deercountry | [open] bad doggie!

Entry tags:

[open] bad doggie!

Who: Nehan + OPEN (one thread closed to specific people)
What: Someone (Nehan) died before someone's (Nehan's...) birthday, and not of fun. Featuring the aftermath of said death, an angry squid, and a doctor who's bad at taking care of himself.
When: forward-dated to Jan. 19 and later
Where: Primarily in Nehan's house, but the death thread is set in the wilderness.

Content Warnings: Violence, beasthood, death, paleblood powers, traumatic memories of near-death experiences, some nudity, Nehan-typical self-loathing, mentions of sex, Jan. TDM-style body horror. More TBA as they come up.

a: squid time

[nehan's tub is modest by human standards. large for a man of his (usual) size, but massive for a little squid, almost transparent save for its rainbow-colored insides, the most prominent of which is sunshine-yellow. the squid is absolutely tiny, no bigger than an adult human's hand.

there's a grab bar attached to the wall next to the tub, and the edge of the tub opposite it, clearly for nehan's use when he's an erune, because what will a squid do with those? he cant even reach them. though he's definitely trying, swimming back and forth, and occasionally reaching out with a little tentacle in an attempt to reach it.

but of course, he cant reach it, and that frustrates the squid enough that he jets out a little bit of dark ink. literally farting in anger, this one is.]

b: cant sleep (cw: really morbid jokes)

[the evening after nehan's squid was retrieved from the water and returned to his house, he returns to normal. annoyed as he rises from inky water and having to clean himself, but still, he's a skinny, scarred erune again, without the additions he gained over the past months. an erune that needs a long, long nap, and will head straight to his bed to have said long nap without even drying his hair.

if anyone chooses to stay longer and keep vigil over the once-squid... well, no one is stopping you, not even the omen, who is guarding the door to the basement underneath the stairs, and will not move away.

nehan might not be too much of a host however, when he's bedridden, having gone through a traumatic death and unable to control his limbs well. every time his left arm or leg has a spasm, his expression twists into one of chagrin and irritation, and he clutches at the limb until it stops. he tries to lay under his bedding just to lessen it... but well. that doesn't work as well as he hoped, and it's not proper medical procedure, but when it comes to himself, nehan has never cared a goddamn bit. still...]

... Stay a little longer. Without anything to do, I'll have another death soon, and this time of boredom. [that was a joke. but it's bad and he knows it's bad.]

c: winter mourning's last hurrah (nehan's memories/cw: eventual near-death experience)

[there is a winter mourning in nehan's house, a wreath laying in the seat of an armchair in the living room, and despite looking innocent, it is still active. and if it's touched, instead of dragging some poor unsuspecting bastard into a dream, it drags them into a memory.

the nehan in this memory is an adult, just like the one in bed, recovering from his violent bout with death-- but he's also different. seemingly younger, more filled-out, less scraggly hair, and lacking in the eyepatch and crutch that has become nehan's signature. but his ears have much less fur on them and are tattered at the ends, the shadows under his eyes are darker, and he's sporting fresh bruises on his face, like he's just been in a brawl. or more than just a brawl-- he looks like he's been beaten within an inch of his life.

still, he's walking amongst a crowd that doesn't seem to notice him, in a crowded marketplace in a bustling town with airships flying high above them. he looks like he knows where he's going, and behind him... behind him is another nehan, walking much slower, bearing a crutch and an eyepatch-- the nehan most people know, by now.

he pauses when he notes he's not alone, turning around and ears twitching, then tilts his head towards his younger self as if to say come along.]

d: the days after: achelliac (cw: nudity, self-loathing)

[achelliac's usual clientele may be sailors, but at least they don't turn nehan away. and, as he finds out, some of his fellow customers are fascinated enough with him that he just decides to indulge them with what they want. even if he's here just to deal with the aches of his body that still linger after his rebirth. at least he's no longer suffering from muscle spasms.

the hot springs will deal with what other aches he gets in this place, in any case, that's why he's here-- get himself up to snuff so he can get back to work without problems.

making his way to the pool from the showers is always an adventure in going slow to accommodate his too-thin, too-scarred body and not slipping, just because he leaves his cane with his clothes (he needs a new crutch, a cane just isn't the same...). though he's right at the edge of the pool, he pauses when he sees another man there already.]

May I, or do you prefer privacy? [perhaps he should have asked that before he got naked...]

wildcard
[[ hit me with your best shot-- everything is a-ok and will match prose or action, but the actual boss battle is restricted to certain characters. nehan dies on the 19th, revives as a squid on the 22nd and is returned to his house on the same day, while his headcanon birthday is on the 20th. thanks to #justpalebloodthings, nehan can admit that his birthday is coming up to any palebloods. he is also a paleblood, so people can speak to him more freely as well.

people are free to come and go as they like. snooping is encouraged, but the basement is guarded by nehan's omen. i'm also open to changing the memory in prompt c. if we haven't threaded yet, we can just handwave the first meeting and nehan giving out his address. if you're unsure, just ask! ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[didn't take him to be bloodthirsty? hilarious. nehan shakes himself like a wolf, before flexing his shoulders one more time and feeling his bones crack in a satisfying manner. he needs to fight and kill, he needs six, but without the most powerful martial artist in the sky realm to put him down, and his other students too soft, childe will have to do.]

I don't care about whatever privilege this is. [he is akin to a beast, but a different one than the cerberus he had been weeks ago.] But all you can do is talk, then there'll be nothing but disappointment here!

[the first thing nehan will show is that he's quite adept at dodging. however, he doesn't do it flashily, jumping away just to dodge an arrow-- he merely moves aside, doing the minimal amount of work needed for the arrow to just barely brush past him. after he dodges the arrow, he takes steps forward, towards childe, arms raised. dodges the next arrow, and surges forward again, just a little faster this time. again and again, bearing down on childe's location with increasing speed.

one arrow manages to brush his cheek and draw blood, but that's not what makes the erune's eyes light up or his nostrils flare-- it's the bright blue symbol that appears over his body.]

Devious.

[Every expertly dodged arrow only serves to excite him more- it seems that Nehan is far more powerful than he ever gave him credit for. The grin on his face twists, into something more sadistic, happy that this fight might give him exactly what he wants. The arrows transform into something more now, water cascading out of his bow in waves now, too large to just brush aside as if they were annoying mosquitoes.

He doesn't expect to fire too many rounds of this. Nehan will be upon him in no time, but he can't just let him walk up to him like that.]

Ahahahaha...

[He laugh has a deep growl to it, eyes flashing. This fight won't disappoint.]

[nehan shakes the magical ailment, whatever it is, off himself the way he shakes off his coat of dirt, the symbol hovering over his skin fading away into nothing.

he doesn't know what it does, but he has to pay childe back for it. he doesn't even consider the task of getting to him daunting-- the erune just runs. he dodges almost all the waves of water headed his way except for one, again just the one, nehan deeming himself too close to his target to dodge the wave aimed at him, and decides to just take it, squaring his stance and raising his left leg as a shield. and, skies above it hurts, his leg hurts for the first time in months, since he woke up from a months-long coma.]

That's something to pay you back for!

[again, nehan brushes it off, shaking himself like a wet dog and heals himself from the hurt with magic. he drops his coat and scarf onto the ground, and lunges the last few feet between himself and childe, pulling back a fist full of elemental magic, swirling around his knuckles and thrumming under his skin. not just his usual yellow light, but violet dark, blue water, red fire, green wind and brown earth, all rolled up into a violent mess.

he's bringing it to childe's but of course that wont be the only blow he'll be dealing once he's close enough. his other hand is balled into a fist too, but not without the myriad of elements present in the first.]

[Interesting that he could just shake off his riptide so easily, and the movement he'd been expecting from Nehan finally comes. The small hit he scores is nothing really to celebrate, but rather it gives him more perspective to his opponent and how he'll handle a fight. Arrogant, brash, and willing to take unnecessary hits to close a distance, it seems. He knows he can heal himself, and quite well too.

So, he'll have to prepare for that. How deep does the well of magic that Nehan wields go? His Vision is an endless pool of power, but is that the same for his opponent?

His fist comes up, blade at the ready when the punch comes. It's as if every element in Teyvat slams up against a hydro wall that he's conjured to take the hit, but he's pleased that Nehan has done so. It pushes the limits of his technique, and he feels it cracking quickly under the pressure. It's going to break if he doesn't counter, but thankfully Nehan's decided to use water in his multi element attack. He can use that to his advantage.

Water vs. water doesn't work well here, but he's not going to tell Nehan that.]

You should have tried this instead.

[A quick swipe of his blade shoots lances of water at point blank range at Nehan as a counter just as the shield breaks, the energy push back from it great as it hurtles out from him to try to get Nehan off of him.]

[nehan is ready for quite a lot of things, including a defense of some sort for childe, given the man is an archer-- archers usually prefer to keep people away, but only fools assume that no one can reach them. that's why he has his other fist up in the first place. the erune throws his fists again and again, unwilling to be deterred.

really, the only things that manage to get him off of childe are the water lances headed right for his face, and once more, the erune dodges. he's here, and he doesn't want to put more than a few paces between them again when childe has the bigger advantage from a distance.

but instead of dodging left or right, he opts to duck down and kick at childe's feet as it to sweep his legs from underneath him. and, of course, even his legs are imbued with pure light magic, to help make the blows hurt.]

[He's fast, he'll give him that.

He grimaces as his legs are swept from below him, feeling the searing pain from even something like that radiating through his bones. But pain like this makes him feel alive, and even though it hurts, he is living- and he's more than happy to continue on in this dance between life and death.

Childe slams into the ground hard, but he knows if he doesn't move he's done for. Expecting a follow up attack, he rolls to one side as he pushes himself back up onto his feet. In an instant he's moving away, gliding across the ground as if he were practically hydroplaning, putting a good amount of distance between himself and Nehan.

With bow out again, he takes advantage of the distance, water billowing up around him as he points his bow slightly upwards, charging an attack of some sort.]

[childe is lucky that he moved, otherwise nehan's follow-up might have put quite a dent in him. as it is, the erune's fist leaves an indent in the ground, and he shakes dirt off of his knuckles before trying again. the man's trying to run again, and rely on his bow.]

Whatever happened to your daggers? All you're doing is making me chase a rabbit. [and a chase is not as satisfying as a proper fight.

so nehan decides to do what he does to prey, and pulls out his revolver at childe, cocking the hammer and depressing the trigger three times. every bullet is infused with light magic, leaving streaks of yellow in the air in their trajectories, and each one aimed directly at childe's hands.]

[The bow is released, and out of it comes the giant narwhal that symbolizes Childe's own constellation in the sky, covering the entire area as it falls towards the ground.

But at the same time, Nehan's taken his revolver out. Childe can see it- he recognizes the device from Deerington. Though he can't recall the fake name he'd been given, the man who was known as Bucky Barnes had a similar weapon that he'd gotten to inspect. The Fatui have such weapons too, but they're rifles and powered by the elements- but Bucky's were metal, deadly and accurate.

Childe's forced to move at the same time he fires the narwhal, taking his aim off a little bit, and the bullets slam into another hydro shield, breaking it easily and ripping through the fabric of his jacket. One manages to land in his shoulder as he dives, jerking it backward as he hits the ground. The pain rips through him, crying out. Guess he can't play around anymore, huh.]

Alright, [he says, grimacing.] I'll take you more seriously now.

[the conjured beast is something nehan has difficulty with, and the only way he can see to avoid the worst of it, not all of it, is to run straight at childe, clumsily tucking his gun back into his holster. it makes the whale-- what kind of creature is that supposed to be? someone from auguste would be able to tell him, surely, but nehan is not from auguste-- come far too close to him for comfort. so close that nehan feels it brush against his body, and its residual magic knocking him off course.

it makes nehan stumble into a fall, dazed, but still picks himself up from the ground even as his clothing bogs him down, heavy with the weight of water soaking him from head to toe. he shakes himself much like a dog, before deciding damn this and drops his coat and scarf, standing only in his suit. in his state, he fills it better than when he was disabled, and shows that he has always had the sides and back cut out of it, and that he's always had those scars littering his pale skin.

but he doesn't stay dazed for too long, and closes the gap again with a sprint. childe is down, and he has to take this opportunity. his hands are raised again, but in claw-like poses rather than fists.

and, as always, pulsing with magic.]

[As Nehan dashes at him, an explosion of electric energy bursts out from the fallen Harbinger, choosing to skip the fanfare of swapping to his Delusion as an electro blade comes up to meet the magically-infused claws of the Erune.

It happens in the blink of an eye, and Childe is no longer trying to widen the gap between the two of them- instead, his blue eyes glow dangerously from behind the mask he generally wears on the side of his head, ready to meet Nehan is close combat now. He favors his non-injured arm for now, but it's clear that he's ready and willing to use the other, dual wielding his blades with a clear mastery that he's honed over the years.

His clothes are black now, how does that happen? Don't ask too many questions. Don't worry about it.

He gets up to his feet, and begins his own assault. It's exponentially faster than before, slashes coming in without hesitation, fighting through that searing pain in his shoulder that threatens to make him cry out with every movement he takes. He feels alive.]

[someone with a vision being proficient with a second element? curious-- but fascinating as well. if he didn't have a drug coursing through his veins, he would have studied this opportunity, but right now?

he wants to crush childe.

nehan draws his weapon, but not his gun-- after all, he has many holsters, and he keeps a hunting knife despite primarily being a doctor. and he knows childe knows this, as well. he first holds it in his left hand, to keep his right flexible, and as practical as he ever is, nehan doesn't wait for childe to finish his transformation or even revel in it to attack.

he only barely manages to dodge every wave of magic and physical blow that childe throws at him, fur standing on end and making him look like a particularly angry little puffball of grey. and his counterattack comes in a kick to the gut, now that childe's face is uncovered, his body moving swiftly and easily in this frantic battle.]

Heheheheh...you're pretty good.

[He taunts, as he throws his attacks out, one after another. He's having so much fun with this, and seeing the hair stand on end amuses him thoroughly even if he isn't quite striking Nehan. He's forced to block the blow coming at him, blades coming together as Nehan's foot hits the flat of the blade, sending him flying back with the force.

Earth and dust flies up as he digs his heels into the ground, twirling his blades once as he stops and slams them together to form his dual bladed polearm. Electricity erupts from his body, almost seemingly to fly through the air as he thrusts himself forward in a dash that he performs over and over, keeping his aim on Nehan at all times, trying to spear the Erune anywhere he can.]

[he's weak, is what he is, nehan thinks, and is glad for the stimulant in his veins even if the very sensation of trancensia coursing through his body feels like death.]

Less talk.

[nehan uses his knife for defense now, rather than offense. infused with light, it makes for a much better shield than his own limbs-- not as good as a proper shield, but still much better and less likely to break. or hurt him when it breaks. but so far it hasn't shown much of breaking under the stress from childe's onslaught. of course, a knife still cant help him with a polearm, and his knees are in danger of buckling.

but with every dodge he makes, nehan delivers a blow. with every attack he blocks or outright takes, nehan sends a punch as well, but not as strong as the counters he offers after dodging. those would have broken quite a bit of things.

but his body hurts as well.]

[As he fights, he can see that eventually they'd be left at a stalemate. Nehan has plenty of power to counteract his own, and he knows he can't beat him this way. Everything aches, Nehan getting blows in even as he weaves in and out, and Childe is starting to look the worse for wear as they go on.

Still, he mouth keeps running despite that.]

Does fighting talk annoy you? It's all part of the fun!

[A large swing of his polearm sends an arc of electricity towards Nehan, as he laughs manically, bloodlust clear in his voice. It's a distraction. He needs a little room, and maybe this will work, maybe it won't.]

[childe's ability to place that magical seal on him over and over again is irritating. does every skill he have just happen to apply it? nehan has to keep removing it every time, and that takes precious seconds, and precious attention away from the battle. idly, he wonders what would happen if he let it simply stay, then decides against it, because if every single skill childe has applies it, it will add up if he decides the effects are too benign to care about, and then nehan will be in trouble.

he already is, he reminds himself. it seems as if childe is hitting him more than the erune is hitting the human, nehan absorbing more damage than he reasonably should be.

the arc of lightning smacks nehan full in the chest, and he thinks he can smell burning fabric and feel the pain of the magic searing his skin, perhaps even burning at him-- but he growls and snaps back to a proper standing position, unwilling to fall just like that.

and then he thrusts forward with his knife, finally using it for something other than defense. the steel gleams like the rainbow with nehan's innate magic, but yellow is by far the most dominant color in it.]

[His blades come up to block, but it's no secret that he's starting to tire. The blade is deflected from the electro blade, but it only serves to stab into him anyway, just not quite in the place Nehan had aimed for originally. He cries out in pain, cursing himself for making such a rookie mistake.

He'd hoped it hadn't come to this, but there's the risk of losing his life if he doesn't. In a flash, he moves away from Nehan, breathing hard.

There's no fancy transformation to watch, he doesn't have time for that. This is a crucial moment, and it's in one explosion of dark energy that radiates like a shockwave out from him that he changes. Dark abyssal armor covers his body, his mask reflecting Nehan's image in its one eye, the billowing celestial cape flowing behind him. The weapon in his hand has the stars shining on the blades, a polearm that dwarfs his previous one.]

Y̺͉͎o̡̫͜u̘̙̞ s̼̻͜h͖̠̞o͚͓͜u̝͚̞l̞͕̝d͕̦̪ f̢̺e̠͎̠e̟͉̼l͚̺͍ p͕̫̻r̺̘͜o͇͎͜u̪͜d̞͉͉ t̘̦̙h̠̟͓a̪͖̠t̺͉͖ y͕̘̼o͓͙͔u̦͙̫'͔̻̝v̫̘̟e̢̙͉ p͕̞̻u͇̙͕s͔͚͍h̪̟͉e͖͚͜d͔͓͇ m̠̠̟e̡͙̝ t͕̟̘o̢̺̘ u͔̪s̢͖̟e̡͉̺ t͇̼̼h̢̠̪i̘̼̙s̻͔̦.͓͙̦ N̼͔̠o͙͍̝w̼͜ p͚̘͖r͓͙͓e̪͚̙p̢̝̞a̘͖r͕͜͜e͉̪̙ y̠͙̙o̘͉͓u͚͜͜r͎̘̫s̻͓e̝̼͓l͚̠͚f̢͕͎.

Edited (forgot my html ;;) 2022-02-12 19:37 (UTC)

[nehan, predictably, is thrown backwards with the blast, and barely avoids nicking himself as he rolls and skids on to the ground. unfortunately, that means he loses his knife, the weapon clattering several feet away from him, and he decides, on the spot, that getting it is best saved for later because he'll leave himself open to an opportunistic strike. instead, he draws his gun and nearly barks out an insult at childe, but instead ends up just barking, a snarling sound that makes his vocal cords ache.

it's the only kind of verbal or vocal response he can make, when the man's voice makes his ears ache-- he can barely even understand him.

childe is fortunate that when nehan reloads and shoots, his bullets only contain light magic. but he doesn't need to do real damage, he knows this-- all he needs is to stagger childe, or distract him enough to be able to get into his personal space again.]

[It's as if one minute he's there, the next minute he's not. The bullets whiz into an empty space where Childe had been once before, a sizzle of electricity and dark energy left in his place. The next second, Childe is giving Nehan essentially what he wants, getting into his personal space. Except now it's on the Harbinger's terms, and he looms directly next to Nehan, with an arm raised to bring a celestial blade down upon Nehan's head.]

D̡̢̪i̙̘e̢̝͕.̪

[he is much faster than expected, several steps up from the way he was minutes ago. and he really has to wonder-- why did childe hold back? really now...

nehan takes a deep breath and releases it in an almost-violent huff as he throws himself to the side, right onto the balls of his feet, and he uses that momentum as a springboard to get himself standing again. and launching himself into a run again. he already feels the burn of muscles being worked close to their limits, even with the drug in his system. either it's about to be fully burnt out of his system with all the work he's done, or his body is failing him.

or both.

either way, it means he needs to finish this soon-- kill or be killed. nehan tries to catch up to childe, peering at his armor and figuring out where he should aim for maximum damage, and then raises his gun.

the first shot is a feint, an attempt to make childe move in the direction he wants, and the next shot he makes is at a different angle, to the place where he wants childe to be at, and maybe hopefully bury that bullet into his gut. but, of course, nehan wont wait for a confirmation of the bullets hitting childe, not when he's already chasing the human down again.]

[His head snaps to the side as Nehan takes off, firing bolts of hydro arrows off that don't land as Nehan runs. But there's that gun again, and Childe can't afford to get hit again. His arm feels like it's going to fall off from the pain of the gunshot wound in it, and it's taking all his willpower to continue to fight with it. Guess it'll be just another object to add to the list of things removed from his body after a tough fight. He can't imagine what would happen if it were to hit him somewhere more vital, other than death. Or perhaps he'd just bleed out as organs begin to fail without medical assistance, assistance he doesn't plan on getting from the good doctor here. Not now.

When he teleports, he doesn't teleport to the side, or away. The bullets don't find a mark, because he's teleporting forward, to a spot where he can meet Nehan once again in close combat. Electricity hums over the blades as he breaks them apart to swing them down in an X, crossing them and trying to slice Nehan's chest open as a reminder that he's not here to play games with the erune anymore.]

[the fact that nehan is already faltering is never more evident to the erune than when childe manages to cut him. he doesn't dip down low enough to dodge the two massive slices of elemental magic surging at him, and one of the bottom edges just slices at his shoulder, tearing his sleeve and leaving it bloody.

his right shoulder, no less. he can fight well enough with his left, but nehan is already working his magic to heal his shoulder, but it cut deeply-- it wont be healed until much later.

still, he moves his gun and aims with his left hand, but ends up using it as a feint, as he brings the butt up into childe's ribs. the chin is usually the best place to pistolwhip someone, but when he has that mask, nehan is sure he'll end up breaking his gun instead.]

[The opening he's created by coming down with those slashes leaves his midsection wide open, and the pistol slams into his stomach with significant force, making him take a few steps back. He knows he's tired, but he swears he will see this to the end, though he may be regretting it if he lives through the encounter. It serves to further enrage him, not at Nehan but at himself, for making such a stupid mistake in the middle of what's currently life or death. But at the same time...isn't that what makes this entire exchange beautiful to begin with?]

N̻͍̦g̡͍͜.̡̝͔.͎͎.͔̙.̼̞͔.̝͕̘h͇͚̙a͙̘͚!͉

[He takes advantage of that space created by the attack, his hand coming down in front of him as an electrical circle appears under Nehan's feet. A target, if you will, as four electro blades come crashing down on that spot, whether Nehan is still there or not when they arrive.]

Edited (i wanted to add more lol) 2022-02-16 20:43 (UTC)

[now, see, that's confirmation that childe has left his soft, human, underbelly exposed. silly man, not wearing armor where it matters the most. and he takes advantage of childe doubling over to climb him.

to leap on the human and attach himself like a little limpet, to smash his fist into all the soft, exposed parts over and over.

it does mean he barely manages to avoid the circle of lighting that childe puts down around his feet, but nehan is desperate to finish this now, and he's being scrappy by attaching himself to the man and punching him with a fist full of rainbow-colored magic.]

[Nehan gets a good few blows in, the magic serving to only worsen the blows to his midsection. He can feel himself cough up fluid in his mask, before his rage takes hold and he grabs Nehan with all of his strength, to pin the erune's arms to his sides, and peel the man off of him so he can't punch him any more.

He's been stabbed and beaten enough that he needs to end this soon before his body gives out from the transformation. But not before he gives the erune a taste of his own medicine.

If the peeling of Nehan off of him is successful, he's knows Nehan's going to retaliate by kicking him or possibly something worse from somewhere else. So Childe moves quickly, his knee coming up to try to slam it into Nehan's own stomach.]

[nehan notes how childe is moving, and wriggles his hands so the human can only grab him without pinning his body. even snagged like a pet ferret like this, he wriggles like he can get free some how. but, of course, he cant. he ends up trying to kick, but fails to anticipate childe's next movements-- the knee in his gut and the metallic tang in his mouth as he coughs up blood onto childe's thigh are enough of a wake-up call.

and it makes him aim a magic-strengthened kick at the bastard's face, but the physical power he uses doesn't amount to much of anything, and the erune growls. he's about to lose this fight and he hates it. knows it, hates it.]

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