reddosmod: (Default)
Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] deercountry2021-12-08 02:19 am

I'd go back in time and change it, but I can't

DECEMBER 2021 EVENT
Hello! We are trying a new style of event this December with archival-like entries that characters can ICly find in the Archives. This should allow characters to be able to plan against certain events that occur in-game and do research ahead of time, during the event, or after the fact.

The idea is that these prompts will provide you with all the possibilities characters could theoretically face from the prompt. We hope this leaves more open-ended opportunities for people to engage with. Anything mentioned in the excerpts could be an experience characters encounter. You can always ask for clarification on any prompt on the plotting page.

This is a way to keep all event prompts relevant since new characters would be able to "read up" on these events/excerpts by visiting the Archives or other such resources for information about past events and what they can anticipate from the setting.

We hope this new style makes sense and is fun for players to work with! They will rely on players creating more of the atmosphere than the prompts, but we think that the prompts will provide the perfect guidance as to what the atmosphere should feel like. Enjoy!

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Prompt One
[Image One: Holiday themed antler decoration.]
[Image Two: White stag with perfect, circular antlers with bits of ice attached.]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Sculpture of white rabbit with neck caught in a snare. Non-graphic.]
[Image Two: Person in red cloak and wolf mask turning around.]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Puppet making bloody snow angel in snow.]
[Image Two: Bloodied hands wrapped in bandages clenching.]

WINTER MOURNING
WHEN: Begins in December and can last until the end of Feb.
WHERE: Everywhere
CONTENT WARNINGS: Spoilers for various canons, survival situations, forced memory share


[A passage from Rituals of Trench: Remembering Our Pasts reads the following:]

"A long-standing tradition to celebrate Bone Season is for Deerians to collect antlers and bones salvaged from natural resources and create decorative home accents. These antler-bone decors are known formally as Winter Mournings and can be found in almost every residential home throughout Deer Country. Winter Mournings can be made to look like wreaths, candle holders, or simply an antler with a bow hung up on a wall.

Winter Mournings is seen as a way to honor one's past tribulations and how one has managed to survive and overcome hardships during their life. Winter Mournings serves as a testament to survival and a willingness to keep surviving even when things look bleak and dismal.

Creating Winter Mournings is considered a blessing to the Pthumerians Dorothea, Remina, and Argonaut. You will know if the blessing was accepted once your Winter Mourning begins to glow like the moon. Touch your Winter Mourning and you will be pulled back in time to a memory of a specific time when you or someone else had to survive something physically or mentally challenging. For some, it is merely a memory that cannot hurt, but for others, you may want to proceed with caution as it has been known to pull people physically back to times of war.

One cannot choose which memory they wind up in if it is their own, a friend's, or a complete stranger's. Winter Mournings was designed to create a sense of union and empathy among residents and is meant to open your mind and heart to those who have suffered around you. It is time you explore your past, or someone else's past, with an open mind and see how the other side has lived through hard times. These memories are known to be from adolescence, adulthood, or sometimes even futures that have not yet happened or timelines you have never known. After all, Remina sees all past and all history. That means they see all of your past and history too.

No memory lasts forever though. Once the memory has been concluded, you shall be brought back to the present by the Winter Mourning Stag: a great white beast with a circle of frozen antlers. It will come to you when the time is ready, and you will return to the present like waking from a dazzling dream.

Experiencing Winter Mournings can stabilize one's mood and provide restful sleep after, even if the memories may be difficult to swallow. It truly is a tribute to honor past horrors and traumas. Some memories are painful to remember, but forgetting them will never do anyone any good either. So hang your Winter Mournings and remember what matters.

Survive another day. You are worth it."

FAQ

1. Winter Mournings can produce new memories every time you touch them or the same memory.

2. Characters cannot choose what the memory is.

3. Characters can arrive in each other's memories regardless of if they already know each other. Multiple people can experience the same memory.

4. You can either experience the memory as a memory you can't touch or experience - or you can physically be in the memory and have to survive the situation as well. If you die in memory, your body will die wherever you had been touching the Winter Mourning.

5. Palebloods are capable of altering memories or how they or others experience memories.

6. Characters can be pulled into memories at random - as long as one of the characters in the memory share is touching a Winter Mourning at first.
RUN, RABBIT, RUN
WHEN: Month of December
WHERE: Everywhere/the woods
CONTENT WARNINGS: Themes of hunting, ghosts, curses, attempts at animal violence, hunting people based on blood types.


[An excerpt from Legends of Trench: Curses and Causations reads the following:]

"One of the most notorious legends of Trench is without a doubt the tale of The Huntress and the Hare. Most Trenchies have been told this tale since they were children, but for those unfamiliar, settle in.

This story begins with a mischievous god and an ambitious huntress. The Pthumerian Dorothea loved to play tricks on hunters trying to survive the Bone Season, setting animals free from traps and remaking the traps to catch the hunters instead. One day, a darkblood Huntress was fed up with Dorothea preventing her from catching food for her family and decided to settle the score. The Huntress began to hunt for Dorothea specifically, but it is no small feat hunting the god of trickery and survival.

The Huntress started to rely on her darkblood powers to alter reality to make the perfect traps. Innocuous trees turned into glue traps that anyone would stick to until they were freed by a darkblood or death took their pain from them. Walking through bushes would snag legs and necks, effectively trapping whatever creatures were unfortunate enough to wander for food. Magical snares and beartraps lock around victims with unrelenting force, leaving people and animals to try for help until they cry no more. While this took many innocent lives in the woods, animals, and people alike, it never seemed to work on Dorothea.

Dorothea continued to outwit the Huntress until she eventually drove the Huntress insane. The Huntress died without ever catching Dorothea, but they say her vengeful spirit awakens in winter and begins to set her traps yet again. The Huntress sends her traps and her dead animals after vilebloods and warmbloods to spite Dorothea and hope to maybe catch the god's attention. But Dorothea is no passive god. Dorothea spurs vilebloods and warmbloods to defend themselves against darkbloods and coldbloods.

Infamously, this has created enormous tension between the blood types during December some years, and it is said that the blood lust has caused the types to begin hunting one another regardless of old friendships and alliances. Beware the Huntress's curse. Some believe darkbloods and coldbloods can still hear her haunting commands and cries from the Trenchwood.

They say there is no ease for the tension between the bloodtypes until December has passed, but some believe palebloods may provide relief if they are willing."

FAQ

1. Characters will increasingly feel the urge to actively hunt one another using traps/etc.

2. The Huntress's curse includes undead animals/beasts chasing after warmbloods and vilebloods and magical traps. Players can invent unique traps for their characters.

3. There will be an innate urge to chase/hide from one another.

4. The curse can be broken by paleblood intervention, character death, or a gradual wearing off by the end of the month.
LOCKJOINT
WHEN: All of Bone Season
WHERE: On Sleeper bodies
CONTENT WARNINGS: Mild body horror, blood magic curses, physical curses, cures through blood ministration/blood letting, possible skin removal, injuries, possible death via starvation/exposure.


[An passage from The Sleeper Condition; Chapter 13: Bodily Aches and More. Found exclusively at the Lumenarium:]

"Generally speaking, Sleeper blood allows Sleepers to navigate this world without the fear of illness and disease. However, no organic body is perfect, and Sleeper blood has its own set of ailments to fret over. Blood Ministers have studied the phenomena of Lockjoint for years now and believe that it is linked to the crystalization found in Sleeper death, though the exact connection remains unknown.

Lockjoint tends to begin and last throughout Bone Season. Some Sleepers may never experience it, but for many, it becomes a reoccurring issue to dread each season. This condition forces blood magic to gather at the joints and effectively lock up. Sleepers find it difficult to move their bodies at the bends, fingers, knees, shoulders, etc without some form of discomfort. Minimal lockjoint can be painful and annoyance, but critical lockjoint can be fatal.

The most severe cases of lockjoint documented have shown Sleepers to have crystalization form over their joints, rendering parts of their bodies completely immobile. Some Sleepers have been found dead in this condition, all their joints crystallized, and it is believed most died from natural causes thereafter.

One can determine they are experiencing lockjoint when the coloration around the joints begins to darken in color, typically looking like a bruise. Calcification may occur rapidly the more magic a Sleeper uses or the more they expose themselves to outside elements. It is imperative that Sleepers remain properly clothed during Bone Season, even if they are coldbloods, and to invest in enchanted clothes that can lock in heat.

A known cure for lockjoint is the art of bloodletting. Puncturing the joints with small incisions seems to allow a release of the built-up magic and can provide immediate relief to the Sleeper. Catching lockjoint early is imperative. Alternative methods are soaking in hot springs and salted water.

Those who are in a more severe state will have to carefully have the crystals removed. This will likely remove the skin as well. Local anesthesia is highly recommended for the procedure. This process is known to leave scarring. The crystals can be saved and used as bloodstones from whoever they were harvested from. If you find a Sleeper dead from lockjoint, make sure to harvest the crystals as they are incredibly valuable.

This curse is believed to stem from Sleeper blood magic congealing within the body in contrast with the atmospheric magic of Bone Season. There is no known prevention for lockjoint. Lockjoint can impact all Sleepers regardless of bloodtype or the material their bodies are made from."

FAQ

1. This impacts characters regardless of blood type or their body - meaning it can impact characters with metal/plastic/plant/wood/etc bodies.

2. Players can choose how rapid or severe this gets and how quickly they can be healed.
CODING
thinkfirst: (stare | caught | unsure)

a let's DO THIS

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-09 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's a little like being dunked into the frozen sea, hearing that voice at this moment. The wind is cold and sharp just like it was, tugging at all of their clothes, generated by that awful shimmering core.

Flynn sucks in a breath as Yuri breaks away, watching himself try to stand, watching Yuri's quick, easy sword-strokes as he attacks the man Flynn based his ideals on for so long. Alexei falters, and coughs, blood staining the white parts of his uniform, dripping lurid from his mouth.

Flynn glances at his Yuri, wondering.
]

I always regretted... getting hurt like that. I should have been there with you. Maybe you wouldn't have fallen.
vibing: (embarrassed | nervous | tired | huh | sm)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-09 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Fuck.

Yuri tenses, glancing to his right, to see Flynn in his full armor, and then to his left, to see Flynn, dressed like he dresses in Trench, in dark blues. He's the last person Yuri wants to be here, the only person he wouldn't be okay with sharing this with.

He still hasn't told Flynn. It isn't his place, it's Sodia's to deal with, but Flynn is here, and he's going to see, and Sodia never fessed up, did she. He lets out a breath.
]

Not your fault. I lived.

[ Like that's all there is to it. Like Flynn isn't going to experience something awful, seeing this. ]

Man, do we really have to do this again?
thinkfirst: (stare | caught | unsure)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-10 02:15 pm (UTC)(link)
We haven't been given a choice. There must be some reason.

[ Flynn says under Alexei's choked-off words, full of regret and pain. It's hard to look at and it's hard to look away from, just as it was then: Flynn can't help but take it as proof that he could have changed Alexei's mind, if only he'd been made to listen. He realized his error. Why did he have to realize it only right before his death?

But then, as he looks at Yuri again, the massive core starts to crackle with that awful energy, aer made solid and sharp-edged and angry. Everyone around them sucks in a breath, and Flynn watches his own head go up, watches Yuri, standing opposite Alexei, start to back away, and he remembers Paul slowing time at this—

Before Yuri can say anything, Flynn is moving to the other side of the platform, straight for Yuri.
]
vibing: (huh | look | fight | concern)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-10 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Flynn--!

[ Yuri dashes after him. Fuck, he doesn't want Flynn to see this. He doesn't want him to see it, not without knowing.

He catches Flynn's arm just as the crystal hit Alexei, dust rising around them, the crystal cutting off sight of the rest of Brave Vesperia
]

Flynn, trust me, you don't want to--

[ Except then it's already happening. Yuri isn't fast enough. It's strange to watch, like he's watching someone else. There he is, standing on the edge, watching the rest of the crystal fall into the ocean below, believing that it's all over. Then there's Sodia, running up to him, and he's turning, confusion on his face ]

Flynn?

[ But it's not Flynn. Of course it's not Flynn. ]
thinkfirst: (skit | shocked | oh no)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-10 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The first thing Flynn thinks is but he's so far from the edge.Sodia tried to save him? crashes in on its heels, and there isn't a third thought, because there is no time. Sodia is moving, and Flynn is frozen with Yuri's hand on his arm, trying to make sense (he'd thought Yuri had fallen with the shockwave, but there he is)

Sodia's moving strangely.

Flynn can't see her face at this angle but he knows her. He knows the sharp set of resolve in her shoulders, he knows how fast she can be. She darts forward with a rough cry, slamming into Yuri with a familiar sound that doesn't make sense.

Yuri chokes the same way Alexei did, shock clear on his face.

Sodia makes a similar noise, straightening up, pulling something, her dagger, the one Flynn gave her to celebrate her promotion, bloodied to the hilt, from Yuri's body.

He stumbles toward the edge and Sodia doesn't move to save him and Flynn doesn't, he can't understand, he doesn't do anything except react: he wrenches himself free with a shout that they both toward, hurtles toward the edge to try and grab Yuri before he falls off.
]
vibing: (annoyed | angry | tired | skit)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-10 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's pretty bad, watching it back. He should be dead. He should be dead, bleeding out in the ocean, drowned in the waves, and no one would know. No one would know except Sodia, who would keep it to herself, selfish and scared like she was when she tried to pass it off on Yuri, to make him take on that responsibility.

And Flynn has to see this. He has to see this and learn about it like this because Sodia was too much of a damn coward to tell him herself, to accept any consequences of her actions.

He doesn't follow Flynn, doesn't want to watch his own body fall into the ocean. Instead, his eyes are on Sodia, watching the shock of what she just did hit her. Did she even think it through? Was she just mad? Just trying to protect Flynn, using her instinct to take out the threat, the threat of Yuri?

It makes his blood boil. It makes him furious, and here Flynn is, trying to save him, even when this already happened. It already happened, he can't change it, but he's so damn good, and his instinct is to save Yuri, to save anyone, in danger.

The memory of Yuri looks up at Flynn, shock on his own face, and he reaches out, grabbing onto Flynn's hand. His breath is labored, and blood bubbles up between his lips.
]

Flynn!

[ The memory of Sodia seems to see him now, too, and lets out a cry, crumpling to her knees. ]
thinkfirst: (urk | sad | embarrassed)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-10 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Flynn can't think about anything over the rush of fear and panic like saltwater, turning his thoughts to static. He has Yuri's hand in his, and his heavy weight pulling at Flynn's muscles, straining to keep him from falling. Flynn reaches out with another hand, locks his fingers around Yuri's wrist and pulls until Yuri stumbles back up onto the solid top of the tower and into Flynn, knocking them both over. He's bleeding so much, his eyes wide and his voice hoarse (because Sodia— Sodia, behind him, taking shaky breaths— Sodia who he trusted to run things in case they really are gone, Sodia who if he is not there is Acting Commandant who stabbed Yuri—) ]
vibing: (soft | sad | look)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-10 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The memory of Yuri falls against his chest, his breath coming in short, pained bursts, and Yuri, the Trench Yuri, looks away. Of course Flynn would fucking do this. Of course he would make this worse for himself.

Sodia is staring at Flynn, her voice high and strained
]

Captain, I'm-- I didn't--

Can it.

[ Yuri snaps at her, and she looks up at him with wild eyes, but he doesn't want to look at her, or anyone, anymore.

He doesn't have to wait long, though. A large stag, who shouldn't be there, walks sedately by him. He wonders about it for a long moment, until Zaude fades around him, and he wakes up back where he was in the living room of their house, touching the Winter Mourning Flynn placed over their fireplace. He feels oddly at peace, even if he also thinks he should be worried. He is worried, about Flynn, about how Flynn will feel about what he just saw, but it doesn't override the strange peace.

Maybe he should have told Flynn, if he could feel like this.
]
thinkfirst: (wordless | shocked | upset)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-10 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The stag has to physically drag Flynn back.

He's already casting a desperate, half-pleading First Aid, light flaring up beneath him and Yuri both, his hands sticky and wet with blood Yuri shouldn't be bleeding. Stabilizing Yuri comes first, and then— and then—

But he doesn't get the chance. The spell flares with white light, and antlers touch Flynn's shoulder and he waves them away only to be yanked unceremoniously, his stomach jolting. He doesn't so much wake up as fall back into himself, blinking away light-turned-darkness with the sharp smell of saltwater still in his nose.

He's back where he was on the boardwalk, his fingers resting lightly on a construction of antler and pinecones he'd touched just to see, wondering if it had the same effect—

And it is lucky that there's some sort of calm settling over him like a weighted blanket, muffling out the rest of his feelings. It's lucky, because Flynn has to—

He has to put together what the fuck just happened. What he saw, what Yuri clearly didn't want him to see. A memory he thought he knew, a person he thought he could trust implicitly. There is a distance between Flynn and the familiar sick feeling in his belly, the lurch of a world pulled out from under you, changed from the truth you'd been relying on. How many times has that happened to Flynn now? How many times has he had to leap from stone to stone, trusting the ground to be solid only to watch it crumble under his feet? First the world is a good and fair place, his father's words that turned out to be so wrong, and then a string after that.

Flynn sucks in a shaking breath, and then another, still holding tightly to the antlers. In a quiet burst of smoke, Daisy solidifies beside him and crowds into his space, pressing her warm bulk against his side like an anchor. Flynn swallows, oddly steady, and turns his head into her shoulder, letting her take his weight for a long, quiet moment while the remains of the world settle.

Then he turns and goes to find Yuri with salt and blood still heavy in the air.
]
Edited 2021-12-10 21:16 (UTC)
vibing: (soft | hair | neutral)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-10 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It isn't like Yuri didn't tell Flynn about it-- well, he didn't, but it wasn't a specific choice, not always. It just... stopped being relevant. He had things to do, the world to save, Flynn had the Knights to lead, he had to have people he trusts next to him. Even if Sodia did that, she was trying to protect Flynn, protect him from Yuri, who Flynn would throw away his life for, even though Yuri would never ask him to, would never want him to. He betrays himself for Yuri, betrays his morals, his ethics, makes exceptions, lets Yuri off the hook for killing, protected him from consequences.

He could leave, could try to avoid the consequences of this, but for once, he's not sure he wants to. The usual impulse he has to run away from Flynn when he's going to be angry with Yuri is quiet, leaving a strange peace in its wake. It's like a weight is off his shoulders, like this secret was weighing him down and now it's gone. Now, he just as to face what happens next: Flynn's anger, his betrayal, whatever else he might feel toward Yuri.

How do you know that your answers will be the same as his? Blue asked him, not so long ago. There's something in Flynn's mind that Yuri doesn't know, but he hasn't gotten up the guts to ask, to breach the tentative calm, the sway of their relationship between fighting and the strange intimacy they've come to.

So he waits, sitting on the couch, idly petting Repede's head, resting in his lap.

It really was strange, to watch. He remembers that moment, he remembers it well, the sharp memory that adrenalin creates, but the rest of it, fighting Alexei, the crystal falling, that was more hazy
]
thinkfirst: (neutral | watching | ready)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-10 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's a hazy walk home.

Flynn could ride Daisy, take the shortest route and get there faster, but he needs to think and he needs to move in order to do that. He's grateful, still, for her solid bulk beside him, for the pulse of reassurance thrumming low in his chest.

He's done this before: sifted carefully through the pieces that he was missing, assembled them into a fragile new version of the truth, sharp-edged and painful to look at it. He can handle the way it cuts him to the bone to do it. He's Flynn Scifo, and he's molded himself into someone who can take it.

Obviously, he has to assume that what he saw was real. That it truly happened and that neither Sodia nor Yuri chose to tell him about it. Yuri obviously knew, because he tried to stop Flynn from seeing it. Knew, and knew what it would to do him to learn the truth.

Which is that, in those pain-hazed days following Yuri's fall, when Flynn was torn nearly in half, pulled out into the waves by love and back onto the land by duty, with Sodia at his side—

Sodia also knew.

Captain, she'd said in a quiet voice, pulling at his shoulder to turn him from the waves, we're needed. The Guilds are fracturing at the seams and a hundred other reasons after that. She'd been white-faced and silent, Flynn had thought with an equal amount of pain at Alexei's betrayal.

So many of the things he thought turned out to be lies.

Shouldn't he have noticed? Sodia surely had blood on her hands—but she'd lost the dagger, she said, in the fight with Alexei. Flynn hadn't stopped to see what she'd done with it, but it must have gone into the sea right by Yuri, evidence to drop to the bottom of the sea right alongside...

Alongside Yuri.

Flynn's eyes are hot, but dry. He steps, nearly slips on ice, presses himself into Daisy for a moment to keep himself upright, his fingers nearly white-knuckled in her mane.
]

How could she hate him that much?

[ His voice is a small, shaking thing, and Daisy just snorts, pressing her nose briefly into Flynn's hair.

There are places in her even you cannot reach.

Quiet words, in a voice Flynn knows: Daisy, in his head, soft and soothing. Flynn sucks in a sharp breath and swallows around words he doesn't know how to say, pushing onward, away from the sea. All he can do is think, and take stock, and try to understand the new contours of his world.

He had known that Sodia hated Yuri. She'd made that very clear, tried to arrest him again and again. She'd been so shocked when Flynn hadn't let her, hadn't been able to accept the shifting line of good and evil, the way it blurred itself into nothing like it had truly always been. Sodia clings just as tightly to justice as Flynn does, bears the guilt of her noble houses's many misdeeds with a straight back and a furious will to fix the problems of the empire. She'd asked Flynn how he grew up once, and he hadn't really been able to answer her.

Would she have hated Yuri so much if he had? Would she have done this?

Why would she hide it from him?

It doesn't make sense, because the Sodia in his head isn't a selfish person, but perhaps Flynn doesn't know anyone as well as he thinks he does. What else is he missing? Is he so naive, after all this time? Is that what Blue was trying to say—is he doing the same thing to Yuri, constructing a version of him in his head with certain ideals that aren't true at all?

His breath hitches but Flynn makes himself swallow around the feeling. He can barely feel his own limbs, certainly not the buzzing tips of his fingers. He can't feel anything but the pit in his chest, swallowing him down. He blinks, and there's the gate of their home, and light shining out into the darkness. Yellow squares, candlelight tinged with the energy from the lunar orbs. He'd left Yuri at home to go to the boardwalk and assist any Sleepers washing up.

Is he still there?

What if he's gone again?

The thought crashes into him like a wave, nearly knocking him over but for Daisy beside him, breathing patiently into the frozen air. Flynn's heart is a solid mass in his throat, and his stomach is gone, and the wind picks at his hair, flinging it everywhere. He can't run away from this. He hasn't run away from anything else, and Yuri, at least—

Yuri won't lie to him.

Not now.

Flynn has to believe that.

He will not, Daisy says quietly, and nudges him.

Flynn swallows and forces himself to move his lead-heavy feet, pushing open the gate with a creak that echoes off stone.
]
vibing: (tired | look | neutral | soft)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-10 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The creak of the gate pulls Yuri out of his revery, his eyes fixed on the fire, thoughts circling in his mind quietly, thoughts about Flynn, about Sodia, about how he really shouldn't be here right now. He should be dead. There's no reason he should be here now, except by the charity of Duke, who said it as to save the sword, but he could have just gotten the sword, and not Yuri.

What did Duke see in him? Someone who could save the world?

Definitely not.

He looks up to see the shapes of Flynn and Daisy through the window, and he's still oddly calm. Whatever happens, it'll be done. He doesn't have any other secrets from Flynn, none that would stand between them. Flynn knows everything about him. He can decide what to do with it
]
thinkfirst: (talking | neutral | worried)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-10 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ At least all his fears of Yuri being gone drop away as soon as Flynn pushes open the front door.

He'd thought—he doesn't know what he thought anymore. His head feels heavy, like it might tip him over with the weight of everything. Flynn presses a hand to the doorframe as he steps inside, moves just enough for Daisy to follow, shrinking as she goes. He stops to close the door again. Daisy, full of concern and pushed by feeling, does not: she goes right to the couch, shrunk to the size of Repede, and presses her muzzle against Yuri's thigh.

Flynn can't seem to make himself move again.
]
vibing: (soft | look | easy)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-10 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey, Daisy.

[ Yuri murmurs, petting over her head too, warmth building in his gut. Animals are easier than people, even magic animals connected to the person Yuri is worried about right now. If she isn't mad at him, that has to be a good sign.

Yuri looks up at Flynn when he hasn't moved, then waves a hand at the chair they'd dragged in after finding it on the street. If they're going to talk, they may as well talk. They can't share their thoughts like Blue can. Maybe it would be easier if they could.
]
thinkfirst: (stare | unsure | hold)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-11 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yuri isn't running.

It's a silly thing to stick to but Flynn doesn't have much right now: the world feels tilted and porous, like it might shake him loose again at any moment. He crosses the small space with movements that feel entirely too normal, sits down like a normal person and wonders at the bend of his own knees, the lack of blood on his hands. Yuri was bleeding enough to coat them both, and Flynn is... fine.

And so is Yuri.

Flynn swallows and looks up at him. There are so many things he could ask, so many ways into this, so many ways it could go, and the only one he can summon up, in a voice that should be shaky but comes out steady and soft,
]

Why did you keep it from me?
vibing: (smile | tired | talk | okay fine)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-11 12:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ There it is. The question that he doesn't really want to answer. He takes a shaky breath, looking down at the animals in his lap. Why did he keep it from Flynn? Because he needed someone loyal at his side, he needed someone who would do the hard thing, who would protect Flynn even when he didn't think he needed to be protected.

But not just that.
]

It isn't mine to tell.
thinkfirst: (hurt | upset | unsure)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-11 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ A fair answer. Flynn flinches at it anyway, because he knows it's true and it still hurts despite that. Maybe it's only that lingering calm keeping him from being angry, or maybe it's the fact that they're at home, in a place that's always been warm and safe.

Maybe it's that Flynn desperately needs Yuri to be the one steady thing right now, because the rest of the world feels fragile and cracked. He drags in a breath of his own, keeping his eyes on Yuri. His throat is so tight. Words are getting harder, forced through the brace of his teeth and the tight hold he has on his own spiralling feelings.
]

It is. She stabbed you. She— Yuri, I—
vibing: (wave | what | determined | annoyed)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-11 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
I'm fine.

[ It's the honest truth, even though Flynn hates when he says those words ]

Duke picked me up out of the water. If he hadn't, yeah. I'd be gone, but I'm not. It worked out.

[ And if he had died, Sodia probably would never have said a word. Would have let Flynn think he fell into the water. He never would have gotten any closure, they never would have gotten to have the moments they have here, the love and care that Yuri wants with a deep ache in his heart ]

She knows she has to tell you. Like hell and I doing that for her.

[ It's bitter and biting, and it's the truth. It's her problem, and here Yuri is, having to be the one to explain this to Flynn. ]
thinkfirst: (determined | ready | lead)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-11 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ Her responsbility.

Her responsbility to tell him when she had so many opportunities, so many days that stretched into sleepless nights out on the water looking for a hint of black hair or pale skin, days of his heart leaping into his throat for kelp and driftwood and leaping fish. Flynn grew sick on the smell of salt after those days and still Sodia told him to sir, I know you're worried, but you have to leave it, the people need you.

It's logical, and Flynn's heart is still a thing made of stone sitting heavy in his chest. Daisy lets out a quiet, concerned noise and leaves Yuri's side to go press her nose into Flynn's lap instead. He curls bloodless fingers into her mane like an anchor, trying to feel the weight of his own body.
]

So then.

[ The words are sharp, leaden with feeling Flynn can't seem to stop from leaking through ]

I was supposed to just keep going? Putting my trust in someone who tried to kill you, giving her—

[ Opportunities, and development, letting her oversee things in his stead because he trusted her implicitly. Even if Sodia is—was—quick to judgment, Flynn trusted her to be able to pull herself back and not make foolish decisions, to keep the good of the people in mind above all else.

But no.

Not even that, and Yuri didn't tell him.
]

She almost succeeded!
vibing: (sigh | tired | talk | annoyed)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-11 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I know. You think I don't hate knowing that Duke, the guy who wanted to kill all of us, is the only reason I'm alive?

[ But he's not what's important here. What's important if Flynn and the betrayal he's feeling, and Yuri owes him an explanation, even if Flynn is going to hate it.

Just say it. Blue didn't say that to him but, hell, he might as well have.
]

Yeah, you could trust her. You could trust her because she put you before everything, Flynn. She saw how... compromised you are by me, and she decided to protect you because you weren't going to protect yourself.

[ It's blunt, hard, and he stares down at Repede, who lets out a huff, like he doesn't believe a word of it. Yuri scruffs a hand through his fur. ]
thinkfirst: (neutral | determined | ready)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-11 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ Hard enough that instead of flinching Flynn just sits there with his shoulders squared like he's wearing his armor instead of a shirt. It's the only way he knows how to face all of this: head on, letting it batter him until he's left standing at the end.

But his jaw goes tight at Yuri's words, and he sits up a little straighter, anger sparking hot and sharp.
]

Compromised?
vibing: (wave | talk | neutral)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-11 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, Flynn. Compromised.

[ Yuri drags his eyes up because this is a fight, and Yuri can't back down from a fight. He has to take Flynn head on, listen to the anger in his voice, see the hurt on his face ]

You were always so perfect, a perfect knight, following all the rules, doing all the right things, except with me. You let me off the hook so many times when you shouldn't have. You could have taken me in, and you never did. So, yeah. You're compromised.

And before you say it, sure, I had to do those things, but it doesn't mean they were right, and they definitely weren't legal. You can't disagree.
thinkfirst: (snap | command | angry)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-11 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ Flynn has to force himself to sit and listen, to let Yuri finish, to really let the meaning behind those words sink in. He grits his teeth against an outburst, taking in perfect and except with me and everything that Yuri has spun up between them, which sounds right and which Flynn would have agreed with except as soon as Yuri's finished talking he practically snaps. ]

I was wrong, Yuri!

[ Half-shouted, echoing off the tiled floor loud enough to make Repede's head rise. Flynn winces and lowers his voice again, talking fast and urgent, words spilling out before he can pick them properly. ]

I was wrong about those things. All of those things—Ragou, and Cumore, and everything you took on—I was following a definition of justice that I tried so hard to make true, because I needed something to believe in, but of course I couldn't arrest you for those things! Someone needed to do them. If I was stronger, then I would have done it myself. Don't talk to me about being perfect. I'm not. I can't be.
vibing: (tired | sigh | annoyed)

[personal profile] vibing 2021-12-11 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
[ Somehow, Flynn saying that doesn't make him feel better. He bows his head, letting Flynn shout at him about how he's not good enough, how he could have been better, like he isn't so damn perfect. ]

Shut up.

[ He lets out a breath, shaking his head. ]

Shut up, Flynn. No, you wouldn't have done it. Don't act like you're bad for nothing killing them.
thinkfirst: (skit | annoyed | no)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2021-12-11 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ Flynn grits his teeth, lurching up off the chair. He's too full of energy, of everything to sit, even if the world is still tilting. He can't grab for his sword in here, he can't turn it on Yuri, but he needs something to do, so he just. Stands, curls his arms over his chest, and then uncurls them again. ]

No. Listen to me.

[ Please, he doesn't say, but the plea is in his voice anyway. He needs Yuri to understand. ]

I wouldn't have. Of course I wouldn't have! I couldn't have, but—did you forget your own convictions that quickly? You said yourself that no law would have held them accountable. You were right. Alexei wouldn't have. Ioder might have, but it's highly unlikely. Ragou told me himself that it was my word against his and my word means nothing to the Council, even now! They hate that they have to listen to me, and to get them to punish one of their own? Ragou might have been a monster, but he was right, and so was Cumore. There was no justice coming for them. I couldn't have done anything.

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