aggressive expansion || incomplete ; inactive
| PRESENT ;
| caim & dai ;
| showdown get? ;
| right after the ice cavern incident, before Keter (so a little backdated orz) ;
| lower cathedral hall, underneath the Tree of Life ;
( You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever. )
He wondered why, after they parted ways, he hadn't stopped caring about proving he was right and Caim was wrong.
Honestly, that really wasn't like him at all.
"To be truthful with you, Caim, I came here fully aware that you weren't going to give it to me." He was getting closer to the Ice Magister, and even the strange acoustics couldn't conceal the growing source of all the echoes, the strongest of those lonely tones that stretched out into the yawning passages. He moved up until he was in arm's reach, and he could feel Caim's body heat and the cold shivers that sent tremours through the muscle connected to his spine, and he felt like he could just reach up and wrap his hands around his throat until his flesh and bones burst and his body collapsed like well-crumpled paper. His hands balled into fists, squeezed tight at his sides, relaxed. His smile was warm, gentle and brotherly. It wasn't hard, really; he did have sympathy for Caim, after all. He pitied him.
"You look tired."
He reached for him, to wrap his hands around him, to grab his body and wrench it in two directions just to feel him stiffen up, collapse into him, gasp against his neck as breaths came harder with his ribs pushing into his lungs, and Dai could imagine vividly how Caim's hair would tickle his jaw as he lay against him, how his tears would smear across his polished armour.
And yet, even in his mind, even in this fantasy, he couldn't imagine Caim surrendering.
He brushed his knuckles over Caim's cheek, and stepped closer.
"... Let's not make it more than it has to be. Please. I'm loathe to see you in this state."
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It wasn't until the other reached for him-grabbed him, even-that his senses awoke in a panic, his entire body tensing wanting to pull back the other way, but oh fuck he just couldn't, collapsing forward almost too easy a way to go about things. His hands slammed against Dai's chest to catch himself, refusing to simply fall flat against this once familiar person as if it was safe. As if this was okay. Because it wasn't.
He shouldn't have been so weak under any circumstance. That bitch. Those goddamn people. Dai. Belin. He blamed them all. But, the lack of putting blame on himself didn't make it hurt his pride any less.
A small sound of anguish escaped his throat and if he had any less will power, any less sense of what he was doing, he might have let himself fall against the other. But, no, no NO no he would not let this person do this and he tried to pull away then, uninterested in not even having the ability to stand on his own. It was the fleeting touch of Dai's knuckles against his cheek that set him off, though, to really pull hard away out of that hold and away from the other. The step closer? Only managed to propel him into a tiny little verbal fit, as well. "Don't touch me," he sneered, batting the other's hand away as he took a step back. Oh, then these words. What were these words coming from the other's mouth? Was he looking for a good punch across the face? Because Caim would give it to him; or would have loved to give it to him if he could have trusted his balance for such a thing.
An almost dark laugh erupted from the younger man, edging on raging hysteria as Caim backed off even further, his arm coming to rub up against the side of his mouth almost defensively, and his back touched the mural with a heavy thump signifying the end of the line. "Don't you even dare start to serenade me with that. You're a lousy filthy liar."
Times like these were where the desire to kill Dai flared the most. When the other wanted to play games, try and pull a persona from the past that no longer was allowed into the arena of fair play, as far as Caim was concerned.
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It was a side he rarely got to see - this fearful Caim, this defenseless Caim - but still so furious, so spirited, so resentful. After all, Dai was supposed to be his inferior. He was supposed to be weak. To have Caim shying away from him now, well. There was something satisfying about it, as though it somehow compensated for his losing fight against Caim's stubbornness, his failing influence over him mentally.
And yes. Yes, it did lack fight. He knew it wasn't what he really, truly wanted out of him, that he couldn't kill him and be done with it nor coax him to his side nor expect a worthy fight from him - but still, seeing him pressed up against that mural, cornered and wild as an animal, sent a little thrill shooting across the nerves in his spine, cold and pleasant fingers of light whispering across his shoulders and the back of his neck, urging him on. He had to see more of it. If he was like this with only a touch, what more could be gained? How far could he go before Caim was left with no choice but to cave, to comply, or to die?
Caim's hate fueled him these days, and he didn't care to question why.
Flames darkened the shell of his armour, his fingers reaching out once more - this time heated to an incredible intensity, practically glowing like metal. "So be it, then. If you're intent on deriding my efforts to assist you, I suppose I shall have you forfeit in this fashion."
He didn't touch his skin, but rests his palm on Caim's armour, just long enough to leave a large handprint sunken into the metal. His eyes flashed up, silvery, cold, and met Caim's and his smile turned colder.
"Do you understand your position? If I wanted to kill you, Ice Magister..."
He dropped his hand to his side, but his proximity didn't shift. He stayed close, kept him against the mural by threat of his movements alone.
"... With your fever, do you honestly think you stand a chance? Why do this? If you die, nobody will be there to protect her, anyway. Nobody will be there to defend them from us. If you comply with me, there'll be no more bloodshed."
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The other Magister's point was true: a clear, good, valid point. But a point that Caim could not accept as something to back down upon.
There was nothing Dai could offer that would have him give in.
"I don't care," he continued defiantly, although the words were dripping heavy and he had to push them through his vocal chords. It was like spitting in the face of death and he didn't want to die. Not yet, anyway. Not unless he took this person with him to the grave.
"If I comply with you, she'll die, anyway." Didn't he get it? Or did he just not care? The Ice Magister's expression shifted momentarily from rage and defiance to one of uncertainty and guilt. That had been his breaking point. Ava's death. Erielle's death. Holding the lifeless body of the only person who had ever-
-out of all of them, Erielle hadn't deserved it. The idea of letting Gaea near her-whatever the hell Gaea could want her for-was blinding towards everything else: he could not let that happen. It wasn't an option. There was nothing to discuss. Nothing to contemplate. If Dai got the key, he helped the foreigners. If he helped the foreigners, they helped Gaea. If they helped Gaea, she helped them, but that meant his sister's fate was sealed. He didn't hate them, persay... if he was more himself, he'd even understand them better. It was nothing personal. Just like Caim being willing to kill everyone wasn't personal. It was just better than letting his sister fall into that witch's hands.
The guilty look dissipated, the smallest sigh escaping him as he tried to calm himself enough to reassess the situation. He didn't move. When he spoke again, his voice was a bit calmer, less frenzied. He was fucked and he knew it, falling apart piece by piece. Regardless, if he couldn't keep his dignity throughout this, he would at least keep his stubbornness, something so vile and raw that it wouldn't go anywhere even if the disease rotted him hollow. "And if you kill me... well, you better hope I still have the key on me physically or you'll be in a bit of a predicament, won't you?"
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