deercountry | [Open] 🚬 June Flames

[He watches the jet pierce through the thing, loosening its grip and burning up.]

It seems to have let go. Do you feel any different?

[He wants to ask if he feels 'better', but he gets the sense this guy will just make fun of him for the sentiment.]

... I wonder why it was clinging to you? Do you remember anything happening recently that was unusual?

[dabi snorts softly when the stranger tells him the thing's let go. not that he feels any different. whether there was a thing there or not, he doesn't know. could be the guy got spooked at the show of fire and opted to stop pissing around with him.

so he goes for his cloak again, drags it off the stall, and swings it back around over his head and shoulders. only to have him start probing those questions again.]

Ya still goin on about... that...

[his voice trails off as the weight and darkness of the cloak settle around him once more. exhausted as before, it's strangely comforting enough. he's left dazed on his feet, eyes not seeing anything, almost like sleeping while awake.

and the thing once more settles on his back. the food source won't be driving the feeder off on its own.]

[Oh, hells.]

... I don't know why you can't feel it. It's definitely there. It climbed back on but now you're just going to call me a liar.

[Ugly little thing. He scratches at his skin, feeling the cracks underneath his gloves. He's not sure what's causing that either...]

And you seem like the kind of guy who might attack someone he decides he doesn't like.

[He's seen enough angry people to put two and two together.]

[good news is, he's not going to call him a liar. bad news is, it's because the cloaked man's gone into a slight stupor, fading somewhat as a waking dream wanders across his visage. what he's seeing is anyone's guess, but the creature on his back seems to hold on tighter.

it takes a minute or so for dabi to blink once or twice, seeming to come back to reality in time to hear the tail end of whatever was being said. attacking who he doesn't like... yeah that's not exactly untrue.]

Uh-huh... [whatever.] I'm gettin outta the sun.

[and makes to leave the market, wanting to go somewhere quieter and darker.]

[He opens his mouth to protest, but that isn't going to do anything so he shuts it. He wants to help, desperately... but he doesn't have anything that can help at the moment. All he can do is move out of the way and watch the other man go.]

[His heart hurts as he watches him, but... he can't save everyone, can he?]

[What a joke he is.]

[dabi feels better once he's away from the sunlight, even if there's not a huge amount of sun that streams down from trench's usually cloudy skies. that said, he doesn't stop too far away from the white-haired man.

turning, he looks over his shoulder at him, eyes narrowed. someone stubbornly continuing to spout the same shit... and he doesn't look like the kind of guy who'd go around pranking people for fun.]

Ya comin or what?

[he said he wanted to help.]

[He nods and follows after the younger man. He's not going to let this opportunity go to waste.]

Yes, of course.

['If you'll have me' is what he wants to add, but the other wouldn't have offered if he hadn't meant for him to come.]

[Now's no time for his bashful nature to shine through, so instead he squares his shoulders and walks next to Dabi.]

I'm Nara'a, by the way.

[not sure this is an "opportunity" for someone, but if the man's still intending to be of some "help" to him, then... dabi stays where he is, beneath a shadowed part of a nearby building, giving them an easy view of the people in the marketplace nearby.

he merely tilts his head towards the bustling crowd, ignoring the introduction.]

And whaddaya see on their backs?

[part of him still wants to think this is some damn prank, give him a reason to torch this guy in his irritation. but... it's cause of his exhaustion that he's suspicious of the truth now.]

[He stands nearby - not too close, for fear of being too intrusive. He doesn't want to scare off the other.]

... I see nothing on them. And I don't know why. Has there been anything... unusual going on? Unusual signs, symptoms... even having unusual dreams or nightmares might be a symptom.

[He wishes desperately there was an actual healer here - he can't quite discern what kind of aether the thing is. He's not sure why - maybe it's a property of this place, since his senses for it have been off since he arrived. But a healer would know more what to do about this sort of thing, and all he can do is guess until he finds the right answer.]

[scare him off? pft, hardly. annoy him off? very likely. dabi's not one to stick around someone he doesn't like. usually isn't above killing someone like that either. if they're useless to him that is.]

So it's just me, huh. [he sounds sarcastic, as if reconsidering the moment's benefit of the doubt. the question, however, earns a few moments of silence, considering what to say and whether he wants to. but finally the younger man sinks down against the wall to sit, too tired to stand for now.]

Mostly dreams. Usually don't. Now they're keepin me up all damn night.

[Well. 'Scare' as a general term. But yes, he'd rather not be a burnt crisp, thank you Dabi.]

... You too? I thought I was the only one. ... Are you waking up with wounds afterwards? Because I am, too.

[He hesitates if he wants to reveal this, but at this point he's just desperate for the other to believe him. Maybe he's trying too hard, but that's just sort of how he rolls...]

[He takes off his glove and shows Dabi his hand. It's cracked all over, like a hard-boiled egg ready to be peeled.]

[there's no promises an encounter won't end with charcoal when it comes to the villain, but for now, this guy's safe from it.

especially when he insinuates a similarity between them. dabi's eyes flick to the side, turquoise orbs regarding the silver-haired man with silent expectation.

better prove it with that claim. he doesn't offer an answer until after nara'a removes his glove and shows him his hand.]

That's gross.

[looks like you could start peeling it right away. but it does prove his point.]

Sometimes, yeah.

Yes, it is.

[He puts his glove back on because he doesn't want to look at it much more than Dabi does.]

I wonder if that thing's causing it...

... You don't see one on me, do you?

[He hadn't thought of that, but it's a distinct possibility. Maybe the other guy just hasn't mentioned it? Or maybe he hasn't really looked. The creature only showed up when he was staring for a while, after all.]

[dabi's seen worse than that. some quirks mutate people's appearance to a very disturbing amount. it doens't bother him. after all, he's the one who's sporting all those burn scars stapled shut across his body. unfortunately, those aren't the result of any dream.

(well, that's somewhat arguable...)

he frowns at the question before tilting his head and looking as best he can around the back of the other man. at first glance, he doesn't see anything, though his eyes narrow as he focuses on the space around nara'a's back.]

Nothin yet.

It took a bit for it to appear when I looked at you. I first started seeing it at the corner of my eye.

[He's curious as to what sort of cloaking method these things are using. There's several ways to hide from sight that he's aware of, but now's probably not the time to start asking questions of weird demon piggyback riders.]

I feel like this is going to be a very long week...

[Or month.]

[dabi takes the comment with little more than a grunt of acknowledgement before keeping his eyes trained on the man's back. slowly but surely, however, he does find the brief outline of something there. almost like looking at a creature made of glass, emerging from the invisible camouflage the longer he looks at it.]

Yeah, there's somethin there...

[disgusting. they both have these things latched onto them? and his fire didn't do shit to his own.]

This place makes me sick.

Damn.

[He was hoping there wasn't one, that this was an isolated case.]

I'm not sure what to do. I can't exactly set myself on fire and they seem rather persistent in any case.

[It's tempting to just wrestle the thing off of Dabi, but he might hurt the other in the process which is the last thing he wants to do.]

But we need to sleep... demons or no. What to do, what to do...

[dabi leans back against the wall. so now there are two of them. meaning this might be similar to the things that have happened the past few months. these events that seem to come and go...]

I can.

[he lifts up his hand and blue flames burst into a brief flare. and no, he doesn't seem at all wary about threatening the solution of burning the creature off the other man's back.]

We should go somewhere else. Just in case.

[possibly by water...]

I -

[Okay that's... valid. And he can heal himself to a small degree. And it's not like he hasn't endured worse than some flames.]

[He's faced down numerous creatures and monsters, so what's he even scared about? He pulls himself together and nods.]

Somewhere less... crowded and flammable.

[If something goes wrong, he doesn't want to get other people involved in this nonsense.]

[part of him wants the man to deny the suggestion so they can go their separate ways. nara'a going wherever the hell he doesn't care and dabi can stay right where he is and go back to sleep. except sleep won't come... not restful sleep anyways.

with the agreement, the man exhales in annoyance and resignation before pushing himself up. somewhere less crowded and flammable. tough luck there; with the sheer heat of his flames, almost everything's flammable to dabi. it'll be a long trip to the safest place: the beach.]

Got a place in mind?

[No luck, Dabi. He's a protagonist and that means that he's disgustingly persistent.]

Let's see... I think there's a few abandoned buildings around that are far apart enough from others so that they won't catch fire...

[Hopefully.]

Besides, I'm sure that you can control your own fire, right?

[Is he being a little annoying on purpose? Maybe.]

[why do protagonists seem to come into his orbit? can't be a villain without attracting attention.]

Hn, once it catches on somethin, it's outta my control.

[blast it and watch it burn. and no, dabi doesn't sound at all wary with that comment. more a tone of sarcastic, self-depreciating pride in his wildfires.]

So ya best not pick one sittin in the forest.

[that town square that was reduced to nothing but charred and melted buildings with the pavement all boiled into now-dried slag, back in april? yeah that was him.]

[Joy. He heads down the street - he noticed a stone house with no real neighbors a ways down before he even got to the marketplace.]

Noted. I can't really control elements like that. I can just cast spells.

['Channeling' and 'control' are two very different things. He's not sure he's ever heard of anyone with total control over an element - not anyone who was telling the truth, at least.]

I wouldn't want to put other people in danger.

[dabi walks beside him, but lets him lead, keeping tired eyes out for something useful. getting out of the light seems like a good idea, though he'd prefer not to be standing in front of the public if he happens to torch this guy...]

Spells. Like a wizard?

[there are different levels of control when it comes to elements. dabi's able to manipulate and emit his own flames, but once they're severed from that control, they're free to do what they want. he never learned fine control over them.]

They're already in danger just livin in this place.

I don't know what a 'wizard' is, but if it's some kind of spellcaster, then yes. It's... it can get very technical, and takes a long time to study to do properly.

[He's doing his best to hold back on the nerding. He's well aware that most people don't care, or would actively blow him off for it.]

... I guess they are. But that's all the more reason to not add to the danger, in my opinion - they have it bad enough.

[At least they have some degree of freedom, but that seems to be most of what they have.]

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cw: minor body horror

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