aggressive expansion || incomplete ; inactive

[undeify]

| 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 ;

Comments

I TOOK SO LONG AND THIS IS AWFUL I'M SO SORRY

[redeify]

And in the time Caim spent recovering, thinking, mulling over what had just happened, Dai came to stand by and watch. His hair was still damp from the melted ice, his fingers shaking as he tightened the gauntlets along either arm

And now I'm also sorry for mine and any possible 10,000 edits in your inbox ;;

[undeify]

Every single confrontation he’d ever had with this man up until now had always been buffered by one solid comforting fact.

A fact that no longer applied.

And that was an obstacle that the Ice Magister was not sure he was capable of overcoming.

He did not immediately acknowledge the other, instead feigning nescience, listening as the blood pounded through his ears in reverberation with each advancing footstep filtering throughout the room like thunder.

There was no surprise when Caim finally shifted away from the mural and turned to look towards Dai. Even in better health, there would had been none. Long ago had the Ice Magister abandoned being “surprised” at the other’s ability to find him; to confront him at the most inopportune times: at the moments Caim felt at his most vulnerable.

Despite his enervated state, the raw animosity towards the other and his presence-for that smile-was as clear as crystal, sparking the only bit of life in otherwise dead eyes. A fuel for the dying fire, something-anything-to hold onto in order

HI REMEMBER ME

[redeify]

Did he look like he'd found what he was looking for? Perhaps he had, but it probably wasn't what Caim was counting on, probably had less to do with the key he contained than his role as container, than the guarded look in his eyes, than the hatred that lit them like an open flame. Because for Dai- and who knows why, and who knows when it came to be that way - this was the only thing that really mattered in the end, and he wondered when bringing Caim down had become more important than the seal, or the world, or any of it. He wondered when making him cave became a greater motivator than the promise of power itself.

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

[undeify]

But Caim had no sympathy for the devil, even as he stared at the approaching figure and it really was hell's incarnate as far as he was concerned. The resentment that smeared across his features incinerated into disgust-how fucking dare he smile at him like that-as he clenched his jaw shut tightly behind pursed lips. All that was his defense, his resolve, as he remained where he was, unwilling to expend needless energy moving back only to get cornered into a wall.

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