Once, the green-eyed man had been a familiar sight around the hotel. Always polite, always smiling, he usually had a softly murmured greeting for people he passed in the hallway. If once caught him in the bar, he would smile that placid smile of his and offer nothing more than a simple game of cards, and even if he lost, there was that soft glint
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If the room looked familiar, it wasn't by accident. This was the bedroom of that tiny house just outside of Chang'an, and the bed she sat on was the one where Hakkai -- not Hakkai then, not yet, but no longer Gonou -- had laid as the wound in his belly knitted.
But all the little details that has made the room a home were gone. The television and the pile of unboxed pornographic VHS tapes, the clothing that never seemed to manage to get all the way into the dresser drawers, the hairbrush and the empty packs of cigarettes and the half-full glasses... everything that he had touched, gone. The room was bare, save for the bedframe and the old striped and stained mattress. And the woman.
If she really was a woman. ]
I've been waiting for you.
((ooc: CR only with this one! I never play sex with her.))
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You misunderstand.
[ Her hand caressed his cheek again, but this wasn't the gentle touch of a mother. No, this was the possessive pat of a man for his dog. ]
I'm not offering to return your loves to you. I'm asking what you would offer to keep them as they are.
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[There was a touch of divinity to her, as far as Hakkai could see, or something perhaps even more, and he had learned to tread carefully with gods and the like.
He allowed the touch this time, his gaze watching her warily, as if waiting for a blow.]
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Despair smiled a little broader, teeth gleaming in the light that came from nowhere. ]
As they are...
[ She patted his cheek again, then tapped his temple with the calloused pad of one thick finger. ]
...here.
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Healthy and whole, or the corpses I still remember far too vividly?
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[ Her growl was the creak of a faultline, the groan of wet wood with too much weight above it. ]
Alive, breathing, and whole.
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.... all that I am. Anything I can offer.
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All that you are? You're nothing, little man. Does their peace really mean so little to you?
[ How far can she push him? She could probably get him to kill himself easily enough, but would he kill somebody else?
Could she get him to kill one to save the other? ]
What will you do?
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[It's such a simple word, really, but such a loaded one. In his heart of hearts, he knew he would willingly do anything to make sure they both had the peace and happiness they deserved, even if it mean removing himself from both their lives.]
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Desire will be so pleased. ]
Then choose one.
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In the end, was there really a choice? If he were still the simple Cho Gonou- but he's not. He knew that there was no way Kanan would be able to accept the monster he'd become. He didn't even know if Gojyo could, and if anyone knew his sins, it was the redhead.
Slowly, he looked to Despair, his decision weighing heavily in his eyes.]
What happens to the one I don't choose?
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This one anticipates blood. ]
Choose.
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Still, guilt or not, he repeated the name he hadn't truly spoken in what felt like years.]
Gojyo.
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Was it Desire or Despair that had made his choice for him? Wouldn't it be fun to find out ( ... )
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He'd made his choice and now, he could only live with the consequences.
Dull green eyes full of self-loathing and something darker watched the far too familiar form tumble into the room and while he would normally go to him, Hakkai felt too numb to move. Heart in his throat, he stared down at Gojyo.... was it really him, breath short in a chest gone tight with tension.]
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He only relaxed the tiniest bit when he saw that it was only Hakkai. ]
Hakkai!
[ He turned back to the door, licking dry lips and swallowing hard. ]
Hakkai, we've gotta...
[ Finally his feet responded, and -- still breathing hard -- Gojyo hunched up into a sorry semblance of a standing position, hair hanging lank in his face and eyes never turning long from the open doorway. ]
It ate her. We've gotta... what was that thing?
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