[ the clinging is totally allowed, in fact - he lifts a hand to very gently pet his hair, holding him against him and relishing in the feeling of alive, alive, alive. chrono can notice also that taair is very cold since he's so close, even still. wow! fun.
anyway. ]
I think that... it was a trip through Mizu's memories, this time. [ thus the funky outfits. ] It is not a pleasant story, but... I can recount, if you wish to hear.
[ ah... not the cold... not the hairpets god. fun!!! chrono's just grateful and devastated in equal measures, and after a moment will. unwind the thick red scarf he's wearing to position it around taair's neck and shoulders, as if it will help. ]
Memories...? [ that's. a worry. their leaking heads, as richie had worded it, hadn't actually been able to cause harm so far. ] If-- if it's not too personal, I'd like to know what caused this.
[ NOOO CUTE AW he looks SO touched by this gesture, his expression just wildly soft, and reaches up to touch it afterwards, with a gentle hand.
as for the story... ] Mn. It was the same as it was the first time... I awoke not here, but rather, as if I were living a different life. It was Mizu's memories, but - I thought that I was a mercenary.
[ mm. his expression tightens a little, and he closes his eyes. ]
...We were asked to kill a demon. [ his thoughts, an ink scribble over his head, scribble even worse, and eventually form the words blue eyes. ] But... the contract was misleading - or... based on prejudice. We did not know until we arrived that the demon they asked us to hunt down was a child.
[ chrono's expression tightens. all these hunts, in these side dimensions designed to cause suffering; to force hands as gentle as taair's to make choices of cruelty.
blue eyes, huh. ]
Were they actually a demon or... really just a child? That kind of prejudice...
We refused, in the end. But... I do not know that it mattered - in that in our escape, we had to leap from a tower into the ocean. He was with us, when we tried to surface, but we were pulled back down, and...
[ his voice, steady and calm - breaaks a little at the end, there, and he stops, mouth drawn into a wobbly line, and sucks in a breath. ] ... And then we were here.
[ the urge to hug him again is very, very strong. god. even if these... other life missions were illusions, or isolated even if real, an experience like that beyond harrowing. ]
[ some, but he doesn't want to worry chrono too much, so that's enough for now. he smiles a little as he agrees, tired, a little apologetic. ]
There was a true monster there, as well. Some sort of creature with eight legs and many heads - but that was not our quarry, according to the staff we met.
[ no just the child, because people are racist and awful actually ]
So you escaped it rather than being able to kill it...?
[ nope, okay, he's hugging him again. gentle as ever, tucking his head against taair's, sighing. he can't do anything else except listen and be here. ]
[ it's hard to tell. but, honestly, that nice gentle hug is really nice - it's a tether to reality, too, a tether past strange hallucinations and the dead faces he sees when he closes his eyes, and he tucks a little against chrono, still very cold and seeking the warmth. ]
... or... perhaps it was just a cruel and prejudiced place. I do not know.
[ rest be damned, he's going to hold taair for as long as it feels right to do so. if he can be a tether, let him; if he can be a source of warmth, he'll be it. he'll take a seat on the edge of the bed and let taair lean into him as needed, thoughts swimming with worry. ]
I'm sorry you were forced to face that. Cruelty seems to just be neverending here, like there's always new ways to show it.
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historicals) wrote2025-02-08 04:45 pm
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anyway. ]
I think that... it was a trip through Mizu's memories, this time. [ thus the funky outfits. ] It is not a pleasant story, but... I can recount, if you wish to hear.
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Memories...? [ that's. a worry. their leaking heads, as richie had worded it, hadn't actually been able to cause harm so far. ] If-- if it's not too personal, I'd like to know what caused this.
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as for the story... ] Mn. It was the same as it was the first time... I awoke not here, but rather, as if I were living a different life. It was Mizu's memories, but - I thought that I was a mercenary.
[ which
is such a laughable idea. taair is a mercenary. ]
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okay. a mercenary. wildly unlikely, but chrono just frowns. ]
What were you made to do?
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...We were asked to kill a demon. [ his thoughts, an ink scribble over his head, scribble even worse, and eventually form the words blue eyes. ] But... the contract was misleading - or... based on prejudice. We did not know until we arrived that the demon they asked us to hunt down was a child.
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blue eyes, huh. ]
Were they actually a demon or... really just a child? That kind of prejudice...
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[ ... ]
We refused, in the end. But... I do not know that it mattered - in that in our escape, we had to leap from a tower into the ocean. He was with us, when we tried to surface, but we were pulled back down, and...
[ his voice, steady and calm - breaaks a little at the end, there, and he stops, mouth drawn into a wobbly line, and sucks in a breath. ] ... And then we were here.
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...your injuries?
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[ some, but he doesn't want to worry chrono too much, so that's enough for now. he smiles a little as he agrees, tired, a little apologetic. ]
There was a true monster there, as well. Some sort of creature with eight legs and many heads - but that was not our quarry, according to the staff we met.
[ no just the child, because people are racist and awful actually ]
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[ nope, okay, he's hugging him again. gentle as ever, tucking his head against taair's, sighing. he can't do anything else except listen and be here. ]
Sounds like you were set up from the start.
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[ it's hard to tell. but, honestly, that nice gentle hug is really nice - it's a tether to reality, too, a tether past strange hallucinations and the dead faces he sees when he closes his eyes, and he tucks a little against chrono, still very cold and seeking the warmth. ]
... or... perhaps it was just a cruel and prejudiced place. I do not know.
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I'm sorry you were forced to face that. Cruelty seems to just be neverending here, like there's always new ways to show it.