o5 . bone house mingle!

[necrolord]

Who: necrolord and CR!
What: Several teens move into the horrible necromancy mansion, and sometimes they bring their friends.
When: Early March.
Where: Bone House in Gaze.

Content Warnings: Skeletons, discussions of death and grief, violence where marked, vomit where marked. Note all the usual warnings of this character.

Comments

[necrolord]

[ The kid curls in on himself in a truly pathetic, miserable huddle. The silence hangs for a long and terrible moment. Then John rises, quietly, before him. He reaches out, and smooths a hand across the boy's shoulder.

There is no lurch or steadying pain, this time: it's just a touch. ]

Easy. The fight's done, and Paul is here alive. The recovery won't be instant... for him or for you. But I am impressed with the both of you.

[peripheries]

[At first, he flinches at the touch. Not out of fear of pain but out of fear that it might be something unkind. When there's nothing, he lets himself lean into it a little even though he's certain he does not deserve the comfort he deeply craves.

He shakes his head against his knees.]

I did nothing to be impressed over. [All he did was let that creature in. All he did was distract people from what was important. All he did was get in the way. And then the last few days... he can remember very little but he does know it's true, Paul is here or has been here, at least.]

...Is Paul angry with me?

[necrolord]

[ The flinch is absolutely tragic. But then this scrawny bird-boned child leans into his touch, and John thinks he might be doing this right. He's trying. ]

You stood up to something a thousand times your size. If that isn't bravery, I don't know what is.

[ He blows out a long breath, and, upon further consideration, drops to sit on the couch beside the boy. They make a funny picture, awkward but earnest, God sitting there not quite knowing how to comfort. ]

Paul's only angry at himself. Terrible choice of target, in my opinion. Personally, I'd be angry with the Leviathan. [ Or the gods. ]

[peripheries]

It wasn't the size that was terrifying. It was what was inside its soul. How that thing was made. So much loneliness across all of time and space.

[He wishes the Old Man where here. He would have something to say about what it's like after a battle and how you're supposed to feel. But at least he has someone, now that he understands the pain of loneliness.

Kaworu slumps against the man a little.]

Paul did everything he could. He even tried to save me.

[necrolord]

How it was made?

[ This he echoes in a murmur, but his hand on Kaworu's shoulder is still. So there is useful information here, buried among saltwater and fear. He had hoped but not quite expected as much.

To this last bit, he gives a comforting pat. ]

Don't I know it. He gave it his all. What matters is that he's back with us now... we haven't lost him, or you.