cancry | New Wounds, Old Wounds [Locked]

New Wounds, Old Wounds [Locked]

[Lion had been looking for Ruin after the show with no luck- it was worthwhile thanks to Chiron's advice, but the actual goal was fruitless. Ruin was nowhere to be found.

The next most obvious place to look was back in Limbo- and Lion intended to return anyway. Sleeping in that woman's home seemed a bit too morbid for his tastes. He doesn't find him in the Executor house, but he finally finds sign of the man in the park. A bit of torn up earth that suggested a lance. Hoofprints. He follows the mud to the fountain... and the passage to the Limbo Underside.

... that was concerning. But perhaps he wanted to train before their upcoming mission? He arrived after the last one, after all. So Lion makes his way down, his armor appearing like a second skin as he does so, on guard against the beasts that still lingered within.]

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[He opens his mouth to answer- certainly Ruin deserves an answer- but the attack distracts him. He manages to dodge to the side, though the spines of the spear still scrape against his armor. Makes his arm ache even more. He grunts in pain, glaring]

... no. I'm not.

[Lion doesn't come at him, though... and Ruin, honestly doesn't know how to deal with it. There's still something there. Some sort of tension, a charge in the air between them. It's unsettling. Something has to give.

But what?

Without retaliation Ruin just sort of stalls, all the momentum of the attack, all that tension brought abruptly to a halt. He tilts his head, eyeing the blond warily... but for once his damn fool mouth stays shut.]

[Feeling is starting to return to his arm, but it's not enough to wield his weapon properly. Still, he resummons it to his weaker hand, letting its blade drag on the ground]

In the heat of things I... lose myself. So yes, I suppose some part of me does relish it. But after...

[he shakes his head, lifting his weapon to point at Ruin]

Nevermind it, I won't try and excuse what I am. Not to you... the only one here who has noticed. Let's finish this and be done- you may even kill me if you wish, it wouldn't be unjustified.

[His serious expression slips back into that feral smirk before he charges, his weapon a wide but powerful swing due to having to use it like a club rather than a knight's weapon]

[How can one person be so confusing? Talking about himself like he's a monster but then refusing to make any excuses, offering his life in exchange for... for what? Doing what Ruin has been goading him into all night?]

... kill you?

[He barely has time to shake his head, to realize what Lion means to do... and he huffs a little amused breath, smirks slightly, wry and resigned. No. If anyone here deserves to be killed for their callousness it wasn't Lion.

The Lance has barely left his fingertips, falling uselessly to the ground when Lion's weapon slams into his arm, his side. It knocks the wind out of him and throws him off his feet, tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs and another shout of pain. Lion may well have felt something snap beneath that blow.]

[He did, and his guts scream for him to leap upon his downed foe. Not just his guts, but the ringing is now full-on screaming. Demanding-

-but he is not the man he was. Or at least, he doesn't want to be. And seeing Ruin drop his weapon right before the blow struck true is enough to make him pull his follow-up attack to the side. The blade of his lance buries into the ground next to Ruin's torso, Lion panting above him, eye wide and glazed but, still somehow, aware]

... ah... I thought... hm. It's your own ruin, isn't it? Not mine.

[He's rambling a bit, but steps back, yanking his weapon free and then tossing it away, wavering on his feet but making no further move to attack. In fact, his armor dissolves, his drive to battle leaking out like pneuma from a fresh wound.]

Are you satisfied now?

[Isn't it?

Hazel eyes go wide, stunned and for a moment he feels sick to hear it spoken so plainly. He hardly has time to really look at it too closely though because Lion shifts like he means to stand. There's a flutter of panic in his gut, hands already reaching for the other man before he has a plan of what to do.

He just knows it can't end like this. Not when he finally, finally, is seen by someone. Something it feels like he's been waiting for all his life. Maybe he has?

Still its not so much a decision as it is a reaction, reaching out to grab Lion by the hair, wrenching him back down as Ruin surges up to crash their lips together.]

[Grabbing him like this must be agony for Ruin, even with the unbroken arm. And he's lucky Lion is so dazed, or he would have likely been punched. Instead, Lion just sits there for a moment before biting him and jerking away.

That's what you do when your face is attacked, right???]

Edited 2021-01-03 05:18 (UTC)

[Agony is an understatement but if it keeps Lion where he is that's good enough. Ruin gasps, fingers clenching in blond strands though he drops them back to the ground a moment later.]

I deserved that... [But for which part?l]

Yes, you did- dastard.

[he snarls, shoving Ruin down even further before standing up, wiping pneuma from his mouth. His blush might suggest he's more embarrassed than furious, but the blotchiness of it could go either way.]

I should leave you to be torn apart by Revenants.

[If Lion is paying attention... Ruin looks genuinely hurt at that violent rejection. The taunting offer of someone that might understand the deep, destructive need he has to sabotage everything he touches ripped away with with more violence.

He tries to shrug, grunting in pain at the attempt.]

Probably better for everyone.

[he notices, and the last of that blood haze melts away and he sighs softly. His expression tired and, unlike his usual polite friendliness, is bare and honest.]

No it wouldn't. Here... this will hurt but I will try to be quick.

[Especially down most of the use of an arm. But he's strong enough to haul Ruin over his shoulder one handed regardless, if pretty awkwardly.]

[Ruin doesn't quite track what Lion's aiming for here until it's too late. It's undignified, the yelp he lets out when he's finally hefted up, and if he didn't already have pneuma flooding his mouth from the hole in his lip he certainly does now, coughing it up as Lion's shoulder presses into his broken ribs.]

Fuck! [He manages a curse eventually, when he can stop wheezing, and he does make an effort to hook an arm around Lion's waist to stabilize himself as the other man walks.

He has the vague feeling this isn't the worst injuries he's had. Small favors when he really would much rather Lion had left him there than face anyone else like this. But... he also didn't have it in him to make arguments about it, either.]

Sorry... we will find Medic or Chiron and handle it as fast as possible.

[Going up the stairs is gonna be rough]

...so tell me, do you often kiss people that have broken your bones? There must be less painful ways to find lovers, Ruin.

[...is he joking right now?]

Chi- [another grunt of pain.] Chiron... That girl is creepy.

[He's not in much of a position to be making demands though, is he? Lion's playful question hits a little too close to home but if he acknowledges it he's not sure he's going to be able to keep himself together.]

What can I say? I like it rough.

I see...

[He's silent for a while as they climb the stairs, knowing if he asks Ruin to speak while being jolted around he might just earn being vomited on instead.

It's as they walk through Limbo, towards the house (and thankfully the Spectors mostly just look confused and give them no troubles) that he speaks again]

Ruin... you are not the man in your memories. Not if you don't wish to be.

[He knows it's easier said than done- it's something HE'S fighting with too- but... surely Ruin hasn't done anything in THIS life to deserve such suffering?]

What memories?

[But even to him it sounds harsh and bitter. Maybe he can blame it on the pain as he spits another mouthful of pneuma onto the ground behind them.

He doesn't have anything to justify his actions, nothing to go off of... but so much of what he does, the way he sabotages himself, is ingrained and habitual he doesn't even recognize it sometimes.]

Shh, calm. I'm not trying to insult you.

But if you don't remember anything, then you have even less reason to want punishment. And don't try and deny it, I'm not a smart man, but I'm not completely blind. Only half.

[He huffs]

The names we wake up with mean something to each of us, after all.

You could have gotten hurt. Killed, even. Because I came up with some stupid plan on the fly and almost fucked everything up.

[He starts to shake his head then moans pitifully when it makes the world spin.]

I've plenty of reason to deserve this, even without remembering... I don't know if I want to remember.

A punch to the nose at worst. I was not harmed, and as I said, the plan in theory wasn't bad. Just not thought out as much as it should have been. It was only my own circumstances that made it... personal.

[He scowls at the ground]

And... I understand. With rare exception, every memory I have been returned has made me... dislike that person.

For what it's worth... I am sorry.

[Quiet, guilty. He doesn't really think an apology from him means a whole lot. Especially not now.]

[He stops walking for a moment, then smiles]

Thank you. That was all I wanted.

...and I am sorry for breaking your arm.

[Even though he asked for it]

I'm sure it's not the first time.

[That his arm has been broken. That he asked for such mistreatment. That it was someone he was meant to trust that did it.

None of which are terribly comforting thoughts. Even he's not sure which he means.]

Hm.

[It's a concerning sound, but he doesn't press- mostly because they have reached the house. Stepping in he calls out:]

Chiron? Medic? We need a healer, please!

[There is a small clatter from one of the other rooms, doesn't sound like anything is broken, but simply of something dropped and discarded in a hurry. And in hurries Chiron.

He stops in the doorway and, for a moment, assesses the lads with concern.

It flattens out into simply being unimpressed, hands sliding to his hips.]

And all this time, I could have gotten the popcorn ready. [The words are flippant, and the tone has an air of the same, but his face simply remains unimpressed as he motions to a couch in the living room.] I've found several quite unique flavors I've been itching to try out. Alas, they'll have to wait for some other main event. Oh- he's still breathing, color me quite shocked.

Set him down gently. [He's willing to help with that much, thankfully.]

[Ruin can't even see Chiron but the moment he speaks he's absolutely sure he doesn't want to see the expression that matches that tone.]

Is it too late to change my mind?

[He very nearly laughs at that but ends up just coughing up more pneuma. Still, he musters up the strength to offer Chiron a sheepish kind of smile, still trying to be flippant, still too shaken by Lion's words to manage it completely.]

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