[ 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.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
historicals) wrote2025-02-08 04:45 pm
no subject
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.
no subject
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. ]
no subject
okay. a mercenary. wildly unlikely, but chrono just frowns. ]
What were you made to do?
no subject
...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.
no subject
blue eyes, huh. ]
Were they actually a demon or... really just a child? That kind of prejudice...
no subject
[ ... ]
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.
no subject
...your injuries?
no subject
[ 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 ]
no subject
[ 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.
no subject
[ 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.
no subject
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.