deercountry | Some nights, I stay up cashing in my bad luck

[Ryan is the one who waves bye to the storekeeper and exchanges pleasantries when they leave. Min is just out the door as soon as he can. It means Ryan misses the initial moment of suspicious looking, but he exits the store just in time to see Min...inspecting the wall? And come to think of it, wasn't he looking around behind him earlier too?

The tone doesn't go unnoticed, but it rolls off of Ryan even though it soaks in. He's choosing to ignore it.]

I can carry them. It's no big deal.

[Something else is though. Ryan leans against the bricks too, and carefully sets his hand on top of Min's, curling his fingertips over his.]

...Did you see something in the bricks?

[It's not accusatory. But after last month it's impossible not to see it either.]

[As if he's going to make Ryan carry all his shopping, that's ridiculous.]

Mm? No. I just wanted to make sure they were solid.

And they are. So it's fine.

[Moving right along, quick as the white rabbit.

He knocks his knuckles on the wall before forcing himself to push off and head further down the lane, hoping they won't have to go too far. He's getting more and more sus of everything and everyone around them and while it's dark and impossible to tell, he casts no shadow as he moves through the other people. It's kind of crowded and while he would normally do his best to loop and weave and move around people, he's walking with his shoulders hunched. Min-Gi will absolutely not move if someone gets too close. So if they get shoulder checked, then that's just what happens, and it comes with a snapped watch where you're going! to boot. How rude.]

[He can and he will!!! Let him and his guitar muscles help!

That being said, something is super wrong here. Min's getting more and more irritated by the second, and Ryan actually offers an apologetic look to the Trenchie that got knocked into and snapped at. It wasn't their fault, but this needs to stop.

He reaches for Min's shoulder, to try and stop them right in the middle of the crowd.]

Dude! What is with you today?

[If he can, he'll tug them off to the side of the street, but if not they'll just have to bicker about this in the middle of the road.]

Look, if something's wrong just-- tell me! Okay?

[Ugh god what now!?

Min-gi follows but jerks out of Ryan's tug, flapping his arms out by his sides.]

Nothing is wrong except you keep asking me what's wrong!

[Except that isn't true. He pinches his brow, leaving behind the finest little fractures when he drops his hand.]

Except for the fact that it's super irresponsible to be out shopping when there are wormholes opening all over town! The sun hasn't come up in days, and I'm honestly not even sure I'm actually awake right now! Have you seen the giant moths?? We should be doing something useful like getting our life back on track or learning how to defend ourselves! But oohhh noooo I'm Ryan, over here glowing in happy land buying bunny hugs and this place is falling apart!

[Ryan's...kind of shocked. There's a split second of hurt on his face, but Min will feel it radiate from him. Once it becomes personal, it stings. That feeling mingles with irritation and worry, but only one of these things actually shows up in his words.]

That's like, a ton of things wrong! Don't act like I shouldn't have been thinking something was up with you!

[It might not be what Ryan was worried about, but there was still clearly something wrong and that's why he kept asking.]

We are getting our lives back on track. We're getting back to doing normal stuff like going out shopping. I mean...yeah, there's a risk of wormholes, but what are we going to do, Min? Just hide inside for another month?

[Ryan gestures widely at the busy street around them.]

The city isn't falling apart. Literally no one else is freaking out here. The people here aren't stupid; if they think it's dangerous to be outside they don't go outside.

[Like in November, when barely anyone was on the street and Ryan made himself a target by taking a five minute walk instead of using the lamps.

He pokes Min in the chest.]

You're the one falling apart here.

[Its not unusual for Ryan to get up in Min-Gi’s face like this when they fight. It’s completely warranted. Usually Min takes a step back with Ryan following as it escalates but this time? This time Min-Gi slaps Ryan’s hand away, get offa me with that shit.]

That’s easy for you to say, you don’t care what’s going on around us. You’re not even paying attention!

A wormhole could open under us at any second and you’re not worried because the locals aren’t!? Were the locals worried about hallucinating mushrooms and not being able to see or have any contact with reality!? No!

Don’t make this sound like I’m being crazy, I have a good reason to take this seriously! And as usual I’m the only one bothering! What if a portal brings us back to the train!? Or into a monster pit or a body farm!

Edited 2022-04-17 18:04 (UTC)

[Ryan holds his own hand, a little surprised that that just happened. Min didn't even do it that hard, and it doesn't really hurt. He's just stunned. Mention of the body farm hurts more.

"This isn't like him."

But, he can have that thought and still be really upset with him.]

I never said you were crazy. But you are being a jackass. You literally just almost bowled over some random dude in the street! Which I noticed because I've been paying attention, by the way. I kept giving you every out to not do this today, so you don't get to act all pissed off about it now because you didn't want to say no!

[This time, he crosses his arms tight over his chest.]

And excuse me for being happy to be back to normal.

[That one stings the most, honestly. Why is that making Min mad? He just wanted a normal day out with his boyfriend after a month of not being able to have that. Why is that a problem?]

[It isn't like him, no. Even when Min is really pissed.]

He got in my way! [Min flaps his arms out again.]

I'm not gonna be some Trenchie's doormat, oh I'm sorry, I'm in your way, I'm sorry sir, I'm so god damn sick of it, Ryan.

[For a second it looks like he might jab back. There's something new and dangerous in his eyes. The nearby lunar lamp reflects purple and a hint of something brighter. Something not quite human. But that's insane right, must just be the weird light.]

And I never said you can't be happy, but that isn't a reason to not be vigilant. A wormhole almost got me the other day and it would have if Shiro didn't pull me out of it! Nowhere is safe!!

[Actually, you now what? Fuck it. He jabs. He jabs Ryan right back in his chest with a clawed finger.]

If you want me to back off then learn how to fight!

What?! Min-- why didn't you say anything? Are you--

[No, he's not okay, obviously, why on earth would he ask that right now? He cuts himself short, and doubles back to the first point.]

You should've told me. We're not supposed to keep things from each other anymore. I could've--

[Well. He couldn't have stopped it but he could have made efforts to make Min feel safer as they get back to normalcy. This time though, he's cut off by a weirdly sharp jab.]

Ow! Hey!

[It's the kind of yelp that comes from something more surprising than painful, like trying to train a puppy not to bite. Ryan grabs Min's wrist to pull his hand away and--

--and.

Freezes.

He stares.

His hands feel like they're shaking, but he keeps a tight grip. He slowly moves Min's hand up into his field of vision, so he can see what Ryan is seeing.

A clawed finger, with a small amount of milky paleblood on the end.]

...We need to go home. Now.

Edited 2022-04-17 19:46 (UTC)

[Ryan has another excellent point, they did promise not to keep anything from each other anymore.

1, Because that's what normal, communicating people (much less couples ) do.
2, Because not doing it is how corruption builds up.
3, It's just the right thing to do.

And Min-Gi has been harping on Ryan about it since he found out it was a thing. Yet here he is with it crawling up behind his eyes and he didn't even realize. He doesn't really realize even now, with Ryan holding his hand up to sharp fingers (not just nails, the whole shape of them has changed) and glowing paleblood.

(You hurt him, Min-Gi)

His stomach drops. That was never the intention, he just wasn't thinking. And since when have his fingers been like this? What's happening?

It pulls the breath right out of his lungs. There's black in the corners of his vision as it tunnels in. The sounds of the street are a muddy roar.

He's fucked up. He's fucked up so badly.]

Ryan I-

[You what, idiot. You absolute good for nothing, you should be able to handle this!]

I-

[He feels the change in him like a change in air pressure, an incoming storm.]

--I'm okay. I promise, it's only a little scratch.

[He would show him right now, but it would mean letting go of Min and he's not at all prepared to do that. He keeps a firm hold on that wrist, but a more gentle touch to his shoulder with his free hand.]

We're going home, okay? We're going back to your place.

[But, he doesn't actually move to make them leave. Instead, Tomo forms in a cloud of smoke on Ryan's shoulder.]

Tomo? Go figure out where the closest lamp is.

[They squeak in the affirmative and bamf from one perch to the next to the next to avoid getting trampled in the crowd. Ryan turns his attention back to Min, and gives his shoulder a squeeze.]

Can you hear me, Min? We're going to go. Tomo's going to find us the quickest way, and then we'll go. Okay?

Edited 2022-04-17 21:05 (UTC)

[Min vaguely registers Tomo's appearance but Yeong remains to be seen. Locked out, maybe. Guarded by barbed wires and LEDs.

Ryan sounds like an echo. A little numb, not quite putting together the grip and the words and the omen bounding off.

He was okay a second ago, why is this all turning upside down?

More fractures shatter through his wrist under Ryan's fingers. Unseen.]

No.. no, you shouldn't--

[It's delayed. Finally, he looks up.]

If I'm dangerous then you shouldn't be anywhere near me-

[Ryan shakes his head.]

Nope. Nope, we're not doing that. You're going to let me help you.

[He's not scared of Min. Even when Min was lashing out, he was never scared. This is...admittedly kind of unsettling, sure, but. Now that Min knows, Ryan is sure he won't do it again.]

Besides, if you really think you're dangerous now, then let me get you away from this crowd of people. Okay?

[This is something that might be almost soothing in other circumstances - letting Ryan ground him and bring him back to the moment. Tomo is on their way back. This is the part where things are supposed to start getting better.

But something else is gliding towards them in the crowd. A few people in the crowd gasp and move out of the way, and turn to watch the little fallen star make its way to its target. Behind Ryan, it skids to a stop and starts to grow into something more...wormhole-shaped.

Ryan is so focused on Min that he hasn't noticed it yet, but Min likely has an extremely clear view.]

No matter what, it's going to be okay, Min.

[Min-Gi takes a shaking breath before letting it out and nodding.

He's turning into a monster, he can't be out here with people. As scared as he is of hurting Ryan, if he goes insane out here on the streets a hunter will arrive and kill him.

Maybe that will still happen. Maybe he'd deserve it.

No, no, no, chill out, Min. You've got this, you can handle this. You don't need to get anyone else involved. This is something you should be able to deal with, just fucking focus.

The fractures deepen.

But very suddenly a shining light finds purchase behind Ryan, casting him in the blinding silhouette of fiery green. The air pressure changes again, buzzing with ozone and it becomes the gaping, open maw of a rip in space time reflected in Min-Gi's horror-wide eyes.

There isn't time to say, only to act, because pushing through the bubble like surface of the divide are the three pronged forceps of a terrifyingly familiar creature. Six of many, followed by a lifeless mask face and blazing blue eyes.

And it's not as though the steward was particularly aggressive towards them, it's the fact that thing from the train is making contact. It's making contact and it's going to pull them through isn't it- this is it he was right and Ryan is right in the way-]

Ryan!

[All processed in the split second before Min-Gi grabs Ryan as hard as he can and yanks them back into the busy road. It's too hard and too fast and his foot slips on the cobbles, so they both come tumbling down amongst passers by and clattering carriages.]

[Ryan sees Min's face before he sees what he's actually looking at, and at first he wonders if it's something he said. Maybe pointing out the crowd was a bad move? He was just trying to say anything that would get Min to relax and let him help, and then he could worry about the rest later.

But then Min's yelling his name and pulling him back into the street so fast that they both fall.]

Min, what the--?!

[But then he hears it. Dozens of tiny, unnatural click-clacks on cobblestone and a mechanical whirring that feels too familiar.

He turns, and looks, and there's the tentacle-bot from the train a few feet away.

It's looking around as if scanning the area for something - for them, obviously.

A small crowd is forming from the passerby on the street, who mostly seem unsure whether to regard it as a threat or not. Monsters have been coming out of the portals, but so have pets and other things, and their first association is that it...sort of looks like a mechanical pthumerian? They're wary, but deeply curious.

Ryan doesn't have to be told twice though. His impulse is the same as Min's. They need to get the fuck away from that thing. The fear is pounding in his ears, threatening to overwhelm him - nononono he doesn't want to get dragged back to the train no, nope!!

He tugs on Min-Gi and points silently to a space in the crowd in front of them. It's lost sight of them for a second, so if they crawl right into the crowd maybe they can get away unnoticed? Hopefully?]

Edited 2022-04-18 01:24 (UTC)

[Hopefully. They'll do their best.

Min scrabbles up off his ass and follows Ryan, dodging between horse hooves, wheels, and bystanders entranced by the newest addition to the world.

They're so close, they're so so close, but they're human. And that thing looking for them? Is anything but. It's got scanning and telemetrics and it's looking for two passengers who seem to be misplaced.

It can feel them. Their number is cleared but they shouldn't be here, this isn't a part of the train. This isn't part of it's programming at all. How strange. The signal to the engine room is routinely interrupting. Status reports are being sent but not received. Location identifiers are not present.

Process dictates completing it's retrieval.

Aha! There, crossing the street and scurrying around the corner. Targets are locked, visual and heat signatures verified.

And off it goes after them.

Please return to your seats.]

[For a beat, Ryan thinks they might actually get away without incident. They get around the corner and he stands, helping Min up to his feet as well so they can run.

But the crowd it took them so much time to cross? The steward clears it in a single, forceful hop. Trenchies dash to get out of the way of the impact, and it slinks towards them. It makes an ominous noise as its eyes glow, something that sounds almost like a fucked-up dial tone.

The magnet boots are long gone, but Ryan freezes in place anyway.

They're definitely going to die here. They're either going to die or get forcibly dragged through a wormhole - or maybe both! They apparently can't outrun the robot, and even getting to the closest lamp would probably be impossible.

The only thing he can do is cling to Min and brace himself for the worst.]

[This is it. This is the end of them. They're gonna get clobbered or abducted and there is so escape.

The robot thing bears down on them, an umbrella of cabled pincers that found them in a heartbeat.

Then all at once, every thread of shadow and darkness in the area implodes. It's as though the vacuum of space twists up from all directions, harnessed with bright, neon purple and blue lights that draw it closed like petals.

The ground glows in the same colors and bows under their weight, a wormhole opening under them.

Min-Gi is clinging to Ryan, so desperately sorry that he was being an asshole and so sorry that they're going to die and it's probably his fault. I'm sorry, I love you, I don't want to die-

But then they're gone. Swallowed with a sudden rush of vertigo.

And somewhere else. Floating but not. Existing but not. In a small but limitless galaxyscape whirling all around them before it's settles into something a little less dizzying.]

Edited 2022-04-18 03:41 (UTC)

[Ryan looks around as it's happening, but there's no time to process it before they're forcibly pulled into the ground, into a psychedelic hole that looks nothing like anything from the train.

(But...it does look a little familiar. Like mysterious lights no one could explain on stage.)

Ryan screams. He just yells and holds onto Min until the momentum is gone and it's apparent that they're just...floating, in a vast, twinkling darkness. They're...alive? Maybe? His glow has vanished since the moon can't reach him in here, but he's alive and Min's alive and it feels like they're inside a kaleidoscope.

It's beautiful, and...kind of soothing, to watch the world glisten around them.

...But then, one of their shopping bags floating nearby gently bops Ryan in the side of the face and his whole body remembers with a start that he is EXTREMELY emotionally overwhelmed right now. He pulls back, but he doesn't let go because he's just a little scared that they might drift away from each other and get lost in this void.]

Min?! Where the fuck are we?!

[They're both screaming, that's for sure.

They're screaming and then... they're... still alive?

Still clinging to Ryan, Min-Gi saw it all and is still looking around. Nothing is attacking them. There's...nothing at all besides whatever these lights are.]

I-

[His heart is thundering, anger from before vanishing for the moment. Mood stability (and coherency?) is filipendulous and swinging.]

I have no idea. Did you see what happened? Did it get us?

[He did see, but seeing didn't make it more understandable.]

No, something else happened. We got like. Pulled into a wormhole under us? There were all these bright lights and now...we're wherever this is.

[He looks up, down, and all around them. It's objectively pretty, but he has no idea where they are or how far this new cosmic place even extends. Are they still in Trench? Are they still in Deer Country?]

But...I think this might be something different? People can't actually go through the wormholes that have been turning up. [A beat, and then a muttered clarification--] That's why I wasn't like, freaking out about them...it wasn't because I didn't care.

[It's just hitting him how much that really bothered him. He does care and he wasn't being reckless like he always is. He was taking a reasonable and calculated risk, one that made sense since he didn't know Min had nearly been pulled into one. How could he have, if Min didn't tell him?]

[Through that logic, how could Min have almost been pulled into one at all?

He swishes his legs a little bit, not really enjoying the concept of aimless floating.

I wish we were standing back on the ground.

Gravity manifests all at once and they fall a good six inches. Min-Gi gives a startled noise but manages to land on his feet. Their shopping falls to the ground with a thwump. ]

That- okay that was weird.

[Ryan didn't even have the slightest idea that was coming, so he doesn't land on his feet at all. He slips as gravity returns, and falls right on his butt on the...floor? There's a floor now???

He pushes himself up on his palms quickly.]

Wh-What just happened?! Min?

[The ground doesn't feel like much in particular under his hands, and it's not very reassuring at all. Where are they?]

I said I don't know!

[But he kind of does. Weirdly. Maybe just by instinct? It doesn't matter.
Clawed or not, he leans down and offers Ryan a hand up.]

Just now I wished we were standing and now we are?

[This has to be the train. It has to be. What else could do this? Who else? His heart is still thundering in his chest, fear and anxiety in his throat.]

[Ryan takes that hand without hesitation. He's still Min, even with claws.

All of it starts to click together. The lights at the wedding performance. The fact that Min was nearly sucked into a wormhole before. Gravity seemingly responding to Min's wishes, for some reason. He wanted to be standing and then he was.

He just...boggles at Min for a second.]

...Dude. Are you doing this?

[It's not really a question. Ryan's pretty sure he's right about this one, but he wants to hear Min's take anyway.]

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