the monster gurgles and turns its head to the side. its weird freaky neck does its weird freaky neck thing so it looks like an owl. ]
Here? [ wait, hold on. he can probably see temenos switch into inquisitor mode. ] Where. Do you know where it's from? It's been following me since this morning.
[This thing is so damn weird... The crutch slowly lowers a bit more until it's down on the ground again. It's not... attacking, so. And it also doesn't look like it's decomposing, thank God. Gods.]
It's... from... wherever we were. In the rift. When I was with Lucien, and Shouxue, and Harley, and Eunhyuk, and Shu. One was in the forest, and one was...
[ he turns his head to look at his weird freaky companion. it just gurgles sadly and sticks its head on temenos' shoulder, no longer like an owl. its stupid, ridiculously long tongue lolls out of its mouth... and then it licks his cheek. ]
Geh. [ gross. it then lifts its head off of temenos' shoulder and starts to like, slowly lower it to the ground. if a monster with glowing white unblinking eyes could look apologetic, it starts to look kind of apologetic, making a sound somewhere between a gurgle and a pathetic moo as it stares at viktor. ]
[It's horrible. The thing isn't corroded, or goopy, or screaming in pain, but it's still... It still reminds him of watching the shadow of someone twist into something else.
He draws in a slow, quiet breath and lets it out.]
It... It was a person. It was... someone I knew, and then, later... it was a different person. I don't know who they were...
[He looks on the thing from his shadowed alcove with trepidation, feeling... not scared anymore, but sorry. He feels so sorry for it. The darkness peels back from him as he steps carefully out of it and toward them.]
A man with brown hair... All he said was, "Cannot trust, no longer exist" before he...
[Turned into a monster! Casually just drops a whole bomb on Temenos right after coming back without realizing it.]
his eyes go round, this awful, wide eyed realization striking across his face, and temenos sucks in a breath. that's - that was -
and then, before anything, he's coughing. it's this violent, awful hacking cough, and he has to cover his mouth with both hands, shoulders wracking with victorian coughing disease as the petals start coming, and coming - midnight blue, flame orange, peeking out from between his fingers, an utter deluge of petals. he can't catch all of them, not fast enough, not quick enough - not able to shove his emotions down like usual when they force their way back up, when suddenly the question he wanted to know the answer to more than anything in the world is answered.
the monster, unaware, gurgles quietly and keeps its head down, crouching all the way down on all fours and starting to lay down like its in submission, its ears drooping to the sides - but when temenos starts coughing, it gurgles and presses its face up to the side of his leg. ]
Viktor is surprised by Temenos's surprise. He doesn't know why, only that what he has said brought on some kind of grim revelation. His hand shoots up. NOT THE FLOWERS.
Without thinking, he jumps into a rushed hobble to Temenos's side, reaching out to try to hold him by the upper arm unless he happens to jerk away.]
Temenos? It's-- What's wrong? It's alright, it's alright. You have to breathe. What is it?
[The flowers don't bother him. He has come to the conclusion the flowers are some form of sentiment. He just doesn't know... Blue? Orange? Do the colors mean the sentiments?]
the thing about this that sucks is that in a normal situation, he might have been able to suck his reaction inwards more. and in fact, that's what he was going to do! he was going to handle this like he usually handles everything, by which i mean he was going to shove all of his problems deep, deep into the dark pit of his stomach and slap a perfectly calm mask on his face. however, hanahaki week really said violence, so he's left coughing up those flame orange petals in his fingers, trying desperately to hold the reaction back.
he shakes his head, when viktor starts to apologize - the hand on his arm is not shoved away, either, though it may just be from shock. his sad creature friend melts into the floor even further and gurgles in a noise that just seems sad.
he has to spit out the stupid flowers - and he manages, coughing, short, and intense (though not as intense as usual). he has to know. he has to be sure. ] Was - was he wearing - vestments. Like mine. The man.
[This is the worst. He really should have never come to the aquarium, just straight up avoided Temenos like the plague. WHY DID TEMENOS HAVE TO GET THIS SPECIFIC THING TO FOLLOW HIM AROUND?
Since Temenos doesn't pull away, Viktor gently holds onto Temenos's arm to make sure they're both steady, using his crutch to keep himself up. He throws a sad, sympathetic glance down at the creature, then looks again quickly at Temenos.
Oh no. OH NO. He falters, and the falter, his expression, says everything Temenos likely fears before he even says anything.]
anyway. haha. cool. fantastic!!! hate it here. that's the answer he's expecting - and really, that makes it worse. viktor doesn't have to say anything at all, because his expression tells the story.
that's the thing, about being a person who asks questions. sometimes, you find answers you don't want. he closes his eyes, just briefly, long enough to take a deep breath. in... out. clears his throat. ]
... Then, that explains some things.
[ another clear of his throat, because he is violently trying to keep back an absolute explosion of flower petals at this point. what a terrible week to be someone with composure. ]
I take it you don't know where you fought with it?
[He does not think Temenos is okay a single bit. He did not think Temenos was okay before, but after the CYOA? After this? Yeah, there isn't even a thread holding on anymore, there is just a flimsy piece of shitty Scotch tape over the tear.]
Explains what... kind of things...?
[His brows furrow. He does not take his hand off Temenos in case the dude gets taken out by a round of flower puking.]
It was... in a cave. We were getting ready to fight... a man and a woman. Throne called him Claude?
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That's... That's the thing... that tried to kill us.
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What?
[ he turns his head to look at it?
the monster gurgles and turns its head to the side. its weird freaky neck does its weird freaky neck thing so it looks like an owl. ]
Here? [ wait, hold on. he can probably see temenos switch into inquisitor mode. ] Where. Do you know where it's from? It's been following me since this morning.
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It's... from... wherever we were. In the rift. When I was with Lucien, and Shouxue, and Harley, and Eunhyuk, and Shu. One was in the forest, and one was...
[Well, that one was worse.]
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[ he turns his head to look at his weird freaky companion. it just gurgles sadly and sticks its head on temenos' shoulder, no longer like an owl. its stupid, ridiculously long tongue lolls out of its mouth... and then it licks his cheek. ]
Geh. [ gross. it then lifts its head off of temenos' shoulder and starts to like, slowly lower it to the ground. if a monster with glowing white unblinking eyes could look apologetic, it starts to look kind of apologetic, making a sound somewhere between a gurgle and a pathetic moo as it stares at viktor. ]
... Throné said that it reminded her a touch of the night creatures, but I can't say I've ever seen anything like it before... [ a beat. ] - So, you really were there. I suppose I should apologize on behalf of whatever you saw...
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He draws in a slow, quiet breath and lets it out.]
It... It was a person. It was... someone I knew, and then, later... it was a different person. I don't know who they were...
[He looks on the thing from his shadowed alcove with trepidation, feeling... not scared anymore, but sorry. He feels so sorry for it. The darkness peels back from him as he steps carefully out of it and toward them.]
A man with brown hair... All he said was, "Cannot trust, no longer exist" before he...
[Turned into a monster! Casually just drops a whole bomb on Temenos right after coming back without realizing it.]
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there's ....a pause? like a dissonant pause. temenos is utterly, utterly composed at even the worst of times - he has been composed through every single moment here, with perhaps the one exception of the horror of seeing throné return from her mission, but even then. but viktor says that, and he just looks -
thunderstruck.
his eyes go round, this awful, wide eyed realization striking across his face, and temenos sucks in a breath. that's - that was -
and then, before anything, he's coughing. it's this violent, awful hacking cough, and he has to cover his mouth with both hands, shoulders wracking with victorian coughing disease as the petals start coming, and coming - midnight blue, flame orange, peeking out from between his fingers, an utter deluge of petals. he can't catch all of them, not fast enough, not quick enough - not able to shove his emotions down like usual when they force their way back up, when suddenly the question he wanted to know the answer to more than anything in the world is answered.
the monster, unaware, gurgles quietly and keeps its head down, crouching all the way down on all fours and starting to lay down like its in submission, its ears drooping to the sides - but when temenos starts coughing, it gurgles and presses its face up to the side of his leg. ]
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Viktor is surprised by Temenos's surprise. He doesn't know why, only that what he has said brought on some kind of grim revelation. His hand shoots up. NOT THE FLOWERS.
Without thinking, he jumps into a rushed hobble to Temenos's side, reaching out to try to hold him by the upper arm unless he happens to jerk away.]
Temenos? It's-- What's wrong? It's alright, it's alright. You have to breathe. What is it?
[The flowers don't bother him. He has come to the conclusion the flowers are some form of sentiment. He just doesn't know... Blue? Orange? Do the colors mean the sentiments?]
I'm sorry. It's alright. I shouldn't have said...
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the thing about this that sucks is that in a normal situation, he might have been able to suck his reaction inwards more. and in fact, that's what he was going to do! he was going to handle this like he usually handles everything, by which i mean he was going to shove all of his problems deep, deep into the dark pit of his stomach and slap a perfectly calm mask on his face. however, hanahaki week really said violence, so he's left coughing up those flame orange petals in his fingers, trying desperately to hold the reaction back.
he shakes his head, when viktor starts to apologize - the hand on his arm is not shoved away, either, though it may just be from shock. his sad creature friend melts into the floor even further and gurgles in a noise that just seems sad.
he has to spit out the stupid flowers - and he manages, coughing, short, and intense (though not as intense as usual). he has to know. he has to be sure. ] Was - was he wearing - vestments. Like mine. The man.
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Since Temenos doesn't pull away, Viktor gently holds onto Temenos's arm to make sure they're both steady, using his crutch to keep himself up. He throws a sad, sympathetic glance down at the creature, then looks again quickly at Temenos.
Oh no. OH NO. He falters, and the falter, his expression, says everything Temenos likely fears before he even says anything.]
...Y-Yes.
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anyway. haha. cool. fantastic!!! hate it here. that's the answer he's expecting - and really, that makes it worse. viktor doesn't have to say anything at all, because his expression tells the story.
that's the thing, about being a person who asks questions. sometimes, you find answers you don't want. he closes his eyes, just briefly, long enough to take a deep breath. in... out. clears his throat. ]
... Then, that explains some things.
[ another clear of his throat, because he is violently trying to keep back an absolute explosion of flower petals at this point. what a terrible week to be someone with composure. ]
I take it you don't know where you fought with it?
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Explains what... kind of things...?
[His brows furrow. He does not take his hand off Temenos in case the dude gets taken out by a round of flower puking.]
It was... in a cave. We were getting ready to fight... a man and a woman. Throne called him Claude?