Night 59: Men's Bathrooms (M41-M80)
[from here]
Exquisite. There was no other way to describe being in a hall one moment and then suddenly appearing in the restroom in less time than it took the rest of the Institute to take a breath. This place was dark as always and Grell grinned as he realized it didn't matter this time. A death god's eyes, nearsighted as they might be, were ( Read more... )
Exquisite. There was no other way to describe being in a hall one moment and then suddenly appearing in the restroom in less time than it took the rest of the Institute to take a breath. This place was dark as always and Grell grinned as he realized it didn't matter this time. A death god's eyes, nearsighted as they might be, were ( Read more... )
Dark liquid came first. Green eyes followed its trail to find a slit across his chest, opened to show muscle and bone. Such a sight called for an accompaniment of pain, but the shock proved enough to render all comprehension in Nigredo obsolete. He glanced up at Rubedo once more, something lost in his eyes.
But he wouldn't touch the other, no. A betray, a shattering, a promise aside, he couldn't fight against another who had every right to it. Regardless of form, even as this one was likely not his own, this brother could do as he wished, and Nigredo would never protest. The death was deserved. Perhaps its fulfillment would make up for his birth.
Perhaps this murder could set him free.
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He knew his twin’s heartbeat better than he knew his own.
With the frantic obsession that comes hand in hand with a chance at loss, he knew it; knew its pauses, stutters, and sure beats. Knew that it did not exist in front of him even as the form would mirror the owner, as the tones heard in the remains of a sentence copied perfectly. This was only another example of this place at work--another copy, another fake, another reality not Albedo’s own. Even as the same rules applied, the same aspects still there.
Aspects, rules, or mirror image, there was yet another variable--that in the drops of blood trailing off of the sword as the scenario in front of him seemed to freeze as he took in the points. Much like the night he had been contemplating, here was a brother’s blood stained upon steel. But neither of the set prone to battle and destruction. Neither Albedo’s or Rubedo’s marred the shine. Only Nigredo’s. Only the one destined to watch from the outside, and feel that pain stronger than Albedo himself. Hate built itself up on something nearly new and yet familiar--for Albedo had reacted before like this, had attacked in possessiveness, in protectiveness, for one closer than words could say. Here, it would compile itself, upon three meanings. The reaction towards one who had gained his ire, his hurt and pain--the only one who could tear him apart without even trying. The promise made, more to himself than another, to protect here. And the newly formed nuance of song and dance--
None would hurt Nigredo. Not even Albedo’s twin.
Something sparked and shattered along him, and time sped up again. Albedo laughed madly, because, really this whole scenario was hilarious, wasn’t it?! Violet and magenta began to coalesce around his body, flickering and flaring in a way that spoke only of threat to those who could read waveforms as easily as minds. It was hilarious, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it?! For Albedo would fight Rubedo to defend Nigredo. But~ The thing was…~
Rubedo wasn’t here. No. Just a copy of a copy, a pitiful design that couldn’t even hold the fire that built along his other half’s soul. (This is what he told himself. This is what there was.)
He could speak it as well as any--he could quote that man just as well: There is always some madness in love.
But there is also always some reason in madness.
Albedo darted forward suddenly, speed augmented by usage of those magenta waves. His waveform shone around a hand, and when close, the entity dropped down to strike upward with that hand strengthened by power--intending to force his hand completely through the torso of the one that wore his other heart’s face.
There was madness in Albedo’s expression. Pain and rage and delight. There existed also the careful quantity that made him go for a lethal attack and not a playful one--he was defending another, and not merely attacking to sate his own urges.
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Then the door opened and yet another one strolled in. The creature knew enough from the few memories it could borrow of this Rubedo to realize that this was the third and last brother. The one who could heal, the one who couldn't be predicted. The tables had suddenly been turned and it only had a split second to react.
And so it switched its attack from one brother to the other, from black to white, as it turned with the sword still in hand, just fast enough to block Albedo's onslaught with the blade. It was clear now that Albedo's arm was no longer just an arm, but that it had been transformed into something else through his own power. That wasn't something that the mimic could compete with, but it had a few tricks up its sleeve.
"So willing to take me down, twin?" the mimic said in Rubedo's voice, intending to mock Albedo, to draw a reaction out of him. "Since when did you decide you liked Nigredo more than me? I'm hurt." It put its free hand to its chest and then started to laugh, a strange mimicry of Albedo's own laughter from when he'd first entered.
But as it laughed, its teeth morphed into something different, sharpening into deadly fangs -- and suddenly it looked barely anything like their missing brother.
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Another's waveform all but shone in the dark interior--magenta and violet and a color he couldn't name. Nigredo started at the onslaught of emotion as the brother he had once intended to return to met hand to sword, as twins confronted in a nature far too familiar to call a first. He walked to the stall door in uneven footsteps, the effort forcing blood to pour forth from the hole in his chest. Shock ebbed and placed determination before him. There was no choice. He couldn't name a conscious decision. He needed only to reach out and pull them apart.
Since when did you decide you liked Nigredo more than me?
What did he have that I didn't?
Instead, to freeze. That was the way of it, was it not? In regards to him, it seemed. To place him as an excuse for brothers to wage war while he didn't. Wouldn't. And they would watch the ones they loved turn against each other.
Now, pressed against the bathroom stall for support, it seemed to register. Rubedo had rejected Nigredo, in the simplest and basest of ways. In wanting the end of his life. And the youngest couldn't (despite knowing, always waiting with bated breath) stop the overwhelm of hurt. Couldn't bar wretched misery from mixing with the sensation of nerves. He couldn't stop his brothers who hated him, and in the process, what had snapped in half soon fell away. The world faded like a lone shadow on the wall. Consciousness should soon give out.
It was here memory took hold. It was here Nigredo finally remembered, and the thought forced him to breathe.
Albedo came for him as promised. Was now demonstrating protectiveness on his behalf, foreign as it might be. The middle variant could decide to declare a pass in preference, but as hopeless as he was, Nigredo wondered if he would say what had been made fact a day prior. That Albedo had chosen Nigredo. That he wanted him.
That he was something worth staying and not just simply a life to be thrown away.
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The hand that had attacked twisted to grip the blade wholly in a firm grasp. He yanked forward on it at the same time his power billowed outward with force to throw the creature further back. “Twin?” Albedo echoed, laughter in the tones. “As if that blood traitor ever called me that in such casual use. And caring where my affections lay?” Albedo giggled, then tsked at the creature. “Better do your homework. That was my role, not his.” As if Rubedo ever cared anything of Albedo. As if the time was spent at all on unearthing the mysteries of the white-haired Variant.
The adamant defense had changed to deadly amusement in a blink, but still, even now, Albedo was aware of the scent of blood. But there was a two-step in this. There was a game to play, even now. Let the creature come.
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It didn't matter if its facts were wrong now, of course. The cat was already out of the bag and while these two were giving off enough negative emotion to make it feel satiated for a day or so, it still had to fight its way out.
With its fangs revealed and Rubedo's face distorted by a mouth that was suddenly too large, the mimic was ready to fight. It tossed the sword to the side, across the room, and then lunged for Albedo, hands reaching out to grab the boy's shoulders so that it could dig its teeth into his neck.
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…Faulty thoughts, that. And not wholly allowed in Albedo’s present state. His mind shifted and surged, for Albedo knew, knew well, what was required of Rubedo if they were to meet, one enlightened against one born a perfect weapon. Dragon versus near god, and if they were to come to terms, it would be through blood and burning, rage and hate, and Albedo knew that, had it pressed into him until he sobbed from the force. Yes, he knew.
It was why, as the creature leaned down, that Albedo did not physically react. Instead his force went to his waveform, will pushing power behind it, and he threw that into the thing that had worn Rubedo’s face, filling it with things humans, mortals, shouldn’t bear. Teeth closed into his neck, and Albedo’s eyes narrowed suddenly, disgusted by all of this charade. The entity pulled, and everything given came back to him with little wear.
This, of course, had the unpleasant side effect of destroying the thing in front of him, form exploding into pieces from the sharp flow of power slamming through it. It rained blood and gore, and Albedo absentmindedly lifted a hand to his neck--plucked out a sharp tooth that had stuck in a tendon and felt his flesh closing against his fingers.
It was alright, if it was Rubedo? Did he really keep to that now?
Albedo was unnaturally stoic, in the aftermath. There lacked giggles of delight or words thrown in knowledge and recrimination. For a moment, he was silent, thoughtful--fingers trailing along skin as if one unaware.
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The child watched very carefully, but the images refused to stay. They danced to a offbeat rhythm as they pulled away from comprehension, falling to the wayside. There was an outcry, a play at war, and Rubedo's mouth shaped to suit that of a monster. Funny. In consideration of the implication, it seemed comedic for this brother. To act much like the label he had once despised with such a poignant display was contrary. So much so that it felt unreal.
And somehow, the patterns of this night seemed obvious. Nigredo deemed it perfectly reasonable to expect a dead end, despite what either might have held. What either might have been in a solitary world of only them. Someone here would die, regardless of who else was present.
The premonition arrived too late. Before he could reach out and beg for a peaceful resolution, flesh ripped against waveform. Rubedo, in that instant, was gone. In his place rained blood and pieces, and despite his faltering vision, he thought he recognized red hair. Fragments of a torn number.
As silence filled the room, Nigredo's waveform stuttered. Pressed against himself and gave away. The sight of a dead brother caused consciouness to flee, and the boy toppled to the floor.
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In that self-same way, he angled his arm to mimic the wound and pressed firmly, then stared at Nigredo, eyes bright and unreadable. "Nigredo." A question. A command. A complete focus in this moment.
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The lids of his eyes trembled, and the boy looked as though he was trying to remember being awake. Someone was touching him, keeping the fire in his chest from pouring out its contents, even as he thought that someone should let it. He had lost something. He didn't think he could ever get it back.
So they should end it here, should they not?
Nigredo whimpered but did not move to open his eyes.
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Albedo did nothing outwardly for a moment, only extended his waveform and moved it to Nigredo's. No injuries, not from this, but the obvious--so it was not the physical that was hindering his brother. He slid closer, waveforms mixing, reaching for a higher understanding. The hesitance that had touched briefly in his room had been forgotten; if Albedo was wary of Nigredo being connected to something U-DO tainted, it was something currently unaware. His brother was... fine, though confused in ways, and more--
Loss. The seeping, overwhelming sense of loss. And Albedo couldn't pinpoint the cause.
Though he had an idea.
Albedo leaned down, shoulders touching and foreheads bumping lightly. "Nigredo, you're fine," he gave, declaration and plea. {You are fine.} The link shivered between them, and Albedo quietly remembered his insecurity on the subject. Tried to ignore it and force it away. Instead, he remembered a truth made clear. And put this with it strongly. {That wasn't Rubedo. You know it wasn't.}
Knowing and feeling were two different things. Albedo knew this better than any. "This place pulls from different realities here. None of the Rubedos we've met were the one from our own. That's what I was going to tell you before. None that we met were ours." This, more than any; this-- {And this was only a creature. Not even a person. Just a thing that took on form.}
Just a thing that acknowledged pain and loss.
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And irony would have him feel it here. Again and again. Of warring, of revelation, of memories and facts he wished never to hold. He would hold them here.
Another's waveform moved to touch, its distinct and familiar nature all but shining in his mind's eye. Nigredo would allow the other, would shift to accept him for there seemed nothing else. No one else. Only one deemed familiar above all and the thing that sometimes held his mind.
There were gestures, featherlight and abrasive all the same. This touch felt too close to love, gentle pressure to elicit warmth. The words were opposite, a pull at entails to full view. A cold truth. Nigredo could not turn either away, even as he would move to bring a connecting line.
Rubedo wasn't their Rubedo, but he could become just like them.
He opened his eyes, slowly as to allow sight an easy path. Against him, holding him, was Albedo, and without thinking, Nigredo smiled. His words were opposite. {I would have let him.} Still, despite the promise made. {Whoever he was... I would have let him.} If he wanted.
{But you understand that more than me, right? Because he'e everything to you.} Nigredo blinked. The words were a mess. {Just like you and he are to me.}
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His mind hummed inside his skull; it resonated there and remained. Still, yet still.
Albedo pressed temple against temple, cheek against cheek. Nigredo was grounding, even like this. And his little brother was making no move to break free. (The loss of blood may have attributed to that.) Albedo understood what was being explained, but he kept to silence until Nigredo was finished. Until he spoke in a way Albedo understood.
If Albedo was more or less, he would have responded differently. He would have graced upset, moved to extremes. There was an easier solution here, one he could burn into another as much as anything. Albedo leaned back slowly, eyes dark and level as he stared at his brother. "As much as he and I, huh..." he repeated as if in wondering. As if to muse.
There was little shock when Albedo pushed more, nearly gently, firmly--unlike a time nearly two weeks ago, when out of desperation, Albedo had forced his way into something he did not yet know but needed to--had taken, grasped what was not given freely. Here, instead he curled around and sank into. With less effort that had taken that day.
Good. At least something would name itself as clear.
{I understand,} he sent, and the words came with sharp permanence. {However--} However-- {I am right here, Nigredo.} This was pressed, held--the concept that Albedo was not going anywhere. {If you let him, you would have left me. And I'm not going to let you leave.}
The rest was lacking words, pure in form, sharp in command, quiet in request. Stay. Stay with me.
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Nigredo would have let him.
What came instead was a repeat, a musing. Green eyes slid to the side, vision blurring light and shadow to unrecognized forms. The smile dropped, and he once again remembered loneliness. {Yeah...} Everything to him but nothing he had intended to touch. He wished he hadn't spoken the last. Nigredo had meant for that to die with him, had he not?
But Albedo seemed to discern. Proved disallowing in distance as he pressed points the youngest had lost in transition. A part of Nigredo wondered how much was a product of blood loss. Perhaps his brother had already pushed him away, and this was only a petty comfort to a broken mind. If only the link could ever lie, he might have let it go.
The words came as a prompt of his own, however, and maybe (certainly) that was why Nigredo acknowledged in turn. He moved to watch his sibling, calm beneath what shone. {...Yeah. I know.} The hand that dangled lifelessly at his side reached to poke Albedo's nose. {I would have let him, but you stopped him.}
You saved me. Comforted despite wants, he was sure. Therefore, in light of the damage, it was fine.
He blinked. {I'm weaker than you are--} An echo. A fact. It should be obvious. {--and I am sorry.}
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There was something empty in that, and there was loss somewhere deep within.
When Nigredo reached to touch, Albedo curled around his brother more. The arm supporting Nigredo came to grasp that hand--this putting them closer, inches between. The boy closed bright eyes, listening to what was said and unsaid both. Then moved Nigredo's hand to his lips, holding it there and breathing. As if having mortal brothers weren't enough.... One had decided to continue being suicidal as well.
Albedo's heart would break twice over at this rate.
He slid the hand to his cheek and held it there, then opened his eyes. "You can be however you are." The urge to break had lessened, a different one moving forward. To take care of. To protect. {You're weaker... And stronger in ways.... But regardless, Nigredo.} He blinked twice, the gave almost harshly. "I am here. You need to..." He looked briefly irritated at the choice of words, then continued. "Nigredo, call me. For anything. Whether it's an attack or if you feel poorly or if you're lonely." {I'll come to you.} Given more solidly than a promise. {I don't want you to be alone.}
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And as much as he wanted to apologize for the fallacy, the child could not. Instead, he gently pressed fingertips against Albedo's cheek.
{I know.} Nigredo had known for some time now. Understood the willingness of his sibling to stay with him. {It was just bad timing. I was...} Caught off-guard, obviously. The fault of solitude, however, continued to lay with him, and Nigredo had nothing in excuses for that. {Tonight was discouraging. I really wanted to read with you.} Have some semblance of quality time, he supposed. {But maybe it was incorrect to expect nothing to happen in this place.}
Something within his chest constricted painfully. He sighed, pausing before twisting his lips in a strange smile. {Yeah. I'll do that. This won't happen again.}
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