[ shu, for you, everything definitely goes black. you realize, in this moment, that you are going to die. that this is it for you. when you close your eyes in the face of the blast, it hits you so hard that you're not sure you even have time to breathe in one last goodbye. there's nothing poetic about it. one moment, you're fighting for your life, and the next?
(people exit our lives so quickly. one minute she was there, and the next she was gone. and all you've done is chase her targets, piece by piece. what would yang say? what would teuta say? does it matter?
was eunhyuk ever actually going to kill you at all? )
and the next moment, shu lyn o'keefe is dead.
shu, you find yourself floating somewhere in the space between consciousness and unconsciousness. the brief moment between life and death. the world around you, as far as you know is blue. everything is so, so blue.
what are you thinking, in this void space? what's on your mind? or... on your immortal soul? ]
--
[ for eunhyuk, everything goes black.
or... does it?
your body hits the ground, and the sheer force of it wakes you up gasping. eunhyuk, you're conscious! you find yourself staring up over your head at an extremely tall ceiling of the interior of some kind of a temple. the air is hot and thick, like you've suddenly walked into the tropics. (you've really been all over the world, huh?)
your sacrifice destroyed the forest - and in that, you are rewarded. your injuries are... awful, but you don't think you're dying. at least not anymore? not only that, but some of your magic energy has been restored to you. it's not a lot, but you might be able to heal if you need to, and you realize, with full clarity, something else.
what you saw take over shu wasn't real.
the voices you heard - none of those were real.
when you look to your left, the second body in this temple is shu. you can see the burns you caused him - his entire body, blackened and charred, the radiant burns luminous even still in the completely pitch black temple you've found yourselves in. he lokos like he's not moving. not even breathing.
it'd been some place downtown. an abandoned building site. one of those places they'd had big plans for, poured money into and abandoned as soon as the project ceased to be profitable. the sort of place you'd find a body weeks after it'd been dumped there, when some shady deal got cut short because of the scent of rot. he'd put a bullet between the guy's eyes without anyone noticing, crossed out another name on teach's list.
"no one gets to pick the day they die, but today's as good a day as they come, isn't it?"
it came for everyone eventually. some faster than others.
for him, it was probably karma. all the bodies piled up, names crossed off a long, long list like a legacy. he knew all along it'd catch up to him sooner than later.
it was only fair for that thing that clung to him for all these years to finally drag him down, wasn't it?
it might've been nice though. to live a little longer. ]
eunhyuk sits up, looks to the right -- vision blurry still. his glasses -- the lantern -- all back in the forest. but what just happened was definitely real, that definitely happened, his injuries continue to bleed freely. but none of that matters, because he remembers everything else.
he looks to the left. he doesn't need clarity to recognize the corpse, blackened and burned. he doesn't need someone to tell him that is or what he's done. shu hadn't been a monster at all. there had been nothing wrong with him. he was supposed to live.
i killed him.
something pulses, a reminder. his staff winks in the temple heat. eunhyuk drags himself up, collapses. then he moves forward on hands and feet, frantic to get to the body that looks near unrecognizable. he's dizzy with the blood loss and he's in so much pain, but the little bit of magical power he knows he still has... he knows what to do with it.
please, please, please. he clutches the staff with the hands that have killed more than saved, and casts revive.]
at first, you think it's not going to work. the spell, revive - it takes a lot of energy. intrinsically, you know sometimes this can wipe you out completely. that sometimes, it takes every ounce of heavenly power you can possibly manage to even get someone standing. you want to revive him, you want to restore him, you want to fix it. you want to make things right.
you remember the truth.
the sacred flame that aelfric gifted you pulses - bright, brilliant, warm, in your chest, and you feel it. you think it's taking. you think the spell might work. what kind of prayer are you thinking to save his life, eunhyuk?
[Eunhyuk, despite being blessed with the power of a cleric, is not someone who prays. But he's known a few who have. Jae-heon from back home, Temenos from the Eudora. He does not know if he has even a tenth of what they have, but... if there's even a single chance...
Please. He'd said it to Rosamund too -- look after them. And his dying words -- survive. And now, to Shu. He doesn't know him well, but he doesn't need to know someone to want them to live.
His existence doesn't need Eunhyuk's approval, or anyone else's. It should just be.
So Eunhyuk prays, for Shu, for every person who is waiting for him to come back -- those on the ship and beyond, and for himself, prays that he can use this power that was so kindly given to him for the purpose it's finally meant for.]
eunhyuk. you pray, and you pray, and aelfric hears your calling. some of the blackened char on shu's body starts to melt away, slowly - haloed in gold and blue. your own form flickers, briefly, nearly taking on the sacred flame itself, so bright with your will, with the immensity of your faith.
and shu.....
....welcome back to consciousness! you have one (1) HP remaining. you are still extremely injured. you are burnt so badly. but hey! breath fills your lungs, and your eyes flutter open.
you may have a couple of rounds to get yourselves together. the temple is quiet, and still. ]
It's fine. Eunhyuk doesn't believe in panicking. Instead, he takes out his bloodstained bag of items, selects the singular grape, and then temporarily short-circuits all rational thought as he looks down at Shu, who clearly cannot do anything but cough his 1 HP away. That means it's entirely up to him.
He puts the grape into his mouth, places cold hands on either side of Shu's face, and then leans down to kiss him.
It would be very chaste, except the intent here is to get Shu to eat this grape, so Eunhyuk will press it past Shu's lips, and into his mouth proper. Is he using tongue for this? Yes.]
[ im invested in this but also we're on a time limit (affectionate) so please wrap up your conversation in one (1) round of tags and give me emotions im hungry
"why the kissing icon" idk im committed now team grapetongued is out here]
[ i appreciate you giving us plenty of temenos/crick smooch icons while this is happening though.
shu sits up slowly and assesses the damage -- or what's left of it after getting revived. he clenches and unclenches one of his hands and looks down and where he was fully stabbed through the gut earlier, and then sighs. ]
Seems like you did something to bring me back.
[ in sitting up he's probably pushed eunhyuk back a little, but he does look up at him and that guilt and sadness cracking across his features. wild that this is one of the first times he's seen eunhyuk do something other than '_' and it comes in this context. ]
I'm pretty sure I was really trying to kill you too.
[i feel like shu should still have all his injuries for dramatic effect this grape/revive was gay but not gay enough to save him
Eunhyuk looks back at him, glasses-less, also injured, but the concern is clear on his face. He looks deeply conflicted, like he wants to argue this, but... he bows his head forward instead, and then attempts to get to his feet.
and then tentatively reaches out, even though both of these idiots will fall over from a stiff breeze.]
...Here.
[he'll hold out a hand to help shu up, and will probably have to lean on him as they... look around the temple?]
[ who's crick that's (looks at notes) dion (this is a joke. do not read into this. )
anyway!
welcome back, kids. now that you're both at least up, you'll find that the temple itself is very quiet. unlike the forest, though: in the very far distance, you can hear noises. rustling wind, softly chirping nightbirds, the ocean. you get the feeling that it is safe, here, but you aren't quite home.
the collars are still tightly around both of your necks - the moon dangles at the hollow of your throats - and you are. again. so crispy. and so bloody. but the grapes you ate and the revive spell have brought you both at least to stable condition. you're not gonna bleed out, at least not here.
the darkness in the temple is not purple fog, but just natural.
("I've always been something of a night owl. says a voice, distant, female, somber, but with a touch of amusement.
"You and I both, Throné. Let's keep watch." says another, male, mellifluous and soft.)
you might also note that your lanterns somehow came with you? they rolled a little ways away, but they're still there. in case you wanted to explore a bit. ]
he'll grab his lantern as he stands, because lord let him See. ]
Should we look around? We're out of the woods literally, but not fully yet.
[ he'll try and get his arm moving, lifting it up to get a good look around the area. he hears the voices, and kinda agrees with them -- keep watch. is something coming? ]
no scarecrow's fine. he's sitting over by the lanterns, feathers very ruffled but otherwise unharmed. in fact, when he sees eunhyuk, he crows and starts hopping. shu, you can tell he's saying something along the lines of "Ohmygod I'm so sorry are you okay?! I'm so sorry!!!" so he's probably fine.
the temple is big, but you can clearly see there are some stone steps up ahead, leading up to something as the lanterns come up. you'll find your flames are flickering a little brighter, now, as you have successfully fought off the dark. occasionally, the light flickers blue instead of orangey yellow. moving your lanterns shows there are some murals on the walls, but they're hard to make out, and in a language you don't understand.
nothing's coming! it really, actually, does feel kind of safe in here, though you get the sense that safety might be limited. ]
[ scarecrow immediately hops into shu's arms, being very very mindful of his injuries, and starts preening his hair. sure, he can do that! he can see there are three large animal shapes. a huge dragonlike creature - a massive turtle like creature - and a huge blue bird. this mural is ancient. in his cleric mind palace, he will not recognize these figures, but...
"Hmm. The Tombs of the Wardenbeast... It seems we will find our way to Toto'haha more than once." says the male voice from before.
"Maybe you should look into better clothes, Detective. You're going to melt." says the female voice, clearly making fun of him.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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(people exit our lives so quickly. one minute she was there, and the next she was gone. and all you've done is chase her targets, piece by piece. what would yang say? what would teuta say? does it matter?
was eunhyuk ever actually going to kill you at all? )
and the next moment, shu lyn o'keefe is dead.
shu, you find yourself floating somewhere in the space between consciousness and unconsciousness. the brief moment between life and death. the world around you, as far as you know is blue. everything is so, so blue.
what are you thinking, in this void space? what's on your mind? or... on your immortal soul? ]
--
[ for eunhyuk, everything goes black.
or... does it?
your body hits the ground, and the sheer force of it wakes you up gasping. eunhyuk, you're conscious! you find yourself staring up over your head at an extremely tall ceiling of the interior of some kind of a temple. the air is hot and thick, like you've suddenly walked into the tropics. (you've really been all over the world, huh?)
your sacrifice destroyed the forest - and in that, you are rewarded. your injuries are... awful, but you don't think you're dying. at least not anymore? not only that, but some of your magic energy has been restored to you. it's not a lot, but you might be able to heal if you need to, and you realize, with full clarity, something else.
what you saw take over shu wasn't real.
the voices you heard - none of those were real.
when you look to your left, the second body in this temple is shu. you can see the burns you caused him - his entire body, blackened and charred, the radiant burns luminous even still in the completely pitch black temple you've found yourselves in. he lokos like he's not moving. not even breathing.
what do you do?
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it'd been some place downtown. an abandoned building site. one of those places they'd had big plans for, poured money into and abandoned as soon as the project ceased to be profitable. the sort of place you'd find a body weeks after it'd been dumped there, when some shady deal got cut short because of the scent of rot. he'd put a bullet between the guy's eyes without anyone noticing, crossed out another name on teach's list.
"no one gets to pick the day they die, but today's as good a day as they come, isn't it?"
it came for everyone eventually. some faster than others.
for him, it was probably karma. all the bodies piled up, names crossed off a long, long list like a legacy. he knew all along it'd catch up to him sooner than later.
it was only fair for that thing that clung to him for all these years to finally drag him down, wasn't it?
it might've been nice though. to live a little longer. ]
no subject
eunhyuk sits up, looks to the right -- vision blurry still. his glasses -- the lantern -- all back in the forest. but what just happened was definitely real, that definitely happened, his injuries continue to bleed freely. but none of that matters, because he remembers everything else.
he looks to the left. he doesn't need clarity to recognize the corpse, blackened and burned. he doesn't need someone to tell him that is or what he's done. shu hadn't been a monster at all. there had been nothing wrong with him. he was supposed to live.
i killed him.
something pulses, a reminder. his staff winks in the temple heat. eunhyuk drags himself up, collapses. then he moves forward on hands and feet, frantic to get to the body that looks near unrecognizable. he's dizzy with the blood loss and he's in so much pain, but the little bit of magical power he knows he still has... he knows what to do with it.
please, please, please. he clutches the staff with the hands that have killed more than saved, and casts revive.]
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at first, you think it's not going to work. the spell, revive - it takes a lot of energy. intrinsically, you know sometimes this can wipe you out completely. that sometimes, it takes every ounce of heavenly power you can possibly manage to even get someone standing. you want to revive him, you want to restore him, you want to fix it. you want to make things right.
you remember the truth.
the sacred flame that aelfric gifted you pulses - bright, brilliant, warm, in your chest, and you feel it. you think it's taking. you think the spell might work. what kind of prayer are you thinking to save his life, eunhyuk?
--
and shu.
do you still want to live? ]
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"if a friend you lived with just out of the blue said 'hey, just so you know, i could wind up dead', wouldn't that make you mad too?"
he'd sort of promised, hadn't he?
he wouldn't mind, getting to live a little longer. ]
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Please. He'd said it to Rosamund too -- look after them. And his dying words -- survive. And now, to Shu. He doesn't know him well, but he doesn't need to know someone to want them to live.
His existence doesn't need Eunhyuk's approval, or anyone else's. It should just be.
So Eunhyuk prays, for Shu, for every person who is waiting for him to come back -- those on the ship and beyond, and for himself, prays that he can use this power that was so kindly given to him for the purpose it's finally meant for.]
no subject
eunhyuk. you pray, and you pray, and aelfric hears your calling. some of the blackened char on shu's body starts to melt away, slowly - haloed in gold and blue. your own form flickers, briefly, nearly taking on the sacred flame itself, so bright with your will, with the immensity of your faith.
and shu.....
....welcome back to consciousness! you have one (1) HP remaining. you are still extremely injured. you are burnt so badly. but hey! breath fills your lungs, and your eyes flutter open.
you may have a couple of rounds to get yourselves together. the temple is quiet, and still. ]
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ow.
his 1 HP. he's going to cough it away. ]
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It's fine. Eunhyuk doesn't believe in panicking. Instead, he takes out his bloodstained bag of items, selects the singular grape, and then temporarily short-circuits all rational thought as he looks down at Shu, who clearly cannot do anything but cough his 1 HP away. That means it's entirely up to him.
He puts the grape into his mouth, places cold hands on either side of Shu's face, and then leans down to kiss him.
It would be very chaste, except the intent here is to get Shu to eat this grape, so Eunhyuk will press it past Shu's lips, and into his mouth proper. Is he using tongue for this? Yes.]
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would you believe me if this is like the third time i've written this exact tag in this murdergame.
anyway continue ]
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also eunhyuk, now tonguing a random guy in the middle of a holy temple.
I GUESS THIS HEALING MOUTH TO MOUTH GRAPENING IS HAPPENING. it takes shu a moment because he's. y'know. being brought back from the brink.
but then he's just conscious with a grape and eunhyuk's tongue in his mouth.
happy cyoa everyone. ]
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Eunhyuk pulls back, makes eye contact with Shu who is apparently conscious. wow, about that grape...]
You're awake.
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carry on ]
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Apparently.
Pretty sure I was dead for a moment there.
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At that, Eunhyuk bows his head.]
...You were. I killed you.
[for once, his neutral expression cracks, grief evident.]
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"why the kissing icon" idk im committed now team grapetongued is out here]
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shu sits up slowly and assesses the damage -- or what's left of it after getting revived. he clenches and unclenches one of his hands and looks down and where he was fully stabbed through the gut earlier, and then sighs. ]
Seems like you did something to bring me back.
[ in sitting up he's probably pushed eunhyuk back a little, but he does look up at him and that guilt and sadness cracking across his features. wild that this is one of the first times he's seen eunhyuk do something other than '_' and it comes in this context. ]
I'm pretty sure I was really trying to kill you too.
... So. Thanks.
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Eunhyuk looks back at him, glasses-less, also injured, but the concern is clear on his face. He looks deeply conflicted, like he wants to argue this, but... he bows his head forward instead, and then attempts to get to his feet.
and then tentatively reaches out, even though both of these idiots will fall over from a stiff breeze.]
...Here.
[he'll hold out a hand to help shu up, and will probably have to lean on him as they... look around the temple?]
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anyway!
welcome back, kids. now that you're both at least up, you'll find that the temple itself is very quiet. unlike the forest, though: in the very far distance, you can hear noises. rustling wind, softly chirping nightbirds, the ocean. you get the feeling that it is safe, here, but you aren't quite home.
the collars are still tightly around both of your necks - the moon dangles at the hollow of your throats - and you are. again. so crispy. and so bloody. but the grapes you ate and the revive spell have brought you both at least to stable condition. you're not gonna bleed out, at least not here.
the darkness in the temple is not purple fog, but just natural.
("I've always been something of a night owl. says a voice, distant, female, somber, but with a touch of amusement.
"You and I both, Throné. Let's keep watch." says another, male, mellifluous and soft.)
you might also note that your lanterns somehow came with you? they rolled a little ways away, but they're still there. in case you wanted to explore a bit. ]
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he'll grab his lantern as he stands, because lord let him See. ]
Should we look around? We're out of the woods literally, but not fully yet.
[ he'll try and get his arm moving, lifting it up to get a good look around the area. he hears the voices, and kinda agrees with them -- keep watch. is something coming? ]
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...Yes. Maybe we'll find the others.
[and he'll lift the lantern to see into the dark better. deja vu, but this time... well he won't wish for much, just in case.
he'll start walking in the same direction as shu,]
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no scarecrow's fine. he's sitting over by the lanterns, feathers very ruffled but otherwise unharmed. in fact, when he sees eunhyuk, he crows and starts hopping. shu, you can tell he's saying something along the lines of "Ohmygod I'm so sorry are you okay?! I'm so sorry!!!" so he's probably fine.
the temple is big, but you can clearly see there are some stone steps up ahead, leading up to something as the lanterns come up. you'll find your flames are flickering a little brighter, now, as you have successfully fought off the dark. occasionally, the light flickers blue instead of orangey yellow. moving your lanterns shows there are some murals on the walls, but they're hard to make out, and in a language you don't understand.
nothing's coming! it really, actually, does feel kind of safe in here, though you get the sense that safety might be limited. ]
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He says sorry.
[ get up here bird. ]
This is an improvement over wherever we just were, even if it's not by much.
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Eunhyuk's look of relief at seeing Scarecrow again... it's small, but apparent. he looks from shu to the stone steps. horror movie logic, and yet.]
...Shall we head up?
[he'll try to peer at a mural more closely in the meantime]
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"Hmm. The Tombs of the Wardenbeast... It seems we will find our way to Toto'haha more than once." says the male voice from before.
"Maybe you should look into better clothes, Detective. You're going to melt." says the female voice, clearly making fun of him.
wow, friendship. to the stairs? ]
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