don't know who I am right now [open]

[vibing]

Who: Yuri Lowell, but as a child, & you!
What: Yuri attempting to train with a sword and stealing some jerky
When: January 12-19
Where: Crenshaw, Willful Machine, the beach

Content Warnings: N/A

A. Training
[ When Yuri first woke up here, he woke up in a room with a lot of weapons in it. At least three swords, two shields, and more knives than he could count. He immediately took one of those swords. He doesn't have one yet at home, but it's a dream, a dream to have a sword and become a knight and change the Empire for the better.

With stolen sword in hand, a ten-year-old Yuri is out in some barren area of Trench, whatever greenery was there killed by the cold and snow. The sword is too big and too heavy for him, more than half his height in length, and his arms are shaking from the exertion, but he needs to learn. He needs to fight. He was told that this place is dangerous, and he needs to be able to fight, to defend himself, and defend those who can't defend themselves. That's what he's going to do. That's part of the oath he swore with Flynn: to make the world a better place for everyone.

He slashes down with a grunt, but with too much force, and the tip of the sword lodges itself in the ground ]

Stupid-- sword--!

[ He grumbles and tries his best to get it out, but the ground is frozen and hard around it ]

B. Haggling
No, that's too expensive.

[ Maybe it isn't that strange of a sight in Trench to see a child haggling for food. Here is a ten-year-old, bundled up in a coat that is too big for him, sleeves bunched up on his arms, the shoulders hanging off his thin frame. He's trying to buy some jerky, something that seems practical and filling and he's ten and doesn't know how to cook yet.

The Trenchie doesn't look very enthused by this kid who only has a few stones to his name, and rejects his offer. Yuri's little hands ball into fists ]

Fine.

[ He turns on his heel and stalks away, making a show of it, only to twist on his toes a few yards later, and lurches back toward the stand to grab some of the jerky, making off with it before the Trenchie can grab him. Who knows if this is even illegal in Trench?

Yuri dodges through the crowd, clutching the jerky close. Do you stop him? ]

C. Wildcard
[ Want to run into tiny Yuri somewhere else? He can be found around Crenshaw, Willful Machine, and by the beach. Hit me! ]

Comments

[thinkfirst]

This is a pretty important thing to leave up to chance.

[ Flynn didn't bring kindling, but he's made a fire with worse materials, and this wood is dry. His own feet aren't even laced into his boots and his pajamas certainly aren't thick enough to ward off the early-morning cold.

He builds a neat little stack with enough space to tuck the whole shed skin into the center. It takes a few strikes and some maintenance to get it to catch, but it does, sparking up hot and fast like the one inside. Flynn looks up at Yuri, lined in the quiet gold of the sunrise, his breath misting in front of him.

It's so good to have him back. Flynn hopes this doesn't mess anything up. ]

I hope you know it's going to smell awful. Mine did.

[vibing]

Yeah.

[ He grimaces, and drops the skin into the middle of the pyre. He hasn't done this before, but he's spelt enough burnt monsters and people in battle to know some of what to expect.

He falls back next to Flynn, suppressing a shiver and trying to lean into Flynn's bodyheat. At least he isn't stupidly cold anymore ]

Hey, you think I'm a warmblood now?

[thinkfirst]

[ Automatically, Flynn shifts closer. The wind picks up, thankfully blowing the greasy smoke already crackling up away from them. It also goes right through his clothes. ]

Actually, I have a theory, although that depends on whether your blood changed again or not. I think, when you were a child, you had darkblood.

[vibing]

Huh. Yeah, with the... disappearing. [ Disappearing people, and things. His memory of it is still fuzzy, but he remembers some of it. He frowns ] Did I... teleport us?

[thinkfirst]

[ Flynn shifts a little closer still, until his hand is nudging against Yuri's and their shoulders are bumping together. ]

You did. I'm fairly sure you did. It's possible, I suppose, that your blood didn't change back. I wish there were an easier way to test.

[vibing]

There's one way to check.

[ But he doesn't move yet, watching the last of the skin burn away. When it's gone, he grabs the shovel leaning against the house and dumps some snow to douse the rest of the fire. His hand brushes Flynn's arm as he heads back inside, stomping the snow off his boots as he shudders. He doesn't want Flynn to tell him not to, so he keeps moving, taking the stairs two at a time up to their room to rifle around in his stuff to find one of his knives. By the time Flynn catches up, he's nicked his pinky. The blood looks totally normal and red at first, but as it wells up, it dissolved into dark, shimmering smoke. He holds it up to show Flynn. ]

Well, there you go.

[thinkfirst]

[ It's too late to protest and Yuri damn well knows it, which is of course probably why he hustled to get ahead of Flynn. Yuri's gotten hurt worse, and at Flynn's hands, but still.

He watches the blood sparkle up into nothing, steps forward to pull Yuri's hand closer to himself. ]

That certainly explains it. How... strange.

[vibing]

[ Yuri lets him, even though it means he can feel that worry rolling off of Flynn. That makes him snort a laugh because it's just a tiny cut, after all. He's had a lot worse, and Flynn even knows the worst of it, now.

It feels good, that Flynn knows. Even if he tried to hold it back because it wasn't his to tell, it feels good that he doesn't have to hide anything from Flynn. Flynn saw the darkest parts of him and is still here. ]

Yeah. Guess I have to learn a whole new thing, now. And I was just getting the handle on fire.

[thinkfirst]

You'll figure this out quickly enough.

[ Flynn says, with absolute faith that his words are true because Yuri is absurdly good at figuring things out. He picks up skills like it's nothing, and Flynn has always been impressed and very slightly jealous.

Now, though, he swipes his thumb over the tiny cut, watching the last bit of Yuri's blood sparkle into nothing, and then uses that hand to pull him very slightly closer, following the spark of impulse in his gut. Yuri smells like woodsmoke, warm and comfortable, and he's radiating an equal amount of a warmth, a sort of honest certainty that settles something in Flynn's belly and sets it aflame all at the same time. Flynn missed him so much. ]

[vibing]

[ That's... new. He swears he can feel Flynn wanting him. He can feel the warmth and anticipation building in him, and looks at where Flynn's hand is on his, then at Flynn's face. It's a lot, feeling all of that. It's a lot, knowing with a certainly that, yeah, Flynn wants him. He's always been kind of worried that he was more in it than Flynn, a worry at the back of his mind that this was just some sort of fling or fun for Flynn, but feeling this, it settles that, a little.

He smiles softly, and steps closer to Flynn, reaching up to brush his cheek before leaning in to kiss him softly. His own feeling of love is a gentle thrum in his chest. He loves Flynn in a way where it's just a fact, something unchangeable, a truth of his very being. ]

[thinkfirst]

[ There is always a moment before Yuri kisses him, before Flynn leans in to kiss Yuri, where he thinks maybe Yuri will pull back. Push him away, tell him no, he's changed his mind, they shouldn't do this anymore. It's a fleeting thing, usually squashed a moment later by the consuming fact of kissing Yuri, but it is there. Usually.

This time, with Yuri thrumming warmth and love all the way into Flynn's bones, there is nothing of the sort. There's an anticipatory sort of flutter that begins in his chest and flits through his whole body, a warmth that flushes his limbs and his cheeks and tugs at his lips, but there's no uncertainty. Flynn steps into his space and lets his other hand drop to the jut of Yuri's hip, and tilts his head to kiss him properly, letting himself truly feel the relief of having Yuri back and still wanting to do this with him.

He had meant to go for a run, to get in some training to start the day, but like hell Flynn is pulling himself away from this. ]

[vibing]

[ That relief settles in him, and he gets a little lost in the kiss. It's strange, being able to feel what Flynn is feeling. It answers a lot of questions that Yuri was afraid to ask, and brings up more that seem less pressing, most keening, though, is "why?" Why does Flynn feel this for him? Why does Flynn love him like this, where losing him would hurt that much? He knows that they're important to each other, sure, but he has no doubt that Flynn would be just fine if he were gone. Flynn would be fine, maybe better, without him.

But he can't think about that right now. Instead, he stops thinking altogether, sinking into the kiss because Flynn is right here, and Flynn wants him right now, and that's all that matters in this moment. ]