010 Omens of Crusnik
[A: Elementary School (OPEN)]
[What is that sound floating out over the playground at lunch? It's piano music, just basic tunes being repeated over and over again from the open window of the music room. Cain has retired there to study the books that Charles gave him, tireless in his pursuit of being the very best at whatever task was set to him ( Read more... )
[What is that sound floating out over the playground at lunch? It's piano music, just basic tunes being repeated over and over again from the open window of the music room. Cain has retired there to study the books that Charles gave him, tireless in his pursuit of being the very best at whatever task was set to him ( Read more... )
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Cain hops off the chair and hurries up the stairs, catching him just as he's about to go into the bedroom.]
Abel!
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H-hey, Cain...! [he looks like hell, to say the least -- but the light isn't up upstairs, yet, so maybe the dark would work in his favor. the last thing he wants to do is... cause his brother pain or fear. if he had anywhere else he could've turned, he would have -- but home is... all he's got in Mayfield.]
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His expression falls into concern and he steps forwards faster, right up to Abel to look up into his face.]
What's wrong--?
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so he shakes his head, instead-- trying to head inside the room for the adjoining bathroom. bro ;(]
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Something is really wrong here, or else his brother would already have been reassuring him. But there's nothing, only a refusal and... turning away.
Stomach twisted into knots, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Abel from behind...]
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[he jerkily halts, a hand jutting out to catch himself against the wall and he's going very, very rigid and tense, breath hitching. OW CAIN OW FLKSJDLFKJSDF JESUS CHRIST AHH--
he leans heavy forward a bit, and his fingers are shaking propped against the wall. the back of his coat is... wet.]
L-- let go...
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...
One hand remains curled in his coat, as the other slides up to touch that wetness and look at the crimson that comes away. Blood... He's bleeding? What... what happened?
He is frozen for a long moment, before his movements become desperate and frantic, pulling at the fabric of his coat to try and pull it off and look at what's going on underneath.]
Abel... Abel!
[Don't lie to him, don't shut him out, don't... die. His heart is thudding in his chest like a hammer, he feels sick, breathless... so afraid.]
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but it's back, now.
he shakes his head, again; it's kind of a muted response and he isn't fighting his brother's efforts to get the coat off. it's a little late to bother with pretenses... much as he would've liked to get up here and deal with it himself before Cain had found out about it.]
...took it, it's-- okay, Cain... I got it-- back again, so...
[uhhh he's just gonna lean a shoulder against the wall here, trying to help his brother in wiggling out of his coat.]
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All that is running through his head, is that he had told Abel not to go to the Post Office (as his reply made it fairly obvious that's what he'd done) and now... now they'd gone and exacted a steep price on his brother. What if he died? The wounds of what had happened at Thanksgiving are still too raw, too close to the surface for him to ignore.
Once the coat is off and cast aside with shaking fingers, he's pulling Abel's shirt up and looking with horror at the gaping hole in his back that seems to go so deep. Blood... all that blood and... There is the acidic bite of bile at the back of his throat, and when he talks it sounds thick and strangled.]
You... We have to find a doctor, you're...
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he gives his brother a half-there glance over his shoulder, the sight of his twin's bloodless face making him feel cold right down to the bone.]
N... no, it's... okay.
[his body would patch itself up given a week or two. being a clone-- a Crusnik-- had its advantages. he's blinking hard to dispel the blurriness, and then clumsily lift a hand to tug at his shirt back down. he didn't know how, but-- he would fix this himself. stitch it up, sleep it off... HE'D BE GOOD AS NEW. he wasn't supposed to burden Cain with this... god... damnit.]
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[He had to pause and swallow, or else he ran the risk of bursting into tears like a frightened child. How can his fingers be stained with his brother's blood so soon? How can he be hurt? How can he have been so stupid?!]
Don't you dare... Come and lie down, come... in here and I'll... I'll help.
[His hands are shaking violently as he tries to lend himself as a support for Abel, trying to help him into the bedroom.]
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but for now, he isn't fighting him -- leaning forward and resting his hand heavy on his brother's shoulder. he'll feel worlds better when he stops bleeding everywhere ever, he's sure.]
...got it back, Cain... I got it-- back, so-- [--a little stumble, but he's moving!] --I can keep my promise. [mumbling as he heads obediently where his little brother leads, like a good little Abel]
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He can't help it, thick tears are rolling down his cheeks as he helps Abel onto the bed and nudges him to lay on his stomach. He's trying to keep his brother from seeing that he's crying, not wanting to make him feel worse at the moment, and he doesn't trust himself to speak in case his voice is wavering.
So he just... stares for a second, before bolting downstairs and frantically looking for where Esther had kept her sewing basket. Needle and thread... needle and thread...]
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that would always fall by the wayside in comparison to his promise to her. he hated himself. he would get what he deserved. the only reason he cared what happened to him at all was because... Cain cared, and that was it.
the room is quiet for the absence of his baby brother from it -- and he's tired... it's really no surprise when his eyelids become too heavy to keep open, and he drifts off. zzz... poor Cain.]
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But losing Abel has shaken him to the core and left him with deeper wounds than he would ever admit, and seeing him injured is heart-stopping. He feels as though he's in a daze as he gathers up a bowl of warm water, a few cloths and the work basket.
This can't be happening... why is Abel hurt again?
His vision is blurred from tears as he sprints back into the bedroom and, for one frozen moment, he thinks Abel is dead for how still he is. But then he realises he is still breathing, he's just... asleep. God, brother, what have you done?!It takes a long time, because his hands are shaking and he keeps stopping through fear of messing it up, but he peels back that shirt sodden in blood again and starts cleaning the wound. It's sad that even at ten he has stitched up his fair share of wounds in the past, though nothing ever this deep before ( ... )
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