☣️ the court, the church, love, all left behind | OPEN

[enblightened]

Who: Bigby the Abomination, OPEN
What: Catch-all for January! Includes a prompt for the Snake Den and Shedding Ceremony. Prompts will be broken up into comments for ease of finding and tracking.
When: January
Where: Snake Den and other various locations

Content Warnings: References to severe depression, self-loathing, forced transformation/body horror, torture, and religious zealotry. Snakeden is considerably lighter in tone if that's what you're looking for. Crimson curse prompt includes cannibalism, gore, and body horror.

Comments

A

[droptheious]

[Varian is slowly but surely recovering from his corruption. Having Fern back is making a huge difference and now all that remains of the whole ordeal is a slightly grey-tinge to his skin. In an attempt to see people again and encourage his healing, he's come to The Red for some time to relax. He's wearing a pretty fancy jacket, too!

He lets out a surprised little laugh as Bigby offers up his hand.]

Bigby! You look good! [He's a little disappointed to see the chains still there, but he knows it's gonna be baby steps- it's a miracle in of itself that Bigby is out here at all. He gestures at his prosthetic. ] Okay, but I warn you, even before I got this thing I wasn't a good dancer. I'm probably gonna tread on you a lot.

[enblightened]

[It is a tempting thing to embrace Varian, relief flooding Bigby as he'd like nothing more than to reassure his young friend how important he is. But he refrains, and instead offers a faint smile.]

And you as well, Varian. In any case, please know I am not concerned.

...I am also immensely out of practice, but I would still like to.

[droptheious]

Thanks, it...uh just showed up? I think it was a gift from Madame Generosity? Which is weird, she's not my Patron.

[He really wouldn't turn down a hug. He's not the most tactile person in the world, but he definitely wouldn't mind - it's a special case after all. ]

Then sure, we can...awkwardly stumble on the dance floor and try not to do horrible damage to each other's feet in the process.

[enblightened]

She came for all, if I'm not mistaken. Where else might I have gotten my own clothing? As it was not of my own volition.

[A chuckle escapes him, a quiet and humbled sound as he gently guides Varian with him.]

I think we will manage, you and I.

[droptheious]

Awww, and here's me thinking you'd finally decided to treat yourself.

[His tone is teasing as he lets Bigby lead him off towards a better dance space. ]

At least if we end up making a mess of this, we can be disasters together, right?

[enblightened]

If you insist on teasing me like that, you should not be a hypocrite.

[The tone Bigby takes is not accusatory, but also teasing in his own way, a faint smile remaining on his face.]

That much is assured. How good to know you will forgive me on my lack of grace.

[droptheious]

Hah, trying to get me to stop being a hypocrite is an uphill struggle, ask anyone.

[At least he's aware of it, small mercies. He's definitely going to let Bigby lead this dance, he is not good enough for that, nope.]

What can I say? I'm a very forgiving soul.

[enblightened]

So long as you are self-aware, I suppose that is a start, hm?

[Fortunately, Bigby might have his stumbles, but he still more or less remembers how it goes. He's in no hurry, trying to gently guide Varian.]

How... is Fern doing? I've not seen him yet.

[droptheious]

Yeah, there is that. Baby steps, y'know?

[He appreciates the gentle guidance, he tries not to stumble too much.]

He's...okay? Well, okay as you can be. He's mostly back to himself. It always takes him a little while to get back on his feet after... [he lets out a slow, shaky breath] well. After dying.

[enblightened]

I... can only imagine that, truly.

[And he tries not to think about Falco. How that must have been for the boy, returning, how long does it take, how much do you lose and remember--]

He is here. And you have others. Sometimes that is enough reason to celebrate, to have your lives.

[droptheious]

It's...mostly a plant thing. The fact this place doesn't get a lot of sunlight doesn't help.

[It's not only the plant thing. There's...so much more that preys on Varian's mind when Fern dies- and plenty for his boyfriend to work through himself when he does.]

Hah, yeah. There is that at least. And at least no one loses their memories now, that was a pretty rough part of Deerington...the memory loss. [He glances at his leg.] ...There was always a prince to make people suffer less when they resurrected.