(Closed) Dying is easy

[searingwing]

Who: Diluc, Kaeya, Catra, and Diluc's Cr (if you know Diluc, you're good.)
What: Diluc returns to life and the aftermath
When: October 15 mid-morning to October 18th.
Where: Diluc and Catra's residence in Cellar Door.
Content Warnings: Body horror, cursing, mental health issues, mentions of substance abuse

Visions are a light to those who are lost (closed to Catra and Kaeya)
[Darkness.

Cold darkness where the dwindling air was starting to leave him concerned. Him? Him. That sounds right. His name and whatever he is, eludes him. His memories feel like fragments of something sharp raining down, but unable to come together.

He tries to put it together. Again, he's denied. But pieces of a memory surfaces to give him just enough to realize how he might have...died. Ice. Shouting. Sharp things and the light inside him crushed under an oppressive loneliness too deep to get past.

The air is almost out. Something bursts above him and light pierces his space. He tries to swim away, but the liquid is starting to drain.

The featureless grey surface of Diluc's Vision flickers then bursts into brilliant red light. Motes of fire dance on the air and fade. Diluc Ragnvindr is once again, alive.]

Day 1, Lord of the Bathtub(open)

[After the initial flurry of activity and panic. Diluc is left to drift in a body of water. It isn't the sea, but it will do for now. He's a small red squid swimming back and forth inside the filled tub. He can't put his memories together just yet. He keeps trying and that's tiring.

But he does it anyway. When someone comes into the bathroom he sticks a tentacle out of the water as he drifts closer to the surface. If he's friendly with them he grips the side of the tub and pulls himself up enough to get a glimpse before he sinks back down.]

Day 2, Almost but not quite (open)

[It feels like he's been slowly piecing himself together. There's not enough there to find his way back out of the water. At least, not yet. He can recognize the people that visit and trace letters on their hands with his tentacles. It's progress.

The light from his Vision feels within reach. If he could just remember everything then he could push himself all the way back to himself. To the duties waiting for him.

He jets water at nothing and streaks through the water. By now, small shells and pretty stones glint from the bottom of the tub. Little gifts. Sometimes he drifts over them, brushing past them as he circles.]

Wild card
[Got an idea? Pm me and I'll set up a custom starter for you. House details.]

Comments

day 2

[torpour]

Mm. I didn't think it was possible, but here you are.

[nehan sits himself down on the edge of the tub, sighing from the walk, and crosses his legs. seated like this, he can only look over his shoulder to see the squid in the tub, though his wolf peeks over the edge and nearly dips its nose into the water. would have, if nehan didn't push it away with his crutch.]

No, Zuoyou. Leave him alone. [because he doubts that something furry and wet will feel comfortable to something rubbery and wet. but nehan dips his ungloved hand into the water anyway.] You can understand me, cant you?

[searingwing]

[He spots circling and cuts a sharp line through the water. Diluc reaches out and traces the letters on Nehan’s hand.]

Yes, I understand.

[It’s tiring so he grabs the side of the tub near his hand.]

[torpour]

Hmm, surprising you have that amount of control over your body. Even if it would take too long to write out a full sentence.

[nehan dips his hand further into the water, and cups the squid from underneath to hold him. with his other hand, he reaches down to poke at diluc's tentacles.]

Now, my expertise in bodies when it comes to medicine starts and stops at people, race aside-- I have no experience with sea creatures. You'll have to tell me, for instance, if anything hurts, if I ask that of you. Tug on a finger for yes, and give two tugs for no. You're fine with an examination?

day 2

[vibing]

[ It's been a week since he killed Diluc, and curiosity is getting the better of him. He needs to know that Diluc came back, needs to settle the last dregs of guilt. Not that he's dwelling on it, exactly, but this death is different from the others. Diluc is a friend, he's stoic but kind, he helped Yuri when he needed it and asked for nothing in return, and Yuri returned that kindness by killing him.

Killing him because he wanted to be killed, perhaps, but still killing him. He saw the devastation on Kaeya's face, a reflection of what his own was after Flynn was killed. He needs to be sure that what happened with Flynn isn't a fluke, that Diluc did come back, too. That he's okay.

Finding a squid isn't exactly what he expected, but it makes him smile, just a little. Yeah. That's Diluc alright. The red gives it away. ]

You're stuck like that, huh?

[searingwing]

[He takes a second to think about that. Yes, he has a strong control over himself. It is what he raised to do. Master himself and serve as a light for others.

It feels odd to have a hand around his entire body but not unpleasant. He wraps his tentacles around the fingers poking at him.

He listens then he tugs once just as instructed.]

[searingwing]

[He recognizes the voice and what he can see as a squid.

Yuri.

He raises two tentacles up out of the water like someone raising their hands up. They drop and he swims to the edge of the tub.

He pulls himself up enough to hopefully communicate he wants him to come closer. Yuri had killed him, yes. But it needed to be done and he will never fault him that. He will blame himself instead.

He had left a door wide open and put many at risk. A vision user with his level of power taken over? Unacceptable.]

[vibing]

[ Yuri smiles softly and sits down on the edge of the bath. Smokey, his kestrel omen, caws and perches on the counter. ]

Glad you're back.

[ He is, he really is. He wouldn't have forgiven himself if Diluc hadn't come back. It would haunt him. It might still. ]

You're back in control? [ Of yourself? ]

[searingwing]

[He lifts two tentacles up and forms a Y in the air. Then he lets them slip back in. He gestures with one towards Yuri’s hand.

He prefers to be able to trace letters. If Yuri catches on he traces two words out a letter at a time.]

You protected.

[The city. His sanity in a way. The people. He had thought to say thank you but that didn’t fit. So this is what he chose.]

[vibing]

[ Yuri holds out his hand, laughing softly. It's a weird feeling, but he gets it after a moment that Diluc is trying to communicate with him. He's not the best reader, but he gets it, mostly. ]

I... yeah. Yeah. Sure.

[ "You're welcome" isn't right, either. ]

Hey, if you're going down that path again, you have friends. Me, Flynn, Kaeya. We'll help you, okay? And, damn. If I do the same thing, you can kill me.

[searingwing]

[Diluc twists in the water, latching tentacles onto the side of the tub to stay near Yuri's hand. He misses being bigger. That much he can recall just not...what he was when he wasn't this. But hour by hour he gets a little closer.]

Will protect. [It will hurt. Yuri is rough around the edges but kind. Kinder than he probably realizes he is. He's a friend. For the peace that they all deserve he will do what must be done.

Maybe this is what his father meant when he told him to take more than his light into the dark. He blows out bubbles and spells out a little more.]

Catra too. [He pauses to rest a little. Forming letters is hard work for a tiny squid. Then he writes.] How is Kaeya?

[Because the smiling bastard of a captain will lie to him. It's how they are these days.]

v i s i o n s

[serment]

( in the very bottom of catra's stomach, there is a resounding feeling of unease. something feels wrong, wrong in the kind of way where she knows that either something really bad has happened or is about to happen. as such, it isn't all that uncommon for her to feel this way, but—

this feels different.

her eyebrows pinch inward and she throws herself off from the balcony of the house to land against the soft grass. she thinks that she might feel better if she were to survey the area to make sure everything is where it's supposed to be.

her path takes her in a jagged circle around the house. everything seems fine, seems right, until she pokes her head into the stable to check in. the smell is what hits her first, strong and definitely out of place.

it smells like the sea. )

Ugh. What is that smell. . ?

( grumbled to herself as she carefully investigates the area.

against the dirt, she spots the squirming squid. )

Oh, what the—

( all of the breath catches in her throat and her mind races. suddenly, she feels overwhelmed with all the thoughts and questions littering her head. why is there a squid here? why is it in the stables? shouldn't it be in the sea?

what does this mean?

but she thinks she knows. )

You had better not be who I think you are.

( she grinds out, hastily scooping the squid up into her arms. she's gotta get this to water. )

[vibing]

[ Yuri slips down to his knees, holding out his other hand in case Diluc wants to hold on with his other tentacles. He stays there, both hands extended, watching Diluc.

Yuri, at least, is patient. He doesn't mind sitting in silence, trying to figure out the words Diluc is pressing against his skin.

It helps that Diluc has his number. He is exactly that: the person who will do what must be done. It's what he does, what he will do, and assume no credit for it, no matter what his friends say. ]

C-a-t-r-a? Cat-ra? I don't know that. Is that a person?

Kaeya, I asked him to take care of you. Looks like he did a good job.

[ Since Diluc is still here. Or, is here now, as a squid.

Too bad Yuri also isn't the best with the truth, especially other people's truth. It's for them to tell, not him. ]

[unmelting]

[Somewhere in the barn, likely up in the rafters, there's a white peacock that has been keeping watch -- a tip that Yuri had offered in keeping vigil. But Kaeya didn't even need to hear his omen's call.

Instead it's Diluc's Vision that flares back to life that catches his attention. And given that he's kept it close, tucked just inside his shirt and vest, when it went all bright and hot, he's gotten himself a Pyro Vision shaped burn for his troubles.

Doesn't matter, and it has him running from his house towards the stables of Diluc's house, skidding to a stop when he sees what he has to assume is Diluc's housemate -- who the other has mentioned at least a few times -- holding what he has to assume (and desperately hope) is--] Diluc? Is that him? Is he all right?

[He's thinking along the same lines as she is. Water. They need to get him into some water.]

[Don't mind that there's a singe-mark on his shirt that's still smoking. He's just that hot, clearly.]

[searingwing]

[Light and someone above him. His last memories flicker through his mind and he tenses. There's no air. Barely any ink left so he wraps his tentacles around the arms holding him up.

He's bright red and something pulls at him as someone else. Someone aching familiar gets close enough to hear them. He twists slightly and lets out a small squeak.

Water, he needs water. Then he can deal with...whatever is next.]

[searingwing]

[He transfers his other tentacles to wrap comfortably around the offered hands. Kaeya feels like a weighty and complicated topic. He can't put the tentacle on why just yet.

Just like he knows Kaeya probably hid whatever he was feeling about all this. He blows bubbles then writes.] Catra is a friend. Housemate.

[There. That's been established. He settles for now just letting himself drift a little while still holding on. He's never been a really touchy person but something in him has missed simple contact with another person he knows.]

[vibing]

Good, yeah. [ That he isn't living alone. Sure, he can handle himself, but Yuri's still glad that there's someone to look after him, especially like this. Flynn was a mess after he came back to life.

It is weirdly comfortable, to kneel here with tentacles wrapped around his arms. It's nice, to just stay for a while, watching Diluc sway in the water. But even he can only sit with his thoughts for so long, thoughts of that night when Diluc attacked him, thoughts of waiting with Flynn's corpse, decaying into ink and crystals, of Flynn's own squid self, growing so rapidly, nothing like this sedate pace Diluc seems to be moving at.

Maybe that's better. It was pretty weird. ]

Guess you have a lot to look forward to, huh? You get to be human again. But, hey, this doesn't seem like the worst life, being a squid.

[torpour]

[ah. that might be a problem. nehan can barely feel the tug-- not because of his glove but because of the state of his left hand in general.]

Not the left hand, I cant feel anything in it. The right hand, the one underneath you. [for emphasis, he wiggles his bare hand.]

[searingwing]

[If a squid could blink, Diluc would have. He blows more bubbles as more pieces click into place in his head. Human.

That’s right. He used to be like everyone else. He still can’t quite remember the man he was but he was one. Until he wasn’t.]

It’s not terrible. Memories are coming together. Slowly.

[searingwing]

[Oh. He shifts a little, wriggling in closer to the hand around him. He blows bubbles then carefully wraps a few tentacles around the fingers of Nehan’s right hand.

It’s a bit like a sailor tying their life line to the side of a boat. Again, not unpleasant.]

[torpour]

[perhaps this would have been easier if nehan had picked diluc up with his left and touched him with his right hand, but oh well. if he changes again, he might confuse the poor man. squid.

nehan gives him a pat, slightly amused over the touch of a sea creature he's never seen live.]

You're so soft. [perhaps an inane statement... his ears flop a little in embarrassment, before he gets himself together, and they lift again. hopefully diluc didn't notice.] Ahem.

Does anything hurt right now?

[searingwing]

[He turns slightly, switching which tentacles are hanging on to peer up at him. He is soft and that should bother him. Being soft and squishy means being vulnerable.

He sticks tentacles out of the water and waves them. A question. They drop before he gives two tugs to one finger. No.]

Day 1

[azurestar]

[This hasn't been like the Octobers in Deerington, but it hasn't exactly been safe, either. Lance has learned that well enough in his own way. So he's committed to checking in on anyone he knows regularly enough to keep himself from worrying too much.

Diluc isn't someone he really worries about, the man can swing a giant sword and command fire and now ice. But still, he likes him and would prefer he not get mauled by the monsters here. Those bandages he was wrapped up in on the river stand out in his mind. Not to mention the pain he took.

So he's come by where he figured out he lives after not hearing from him for a bit too long for his liking. When Diluc didn't answer the door, he frowned and made his way in to… find a squid in the tub. He doesn't know how he knows that's him, but he does.]

Aw man… you went and got yourself killed, didn't you?

[vibing]

But you remember me.

[ He'd hate if Diluc didn't know what he'd did, and was confiding in him like this. But, well, he already said he did. ]

What about you... you have really red hair, like to wear a mask, and are a damn good fighter. What else? You helped me. You're a good guy.

[ Is that what he needs to hear? Yuri doesn't know, but it's true. He has a good read on people, and he's damn sure that Diluc is good people. ]

[searingwing]

[A name drifts to the surface of his mind. Lance.

He wraps his tentacles around the edge of the tub. He pulls himself up until he can wave his free tentacles in the air. To make sure Lance is aware he recognizes him, he twists a little.

Then has an idea. He reaches lower over the edge and starts to trace letters.]

Lost myself.

[searingwing]

[Faint threads of memory drift up. His shockingly red hair that's a sign of his lineage stretches back to the first Dawn Knight who stood-

Eyes as red as his hair. Countless battles stretching back to his earliest days. Trained to fight and stand between others and-]

Of course, I helped you. You were in pain.

[It's that simple to him. Yuri was hurting and he could help. However small.] You would have done the same for me.