deercountry | [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

[nehan snorts heavily, the motion aggravating his left arm and making it spasm. he grabs it by the elbow and pins it down on the bed, huffing until it stops moving.]

You two are going to increase someone's blood pressure one day, and I'd rather it not be mine.

Why don't you just go and be forward and improper, and then you wont have a problem with him trying to dictate you.

[He tenses, ready to spring up to help then forces himself to relax. Then Nehan keeps going and despite himself his face goes red. His hands clench on the chair arms.

Oh he has heard a lot inside a bar while behind the counter. But this-]

It’s not that simple. [If he sounds a little tired that’s just him being him about personal matters.]

Did we really act lovers this whole time? [Were they that damn oblivious to what was between them?]

Spurned ones, always on and off for whatever ungodly reason. [then he puts his hands together, lacing his fingers over the sheets.] I know you're spending your mornings with him, by the way. I just though you were like rabbits the whole time as young, strong people are wont to do, but no, you two were likely just having... pleasant, chaste breakfasts.

[it's difficult to keep the scorn out of his tone, because nehan truly is annoyed that diluc and kaeya are just so bahamut-damned stupid.]

Congratulations on your relationship. [flat, dead.] However late you two realized it.

[His eyes narrow. The scorn in Nehan's face cools the blush. Well, at least he isn't going to embarrass himself in that way. He leans forward slightly.] We were having breakfasts to sort out our issues. Things happened along the way.

I won't claim we weren't fools about getting together. But, we're not being fools about what we're doing now we are. [Dellingr lifts his head and blows out a plume of smoke that fades to nothing. Diluc rests a hand on his back.]

If something comes up, we talk it out. [And one day he will be in Kaeya's bed or vice versa. Not today.]

Edited 2022-02-03 03:15 (UTC)

As long as you two stop sniffing around me as if I have information on the other one, I wont make a noise about it. [nehan wont interfere, romance is such a messy, sticky concept and he would like to not hear about it. at all.]

I'm not interested in being a captive audience, either.

I’m not interested in sharing anything else about it. [He says as he slides his dragon off his lap. The omen drops to the floor to wrap around his feet.]

…did you hear about those stone snakes trying to masquerade as Madame Generosity? [He swaps the subject for several reasons. But he wanted to inform Nehan about them before and he really doesn’t want to discuss anything about his relationship with Kaeya.] called Unsnakely.

I did. [if diluc is trying to warn him, he's quite late, even if it's a desperate attempt at changing the topic.]

I haven't encountered one, which is to my luck. But I've been avoiding the snake trails I see in the snow, because I don't want to come across Madam Generosity, and fortunately, that means avoiding their trails as well.

I figured you would. [Avoid her and them. He leans back in the chair and gestures with his left hand. The one he has cut several times of late. The bandages are fresh as of this morning under his glove. The edge of them peek out above his glove when he moves his hand.]

I have taken control of them several times so I can say with confidence they have no minds. There was no will to pit mine again. Only corruption and fire. They’re a primal force. The stone that makes up their bodies no longer carries corruption once they are felled. There was no earth magic in how they came and went from the ground.

…I wouldn’t even say they could be destroyed. I think they are renewing themselves as we do. Because they’re using our blood as fuel for what they do.

And that's why you should just avoid them. [nehan cant even heal diluc, because his magic wont respond when he reaches for it.]

As with many things in Trench, I doubt they will last, especially when we're close to the Doorway's month.

[which might be terrible in its own right, really. nehan knows that pthumerians favor those who fall under their jurisdiction, and he falls under the doorway.]

It seems these things rise up periodically based on the story of each one of these gods.

[He taps his fingers on Dellingr’s back. His fingers falter. He could ask something or- the words come out.] …does your Patron Pthumerian send you dreams?

No. [but the very thought worries him, actually. he wants his dreams free of pthumerian influence, when they're already besieged by mortal influence.]

But if someone sleeps under the same roof as me, I get their dreams.

Because of being a paleblood. [Diluc says, framing it as a statement. He looks to the side. To anyone else he wouldn’t bring this up. Except Kaeya but that was a given.] My patron revealed themself in my dreams and have been there ever since. I can’t dream normally now.

All my dreams are now lucid dreams.

Edited 2022-02-09 13:35 (UTC)

Then you should learn how to control them. [because for nehan, everything is a lucid dream now.] Even if you have coldblood...

No, blood has nothing to do with it. I've had lucid dreams before I even came here. It's how I woke from my long, long sleep.

[that one.]

I’ve had lucid dreams before, but it was under my own direction. [This feels like someone else’s will settling on his shoulder like a large hand. Like his father’s hand. It isn’t him and thus he chafes at it.]

Utterly unsurprising each patron is different but, I wish I knew what Bausphomette is doing.

You shouldn't be asking me that. My patron is the Doorway, and thus I have no idea what any of them are doing. [or where his patron is, really.]

Either you find them and ask them yourself, or you find a way to live with it.

I wouldn’t have asked that out loud without this damn influence. [Diluc grumbles. He’s sick of this being too damn honest. He’ll resist it again, force it to pull things out of him.]

All that aside, I get the feeling over time we’ll find out. Whether it be the stories in the archives or not.

You fuss too much about that, but you have the power to do something about it. [meaning, leave nehan's presence.] Whether you stay away from me until whatever this is has blown over, or sit and complain over that sort of suffering, it doesn't matter to me.

[because, in the end, nehan cant control it. diluc is the one who can control something, and he finds the complaints so... inane.]

[This time there is no grousing or grumbling. He just shrugs.] The influences on us seem to be from the gods themselves. But as for the rest, you are right.

I only have one last thing to tell you. I will help Flynn through. He took killing you less well than Ives or I.

Now, [He climbs to his feet and his hair settles about his face like a lion’s mane. He would deal with it outside.]

[open] bad doggie!

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