labyrinthum | November Intense Event 2024 [4th Wall Event]

November Intense Event 2024 [4th Wall Event]

Visitors Arrive

It's not clear when it starts. It's subtle, with one new face appearing in one of the alleyways in Somnius, a gold cuff bracelet unremovable from their left wrist. Another appears a little while later, on the outskirts of the woods. Several more appear, as the hours go on, scattered throughout the neighborhoods of Somnius. It continues like this, a sprinkle of new faces with questions on their lips that becomes a steady stream. The natives do their best to accommodate these new Visitors, but it becomes clear quickly that they are different from the Dreamers, arriving all throughout Visium, rather than in the Enchanted Garden. Rumor travels throughout the city that these Visitors with the golden cuff bracelets must not have contracts, and may still have their native powers. They're treated just the same, encouraged to make themselves at home until Vaeros decides what to do about their lack of contract.

Vaeros remains suspiciously quiet, even from his castle beyond the labyrinth. There's something electric in the air, the atmosphere crackling in anticipation. What's on the horizon?

🏘️ Making House
There's no end to the mushroom houses or hill houses available, and though there are fewer in existence, it seems as though the desire for a cottage means there will be one available. Visitors are encouraged to make one of these places their home, but some need a bit of TLC to be homeworthy. Roll up your sleeves to make these houses your home! Sweep out those cobwebs and find that the mushroom houses stand straighter and feel healthier the more their insides are cleaned. Other homes feel lighter, and the land around them feels more fertile the more tender care is put into maintaining them. Though many come without electricity and water, it may be found that, for Visitors only, these dwellings will self-connect if enough work is put in. Be careful not to get sprayed in the face by that hose or faucet you're currently polishing!
🌇 Exploring Town
There's a myriad of places to discover in Somnius. Not only are there native run places like the Stone Dragon Café (which will, unfortunately, almost always misinterpret your order in some fantastical way - they just don't have the best grasp on Dreamer foods), and other businesses run by Dreamers themselves. There's Club Quartz - which is often open late, and always welcoming to those who want to visit - Bloom Boutique, the Dreamer run flower shop, Kuchel's Tea Shop, a long running standard run by a different Dreamer, and of course, south of the cottages, a few miles off the main road, there's a pretty white farm house with a swath of field behind it. There's also the Church of the Moon, ran by locals who fervently believe in the moon and her power to keep the world in balance.
🚸 Unruly Kidlings
Like any city with people dwelling in it, there's bound to be children. This particular week, the kidlings, both gelfling and goblin alike, seem to be extra naughty. They'll take slingshots to shoot dreamers and visitors with sticky gum, and they're putting soap in drinks that cause those who drink the syrupy concoction to hiccup soap bubbles out of their mouths. Nothing they're up to is particularly dangerous, but it sure is mischievous. It might even be fun to join in when groups of these children take to the streets to race on self-made rollerskates, skidding and rumbling down the cobblestone.

Dreamers and Visitors might find themselves as makeshift parents, having to guide these unruly children back to their actual parents. Those who take up this task will be given small tokens in thanks - simple items like pearl beads or glass baubles that, if are floated in glass jars with water and several others, will show pleasant memories from the person who last touched them.
🪩 The Labyrinth
The Labyrinth, freshly reestablished has been quiet. Dreamers will find initially that they cannot enter, but that the labyrinth looks completely different to Visitors. Welcoming and warm, it comes across as inviting and somewhere Visitors seem drawn to. It will be up to Dreamers to stop them before they enter, or take advantage of temporary openings that WILL allow them to enter that only appear when a Visitor goes in, in order to chase after them.

Dreamers and Visitors alike will experience moving walls and shifting pathways, and find themselves drawn to one place in particular: a tall clear crystal statue that seems to hum. Time spent around this statue compels anyone around it to tell the truth, but when night falls it compels confessions of desire or even love.

Control Slips

cw: natural disasters, potential dismemberment

There's peace for a while, even with the mysterious appearance of these Visitors. However, as time goes on, things start to feel a little off kilter. The ever present barrier around the whole of Visium shimmers ominously, cracks and sparks appearing along the sky, almost as if a bubble is trying to burst. Swirls of color splotch through the sky, only becoming more and more evident. The weather begins to turn cold, then colder still, but then turns warm again. Rain falls heavy and fat, only to disappear the moment day turns to night - which seems to be happening rapidly and without much warning, the day shifting several hours in only a few minutes. These erratic shifts between day and night only seem to further fuel the storms and dramatic weather patterns that dance over the island. Some parts of the island will experience dramatic environmental changes from other parts. While the city could be covered in snow, the forest could be experiencing a heat waves. Concequences from these weather patterns are possible, including forest fires, flooding, freezing of crops, and the dramatic rise of tides on the beach.

What's worse—the very ground beneath everyone's feet begins to rumble occasionally. It, too, starts off subtly, but as the days progress these rumblings cause small cracks, then fissures, and finally, craters that seem to radiate heat as though they reach deep into the earth, beyond the ocean and land. Echoes of cackling and ominous whispers filter up from these fissures, and those who stand too close might find themselves possessed with violent desire or the wish to sap the energy from others in any way possible. Time away from these fissures will make this behavior wane, but be careful!

All of this activity seems to be waking up adversaries and creatures old and familiar within Visium, so be prepared to handle them!

👾 The Fireys
It's no surprise that, even with the wild weather, the Fireys are making a reappearance outside of the deep recesses of the woods they call home. They're wandering into Somnius, large gaggles of them looking for something FUN to do to match the wild atmosphere and crackling magic all around them. They will party in their usual way, their strange bodies able to detach wherever they want. They have no care that not everyone's body works this way, and will relentlessly pursue anyone they think is playing too hard at being a wallflower.

When touched by a Firey, body parts do come off, much like dismantling the limbs of a doll. For most people, it’s painless, but for the unlucky few, it’s as excruciating as having it cut off. The Fireys, though? They have no concern for the well-being of others. They will run off with their loot, kicking it around and hiding it, forcing that unlucky soul to go on a morbid scavenger hunt.
🌑 Shadow Wolves
Those shadow-like wolves have made a reappearance, traveling easily through the slithers of darkness as the moon and sun erratically change positions in the sky. The crackling energy rebounding through the atmosphere fuels them much as the blood moon once did, once again giving them solid form...

What once was a shadow becomes a ferocious direwolf as large as a tiger, blacker than the night itself, and with razor sharp claws and teeth. These wolves target the natives, who are the most defenseless in this chaotic situation. Adults and children alike are snatched and carried off with the intention of making a meal out of them. These wolves cannot be reasoned with and do not speak. They will attack indiscriminately if they are separated from their intended prey. Once again it is up to Dreamers to protect the native population and usher as many as they can to the new Healer's Conclave, a medical and healing safe haven for those less inclined towards combat.
🦇 Visium's IRS
No one likes it when government agents go rogue. But in the chaos of rebounding magic and crackling barriers, the Skeksis seem to be operating on their own. Instead of targeting the locals, as many expect once they first show up, the Skeksis target the Dreamers' belongings. They're vicious and will attack in groups when they happen upon a dreamer with items that they have regained. Your gun? Clothes? Any myriad of items you could be carrying on your person from home or gained by Vaeros' magic? They consider that theirs now. They have little regard for how they leave dreamers in the wake of their grabbing and snatching. Visitors will also be targeted for their golden cuffs, but the situation is dire for them; if their cuff is removed by the Skeksis' magical means, the visitor will begin to wither like a plant stricken with no water and a disease. The only way to stop this is to get the cuff back and place it around the visitor's arm again.

They won't stop at simple possessions either. Those who have wished for homes, castles, and home improvements will also find their homes targeted. Normally places of safe haven, there is no such unspoken rule this time around. Skeksis will wield wands made of purple crystal that seem fused to their hands to rip home additions from their foundations, to crumble standing buildings and pull out plumbing. They can be ganged up on should they get singled out, and should dreamers break their wands their homes will return to the way they were before the Skeksis began their nasty work.

Returning Magic

At one point, the sun sets from its point at high noon, the day rapidly descending into night and giving way to the moon. Shimmering along with the stars, something else appears in the sky. A magical shimmer ricochets through the sky before the image of a large white barn owl flies through the night sky. A screech echoes through the air, cutting through the crisp, stunned silence coming from the natives and the land itself.

"If you do not wish to see the complete unraveling of this place, then I suggest you give back what you have been given. If I am not given this power back, the island WILL sink, it is no longer my choice. Pray at the crystal and return my power to me."

An ominous rumble of thunder echoes through the sky as soon as the image of the perched owl—Vaeros— disappears from the sky in a shattered shimmer. The natives look towards Dreamers especially - expectantly - as they clamor for the help that only they can give. Vaeros is doing his part! You must do yours! Help us all before we no longer have anywhere to live! Give back to the crystal! GIVE BACK TO VAEROS! Ultimately the decision to give back to Vaeros is up to the dreamers themselves, but the consequences seem to be quite dire to the gelflings and goblins that make this place their home.

✅ Returning Magic
Those generous enough to be willing to sacrifice their regained powers will need to get to the Crystal to do so. When there, they will need to join hands in prayer with other dreamers willing to sacrifice, as well as locals who are there to bolster the wish. This action won't take long, but it does take significant concentration.

Interruptions or wavering resolve might result in electric shocks that sap energy. Those who do make it through the prayer and give up their power will feel significantly lighter, and a little weaker but they will find a deluxe potion in their pocket when they stand. These potions will replace the returned powers for now, and at full strength. Those who already have red or yellow potions can obtain a second to gain a second elemental power or a second transformation.
⛔ Refusal
Wait a minute. They want us to return our what?

So, Vaeros is urging Dreamers to relinquish their regained abilities back to the crystal in order to stabilize the crumbling world. Those who do sacrifice their abilities will notice that anomalies nearby begin to calm - some, however, are surely opposed to this idea.

What's the right call? Perhaps your character wants to advocate for sacrificing abilities as requested, or, perhaps your character is dead set on doing the opposite. Dreamers who disagree with Vaeros' requst might attempt to reason with others, speak out to the population at large, or even go so far as to interfere with others praying at the crystal to return their abilities. Locals will try to deter these dreamers from interfering, but the natives are generally much weaker than the contracted Dreamers.
🔮 The Crystal
Those who visit the crystal at this point in time may find that it feels like a safe haven. Besides the Healer's Conclave the effects during this time seem minimal the weather stays steady though the time of day still reflects the same fractures as everywhere else. Huts and tents are set up for those injured by the fireys or shadow wolves, and despite these creatures wandering around everywhere, they can't seem to get into this area. It's a welcome safe haven in all the chaos, and it allows those who wish to pray and donate their regains to do so in...relative peace.

Working Together

With their world and status quo once again thrown into chaos, the natives are growing restless with frustration. Those who are not cooperative with Vaeros are shunned from businesses that are native-run. They might even have a hard time seeking help at the local Healer's Conclave, a new establishment meant to replace a previous Dreamer establishment. Dreamers and Visitors alike may find themselves ushered unceremoniously out of buildings or even public spaces in the town if it's clear they've refused to help the situation. Those who do seem open to helping are greeted warmly and actively sought after with gifts and healing balms. A large contingent of locals have also hastily erected a large board near the Crystal, decorated with gems and carved creatures in its poles. This newly erected Quest Board is how they've chosen to organize their new desire to facilitate tasks that the dreamers and visitors can do to supplement the magics at work to save the island.

Quests appear on the board which insist that connection is vital to repairing the deteriorating world. The locals plea with Dreamers and Visitors alike to seek each other out, and find what connects them.

😱 Shared Scares
Dreamers and Visitors, you must find what bonds you! Sometimes weakness is louder than strength. Seek someone out who shares your greatest fear, and share it with them fully. Honesty is essential. The world will not repair unless you expose your most vulnerable anxieties.
🎇 Drive & Desire
Dreamers and Visitors, strength lies within you still! What is it that you want? Seek someone who shares your greatest desire, and share it with them fully. Honesty is essential. The world will not repair unless you reveal the heart of what drives you.

The magic in Somnius is currently unstable. With Dreamers sacrificing their regained abilities to the crystal in the interest of stabilization, many are left with only the power granted to them by potions. Even if one does still have their regained abilities, locals implore Dreamers to use their potion-granted powers to complete certain cleansing rituals.

🐺 Wolves at the Windmill
The White Windmill has been overtaken by a pack of shadow wolves, prowling inside and out. The magic surrounding the Windmill has become extremely unstable, but nothing can be done to cleanse the space until the wolves are done away with. Locals warn that only using animal transformation magic, granted by the gold potion, will successfully run off the wolves and regulate the area.
🌊 Lake Oh-no-men
Erratic weather near Lake Omen is causing massive waterspouts to form. The area has become extremely dangerous, but locals warn that only using elemental or healing powers granted by the red and blue potions will calm the phenomenon. Dreamers must work together and lend their magic in order to regulate the area once again.

OOC

Expand to see our Event Summary

Visitors Arrive

Mysterious Visitors appear all over the city of Somnius identified by a gold cuff bracelet around their left wrist that cannot be removed by any means
Other than the mysterious arrival of these Visitors nothing really seems awry. Visitors do not remember a contract with Vaeros or a wish being made.
Visitors are given the chance to clean a home to make it their own.
The town is active and open, with all of it's usual shops and locations open for exploration.
Somnius' kids are out in full mischievous force, causing all sorts of havoc and participating in rollerskate races
The labyrinth is acting a little funny, those drawn into it might find a statue that will either make them tell the truth or confess romantic feelings

Control Slips

Over time, the setting starts to break and things stop working as they normally have
Strange weather effects occur all over and at the same time. Blizzards, heavy rains, heatwaves.
Night and Day begin to swap over and over again.
Cracks in the island form all over, spreading and causing ravines that sometimes seem to drop clear to inferna.
The shadow wolves have returned, violently targeting locals
The fireys have appeared, once again looking to have fun in their own distressing way
The IRS reappears but targets dreamers and their regains.
OOC Note: Linked TDM plotting posts are for reference of these mentioned creatures only.

Returning Magic

Vaeros appears as an owl in the sky,. He demands repayment if Dreamers do not wish the island to be destroyed. He can no longer hold together the fabric of Visium.
Dreamers can offer their power regains to help Vaeros maintain the integrity of the island.
Dreamers that sacrifice these regain will temporarily be granted an extra potion power of their choice to use during the rest of the event.
Dreamers and visitors can doubt what Vaeros says and try to convince others of their way of thinking.
The crystal area has become a safe haven from the chaos of the island.
OOC note: The rewards that can be sacrificed can ONLY be powers or high-stakes items that facilitate character abilities. Regains to housing, mundane items and similar are not valid. Anything that is voluntarily sacrificed during this event will be returned at a later time via another event and cannot be regained with shards in the meantime.

Working Together

Locals have little desire to work with or tolerate Dreamers who won't help.
Natives have set up a quest board to facilitate working together in order to bolster Vaeros' magic to sew his magic back together.
By the time enough magic is returned to Vaeros to control his land, visitors begin to flicker and disappear. They leave behind their gold bracelets.

Welcome to our November 4th Wall Event! Please keep all event activity to this post and subsequent overflows. We have provided a couple of headers for both Visitors and Dreamers to post their top-level links should they want to! We are also including a third header where we will have a form to fill out regarding donated regains. Please see our plotting post for any event related questions.

An important note about Visitors! All Visitors still have their canon powers. But they can not donate them to Vaeros. Have fun with that!

The Healer's Conclave is our new "clinic" location! Located in roughly the same place the clinic once was, it is a building molded from the trunks of ancient local trees and old pieces of labyrinth wall for protection. Inside, it is much the same as the clinic with a magical healing wing and a traditional medicine wing. This is a well staffed and NPC run "business", though Dreamers can work here. A location entry will be added for the Conclave no later than January 1st.

A State of the World post will be put up on December 10th, based on activity within this event, so look forward to it! Have fun Dreamers AND Visitors! A special welcome to our Visitors coming to us from outside the game!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ dolph had sequestered himself at the back for the day. cleaning up, sorting out the storage. he usually has enough bartenders to manage the front these days and he feels confident in leaving them by themselves. the solitary clink of bottles and glasses is relaxing while the world goes nuts outside.

so he hadn't been paying attention. distracted by the tedium. then a familiar voice drifts over. a glass slips from his hand and crashes to the floor.

oh. oh oh oh. his heart stutters. it can't be. it can't.

like his body has a mind of its own, dolph rises and moves closer to the counter. careful not to show himself at first. his thoughts are racing. is it vash? does he remember? what if he didn't? what then?

he can't. he can't do it. he can't look into vash's eyes and see no speck of familiarity, no ounce of recognition. he can't. he can't. he's weathered so much, but this might be it. this will be his tipping point.

but.

there's a tiny darjeeling clipping in a pot, in a corner of a room. he didn't have the heart to get rid of it.

so dolph takes one aching step forward. one after another. until there's only a counter separating them. his fingers grip it tightly. ]

Vash.

[ Even though he'd been talking to someone else, his hearing catches the sound of glass shattering on the floor. It makes him sit up a little straighter, his gaze flicking from his conversation partner to try and spot where the sound came from. He doesn't actually spot Dolph until he's approaching the bar with such hesitation.

Vash's brows pinch upward and he fits a tired smile on his face. ]

Hey, Dolph.

[ It's bashful and apologetic at the same time as he leans in on the counter, peeking at Dolph from behind those dark blue sunglasses. They may be cracked, but he's yet to get rid of them. ]

It's been a while, hasn't it?

[ He doesn't know what to do with his hands, so his fingers wind up curling and uncurling against the wood of the counter. He's sorry. For leaving. ]

[ his fingers make indents on the counter. there is a torrent of feeling in his chest that makes his breathing so tight, a vice-grip comfortably pressing in. he can't do this. he has to do this. why is it always one or the other? why can't the moment just be. why does he always have to make a fucking choice. it's agonizing.

he breathes it out. ]

Take them off.

[ a finger flick at the glasses. ]

[ The flick is enough to knock a chip loose, but to Vash's credit he just laughs, lifting the purple tinted prosthetic hand up to the stem of the glasses to pull them off. ]

Sorry.

[ For everything. ]

They're a habit. It's good to see you again.

[ dolph barely registers the words. he knows vash well. knows when to pay attention, knows when it matters. knows what he says and what is said in the breathes between. he’s just focused on drinking it in, seeing him again. dolph finally lets go of the counter to cradle vash’s face, fingers tracing the contours before he shudders, leaning in to press their foreheads together. ]

Are you all right? Are you hurt? Were you able — [ and his voice cracks open. ] — to find your happiness again?

[ Are you alright? Vash barks out a breath of air, a hollow laugh. In the same moment though he's leaning into the touch, his forehead pressed to Dolph's in probably the most intimate moment with another person he's had since he was in Visium last time. He doesn't answer the question and suddenly really wishes he still had his glasses on.

The hand they're held in trembles a little before he sets them on the counter, his hand lifting up to rest atop Dolph's own like he's been drowning or adrift and this is a grounding line. ]

It's good to see you.

[ It's repetition, insistence and an answer together. ]

[ oh. oh vash. it’s like he hasn’t changed at all. dolph doesn’t need to hear it all. it’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s just not important enough to pry it loose from vash. maybe he will, when there is time. if they have time. dolph can already feel the trickle down of minutes, ebbing away.

instead he presses a kiss to the corner of vash’s eye, where once a tear must have slipped past before pulling away a little. though his fingers latch themselves to vash’s collar. ]

Do you want a drink? Or to go somewhere private?

[ Leave it to Dolph to see right through him, but to be smart enough not to press in the moment. He'd answer the question more quickly, but perhaps he's still reeling from the affectionate peck to the corner of his eye.

It has his breath caught a little tight in his chest, and for a minute he's not sure if he has the air to answer. ]

Uh.

[ It's all he can manage until he forcefully pulls air into his lungs again. ]

Both would be nice.

[ He stands up, careful not to bump their heads together, hands lifting up to settle on the ones at his collar. It's a lingering touch for a moment before he steps back from the bar. ]

I like it here, but I'm good with privacy.

[ it's hard to unlatch his fingers. as if he's holding onto a ghost. but dolph is practiced with ghosts. he has plenty buried under his skin. alex's hairband burns in his pocket, calling. jade's blood seeped in the groves of his metal hand.

eventually dolph does let go, turning to fetch a bottle of scotch. once he has that, he makes his way to vash.

and holds his hand out to him. ]

[ He's not going anywhere. Not if he can help it. This time, for certain, he'd rather be nowhere else. There's nothing for him back home, not anymore. He's a little awkward before he finally takes Dolph's hand, an awkward laugh snaking past his throat.

He grabs his glasses before he forgets, tucking them in the newly unruly hair that doesn't seem to want to sit down. ]

Where to?

We have rooms in the back.

[ maybe it'd be better to take him somewhere else. dolph's birthday present to vash is there after all. but dolph is loathe to go too far. the fear still has tendrils in him. ]

They're comfortable enough.

[ and so dolph leads him to one. they're not large. spacious enough for a bed, some basic furniture. dolph guides vash to one, gesturing for him to sit while he uncorks the bottle.

then dolph sits down next to him, shoulders brushing, as he wordlessly hands the bottle over. ]

[ The weight of someone sitting next to him jostles him a little, but he doesn't mind, he leans in, their shoulders touching for a moment, his flesh and bone hand reaching for the bottle.

He wonders if he should bother with a glass. ]

Didn't know you had rooms back here... Guess I mostly just hung at the bar.

[ There's a pause, and he's still looking at the bottle, not at Dolph. ]

How long has it been since you saw me last?

[ dolph leans back a little, his palms pressed against the mattress behind his back. his long hair dangles over his shoulders. he didn't bother to tie it today. maybe he knew. there was something in the air. the timing of it all.

his one year anniversary. ]

A few months. Not long, I guess, if you measure it that way.

[ it felt long to dolph though. he's not used to it. having months and years. he was so used to days. fleeting moments in the dark. brief shining sparks in a life.

he shifts, sitting back upright. clasps his hands together, rubbing his thumb into his metal palm. ]

How was — [ livio? meryl? knives? where to even begin with that? it's not even the same livio, but dolph still hopes for the best. stupidly. it's stupid.

he shakes his head. ] — Nevermind. Sorry you're back here. I know you didn't want to be.

[ not here. not with dolph. ]

[ there’s a moment where bash just blinks, eyes wide and alarmed. He can read between the lines, understand what Dolph is asking before he aborts the question. . .

and turns it into something that stabs cash in the chest uncomfortably, unintentionally. ]

It’s not that I didn’t want to be here, with you or everyone else. There were things I needed to take care of and it…

[ his breath hitches and he can feel the burning at the corners of his eyes. He’d wanted… he remembers now what he WANTED to do. He wanted to talk to his brother, to stop the disaster that he could feel was coming. But the moment he got there it was like nothing HERE had ever happened. So, they fought and Vash was helpless to watch as his brother burned himself to a crisp for what he wanted. He still remembers falling. ]

It doesn’t matter now. I’m sorry, Dolph. For leaving you behind.

[ it feels like pity and the thought is scalding to him. he grimaces, closing his one eye as he collects his own thoughts. this is his one chance. he doesn't want to fuck it up. doesn't want a path of unsaid chances left in their wake.

he turns to vash. brushes his thumb over his cheek in the trail of a tear. ]

You didn't leave me behind. You just couldn't take me with you.

[ and you wouldn't. why would he? why would anyone? dolph is tethered here. he's dead. there's nothing anyone can do about it. no happy endings.

tenderly, he cups vash's face. ]

All the people you loved were back there. Meryl. Knives —[ a muscle in his jaw tightens over the next word ] — Livio. You kept a castle of ghosts. A room where no one could enter. A greenhouse. You don't think I knew?

I just — [ thought he could make vash happy. bridged the gap. finally say what's in his heart and weather whatever outcome would have happened.

but the truth was. vash was always going to go back. over and over. and dolph would always be here. ]

— I just couldn't fill it.

[ Dolph had been so much closer to Livio, the one that had been here, than Vash had. The one HE knew was so much different. Smaller, less himself, still struggling with whatever both he and Wolfwood had been put through. Gone before Vash could even get to know him.

He lifts a hand to take Dolphs' from his face, holding it between the both of his own in his lap. The more Dolph speaks, the less Vash feels worthy to soak up the gentle affection.

He can't bring himself to look at Dolph, despite knowing that's what he deserves. He keeps his gaze focused tightly on the hands in his lap, flesh and bone and metal, fingers clasping tightly.

He kept a castle of ghosts. Rooms left empty and dusty, like if they were disturbed the memories sheltered within would dissolve like the cobwebs that had likely taken their places. It didn't matter now, right? It was all gone. Knives was gone, Meryl and Wolfood he hoped... maybe they had made it out of July before the fight between him and his brother had reached the climax.

Vash tries to pull in a breath of air that he as a Plant doesn't even need but it feels like he's drowning, and it's as he struggle with breathing that his ears start to ring and he makes himself look up at Dolph, the grimace that sets his jaw and shows his teeth one that's anguished and apologetic.

He'd hurt Dolph in all of that, in his relentless pursuit of things he couldn't keep. He'd used people here that he cared about to try and replicate the feeling of warm walls in a desperate selfish attempt to hold on to threads of normalcy he never should have tried to grasp for.

He swallows, shifts the way he's holding onto Dolph's hand to tangle fingers together. It isn't Dolph's failure, it isn't Dolph's job to fill a pitcher with a hole in the bottom. He could apologize again, he could apologize a hundred times, a hundred thousand times and perhaps it wouldn't be enough, because when it comes down to it it's the way he is. ]

You deserved better.

[ It's a whisper, hoarse and rough. ]

[ everyone keeps saying that of late, but what does that even mean to dolph? it's not as though deserving it lets him have it. whatever worth he scraped off, dragging himself away from eden hasn't absolved, hasn't made him important enough, hasn't helped him carve out a life. he just doesn't want to hear it anymore. he doesn't care to hear how he's worth it because in the end, it's worthless.

"someday, dolph, I will give you the life you deserve." alex. alex. alex said that. alex believed it. and trying to do that broke him. it broke their love. it broke everything. so why the fuck does dolph care about deserving if this is always the end result?

everyone is waiting for the magic to turn dolph into gold, but here he was. tin and copper, beaten down. he's done. there's nothing left to salvage from his parts. no gravestone. just a smear on the ground on another world, far away.

his voice is hoarse. ]

I don't give a shit about that.

[ the words tumble out, blazing, burning in his throat. he's not sure if he's angry. he's not sure if he's heartbroken. he knows vash. he knows why vash would say it that way. he knows the hole vash has dug for himself, a pit with no bottom. he was there for so much of it. ]

I had a present for your birthday. A sapling cutoff from my darjeeling tree. You said you wanted to get better at gardening. I had it ready. I was walking down your castle. I wanted us to do it together. But you were already gone.

I — [ dolph cuts himself off. his voice feels heartsore. ] — I wish you'd fucking try. Just fucking try, for once. Stop doing this to yourself.

[ and with their fingers tangled, knotted at the base, he tugs vash closer so that he can kiss the corner of his lips. a last benediction. a last hurrah. his regrets seeped into this one action.

if it is over, then it is over. but not before dolph lays it all bare. ]

Just stop.

[ I don't give a shit about that

It makes Vash's jaw click shut immediately, anything he might have said otherwise dying in his throat. He's stunned into wide eyed silence, staring at Dolph as he recounts the memory of finding Vash gone. It's so much like what he'd experienced, and a sudden weight wells in his stomach before it's all but obliterated the moment Dolph presses his lips to Vash's own.

Something tight wells up in his throat and if Vash needed to breathe he might have found it hard to in this moment. Instead he stares breathless, letting Dolph's words rattle around his brain and take seat there.

Stop? He doesn't know how. He can try, though.
He can try. ]

I don't know how. But I'll try.

[ It's muttered, his attention on detangling their fingers to flex his own. If this had been any other time, before his first year in Visium, he might have withdrawn. Instead, Vash lifts his hand up to settle against the side of Dolph's face. There's a moment when his calloused thumb brushes over Dolph's cheekbone, just underneath his eye and Vash leans in...

and

He hesitates, their lips not quite touching but his breath instead skirts between them for a moment as he watches Dolph's expression and waits for any sort of pull or tug away—

Tenatively, barely a ghost of anything, Vash presses his lips to Dolph's like some kind of promise. He'll try. ]

[ he —

he reached out. he reached back. to dolph. his breath stops in his chest, heart hammering because no one really does reach back. it always feels like dolph is clawing, holding on, trying and sliding down. like he's trying to climb out of the hole of what he was made of. fighting what he was doomed for. no happy endings.

oh, he wants to close the distance, swallow it down. he wants to bridge the gap and never feel like he missed out. that vash is here. that vash can need him and it'll be okay. for both of them. they don't have to orbit forever and ever, they can just be.

instead he takes vash's hand and brings it up to his mouth so he can press a kiss to his palm. feels his fingers tremble as he clasps his wrist. feels the world shift. because this is not going to last, but this is the first time he's ever heard vash say he'd try. and he said it to dolph.

oh, what a tragedy that it's the happiest he's felt in some time. will it work? who knows.

he'll try. they'll try. ]

I missed you.

[ his voice is choked with tears that threaten to burst through. ]

I missed you so much.

I'm here.

[ For how long, he doesn't know. He has no contract, he knows that. The gold cuff on his prosthetic arm indicates as much. But he doesn't want to think about that right now. Exhaling a breath, he shifts to move closer, butting their foreheads together again as he lets their hands drop to their laps.

An apology is on his lips but instead of saying anything he closes his eyes and and breathes in a long breath, only to exhale slowly. Bright blue lines illuminate along his skin, over his brow and cheeks, down his nose and over his chin. It doesn't work the way it would for his sisters not in a situation like this where there's nothing physical to heal, but he hopes, in a way, that maybe the warmth of it offers some comfort. ]

[ dolph doesn't say for now. he doesn't say how long. there's no point bringing it up. neither of them have ever been that foolish, that blinded. instead he traces the lines with reverence, the lighting glinting off his metal.

he leans against vash with a sigh, threading their fingers together. ]

Do you want to talk about it?

[ what happened back home, he means. dolph feels there is some strain there. he knew things were hectic back in no man's land. things left unfinished. ]

[ Dolph doesn't specify, but Vash follows. He doesn't open his eyes either, but his brow furrows and there's the barely there hint of tears at the corners of his eyes as the last thing he saw as he fell back towards the planet plays in his mind's eye.

Instead of saying anything his fingers tighten around Dolph's own. It's a heavy silence but one Vash eventually breaks with a pained inward pull of breath. ]

He... He wouldn't listen to me.

[ there is a unique kind of pain when you reach out to someone you love and be rebuffed. when you look down someone who has changed so irrevocably that you feel there is a stranger in their skin.

alex hurt all those innocent people. alex. even now, it feels unfathomable that the man who used to press kisses to his neck, who held him through all his nightmares, who promised dolph a better life willingly hurt so many. without question, without pause.

was knives like that? dolph didn't know. he never knew knives as well as he knew livio and meryl.

he leans to press a kiss to the centre of vash's brow. ]

He left you behind.

[ The grimace Vash makes isnt a result of the kiss to his brow, but the memory of the last fraught hours shared between himself and his brother, and the attempt to reconcile that with the last memories he shares with his brother from this place. He bites down hard enough on the inside of his lower lip that it's bleeding for certain as he crumples against Dolph, the blue lies from before having already flickered to nothing.

Left him behind.... In more than one way. They never would see eye to eye, not about humans. But it didn't matter when....

He opens his eyes and looks at Dolph, wet brimming at the bottom of his eyes but not falling. ]

It's my fault. He wouldn't stop, I couldn't stop him. Nai's gone.

[ Nai here KNEW, too. He knows it. ]

November Intense Event 2024 [4th Wall Event]

( ii, b ) are u ready.

i am not ready

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