[ kaeya's only wrapped the shard he found in fabric because he was trying to preserve his fingers, but as he opens the door to their shared room and speaks ]
Hey, Kotetsu, have you seen these glass--
[ he lifts said scrap of fabric, fingertip brushing the glass directly-- ]
by the time you reach the caravan, the sky has opened up and the heavens are weeping. The rain sinks into the many layers of your clothing--jacket, doublet, shirt beneath, clinging to you with the cold realization as you watch diluc crouch over his slowly disintegrating father. your father. your... foster father.
crepus ragnvindr is dying, was already dying, if the glove on his hand is any indication of precisely why. all around you there are bodies belonging to the caravan itself, sprawled and shredded. the only thing that's whole is diluc, and even then, his pristine white gloves are stained crimson with blood, and you're almost certain that while he has survived, he has not been spared.
one of the knights behind you speaks, just loud enough for your group to hear over the torrential rain and the somber music that wafts through the air, it's one of the few things you hear: ]
Even someone like Master Crepus would submit to such a dangerous and evil power...
[ you're here for a reason, you remember. the hands on your shoulders that night had been tight, biting into the bone, pushing a father's wish into your skin, into your being. what will it be? truth or happiness? your father had thrown you into a pit of vipers and hoped you would thrive--the only reason you did is this man who is slowly fading in diluc's arms.
father, you think of the man who left you in the middle of the muddy wet road in your already threadbare traveling clothes and told you to save your home. what more has he given to you but grief?
father, you think of the man who stopped his carriage and stepped out into the ankle-deep mud to pluck you up and take you to his estate, who fed you and clothed you, held you when you sat up shaking from nightmares.
whose eye do you dare to spit into?
blood or bond?
your voice is trembling as you speak above the music once more. ]
This world is truly... fascinating.
[ you're too late to save crepus ragnvindr. you're too late to save diluc who is shaking and trembling on his knees. what makes you think that you could save your own country? your own home? that you could even possibly come close to doing what your father told you that night so long ago.
you're even too late to save yourself, and inside of your heart a dam well, overflows, and then breaks from the pressure.
the guilt burns like a fire inside of you, it melts everything away. were you too late on purpose? was this always meant to be? if you'd been just a bit faster, would you have been able to save diluc and his father both from certain destruction?
diluc is sobbing as his father disintegrates into nothingness and you close your eye.
you might feel tears, or is it just rain? perhaps there's comfort in not knowing which it is.
[ sometimes ur roomie was hoping to show u something harmless and then that harmless thing proved to be not-so-harmless. oh boy.
kaeya is... honestly a little speechless before he looks down at the glass on the floor. beside him, polaris is in ermine form, having shifted quickly from his wolf shape. the only reason finley can tell where he is is because he is curled up underneath where some of the blankets from the bed pool onto the floor.
hiding. ]
I'm sorry, I... [ his words drop off. it's unlike him. ] Careless.
[ polaris is just there, buried, trying to be small. it's unusual for kaeya to want to be anything save seen, but it goes to show just how unexpected this was. ]
Did you also find out... the hard way?
[ softer ]
That was an unfortunate day. For Diluc. [ not for me. it can't be for me. ]
[ polaris will snuffle around eventually, somewhere under the blanket until he can boop up against the warmth of finley's body and just lay there. blanket worm. small. ]
It was my fault.
[ he sits on the edge of the bed, nudges polaris softly under the blanket with his toe. polaris, however, only flops a little more, so he leaves him be. ]
I had bad timing. I thought... somehow maybe it would make it better. [ looks down at his hands. ] I just. I don't know how I could have thought that ever to have been the case. [ it's a good deal better now, but the wound feels deep, scabbed over as it may be. ]
[ the hand on his shoulder earns a look, soft and quiet. kaeya works over the words in his head. hope. ]
Maybe. Hope that it might not change anything between us. Or hope that maybe he would end it for me, so I wouldn't have to live with the secret. I suppose my vision wasn't fond of the latter.
[ he unclips it carefully from where it's hooked into a belt loop, and he'll hold it to him, cupped in his palm. ]
It's what gives us the ability to manipulate the elements where I am from. They come to us in our darkest hour, a time of need, or when we prove ourselves. Mine allows me to utilize cryo... ice. Diluc has one as well.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
w1, monday night memshare (1/2)
Hey, Kotetsu, have you seen these glass--
[ he lifts said scrap of fabric, fingertip brushing the glass directly-- ]
(2/2)
you're too late.
by the time you reach the caravan, the sky has opened up and the heavens are weeping. The rain sinks into the many layers of your clothing--jacket, doublet, shirt beneath, clinging to you with the cold realization as you watch diluc crouch over his slowly disintegrating father. your father. your... foster father.
crepus ragnvindr is dying, was already dying, if the glove on his hand is any indication of precisely why. all around you there are bodies belonging to the caravan itself, sprawled and shredded. the only thing that's whole is diluc, and even then, his pristine white gloves are stained crimson with blood, and you're almost certain that while he has survived, he has not been spared.
one of the knights behind you speaks, just loud enough for your group to hear over the torrential rain and the somber music that wafts through the air, it's one of the few things you hear: ]
Even someone like Master Crepus would submit to such a dangerous and evil power...
[ you're here for a reason, you remember. the hands on your shoulders that night had been tight, biting into the bone, pushing a father's wish into your skin, into your being. what will it be? truth or happiness? your father had thrown you into a pit of vipers and hoped you would thrive--the only reason you did is this man who is slowly fading in diluc's arms.
father, you think of the man who left you in the middle of the muddy wet road in your already threadbare traveling clothes and told you to save your home. what more has he given to you but grief?
father, you think of the man who stopped his carriage and stepped out into the ankle-deep mud to pluck you up and take you to his estate, who fed you and clothed you, held you when you sat up shaking from nightmares.
whose eye do you dare to spit into?
blood or bond?
your voice is trembling as you speak above the music once more. ]
This world is truly... fascinating.
[ you're too late to save crepus ragnvindr. you're too late to save diluc who is shaking and trembling on his knees. what makes you think that you could save your own country? your own home? that you could even possibly come close to doing what your father told you that night so long ago.
you're even too late to save yourself, and inside of your heart a dam well, overflows, and then breaks from the pressure.
the guilt burns like a fire inside of you, it melts everything away. were you too late on purpose? was this always meant to be? if you'd been just a bit faster, would you have been able to save diluc and his father both from certain destruction?
diluc is sobbing as his father disintegrates into nothingness and you close your eye.
you might feel tears, or is it just rain? perhaps there's comfort in not knowing which it is.
you know what you must do. ]
no subject
but the memory is sobering. he can feel it deep down. the pain, the choices. but he's silent at first, just looking at Kaeya for a long moment.
finley instinctively looks for fellow daemon friend to see how they're doing. ]
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kaeya is... honestly a little speechless before he looks down at the glass on the floor. beside him, polaris is in ermine form, having shifted quickly from his wolf shape. the only reason finley can tell where he is is because he is curled up underneath where some of the blankets from the bed pool onto the floor.
hiding. ]
I'm sorry, I... [ his words drop off. it's unlike him. ] Careless.
no subject
kotetsu shakes his head a bit ]
You don't have to apologize. These shards can be a little invasive.
no subject
Did you also find out... the hard way?
[ softer ]
That was an unfortunate day. For Diluc. [ not for me. it can't be for me. ]
no subject
Ah...
[ he kind of does a wibbly hand motion. like, so-so. ]
More like it's complicated.
[ but bro, he felt the emotions there. ]
It seems like it was awful.
no subject
It was my fault.
[ he sits on the edge of the bed, nudges polaris softly under the blanket with his toe. polaris, however, only flops a little more, so he leaves him be. ]
I had bad timing. I thought... somehow maybe it would make it better. [ looks down at his hands. ] I just. I don't know how I could have thought that ever to have been the case. [ it's a good deal better now, but the wound feels deep, scabbed over as it may be. ]
no subject
he hesitates, but reaches out to put his hand on kaeya's shoulder. ]
You had hope, right?
no subject
Maybe. Hope that it might not change anything between us. Or hope that maybe he would end it for me, so I wouldn't have to live with the secret. I suppose my vision wasn't fond of the latter.
no subject
[ sorry, there's a lot he doesn't know ]
no subject
[ he unclips it carefully from where it's hooked into a belt loop, and he'll hold it to him, cupped in his palm. ]
It's what gives us the ability to manipulate the elements where I am from. They come to us in our darkest hour, a time of need, or when we prove ourselves. Mine allows me to utilize cryo... ice. Diluc has one as well.
no subject
Sounds like a ray of hope in the hardest times.