safe and sound

[firstroar]

Who: Blue & a cast of many (whether they like it or not)
What: A psychic goes beastmode, abducts friends to keep them safe; others come in to rescue them from starvation. Opt-in if you wanna join here!
When: Early March (about 2, 2.5 weeks give or take)
Where: A cottage in Crenshaw

Content Warnings: Gaslighting, mental/emotional manipulation, mind control, starvation, kidnapping/forced captivity, eye gore

---

i. a staggered and swift descent
closed to Flynn & Yuri

The great consolation of having Yuri returned in any living state cannot dam the flood of corruption coarsing through Blue's veins. It's sunken into his waking thoughts now, bending even the most innocuous of notions into matching shapes with the original, crooked shadow which lingered deep in his subconscious. The disease has crept in carefully enough as to remain a comfortable part of him just as anything else. After all: Negative emotions are natural, and Mu is hardly one to be repulsed by one's own native feelings.

The vibrant red of his irises has waned to something grimmer, and his sclera has blackened entirely: Given his soft, pale complexion, he looks more and more a porcelain doll than any living thing, and even then, porcelain gradually gives way to something more like glass.

He hardly seems bothered by it...so long as they are here. His family, safe. Unharmed. Yuri is...he's still a little monster, but the soul is there, easily perceived even with a psychic sense so bent off-kilter by corruption. It helps blind Blue to the horror, to look to Yuri as something to be protected - a child...one in quite the fell state of being, troubling but still fiercely loved.


Don't.

When he feels Flynn's thoughts stray to the outside, to the idea of leaving, Blue's thoughts call out ahead of him. If they're in the same room, his eyes fix in his direction in tandem with the sickly lion at his side.

Not yet. You can't.

And he has good reasons for it! Yuri isn't remade yet. The weather is foul. There are no sea-monsters to fight. He can't prepare food alone.

So many reasons...and if he doesn't have enough, he'll just...gently press on Flynn's thoughts, just ever-so-carefully tilt them in his favor.

It's okay to do so for now because of those reasons; Flynn would do the same for him, surely.

It's for his own good.

---

ii. a kind shepherd
closed to captives

Hello.

The thought carries over from the pale blue specter nearby - the one whose shape is unmistakably Blue's. It's a little distorted - fuzzy, as though a bit out of focus on a screen - but those kind, red eyes are unmistakable.

Wherever the target of that greeting is, Blue can proceed to them with little care for the surroundings; he can only see what they see, after all.

Do you have time for a visit today? I would be very happy for your company.

Those who agree can find themselves led to the cottage, wait for the locks to click open before the offer to help themselves inside is given. Perhaps Yuri or Flynn are in view - reading a book, cleaning up a shelf, cooking - or perhaps they're upstairs asleep. Either way, Blue is not. And Blue is...

...Not well. His face is lined with hairlined cracks - that porcelain visage failing him. Perhaps some dread variant of the crystalline affliction many Sleepers face in the cold season? Yet it is not just joints that seem affected. Even so, Blue greets them from his spot in the den, seemingly oblivious to the dreadful state of his appearance. At his feet, the lion barely opens his eyes, his fluffy, elegant mane becoming stringy and thin - looking like some he was caught mid-aging timelapse, perhaps.

It's an unnerving sight to be sure, and yet any worry Blue senses is worry Blue is going to work to mitigate through his sincere gratitude and kindness.

He holds out his hand.

"Hello again," he says, smiling. "Will you join me?"

---

iii. stay
closed to captives

How long has it been? Since leaving the house. Since...since eating? There are things here and there to munch on perhaps, but if one loses track of time, one can also lose track of healthy habits - especially in an atmosphere so coddling. So suffocating.

You can still chat with friends on the Omni, sure, but asks to visit or go home are met with some very strong resistance; you can hardly find it in you to agree to leave! It's nice here. Safe. Blue needs you. You...need him? That's right, isn't it?

Yes. That's right.

There are others here, too. Some are familiar, some may be strangers, but...everyone is an important person to Blue here. Safe. Together. Extra company is nice, right? More people to spend the unending hours with. Cards, books, this-and-that on the Omni network...what else do you need? Food. Water. Your other friends. Fresh air!

As the days pass, Blue's frame grows more and more fragile. His omen is gone, withered, forgotten. The Mu looks more like a translucent ornament than a person, and moving him too much causes such pain... No, better to let him rest here, up in his room. Keep an eye on him until he's well. Perhaps after that peculiar, crystalline growith growing out from his eyes will be the worst of it and he'll take a turn for the better; all fevers have to break sometime.

Until then, surely you can keep vigil a bit longer, right? You already did leave to fetch supplies, visit friends...remember?

That...really happened, right? You only just got here to check in a moment ago, so best to stay a while.

---

iv. beseiged
open to captives & rescuers

Things cannot continue like this. Too many days gone, too many missing moments, too many concerned friends now driven to action. The tipping point is a sharp and sudden moment of lucidity, when Yuri can finally break the spell of the place and call out for help. It's only a moment, though: How can Yuri fight back against his own beloved family? They promised to care for each other, even beyond death.

Those who find their way to the cottage are greeted by an undeniable feeling of pure dread before they even manage to get inside. It permeates the very air around the place, stifles and practically chokes the air inside, and it's poisoned the minds of Blue's captives. The moment Blue senses the purpose behind these new arrivals is the moment the houseguests are sparked into action. It's no longer safe - they're under attack! Monstrous visages are painted over the faces of friends and acquaintances here to help, their voices twisted into gnarled snarls and roars. It's what Blue had warned could happen - danger from the outside, trying to destroy the safety within!

They need to fight. They have to fight. Blue, too...

And Blue...

The specter is all that greets them, no bodily form to be found. Faint notions of the mental ties which bind his captives to him can be discerned by those with paleblood or a psychic sense, and it's those who Blue focuses on stamping out the hardest.

You can't have them.

His will presses into the little house, rattling it.

My precious friends...my family...

YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM.

[notes: captives can be freed from the psychic snares by blunt force to the head/knocking them unconscious and removing them from the cottage. likewise, anyone with a Doorway nameday gift (the sword) can sever the emotional bond outright, instantly snapping the victim out of it. it's up to the victim what kind of backlash/consequences that can have.]

---

v. shattering the beast
closed to Diluc

Diluc.

Why is he...

I wasn't wrong. It isn't safe. We're being attacked! Help me!

Blue's ghost billows and reforms in front of the fire-haired man at the foot of the stairs, arms out to bar the way. Whatever earnestness can be conveyed is not coming from his face - most of his features are obscured in the suggestion of crystal.

Our enemies are the other way. Not upstairs. That's where he is - what's left of him. A hand-sized hunk of blood-red crystal set upon his nightstand while the rest of his corporeal form crumbled to dust.

He doesn't lament it because there is no time to lament it.

Help them, he insists, trying to push raw concern and purpose at the man. They're being taken away! By monsters. Monsters, not friends. No friend would pry them away from Blue.

Comments

ooc/questions

[firstroar]

ooc notes
-go ahead and make your own toplevels with whatever you wanna play with
-if you want a Blue-specific thread or want Blue to dip in for a tag or two in the 'stay' or 'beseiged' prompts, put @ Blue in the comment title
-if you want to opt-out of some specific kind of happening (hallucinations, memory-twisting, etc), just lmk here
-likewise, if you want something specific like that threaded out, lmk! otherwise you can handwave for your uses c:
-if you have any other questions lemme know

-Blue is dying at the end of this so whether or not rescuers can smack their friends out of it doesn't mean they're trapped - you can play as enduring the effect until the crystal is shattered and that connection is immediately severed!

i

[vibing]

Yuri curls a tentacle around Blue's shoulder, shifting enough that he can see Flynn, too. It's odd, being here, but also not. His mind isn't fully settled, not fully human, a simplified version of himself, reduced to feeling and spare thoughts. What he does know is that he's safe, now. He's safe, and Flynn is safe, too, here. It's possible it's Blue pushing those thoughts into his head, and it's possible that he's just grateful to be home.

Home, he's always wanted to be home. This little house is his home for now, not as comfortable or familiar as the lower quarter of Zaphias, but it's his, and Flynn's, and Blue's. A space they made for themselves. While he wasn't exactly thinking when he threw himself in Flynn's way, when he died, but coming back, he knows that he's glad for this, for this space.

But the tension he can feel through the bond, a tension between Blue and Flynn, isn't quite as comfortable. He presses himself closer to Blue, the secrets of his own feelings laid bare before the pair of them. The bond already made his emotions more available to them, but in this form, as a squid, nothing is really hidden, nothing is complex. He wants them both to stay, too. Wants to be with both of them, the care and love that he feels from them setting him at ease, making staying as a squid less awful than maybe it could he otherwise. He isn't itching within his skin, wanting to turn back. It's easier like this, at least for now.

[firstroar]

"That's right..."

Blues' gaze flits down to the creature in his arms, in his lap.

"Being this way...doesn't distress you too much, does it." There's a mix of relief and anguish at that: It's good that Yuri isn't suffering, but...

...But Blue misses talking to him. Yuri. His friend. His family.

"There are still...many things to talk about together. This or that. But I have to wait, don't I." His eyes close as he exhales.

"I'll wait...and keep you safe. It's alright. Take whatever time you need without fear."

Keith | Voltron: Legendary Defender

[tempredmental]

[ SHEPHERD ]

[Keith and Blue had spoken before, and Keith had even let Blue see some of his memories of Earth. So the idea that he was being invited into his home wasn't really a strange one overall. And to find out that Blue lived with Flynn and Yuri was a nice bonus. He'd done Ozpin's training with Yuri, and, as it turned out, they'd fought and trained a bit during the sheddings. And, having worked with Flynn during the Leviathan battle, Keith had a slight bond there, too. He'd been saddened to hear about Yuri's death... but he was glad to see that Yuri was back to human, at least.

Blue's appearance and state was definitely concerning, and Keith was starting to become aware of the concept of corruption... between things happening to Lance and a few others around him, plus some of his own minor changes, it was no longer an unknown concept to him. And he couldn't help but wonder from the state of Blue's Omen what was happening. Of course, he'd talk to Blue about it, and maybe anyone else who might have been invited in, and definitely Flynn and Yuri to see what they thought of it.]

=====

[ STAY ]

[Keith had lost track of time. Had it been days? Had it been weeks? He didn't know, but it really didn't matter. They were safe here... safe and warm. Comfortable... there was no reason to leave, right? It wasn't like Keith couldn't still talk to people over the Omni if he really needed to. So, he was down to play cards or something. Maybe do some working out if there was space to do so. For the first time in what he could remember in his life, he was content to stay put. Usually, he was more active, but he didn't feel the need to right now.]

=====

[ BESEIGED ]

[When the people came to get them out, Keith resisted. After all, there was no reason to leave! They were safe! Let them be!

Being a fighter, it would be hard to get Keith to go. He fought back, and fought back with skill. His own corruption had advanced as well, the sclera of his eyes having turned yellow, the fangs visible every time he spoke or smiled or yawned, and he'd stopped trimming back his fingernails which allowed for the claws to have grown in. All of these could easily be written off as some sort of Galra change as well, so he didn't immediately panic when he noticed them. And he felt safe here in the house, so there was no reason to really worry, right?

And Keith would defend that safety, and defend Blue, and defend anyone else who was part of the new 'household' as needed.]

[ stay ]

[pabugotmoves]

[It's been forever and a day. Or something. Probably. Time is a human construct and honestly it's not one that Bolin is currently subscribing to. He came over here with the intention of telling Blue some juicy stories and stayed because he feels like he's full of sand.

One thing has lead to another and now he just. Lives here. Or something. Honestly, he isn't thinking about it too hard because it's cozy and warm and he doesn't have the energy to do otherwise.

Today seems like a good spoon day, and Bolin has a Pai Sho board so. Here we go. Were you busy? Not anymore.]

Keith my good man,

[He slides down into the seat opposite and unfolds the board.]

Ever played Pai Sho?

shepard

[vibing]

[ After coming back as a squid, Yuri was very susceptible to Blue's coaxing, glad to stay with him, close to his side, especially after having left him alone for so much of February. Back in his human body, he's starting to grow wary. Flynn is scared, Yuri oscillates between concerned and content. Blue is his friend, his family, someone he made the choice to bond with. He feels what Blue is feeling, and he's feeling concern, he's feeling pain, he feels better when they're safe, they're close.

More people in his home isn't something Yuri is upset about, and Keith least of all. Keith is good people, Yuri's glad to see him alive and well.

He's preparing food in the kitchen one evening, making enough for everyone, using the pineapples that sprouted out of the walls, the green beans, the cabbage. The house is a cornucopia of vegetation, which makes it easier to stay here. They have a big store of rice, too, and can last for a while. A small part of Yuri's mind wonders if it's safe to go get more food. No, no, probably not. No, they should stay here.

Should they?

He glances back at Keith with a little smile, putting those concerns aside ]

Hey, man. How do you feel about pineapple?

shepherd

[firstroar]

It looks worse than it feels.

[Blue smiles ruefully over at Keith, whose concern is palpable even without the extra sense for it. hairline cracks on his features are starting to give way to more gaping, egregious blemishes across his skin, but if he suffers, the Mu is doing a very good job maintaining poise.]

In fact, I'm learning...the suffering is less when you and the others are around. [he tilts his head thoughtfully, his darkened gaze drifting past Keith to the notion of the other souls within the house downstairs. here it's just the two of them, a little check-in from the kind young man while Blue rests in his room.]

It may be a quality of this place...of blood. There's so much we have yet to discover, don't we.

Shepard

[searingwing]

[His hands pause. Something about those concerns pull at him. Some part of him struggling against the urge to brush it all aside. His lips move as he lays the lyre half restrung back down on the table.]

I only know some about corruption its effects. What do you wish to know about it?

[His hands don’t want to be idle. They twitch and he collects the spare strings from the case, laying out the ones he needs with methodical care.]

Stay

[unmelting]

[What's this? Someone Kaeya doesn't know? Well. That needs to be remedied immediately, clearly.]

I don't think we've been introduced, which seems remiss of me. I'm Kaeya Alberich, a friend of Blue's, obviously.

[He takes a seat by Keith with a cheerful smile.]

Besieged

[azurestar]

[There he is. The moment he spots Keith, he has no trouble recognizing him despite the corruption changes and the paleblood hallucinations. And hurting him is the last thing he wants to do. He makes an anxious deer sound in his throat as he isn't sure how to do this. Keith is fighting, obviously under some kind of psychic control.

He leaps backwards, stumbling over some fallen furniture as Keith attacks him and he sends a thought to him, 'Keith! Here to help!']

Diluc Ragvindr | Genshin Impact

[searingwing]

A Shepard's ballad

[It had come through the bond like an invader. Diluc had hit it like a bird of prey dropping in from above. But, Kaeya had succumbed, and nothing he was doing to hold on was setting him free. It was hurting him.

The answer was to let go. He steps through the doorway right behind Kaeya. There is a dullness about him like a bird of prey with a hood pulled over their head. Even Dellingr, his dragon omen's coloring is off. His scales are drab shades of grey and brown. The gold of his eyes has lightened to a pale yellow.

Diluc sets the lyre case down by a chair and settles in it, offering his greetings to the others and his eyes are dull, lacking some of the fire.]

Stay (Plan)

[No matter how much the others lose track of time, Diluc doesn't. It's as if there's something in him that doesn't know how to fully let go after all. He gets up at the same time every day. He takes over making meals without a thought, serving them to those who are the most lost. His voice is soft and soothing, coaxing others to eat.

To drink.

He tends to things forgotten. Cleaning house or clothes. Mending holes. He seems calm, and still polite as ever. But over time in the evenings, he begins to play the lyre. It's nonsense at first, just tuning it or testing the notes. The music changes by the day. Tunes that are popular in his hometown. Then tales of bravery and strife.

Near the end, before a rescue occurs, he repeats tales of freedom where Mondstadt was reclaimed from tyrants.]

Besieged (Shine True)

[The entire time that he had been captive there had been no sign of his Vision. As he rises to defend the household, pushing to do so. There's still no sign. He doesn't draw a blade, just uses his fists.

There seems to be a slowness to his movements that shouldn't be there. Dull as his eyes seem to be, he seems to be only slowing others down or tripping up the other defenders. Nothing overt or obvious, just a stumble or a misstep.]

Shattering the Beast (Aria of the End)

[Dellingr flies out of the darkness clutching something in his mouth. Diluc offers his arm without looking away from Blue. The talons dig into his arm and help him hold steady. Pain is always a reminder that no matter how safe and peaceful the world looks...it was paid for in blood.] When we met we both said we wanted to help others. To protect them.

[The dragon opens his mouth and Diluc catches his Vision. He holds it up as the omen turns to smoke. As he clips the vision to his belt the omen's smoke flows over him, into him. His resistance to Blue is like a dragon snapping its wings wide and roaring in defiance. An omen can strengthen a weapon, and today that weapon is him.

He reaches into the belt pouch at his side. The Vision inside looks exactly like Kaeya's, but dull and featureless grey. He holds it up.] This is gentle and pleasant, but all it is is a hand choking the life out of us until the end.

Shed the lies. Be who you truly are. Not this. If you can't do it yourself. I will rip the lies away and show you the truth. [The vision in his hand begins to rattle and give off a faint sense of cold. Because the vision's front is facing away from him he doesn't see the pale blue blooming in the middle of the grey.]

aria

[firstroar]

[the hurt of betrayal is potent in the room, just as potent as the malice toward those who have rushed in to break up this safe haven. at this stage, the ghost of Blue cannot wholly emote with their features half-hardened and obscured by the suggestion of stone, but he draws his fists over his heart to make it clear how wounded he is by those words.]

There's no lie in my love! Can you...truly not understand it? After everything?

stay

[unmelting]

[Diluc's presence is, in a very strange way, the guarantee that Blue's hold on him remains unshakable.

But that doesn't mean the songs that Diluc plays don't speak to him. So Diluc will find at least this part of his audience settled in close and listening. Then closer still, though hopefully not close enough to interfere with the playing.]

Luc... [Kaeya murmurs the other's name quietly, even as he realizes there's a feeling of wetness on his cheek. He lifts a hand up to touch. Tears?]

That's strange. [Is he sad? He shouldn't be sad.]

Besieged

[azurestar]

[He's stressed, so stressed. He is here after many days of looking for his friends and one ex boyfriend, and he's scared for them. But in his fear, it raises the paleblood hallucinations and face blindness. For the moment he doesn't recognize Diluc, all he sees is a faceless captor. He yells, taking a charge stance in the small space and lowers his horns… and barrels right toward him.]

Flynn Scifo | Tales of Vesperia | ota

[thinkfirst]

[ At first, it doesn't really feel like a prison.

This is Flynn's own home, after all, and the marks of him are everywhere: in the Knights' Code tacked up on the living room wall above the fireplace, in the neatness of the space, in the blue blankets draped over the couch and the neatly-stacked firewood, piled high enough to last for months. They could stay for months.

And more than that, Flynn is bruised, both literally and emotionally. He needs time to recover, to get better, and he and Yuri and Blue have painstakingly made this little home into something safe and good. It is a perfect place to retreat to.

It's just that Flynn is bad at retreating. ]

1: cooking // early in the month

[ To pass the time, to feel less like a caged animal, to make something with his hands and work through the screaming memories of the Leviathan, soaked in death, Flynn cooks.

This early in the month, Yuri is still a squid, wrapped around him most days, all dark tentacles and glossy black. He isn't physically here to warn people away from eating Flynn's food, and there are strange things sprouting from the walls: pineapples, mangos, peppers. The food Flynn serves you (and there is so much of it) looks beautiful, perfectly plated, a feast for the eyes.

And he presents it with a small, tired smile, clearly proud of himself.

Do you dare?

(If you're lucky, maybe a tentacle smacks the plate out of your hand before you make a grave error). ]

2: cleaning // later in the month

[ The days wear on, and Flynn grows restless. There is a beach to clean, there are people to check on, there are post-battle reports to finish, there are precautions to take to make sure this never happens again, that they don't lose anyone else to beasts from the deep. Flynn failed in so many ways, and wears his guilt and shame like a cloak, trying to work through what it means to win and yet lose so much life.

Blue needs him. The people in his house—guests, all of them, staying for increasingly indefinite stretches of time, need him. Flynn can't leave.

But he can clean. At odd hours of the day, he can be found looking younger than usual in shorts and an old-t-shirt, scrubbing furiously at the baseboards or pulling the ashes from the fireplace, washing accumulated soot from the walls until the water runs black. There is a ferocity about his movements. Sometimes he hums a song, high and light, remembered from childhood. Maybe join him, or convince him to take a break.

He'll even tidy up around people, taking blankets from improvised beds once they're not being used, folding them into neat squares with a small smile. Maybe he can clean up the garden...?

But going outside is probably a bad idea. ]

2

[vibing]

[ Flynn's been at it for hours. He's been at it for hours, and Yuri knows that he does it because it makes him feel more in control, makes him feel better, but this is excessive. He's been at it for hours, and Yuri is bored. He's bored and Repede is bored and the other guys in the house are bored.

He finally decides to put a stop to it when Flynn starts scrubbing at the grout between the tiles in the bathroom. He's not a squid anymore, and he leans against the door, watching Flynn with something between amusement and exhaustion. Being stuck inside isn't something he's great at anymore ]

Missed a spot.

2

[tempredmental]

[Keith raised an eyebrow, giving Flynn a slightly dirty look as the blanket he had been using the past few days was pulled away for tidying. He'd been planning on using that again...]

Dude.

[He reached over to grab it back.]

I wasn't done with that.

1

[unmelting]

[Should Kaeya be wary of what looks like an entirely delicious meal? How wary?

Because here he is, poor innocent lamb reaching out with a grateful.]

Thank you. This looks amazing. You've been awfully hard at work. I didn't know you were a cook.

for Blue

[vibing]

[ The two weeks of being trapped in the house feels much longer. The time stretches out and Yuri loses track, days bleeding into one another, light through the windows changing, but he can blink and the sun is setting, but the nights seem to last forever.

His mind, while still susceptible to Blue, is slowly coming back to him. He does his best to shield it, those errant thoughts, the desire to leave, the desire to stop this situation before it gets worse. The thing is, he doesn't really form a plan until he forms a plan, so Blue can't exactly catch on until the moment when Yuri decides, yes. He's going to try to get out. And he has the means to do it, or so he thinks.

The idea pops into his head one day as he's starting to prepare dinner, dinner for so many more people than he usually cooks for. His mind oscillates between hazy and sharp, falling into the rhythm, then questioning what's happening here. In one particularly lucid moment, he stops cutting an onion, knife in hand, eyes staring out at the garden out the window, and he thinks what the hell are we doing?! and immediately tries to teleport out of the house ]

[firstroar]

[it's a lot of work, keeping a house full of too-many people content and unquestioning in the passage of time, in the unchanging nature of the hours that pass. Blue himself feels it in moments, but he's got a wealth of experience in the endlessness of unchanged spaces - hundreds of years of it, in fact; this is hardly a blink by comparison. so more's the reassurance and patience with those antsier than he...and more's the pressure to keep them content. for their sakes. for his.

Blue almost misses it - that impulse to leave. but it's backed by a strength to follow through much stronger than others before it, and so the Mu's focus is snapped quite quickly to its source.]

Yuri-- [there's a swell of alarm that comes from their stronger connection - a sharpness, urgency as if to catch him by the wrist where Blue's handprint still lay.

he can't do it physically, not even if he wanted to. what he can do is yank at his attention harshly enough to pull it from the wish to leave.]

Kaeya | Genshin | Late with Starbucks | OTA (+ @Blue)

[unmelting]

[ 1. Outwelcoming His Stay ]

[Kaeya is not one to refuse an invitation from a friend, after all. And Blue is one of the first people he met in Trench, and one of those he considers very dear to him. The strangeness is apparent a few steps in the door, but it has him before he can do much more than mentally cry out a warning to Diluc who's with him, and he's lost to it.

Feeling and acting like he's in a waking dream, Kaeya makes his way further inside the house and settles in. He's a sleepier version of his usual gregarious self, every stray thought that tries to rise about what is he doing here is quickly quieted. His friends are here. Diluc is here. It's safe here. Warm. And still,]

It's all so quiet. This city has never been so quiet. Maybe we're lucky.


[ 2. Visiting the Host (for Blue) ]

[Despite the pressure in his mind, it's hard not to feel at least some concern, and as he makes his way over to sit beside him, he frowns faintly.]

I'm not sure about this new look... [It's light, teasing, if a bit distracted.] Should we consider a healer?


[ 3. Besieged ]

[The rescue comes, and Kaeya is fully in Blue's throes still. There's a sword in his hand and a pleasant smile on his face.]

I'm not entirely sure you were invited. It's not polite to crash a party.

[Banter and smiles aside, Kaeya will fight very seriously, with blade and ice and flame.]

fresh supplies c:

[firstroar]

I'm not in much pain.

[Blue smiles small, more endeared to Kaeya's nature than troubled by the concern.]

I think...when you reach a certain age, pain is a given. But I'm not troubled right now.

Besides, [he tilts his head just slightly.] it would cut your visit so short.

Besieged

[azurestar]

[This deer isn't sure he recognizes you Kaeya. He's dodged an attack from a friend not too long ago and he sure is a big unusual target here in this cottage filled with thralls and those who have come to rescue them. He is stressed and he stamps his hooves nervously… because you are familiar, does he fight you?]

deer!Lance | Voltron (Open + @Blue if you like!)

[azurestar]

Closed to Shiro
[When Yuri's message went up on the network, his Omen immediately showed it to him. And luckily, he happened to be in the neighborhood of Mouse House at the time, continuing his search for Keith, Bolin, Diluc and co. He knows Shiro, knows that he's stubbornly going to get himself over there somehow despite the blood effects. So he dashes over to the front door and stands there waiting for him to open the front door, he can hear him making his way there from the other side with his deer hearing. When it opens, he projects a complete thought for the first time since he became a deer:

'Get on, loser. We're going to save a Mullet.']

Besieged (Open)
[He charged into the house with Shiro on his back and he is stressed. When he gets stressed, the paleblood hallucinations that deer form had lessened increase and he sometimes has trouble recognizing people in the house. His friends, he pushes aside with his head and body and dodges their attacks when he recognizes them, which happens more often than not.

He'll try to grab them and pull them out of the house with his teeth or scoop them up into the cradle of his horns. People he does not know may get charged with a scream, horns down in an aggressive elk charge. Eventually, he'll get his horns stuck in a wall and frantically try to get out. Help?

Then later, after he's free and after everyone else is free from Blue's thrall, he'll use the stars in his horns to heal injuries. He can only do so twice, expending two stars to near completely heal all injuries so long as the injured person is not on the verge of death. Then he'll bolt away because that was a lot of stress okay, he needs to go think.]

[shiro2hero]

[They have a rolling chair. It's an old office chair with wheels. It's not much, and it probably won't make it very far down the street, but that's what the lanterns are for, right? Instant traveling. Or something like that.]

[I'm going after him]

[It wasn't much in the way of a warning, but at least it was a warning. At least he wasn't just taking off without a word. Maybe this brain-to-brain radio was a better idea than he'd ever expected. First, armor on. Then, chair. After that, get the door open and...]

-- Deer!

[He was not expecting that. And may have fallen off the chair a little. Give his brain a second to catch up with the rest of him.]

Lance?

for bolin

[firstroar]

[it's been some time since then. since the prison he made of a home, since his wishes turned rotten and crooked, turned hope into harm and severed trust the way the blade Yuri wielded cleaved those psychic, emotional bonds which kept them all captive. the beast the Mu became is dead and dust to be certain, even though the echoes of what was done won't vanish so easily in those he had harmed.

he doesn't remember it well yet, not so freshly reborn and reformed. what he does remember is...walking this way. this street. it was...white, wasn't it? snow. snow and ice... now, at least, traversing it barefoot won't do him too much harm, even if it makes the going slower. it means stopping in a tea shop with a familiar frame and scent...

this was before, wasn't it? before whatever terrible thing he'd done had been done.

was it...safe to be here...? for himself? for others? he can only wonder as he stands before the window, a hand resting on his omen's shoulder.]

[pabugotmoves]

[It's funny how these things go. Pain and blur and hurt. Round and round and round.

It isn't the same for Bolin, how could it be. He didn't crack, he didn't die for it, but the whole experience is almost as heavy on his chest as the ache in his bones.

And he knows he shouldn't be out, he knows it. He feels awful and it clearly isn't safe to be going around, he literally just got unkidnapped like a week ago, but here he is.

Back in this silly little tea house on the couch in the window.

Right back to the beginning.

Maybe it's a feeling that makes Bolin look up just then, maybe it's coincidence. But he does. He does and he freezes, tea in hand, eyes locked with Blue through the glass.]