I can take care of it. I can only take one passenger, so I'll meet you on the other side.
[ he's going to move to grip Husk, to take him from Lapis. He's not terribly strong, but he's strong enough to lift the big grumpy cat man, at least. ]
--Hold on, Husk. This might be weird for a second.
[ because it's always weird. And maybe a little uncomfortable, given things that Husk has already experienced. The feeling of sinking down into the shadows below your feet, and being plunged into an icy, cold darkness where you can't breathe.
But it only lasts maybe three, four seconds before they appear in the middle of their livingroom; the shared living space they all sit around in during dinner times or to watch tv. Warm, well lit, and not space. the most important part.
Jinwoo will shift to help Husk onto the couch as he waits for lapis to show back up. ]
[His is vaguely aware of the sounds of people... of his family talking around him. He can't focus on what they're saying exactly, his ears are still desperately trying to catch the telltale sound of radio static to tell him that Alastor was still there. That he was always going to be there now, that he'd opened some stupid fucking door and trapped them with him forever.
But there's no Alastor. Just the weird icy cold blackness coming at him and he wonders briefly if he's just died again. That'd about track for everything right now. He closes his eyes, just... accepting it.
And then he's not in the dark coldness. He's in the warm, nicely lit space of their home, and he's sitting on their couch- soft and comfortable after the cold metallic surfaces of the ship. He frowns, running his hand over the couch, testing it out to see if it was real, one eye opening to peer around. He focuses on Jinwoo, that hand reaching out to poke him in the arm. ]
[ Once Husk and Jinwoo sink into the shadows, Lapis follows right behind them - darkness shifting around her as she turns into her wisp form and dives into the shadows behind them. When she emerges, she sees how Husk reaches out for Jinwoo, asks if he's real.
Concern clenches tight in her chest, but she forces herself to stay calm as she moves to sit next to Husk on the couch. ]
He is real. Everything here is real.
[ Husk's other hand is taken gently in her own - while trying to ease the slight tremor in her hands - so he knows she is actually right here. That he's at home with them both, where it's safe and warm and not... whatever it was he experienced. She's still full of that anxious worry, of wanting to know what happened to him - what did this to him - but drudging that up just as he's home won't do any good at the moment.
For now, he needs some time to recover. To know that the nightmare he experienced is over. ]
[ it hurts to be asked that. it really SHOWS what Husk is feeling--along with the look on the others' face. His expression flickers to something quiet and pained, and he reaches out to touch one of Husk's ears as he moves to sit next to the other, not touching him but at least sitting close enough that Husk can tell that he's here, he's solid. He brings up one of his little flickering game screens, moving onto doordash, quietly flicking through pages to find a coffee place... ]
Can I get you something to drink? Eat? You look pallid.
And before you ask, booze is off limits until you get something in your stomach.
[Husk rests his head back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling for a moment. Their ordinary, boring ceiling. Not the metal of a spaceship. Just a house. Their house. He feels Lapis take his hand, looking down at it absently. He gives her hand a squeeze once. Solid. Real.
But Alastor had felt pretty fucking real, too.
He closes his eyes, but immediately regrets that- because that blots out the house and the kids and everything that's actually true. He opens them again, ear flicking as Jinwoo touches it and moves to sit on the other side. So here he is, sitting between the kids, like a pathetic old man who's losing his fucking mind. He hates this.]
...Yeah. Right. Safe.
[He scoffs lightly at the palid comment. ]
I always look like that, 'm a tuxedo.
[Husk making a cat joke probably isn't a great sign. He honestly does just want to have a drink, it's been days and the detox is hitting him hard. He's desperate for that harsh burn down his throat where he can forget he exists for a while. But he knows better than to fight this one. He's in no fit state to get up and go looking for booze himself, so for now he's going to have to play nice - watching those screens of Jinwoo's move, eyes unfocused.]
I'll eat literally anything that's not freeze-dried astronaut shit.
[ Husk squeezes her hand, and she gives a squeeze back - quiet for now as she watches him. She imagines he isn't too happy being fussed over like this, but considering what both she and Jinwoo went through last year...
She thinks worrying so much is valid. Especially when it's so clear something has happened, both physically and mentally, and she desperately tries to shove aside the looming distress and panic. Something, or someone, hurt her family and she was entirely unaware. It makes her feel sick.
And the fact he's making cat jokes doesn't do much to reassure her either. Her hand squeezes his tightly once more, his response to Jinwoo getting her to frown all the more - "freeze-dried astronaut shit"? Well, that's giving her some theories about the where ]
Astronaut...? [ She murmurs that softly, before her eyes flick over to Jinwoo, her expression stiff - it's clear she's distressed and worried, but she's also keeping it together. All those years of suppressing her feelings is coming in useful now. ]
Maybe something light to eat...
[ And with her gaze flicking back to Husk, she hesitates for a brief moment before she tentatively speaks. ]
[ 'freeze dried astronaut shit' is so telling to what kind of... horror Husk just went through. Wherever he was didn't even have proper food?
As Lapis glances at him, he gives her a gentle nod of awknowledgement, and he's going to switch gears from flicking through coffee to looking at actual food. ...Comfort food. The biggest bean and cheese burrito money can buy. With funnel cake fries to eat afterword.
Thanks to his weird power, the food arrives in moments, and he'll offer the food to Husk once they settle. ]
I don't want to parrot Lapis too much. But I'd like to know where you went, too.
[Husk stays where he is, there's no excessive grumbling, no trying to push them off him or stop their fussing. He just sits, quietly, staring at the ceiling. When the food arrives, he takes it, rolling it in his hands for a moment, before opening it up and taking a bite out of it.
He chews quietly, before swallowing and heaving out an exhausted sigh. ]
I ended up in... fuckin' space, for some reason? Me and a bunch of other schmucks. [He tails twitches, uneasily. ] It had this... portal in there? This goddamn machine thing that opened up into Hell. I got sucked into it and that was... fuckin' shit, but then I woke up on the spaceship again and everyone was losing their shit.
[ There's a brief smile of gratitude towards Jinwoo, before her focus goes back to Husk. There's no rush as he eats, content to simply wait until he's ready to speak and tell them what happened.
And the more he speaks, the more she finds herself worrying about what happened there. His was in space? And there was a portal to Hell that he goes dragged into? And everyone was "losing their shit"... Her mind goes back to that cabin, to the absolute chaos and bloodshed of the later days, and she has to swallow back the anxiety. Even though he's safe and home, it's impossible to shake the worry as she wonders what exactly had happened to him. ]
Were there... monsters or anything like that, on the ship? [ There's no point in wondering how or why there was a portal to hell on a spaceship, she doubts there's even answers to that - all that mattered right now is being there for her dad. ]
[ he repeats that word with a quiet... disbelief, and yet, it's disbelief in the existence of a place that could suck you into hell; not the fact that Husk was remarking on its existence at all. Whatever the man had experienced was real--he could tell that, just by looking at him. The cat-like man was dour on the best of days, but the way he seemed now, he seemed exhausted. Drained. It was different. ]
Was there a reason for everyone 'losing their shit'?
Hell. Not like the one from my past life... afterlife? What-the-fuck-ever. It was nasty... from what I remember. Which ain't much. It was mostly... flashes.
[Flashes of a bad feeling. Of something hunting him down. Maybe it wasn't so far removed from his past life. He gives a tired laugh, because he can answer both their questions at once, here.]
No monsters. Just us. [He takes another bite of his food, after days of freeze dried bullshit, this is good.] It made us... see shit. Hallucinations. Made us paranoid, so we attacked each other. The hallucinations made us do that.
[ His tail twitches. Fuck. He needs to- fuck.]
...I reckon it's about time I told you about Alastor.
[ Even if that description isn't much, it's still enough to be concerning - it must've been really bad if it left that much of an impression. Then combined with what it did to them...
Lapis can feel herself tense as she takes a look over at his current state. So someone else on that ship did this to him... As tempting as it is to ask, to know who hurt her father, she swallows it back. It wouldn't be right to blame anyone else if something was influencing them.
But it still doesn't sit well with her. Her hands clench tight in her lap before she forces herself to relax again; right now, her focus needs to be on Husk. ]
Was it hallucinations of Alastor, that you saw?
[ It's not a name she's heard before, though it sounds like they have some kind of horrible influence over him. ]
[ Alastor. He repeats the name in his head, considering it quietly before he nods. There's something about that name--it's not that he recognises it, but the gravity behind the way Husk spoke the name made goosepimples rise up on the back of his neck. He's sure there had to be a reason for it. ]
The name alone gives me a bad feeling. I cannot imagine having hallucinations strong enough to make you ... attack each other. The visions must have been intense.
[ Husk's fur bristles at hearing Alastor's name on his family's lips. He never wanted this. He wanted them to never, ever have to learn about what happened in his past life. He always figured if Alastor did show up, he'd be fucked anyway, so why add a layer of dread in their lives thy never needed. ]
They were and he...was.
[ He picks at his food, appetite down the trash chute no matter how hungry he is. ]
...So in my past life I was... a fuckin' Overlord in Hell. Bad news. Had my own shitty empire, owned people's souls and everything. I was a bad person which.... y'know, I was in Hell so what do you expect. [ His wings droop. ] But there was always someone worse out there. And Alastor was that. Worst of the worst, all of Hell were scared of him. But my stupid ass was getting desperate, losin' power and decided that I'd bet my own soul in a card game against him. And...well, you know what my luck's like.
[ Seeing his reaction just to them saying this Alastor's name only worries Lapis all the more - she knew there was something that always weighed down on him, that there was certain things he wouldn't tell her... So this must be it.
Hearing of what he had done in his past life isn't a concern of hers; as far as she's concerned, this life is their own and what happened before no longer matters. Even though there's still some things that haunt them. And hearing what this Alastor has done to him...
A hand reaches to squeeze his arm, silent reassurance as her heart twists sharply in her chest. To lose your own soul, to a being like that... ]
... If he ever appears here, we won't let anything happen to you.
[ She knows her dad, she knows what he would prefer is that they don't ever face him in the first place. But she won't let this potential threat loom over him and let him think he'll be alone in this. ]
[ it's a good thing that jinwoo agonizes over his own words before speaking them. always careful to consider what he's saying and how it might come across before he says it. otherwise he may have just looked husk in the eye and commented that it seems stupid to bet your own soul on anything.
nope that sentence is staying as inside thoughts. instead he considers what sort of a person is, how bad his luck is, but how frightening a person Alastor must be for Husk to have even considered doing so. Losing all his power... jinwoo isn't sure he'd have been able to keep himself from being stupid out of desperation in a situation like that, either. he tries to keep the look of pity off his face. he ultimately fails. ]
You saw him, then. On the ship. Was he one of the hallucinations, or did he actually show up?
[ he touches the handle of the knife he always keeps, properly sheathed on his belt. ]
If he shows up here, he'll have to go through us to even look at you.
[Husk knows it's the most stupid ass thing in the world- to bet your own soul. His own memories are hazy on exactly how that deal went down, but he knew it was idiotic. No one won against the Radio Demon, no one. Why he thought he could is beyond him. He runs a hand over his face, glancing down at the comfort his daughter is providing him. ]
It was just a hallucination... thank fucking god, but. [Well, in for a penny... ] You know how we found our files when we took out the Order? And I burned mine? Well... there's a reason the fucker's kept me around even when I was causing shit for them. They were hoping I'd eventually trigger an Alastor to get awakened, because... I don't fuckin' know, they thought they could control him or some shit. They've been doing this in a lot of my lives. Using me as bait.
[ Which is to say that it was very likely that one day, Alastor could have shown up, if the Order would have been left to continue what they did. A concept that terrified him.
He expected their assurances. He knew it was gonna happen. It's the main reason he's kept this from them, for so long. He shakes his head once, firm. ]
You absolutely fuckin' will not go near him. He's one of the most powerful demons in Hell. He's murdered hundreds of Overlords. The only reason he kept me around was because he wanted a pet. And... fuck, I don't know, an example to the others that they could lose more than their lives if they weren't careful. Hell if I understand how that sociopath works. Either way, if he ever showed up, you need to stay the fuck away from him. This is exactly why I didn't tell you shit- because I knew you'd be stupid about this.
[ Hearing that that's what the Order kept Husk around for - as bait - makes her feel sick. Her body tenses as she tries to keep herself some semblance of calm, swallowing back the anger that's boiling in her chest; there's no point in getting angry, the people who had planned this are all dead.
But she regrets not hurting them just that little bit more in retaliation. ]
That's... vile. To use you like that. But they can't use you like that anymore.
[ But the fact that this Alastor is a potential threat is still a cause for concern, especially considering what he can do...
And despite Husk's warnings, she firmly shakes her head in response as her hand squeezes around his arm. No way, she refuses to let her Dad face this all on his own - not after everything he's done for her. Not when he's done so much to help her fight her own demons, literal and metaphorical. She knows he's worried, about what this Alastor could do to them, but she can't bear the thought of just... hiding away if he ever turned up. ]
You know we can't, Dad. It doesn't matter what he can do, we won't let him touch you. And you know even if we didn't face him, others here will.
[ Diarmuid and Zhongli certainly wouldn't turn a blind eye to Alastor showing up, that's for sure. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
crisantemo) wrote2024-08-11 09:01 pm
no subject
[ he's going to move to grip Husk, to take him from Lapis. He's not terribly strong, but he's strong enough to lift the big grumpy cat man, at least. ]
--Hold on, Husk. This might be weird for a second.
[ because it's always weird. And maybe a little uncomfortable, given things that Husk has already experienced. The feeling of sinking down into the shadows below your feet, and being plunged into an icy, cold darkness where you can't breathe.
But it only lasts maybe three, four seconds before they appear in the middle of their livingroom; the shared living space they all sit around in during dinner times or to watch tv. Warm, well lit, and not space. the most important part.
Jinwoo will shift to help Husk onto the couch as he waits for lapis to show back up. ]
no subject
But there's no Alastor. Just the weird icy cold blackness coming at him and he wonders briefly if he's just died again. That'd about track for everything right now. He closes his eyes, just... accepting it.
And then he's not in the dark coldness. He's in the warm, nicely lit space of their home, and he's sitting on their couch- soft and comfortable after the cold metallic surfaces of the ship. He frowns, running his hand over the couch, testing it out to see if it was real, one eye opening to peer around. He focuses on Jinwoo, that hand reaching out to poke him in the arm. ]
You real?
no subject
Concern clenches tight in her chest, but she forces herself to stay calm as she moves to sit next to Husk on the couch. ]
He is real. Everything here is real.
[ Husk's other hand is taken gently in her own - while trying to ease the slight tremor in her hands - so he knows she is actually right here. That he's at home with them both, where it's safe and warm and not... whatever it was he experienced. She's still full of that anxious worry, of wanting to know what happened to him - what did this to him - but drudging that up just as he's home won't do any good at the moment.
For now, he needs some time to recover. To know that the nightmare he experienced is over. ]
You can rest now, it's safe here.
no subject
at least sitting close enough that Husk can tell that he's here, he's solid. He brings up one of his little flickering game screens, moving onto doordash, quietly flicking through pages to find a coffee place... ]
Can I get you something to drink? Eat? You look pallid.
And before you ask, booze is off limits until you get something in your stomach.
no subject
But Alastor had felt pretty fucking real, too.
He closes his eyes, but immediately regrets that- because that blots out the house and the kids and everything that's actually true. He opens them again, ear flicking as Jinwoo touches it and moves to sit on the other side. So here he is, sitting between the kids, like a pathetic old man who's losing his fucking mind. He hates this.]
...Yeah. Right. Safe.
[He scoffs lightly at the palid comment. ]
I always look like that, 'm a tuxedo.
[Husk making a cat joke probably isn't a great sign. He honestly does just want to have a drink, it's been days and the detox is hitting him hard. He's desperate for that harsh burn down his throat where he can forget he exists for a while. But he knows better than to fight this one. He's in no fit state to get up and go looking for booze himself, so for now he's going to have to play nice - watching those screens of Jinwoo's move, eyes unfocused.]
I'll eat literally anything that's not freeze-dried astronaut shit.
no subject
She thinks worrying so much is valid. Especially when it's so clear something has happened, both physically and mentally, and she desperately tries to shove aside the looming distress and panic. Something, or someone, hurt her family and she was entirely unaware. It makes her feel sick.
And the fact he's making cat jokes doesn't do much to reassure her either. Her hand squeezes his tightly once more, his response to Jinwoo getting her to frown all the more - "freeze-dried astronaut shit"? Well, that's giving her some theories about the where ]
Astronaut...? [ She murmurs that softly, before her eyes flick over to Jinwoo, her expression stiff - it's clear she's distressed and worried, but she's also keeping it together. All those years of suppressing her feelings is coming in useful now. ]
Maybe something light to eat...
[ And with her gaze flicking back to Husk, she hesitates for a brief moment before she tentatively speaks. ]
Where... were you, Dad?
> super old backtag i wanted to continue
As Lapis glances at him, he gives her a gentle nod of awknowledgement, and he's going to switch gears from flicking through coffee to looking at actual food.
...Comfort food. The biggest bean and cheese burrito money can buy. With funnel cake fries to eat afterword.
Thanks to his weird power, the food arrives in moments, and he'll offer the food to Husk once they settle. ]
I don't want to parrot Lapis too much. But I'd like to know where you went, too.
weeee~
He chews quietly, before swallowing and heaving out an exhausted sigh. ]
I ended up in... fuckin' space, for some reason? Me and a bunch of other schmucks. [He tails twitches, uneasily. ] It had this... portal in there? This goddamn machine thing that opened up into Hell. I got sucked into it and that was... fuckin' shit, but then I woke up on the spaceship again and everyone was losing their shit.
claps paws
And the more he speaks, the more she finds herself worrying about what happened there. His was in space? And there was a portal to Hell that he goes dragged into? And everyone was "losing their shit"... Her mind goes back to that cabin, to the absolute chaos and bloodshed of the later days, and she has to swallow back the anxiety. Even though he's safe and home, it's impossible to shake the worry as she wonders what exactly had happened to him. ]
Were there... monsters or anything like that, on the ship? [ There's no point in wondering how or why there was a portal to hell on a spaceship, she doubts there's even answers to that - all that mattered right now is being there for her dad. ]
no subject
[ he repeats that word with a quiet... disbelief, and yet, it's disbelief in the existence of a place that could suck you into hell; not the fact that Husk was remarking on its existence at all. Whatever the man had experienced was real--he could tell that, just by looking at him.
The cat-like man was dour on the best of days, but the way he seemed now, he seemed exhausted. Drained. It was different. ]
Was there a reason for everyone 'losing their shit'?
no subject
[Flashes of a bad feeling. Of something hunting him down. Maybe it wasn't so far removed from his past life. He gives a tired laugh, because he can answer both their questions at once, here.]
No monsters. Just us. [He takes another bite of his food, after days of freeze dried bullshit, this is good.] It made us... see shit. Hallucinations. Made us paranoid, so we attacked each other. The hallucinations made us do that.
[ His tail twitches. Fuck. He needs to- fuck.]
...I reckon it's about time I told you about Alastor.
no subject
Lapis can feel herself tense as she takes a look over at his current state. So someone else on that ship did this to him... As tempting as it is to ask, to know who hurt her father, she swallows it back. It wouldn't be right to blame anyone else if something was influencing them.
But it still doesn't sit well with her. Her hands clench tight in her lap before she forces herself to relax again; right now, her focus needs to be on Husk. ]
Was it hallucinations of Alastor, that you saw?
[ It's not a name she's heard before, though it sounds like they have some kind of horrible influence over him. ]
no subject
The name alone gives me a bad feeling.
I cannot imagine having hallucinations strong enough to make you ... attack each other. The visions must have been intense.
no subject
They were and he...was.
[ He picks at his food, appetite down the trash chute no matter how hungry he is. ]
...So in my past life I was... a fuckin' Overlord in Hell. Bad news. Had my own shitty empire, owned people's souls and everything. I was a bad person which.... y'know, I was in Hell so what do you expect. [ His wings droop. ] But there was always someone worse out there. And Alastor was that. Worst of the worst, all of Hell were scared of him. But my stupid ass was getting desperate, losin' power and decided that I'd bet my own soul in a card game against him. And...well, you know what my luck's like.
no subject
Hearing of what he had done in his past life isn't a concern of hers; as far as she's concerned, this life is their own and what happened before no longer matters. Even though there's still some things that haunt them. And hearing what this Alastor has done to him...
A hand reaches to squeeze his arm, silent reassurance as her heart twists sharply in her chest. To lose your own soul, to a being like that... ]
... If he ever appears here, we won't let anything happen to you.
[ She knows her dad, she knows what he would prefer is that they don't ever face him in the first place. But she won't let this potential threat loom over him and let him think he'll be alone in this. ]
no subject
nope that sentence is staying as inside thoughts.
instead he considers what sort of a person is, how bad his luck is, but how frightening a person Alastor must be for Husk to have even considered doing so. Losing all his power...
jinwoo isn't sure he'd have been able to keep himself from being stupid out of desperation in a situation like that, either.
he tries to keep the look of pity off his face. he ultimately fails. ]
You saw him, then. On the ship.
Was he one of the hallucinations, or did he actually show up?
[ he touches the handle of the knife he always keeps, properly sheathed on his belt. ]
If he shows up here, he'll have to go through us to even look at you.
no subject
It was just a hallucination... thank fucking god, but. [Well, in for a penny... ] You know how we found our files when we took out the Order? And I burned mine? Well... there's a reason the fucker's kept me around even when I was causing shit for them. They were hoping I'd eventually trigger an Alastor to get awakened, because... I don't fuckin' know, they thought they could control him or some shit. They've been doing this in a lot of my lives. Using me as bait.
[ Which is to say that it was very likely that one day, Alastor could have shown up, if the Order would have been left to continue what they did. A concept that terrified him.
He expected their assurances. He knew it was gonna happen. It's the main reason he's kept this from them, for so long. He shakes his head once, firm. ]
You absolutely fuckin' will not go near him. He's one of the most powerful demons in Hell. He's murdered hundreds of Overlords. The only reason he kept me around was because he wanted a pet. And... fuck, I don't know, an example to the others that they could lose more than their lives if they weren't careful. Hell if I understand how that sociopath works. Either way, if he ever showed up, you need to stay the fuck away from him. This is exactly why I didn't tell you shit- because I knew you'd be stupid about this.
no subject
But she regrets not hurting them just that little bit more in retaliation. ]
That's... vile. To use you like that. But they can't use you like that anymore.
[ But the fact that this Alastor is a potential threat is still a cause for concern, especially considering what he can do...
And despite Husk's warnings, she firmly shakes her head in response as her hand squeezes around his arm. No way, she refuses to let her Dad face this all on his own - not after everything he's done for her. Not when he's done so much to help her fight her own demons, literal and metaphorical. She knows he's worried, about what this Alastor could do to them, but she can't bear the thought of just... hiding away if he ever turned up. ]
You know we can't, Dad. It doesn't matter what he can do, we won't let him touch you. And you know even if we didn't face him, others here will.
[ Diarmuid and Zhongli certainly wouldn't turn a blind eye to Alastor showing up, that's for sure. ]