in this post, plus definitely discussions of blood/gore (mostly for animals)!
i. LET IT SNOW (OPEN / PRIOR TO NOTICING NEW ARRIVALS)
[ when dextera wakes up the morning of the eighth, it seems that overnight the rain of the day before has turned to snow. he’s seen snow before, by now, but it didn’t stick the first time it fell. now, however, the ground is covered in an inch or two that’s getting a little thicker with every passing minute, and certainly with every passing hour.
dextera, true to form, is scrambling out of his room after catching a glimpse of the blinding white through the window, to go grab the chickens and usher them all inside their coop. it’s too cold for them! it’s also too cold for dextera, who forgot to put on his warm, protective coat, so he’s standing outside shivering trying to make sure that the chickens are safe. ]
ii. the suffering of christ (OPEN / AFTER THE NEW ARRIVALS)
a. [ dextera had followed guren into the woods. of course he had, of course, because guren had gotten up for seemingly no reason and wandered in—responding to nothing at all. no matter how much dextera tugged at his arm or tried to stand in the way, guren kept moving on as a man possessed. what this meant, what this means, is that dextera stumbles out of the woods alone a few hours later, at some point when the dawn breaks over the horizon and reflects on the ever-growing pristine snow. blood of various origins stains the path behind him.
he looks bad. he looks like he’s been in there for days, even though he was ostensibly only gone a few hours—there’s blood down his shirt, on his mouth, his fingers, dried and fresh in equal measure. the tentative light in his eyes that’s been blooming these past few months is extinguished entirely, but that’s only visible for a moment before he goes face down into the snow and stays there. ]
b. [ over the next few days following the above incident, anyone who knows both dextera and guren, and possibly even people who don’t, are going to receive a desperate message from his hex code in their inbox. possibly more than one, possibly several. ]
Wheredid he go?
c. [ until guren’s return, dextera is going to be in his room. definitely crying, maybe not eating, but he’s not going to fight anyone who comes in to check on him. ]
iii. WILDCARD
( here is everything else! assuming that the mini-event doesn’t fuck me right up with the timing of this, anyone can respond to those first two, but if you’d like to do something else, something more specific, or quests, let me know by PM or at![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
pavaal! )
WHERE: the town.
WHEN: throughout november, labeled accordingly.
WHAT: some important prompts (following guren for a canon update), some not-so-important prompts (snow!), and eventually, possibly, quests.
WARNINGS: dextera’s existential despair is gonna be BIG in this post, plus definitely discussions of blood/gore (mostly for animals)!
[ when dextera wakes up the morning of the eighth, it seems that overnight the rain of the day before has turned to snow. he’s seen snow before, by now, but it didn’t stick the first time it fell. now, however, the ground is covered in an inch or two that’s getting a little thicker with every passing minute, and certainly with every passing hour.
dextera, true to form, is scrambling out of his room after catching a glimpse of the blinding white through the window, to go grab the chickens and usher them all inside their coop. it’s too cold for them! it’s also too cold for dextera, who forgot to put on his warm, protective coat, so he’s standing outside shivering trying to make sure that the chickens are safe. ]
a. [ dextera had followed guren into the woods. of course he had, of course, because guren had gotten up for seemingly no reason and wandered in—responding to nothing at all. no matter how much dextera tugged at his arm or tried to stand in the way, guren kept moving on as a man possessed. what this meant, what this means, is that dextera stumbles out of the woods alone a few hours later, at some point when the dawn breaks over the horizon and reflects on the ever-growing pristine snow. blood of various origins stains the path behind him.
he looks bad. he looks like he’s been in there for days, even though he was ostensibly only gone a few hours—there’s blood down his shirt, on his mouth, his fingers, dried and fresh in equal measure. the tentative light in his eyes that’s been blooming these past few months is extinguished entirely, but that’s only visible for a moment before he goes face down into the snow and stays there. ]
b. [ over the next few days following the above incident, anyone who knows both dextera and guren, and possibly even people who don’t, are going to receive a desperate message from his hex code in their inbox. possibly more than one, possibly several. ]
Wheredid he go?
c. [ until guren’s return, dextera is going to be in his room. definitely crying, maybe not eating, but he’s not going to fight anyone who comes in to check on him. ]
( here is everything else! assuming that the mini-event doesn’t fuck me right up with the timing of this, anyone can respond to those first two, but if you’d like to do something else, something more specific, or quests, let me know by PM or at
no subject
[He breathes it out, wrapping his own arms around Dextera in turn and pulling him close. He rests against his head, holding him tight.]
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you like that. How long was I gone?
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the problem with his more easily answered question, however, is that it’s not easy at all. ]
…
[ he pulls back again, since it’s not something he can write without just needing to explain himself anyway. ]
I don’t know. Maybe… days. Or weeks.
no subject
[He breathes it out like a tremble, and Dextera had pulled apart to be able to speak, so he doesn't want to pull him back and suffocate him like that. Instead, he crumples a little, hunching over, hands on Dextera's shoulders, face scrunching in his upset.]
Damn it! [He let him down. He left him here. He can't tell how long? Has he been okay at all? Guren hunches more, letting his hands slip away so he doesn't hurt Dex, grabbing at his own face instead.]
I'm sorry. [God he wishes he was better at words, too. He sure is beating himself up, his mind racing with how he let him down, how he couldn't do a fucking thing.]
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seeing guren punish himself like this doesn’t make dextera feel better, though. he takes no joy in it. what it does do is make him let go of some of his anger. ]
…
[ quickly, he reaches out to touch guren’s arm, urging him to look—and more importantly maybe, to come inside. they’ll talk about it there, but they can’t stay out in this storm.
so like he lives here, he urges guren inside. ]
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He moves in, but he's quiet this time. At the very least, he knows to head right for the fireplace and start it up.]
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…
[ guren’s feet, though—his shoes are missing, that must be uncomfortable, and dextera feels like that’s a little easier to address than everything they should.
he pulls his coat off, offering it to guren to rest over his poor frozen toesies. ]
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If it doesn't hurt you to sit next to me, come here. [They can share the coat like a blanket.] Staying behind and not knowing if I'll come back for that amount of time... I know it's not easy. I'll listen to anything and everything you want to say to me.
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…
[ a deep breath, and a sigh, then he shakes his head as he leans up against guren. before he knows it, before he can stop it, silent tears drip down his face. ]
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The worse part is that he knows he wasn't thinking of Dextera during those memories. So, did they already happen and he just remembered? But his power felt different. It couldn't be like that, even if he spun it that way. He lived through those things just now, as if this place hadn't happened at all.
He was upset about that, too. But he couldn't be upset while Dextera needed him.]
I'm sorry. I know it doesn't help, but it's all I can say.
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…
[ dextera leans into guren’s gentle hold, lonely, seeking the contact. ]
I missed you. And I hated you. But I…
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[He holds him tighter, even if it stings, expression tired.]
You can hate me. I want you to do whatever is better for you, Dex. I told you I wasn't an easy person to be with.
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that’s different. ]
…
[ he wipes his eyes. ]
You always ask to be hated. But it would hurt, wouldn’t it?
[ dextera asks like the hypothetical situation is possible—that if guren wanted him to, he could simply switch on the hate and part ways here. ]
no subject
[He'd already said it, after all. He was hated. He squeezes Dextera's arm, slightly, looking at the fire.]
But I'd rather hurt than keep hurting you.
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Impasse.
[ spelled out, since he doesn’t really know the word in sign language. guren doesn’t want to hurt him, and he doesn’t want to hurt guren, but it sort of feels like those things will happen as part of the natural course of the people that they are. ]
I can’t hate you. Not forever. I just… [ he knows what the problem is. ] I need you… too much.
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So what do you think will help with that? [It's a genuine question, quiet, wanting to listen more than offer anything himself.]
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they’ve shared too much, and dextera can’t stand the idea of hurting himself and guren when the option to stay together and work on this weakness is much kinder to them both. ]
It’s my fault. So I’m taking responsibility.
[ he curls and uncurls his fingers, a thoughtful pause. ]
I want to be better for us. So we’ll work together. And I can help you instead of… hurting myself. I know you didn’t leave on purpose.
no subject
[Guren starts with that, leaning into him a little more, just enough that he can feel it, sighing.]
I didn't leave on purpose, but I'm always dragged around like this, unable to do a single thing. I told myself I'd make things different, and then I still wound up in this place. I couldn't do a thing, you couldn't do a thing... So what do you mean, "be better?"
You're always putting that weight on yourself.
no subject
…
[ he nods, simply. he doesn’t yet have the words for what he wants to say, so he agrees, and then looks for guren’s hand now that they’re leaning weight into each other. this is the thing that’s always reliable, when words fail.
dextera lets himself have that moment of silence, squeezing guren’s fingers. ]
I’m going to be someone who can… stay strong, even when you’re gone. So you don’t worry. So you don’t feel guilty.
[ it’s not an offer—it’s a declaration. ]
What happened? When you left?
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[He wants to say that it's not that easy, that he'll put it on himself anyway, but he can't take that away from Dextera. It'll be better for Dextera, too, if he can manage those things. So it's only good.
Quietly, he curls his fingers tighter in their hold, as well.]
A lot. Some of it I already heard about. Yuu told me he'd saved me by taking a blow to the heart and lived, and that we got rid of all the horsemen. Both of those were true.
Kureto killed his father and is head of the family now, but apparently something terribly powerful had been possessing his father this whole time, and it moved onto him. He asked me to kill him if he began to act strange, or save him, if possible.
no subject
so, in other words— ]
You have more of a burden than before.
[ why is it always guren? ]
no subject
[He can't deny that, really.] I'll save him, even if it's not possible. I can't tell you everything I'm doing, since most of it won't make sense to you anyway, but I'll find a way to make everything work, no matter what it takes.
People are counting on me.
Like all of you, here. I may have let you down, but I came back in the end, somehow. It's not over. I'll find a way out of this.
no subject
those seem to be guren’s words to live by, but it just isn’t fair that he’s the one tasked with overcoming the impossible—guren is just a man. he’s a powerful, intelligent man, capable of controlling a demon, but it shouldn’t be up to him to save the world and all the people in it. ]
…
[ dextera’s eyelashes, his cheeks, are still wet, and guren can probably feel it when he lifts guren’s hand to his lips to gently offer a kiss. he was so mad, so hurt, so lost—but that was his personal failure, and the town taking advantage of it. ]
I trust you.
no subject
[It comes out honestly, though his voice almost cracks with his own frustration at it. Even as he watches that sweet kiss.]
Something more powerful than any of us is at work here. I'm going to do everything I can to go against it, but... I need everyone else's help, too. I won't blame you if you want to give up on me. I feel like telling you that you should.
But I already decided I'd be selfish in this one thing. So I don't just want you to wait for me. I want you to work towards finding me. If that ever happens again. I don't mind going out into the forest and following me, I mean... doing what you can here, trying to find a way back, hoping that we'll find each other again.
Does that make sense? It's what I'd do if you vanished, too.
no subject
the old woman said that there could be a way for them to go home together. he wants to believe that.
he wants to believe that there’s a way, even if guren did disappear from this place entirely, permanently, that dextera could find a path after him anyway. what kind of world would this be if their bonds ultimately meant nothing outside the confines of this town? that can’t be what they were brought here for. ]
Did you remember me, when you went home?
[ he thinks he knows the answer. ]
no subject
[He's smooth about how he phrases this, squeezing Dextera's hand and pulling it closer.]
Yuu told me about some of the things that happened, so I don't know if that's what happened. It was like I was remembering it. [That's not quite right— his connection with Mahiru feels different after those "memories," something physically changed, as well. He lived through it. Chroma wasn't in his mind at all. He doesn't know what that means.]
It might be some sort of magic messing with our memories. I'm not the only one who's had that happen, either. Shoe loss included.
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