The decision has been made. LILITH Japan orders the Outsiders to mobilize to pursue the Imugi.
Given that they are in a foreign country, they are largely dependent on LILITH Korea’s resources. In response to the decision, the Korean branch provides some assistance: the Outsiders are given just enough vehicles to help transport them, essential supplies, and only a few operatives to help guide them. This is the most the Korean branch is able to give, as they must focus on relocating people and restoring peace following the attack.
LILITH announces that the Imugi is currently resting near Gangneung on the east coast and they must move quickly. The effects of Rift poisoning will grow stronger as they approach the source; a sign that they are close to a kaiju. Upon reaching the mountains just outside the city, LILITH informs them that they are right on top of its location.
However, there is no Imugi to be found. After searching the area, Outsiders will discover the source of the trace and the poisoning: eggs. They will find about twelve eggs. When they report their findings, Seokdang will curse. In their rush, they had followed the wrong trace. They didn’t track down an injured and resting Imugi—they tracked down the Imugi’s nest. So where is the Imugi?
Not long after, Outsiders will receive an update on their implants: the Imugi reappeared in Seoul. After seeing the corpse of its mate, it went berserk and attacked the city again. While many of the citizens were evacuated to nearby Incheon and remaining shelters, just as many perished, with the death toll at 168,000 and rising. LILITH’s Korean base is destroyed.
The Imugi was last seen flying north, but the Korean government prohibits the Outsiders from pursuing it again through their territory. By choosing to pursue the kaiju, the Outsiders have abandoned humanity and thus will receive no further support. They are ordered to leave the country immediately.
LILITH Japan will order them to collect as many eggs as possible and continue to the abandoned city of Gangneung, where they will arrange pick up and return to base in Tokyo.
▶ AFTERWORD.
Thanks everyone for participating in our first major Event Decision! We hope you had fun discussing what to do both ICly and OOCly.
After failing to capture the second Imugi and also failing to save a large portion of Seoul's population, characters will be shipped back to Japan. The events of the TDM will springboard from there. Feel free to use this post to thread out any aftermath threads if you would like.
All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards August AC.
I don't think they would've been willing to listen at that point, even if you had.
[ Given how much loss they'd just experienced. The lashing out likely would have been worse. Even though she'd wanted to automatically protest, too. That the reason they had chased after the kaiju, even if that hadn't been her decision, had still been to protect people from another onslaught. No one could have known what would have happened.
... Her heart is going to ache for a long time, though. She knows that. ]
Want me to at least walk... with you there? [ Not walk him. That's a pride thing. ]
( he slurs, knowing he's got to reek of alcohol, all those other times not having been as embarrassing. not like this time, when a heavy boulder of shame was weighing them all down. true... they might not have listened, but it could've made him feel better.
he can hear oryou now, if she were here, that damn snake. "better learn how to shape up around your girlfriend, you stupid slug." whatever. whatever... he— )
Y'know I... —it's good. You can, come with... I just. ( he runs a hand rather forcefully through his bangs, ruffling them. ) Didn't need this to be the first time I take ya... towards my room.
( which is, ... this way, yeah? the way he was headed. the water bottle is cool against his face, at least, his free hand reaching for march's shoulder to try and spin her around and drive her the right way with a light little push, a movement so nonchalant when his brain won't even pause to consider if it were too impolite in the moment. )
Ahaha... [ It's a weak little laugh, halfhearted, as she nudges her in the right direction in a way she'd definitely scold Literally Anyone Else for doing. ]
W-well, you know! You never know how things will turn out. [ Hasn't that literally been their everything? He doesn't have to take her in, but at the very least, she can walk with him. Keep one eye on him to make sure he doesn't wobble into a wall, even if he's got loads of experience walking while inebriated. ]
( shakes march myself... girl, you should just hit him.
and it's true. he does have loads of experience in lifting one foot after the other, in eventually finding his way somewhere to sleep even if it weren't his room. although he had said he'd intended to wash, and it'd been on his busy mind initially, but in being in her vicinity, his thoughts tended to wander toward her. even as they come to the cold steel of his room's door, izou's tongue feels terrible in his mouth, and so he pauses. )
What're you... doin' after this? Just walkin' around, passing out water to everyone?
( he's got to steady himself again... so, let's say it's with a fist against the wall above her. which will look... interesting to anyone passing by. )
I... I worry about ya, a lot. You don't drown yourself in drink like me. You don't fret over stuff as often as I do, even when... you couldn't see, and last time I saw you were wearin' that sling. Said I was important and all with a smile, and not about... 'bout how you were hurt in the moment. Just all that stuff in the past.
( cool... now he's getting emotional. )
If you weren't feelin' alright... you'd ... you better tell me.
[ With a helpless little shrug, even as Izou steadies himself, and oh, isn't this a nostalgic position she finds herself in. Not pinned in, necessarily, and not too surprised by it this time, but...
She can't help but take a note of it, more surprised by what he has to say, actually. All this alcohol in his brain and he's still got enough space left in it to worry about her.
March hesitates for a minute, then meets his eye. ]
I don't like... worrying people. Like, at all. And people will stare at me and think I have a lot to worry about, just because I don't have my memories, so it's already something I'm fighting from the start.
... But of course I'm not okay right now. How could I be?
fighting against him, too, he realizes in the whorl of his hostile concern, only to struggle to process her stubbornness properly. he doesn't have a leg to stand on with how he'd kept quiet on things in the past for somewhat similar reasons. doesn't have a literal leg to stand on, almost, with how the heady feeling of alcohol is beating at the inside of his head right now either, but...
izou's lip curls to reveal his canines once more, only to settle with a look of uncertainty on his face. that fist doesn't leave the wall. in fact, it unfurls, dragging haphazardly along the steel surface to rest closer to march's head. to tap a finger lightly against stray petals of pink that make up the strands of her hair, and then say gruffly: )
I'm into strong-willed women, if ya... hadn't figured that out by now.
( with no finesse and no filter whatsoever, he continues, trying to be tender with his words where his posture isn't. )
But if you act, too tough. Where's all that pain gonna go?
here he's trying to pick his way through his sozzled brain and be uplifting, when all this answer does is bubble up a weird sort of frustration he hasn't felt in a long ass time. the violent sort, piercing straight through the haze like a knife, to memories of someone who clammed up whenever it felt like discussing something was trouble, his eyes bent on the horizon.
a horizon that didn't involve izou much, in the end. )
... Ice sculptures. That 'sposed to be funny?
( his other hand raises to jab a finger directly into her chest, not letting up in the least with the pressure. )
You didn't have a, problem gettin' pissed at me for somethin' personal before. But now, ... with a whole city in ruin and our asses to blame for it, the words just aren't spillin' from your lips somehow. Who gives a damn if that has to do with how you were... in the past? I'm talkin' to you, here, right... now. Not whoever the hell you used t'be, March. But it's fine. If it's that hard to rely on me right now, then don't bother. I'm used to folks talkin' around me. S'not gonna stop me from givin' a shit, whether you...
( a pause, to bite into his lip and stop yapping. bite down enough in all his current stupidity and irritation to prick his bottom lip and draw a bead of red. )
Not a pleasant feeling, and March reacts before she fully processes, one hand coming up to try and push his finger back. Away from her. And she recognizes that feeling welling up in her, one she's pushed down several times already, because there are people she can yell at and lose her temper with, but Izou has been hurt before. Izou has suffered and been unable to trust and she gets that, she wants to be careful, but.
Something snaps. She pushes off against the wall, just enough to fist her hand into the front of whatever he's wearing, and the dullness in her eyes? That's gone. She's glaring. ]
I just told you I wasn't fine! If I thought I couldn't rely on you, I would've lied through my teeth! All of that--all of that, what I just said, is how I deal with it, whether you think I was joking or not! What do you want me to say, Izou?!
[ Oh, this is hurting her throat. Oh, she should stop. She should really stop.
But she doesn't. ]
You want me to say I was against chasing after it? You want me to say that I feel like I'd rather be back in that ice block again because at least then I didn't have to feel how much this hurts?! Fine! I had to make Kabru drink something before he keeled over from blaming himself! All I could do for Marcie was hold her!! I didn't say a thing about Malkuth's post because I knew it was going to explode and I didn't have the energy to say anything even though she's my best friend!
I-- [ She takes a wobbly breath, eyes glistening. ] I'd feel ten times worse if I made anyone deal with me right now! But sure, whatever, let's just say I'm joking!!
( sorry to anyone trying to get into their room in brimstone's wing right now.
a little fist curls tight into the fabric of his jacket, pushing but not lifting, and izou growls right on back as a verbal assault is rightly launched in his direction. honestly, he didn't expect all that much to come from his outburst besides being let go, still underestimating her even now in his stupid, masculine-brained way, the torrent that is her upset crashing up against his unnecessary pride.
but there's no going back from it now, and there's a flush in his cheeks that isn't a result of all that drinking. )
Yeah, go on. Let it all out. Shout at me or whatever. 'Cause maybe I DID wanna hear this shit, 'bout yer struggles and who you were straight-up avoidin'. Even if it... it makes you feel worse. Even if it makes ya feel weak. Not like we saw eye-to-eye on any of it neither. It's not like... like all that hurt's gonna go away, or pop outta you in the form of... ice sculptures, or whatever the hell you just said. You're just gonna keep it inside. "Turn back into an ice-cube" my ass. I'm the biggest... idiot there is, but even that sounds, dumber than somethin' that's come outta my mouth.
( he's inching further towards her with his frame, a fist of his own coming off the wall to bunch up into the fabric of her collar.
only he can lift her, he's sure. toss her if he wanted.
and then watch her leave... like the rest of them, off to their deaths somewhere out of his reach, and izou's bottom lip shudders ever so lightly, the red smearing with all this growling he's doing. )
"Deal with you". Like you're... you're some kinda, burden. If you are one... if yer some kinda burden, then you're my burden, you got that? One who's too damn nice for her own good half the time. But I had too... too many friends in life, who straight-up trusted me and still didn't tell me everything. When they didn't know where to turn... I didn't hear a damn word 'till they left, so I—
Edited (more words as a treat) 2024-08-29 22:37 (UTC)
[ She can feel his strength in that grip alone, and she's aware he could easily lift her right off her feet with a single arm, pitch her off to the side. She can't claim the same, but she also doesn't believe for a second that he would throw her.
She almost wishes he would. At least then there'd be nothing left to yell over when she's both frustrated and exhausted and she hadn't wanted to fight with Izou, she'd just wanted to let him know she cared, that he was supported, that she wasn't like the people who'd abandoned him--
But apparently keeping her thoughts to herself counts as abandonment, too. And she herself knows how it feels, as he'd angrily pointed out, and her grip on his front is less furious but just for something to hold onto as her voice cracks beneath the weight of this frustration. ]
I-if I'm your burden, t-then don't call me dumb, I'm trying--
[ She's not good at winning arguments when she's emotional, apparently. ]
( ... it's not the type of argument he can be proud of winning for once, the shudder in her body as she stutters a vibrant sensation through the fog. one that didn't bring him warmth, or joy, and very quickly, it works to absorb the feral upset he's launching at her, making his chest almost hollow in comparison to moments ago.
look at her and look at what you're doing, izou. izou, who always works to prove too much. izou, who... will even snarl at those he cares for the most.
his brow furrows, the worn remnants of grief from all this travel and failure and yelling at each other in the moment starting to crash. )
... Everyone's, tryin'. You, most of all. That, or I just see it more often... what with me always lookin' your way. I'm just glad we're... glad you're alive. That I get to hear your voice even if I'm sayin' or doin' the wrong thing, ... like, callin' you dumb.
( izou frees that hand from the tugged part of her collar unceremoniously,
... only to raise it to her chin, and tilt it up towards him, never letting up on the pressure that is him pushing her towards the wall.
he's just not thinking properly, really, which isn't a great excuse in itself. )
I'd drink up, all of what's makin' you feel bad... if I could. Take it straight to the soul. Burden or no.
( and he'll lean in, like he's about to kiss her. like a child does to a friend trapped against a tree, the air between them so dense in the hallway like this.
... but he is, unfortunately... so, so drunk right now. all it amounts to really is him brushing lips against her cheek as his head sinks down and into the crook of her neck, almost feverishly warm in comparison. this is what the water bottle was for... idiot. )
[ This is either incredibly romantic or still very tension-charged, or both; she can't quite decide, but he's telling her he's always looking her way and he's glad she's alive and it's true that they could have also been killed, not just an alarming amount of civilians, and as he leans in--
... Well. He sags a bit, and March releases him, if just to try and hold him up a little better as his nearly feverish face presses against her much cooler neck. ]
We need to get better at balancing it, I think. [ Both of them. Not holding things back for the sake of the other person, and she remains where she is, leaned back against the wall, heart thumping fiercely in her chest, sniffling to staunch back further tears. ]
... But I'm glad you're alive, too. Even if you... really need to lie down right now.
( all but murmuring into her neck, but. it's comfy here. smells nice, too.
because... well... and that's where his brain starts to do some catching up, though the "glad you're alive" bit makes him want to fall farther and stay longer.
no one's ever said that to him before. not even the ones who, he could see it on their face, were surprised to see he hadn't kicked the bucket yet, and that phrase alone has a tear welling up at the corner of his eye. one he'll try to blink back like it was never there, but it trickles down the crease and onto the exposed skin of her shoulder, lost to him. the urgency in her tone, though... he gets it. he's got it. his room is literally right... there, and all it takes is a little thinking to slide the door open automatically... and then back, and then open again.
[ Having his words feel like they're seeping into her skin, his breath ticklish, is entirely distracting, and March takes a minute to try to calm her everything, far too exhausted to really think much about doing anything else at the moment. Especially when that drop of moisture hits her shoulder, and she shifts a hand to rest on his shoulder, bracing, as she looks at the--
Okay, it's staying open. ]
... Okay. Do you want me to help you lay down? I know you can do it on your own, so it's just in case.
[ Let's not stomp on his pride even though he's slumped against her as it is. ]
( honestly, it's good that march is here. she's always got the task on lock. )
Hold, onna—
( the words are accompanied by him straightening up, the threads of whatever conversation he might've been conjuring unraveling like the softer parts of him always did with time spent around her. still. he didn't need to make more of a fuss than he'd already had, the way her voice had been thick and wet with tears near the tail-end of their argument still fresh in a mind that thumped with a new beat every minute. )
I can make it. I've... done enough, already.
( un-slumped, and with a grunt to pick up that water bottle i completely forgot about that magically got discarded in this thread, he shunts towards the very close opening of his room, only glancing back once a hand is resting on inside of the door's frame. only stopping there to... but what else could he possibly say after that, when they were both so torn up and had made that fact perfectly clear? when the familiar comfort of anger had brewed up inside him, to the point that he...
but he can think on all this later, in the cold hollow of the dark and with his head resting and alone, where he won't make things worse. still, he... he really ought to— )
Sorry.
( apologize. always apologizing. and before he can read the response in march's shoulders, izou looks away, stumbling forward on a foot and beyond. )
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synflux2024-08-22 04:03 am
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[ Given how much loss they'd just experienced. The lashing out likely would have been worse. Even though she'd wanted to automatically protest, too. That the reason they had chased after the kaiju, even if that hadn't been her decision, had still been to protect people from another onslaught. No one could have known what would have happened.
... Her heart is going to ache for a long time, though. She knows that. ]
Want me to at least walk... with you there? [ Not walk him. That's a pride thing. ]
no subject
( he slurs, knowing he's got to reek of alcohol, all those other times not having been as embarrassing. not like this time, when a heavy boulder of shame was weighing them all down. true... they might not have listened, but it could've made him feel better.
he can hear oryou now, if she were here, that damn snake. "better learn how to shape up around your girlfriend, you stupid slug." whatever. whatever... he— )
Y'know I... —it's good. You can, come with... I just. ( he runs a hand rather forcefully through his bangs, ruffling them. ) Didn't need this to be the first time I take ya... towards my room.
( which is, ... this way, yeah? the way he was headed. the water bottle is cool against his face, at least, his free hand reaching for march's shoulder to try and spin her around and drive her the right way with a light little push, a movement so nonchalant when his brain won't even pause to consider if it were too impolite in the moment. )
no subject
W-well, you know! You never know how things will turn out. [ Hasn't that literally been their everything? He doesn't have to take her in, but at the very least, she can walk with him. Keep one eye on him to make sure he doesn't wobble into a wall, even if he's got loads of experience walking while inebriated. ]
no subject
and it's true. he does have loads of experience in lifting one foot after the other, in eventually finding his way somewhere to sleep even if it weren't his room. although he had said he'd intended to wash, and it'd been on his busy mind initially, but in being in her vicinity, his thoughts tended to wander toward her. even as they come to the cold steel of his room's door, izou's tongue feels terrible in his mouth, and so he pauses. )
What're you... doin' after this? Just walkin' around, passing out water to everyone?
( he's got to steady himself again... so, let's say it's with a fist against the wall above her. which will look... interesting to anyone passing by. )
I... I worry about ya, a lot. You don't drown yourself in drink like me. You don't fret over stuff as often as I do, even when... you couldn't see, and last time I saw you were wearin' that sling. Said I was important and all with a smile, and not about... 'bout how you were hurt in the moment. Just all that stuff in the past.
( cool... now he's getting emotional. )
If you weren't feelin' alright... you'd ... you better tell me.
no subject
[ With a helpless little shrug, even as Izou steadies himself, and oh, isn't this a nostalgic position she finds herself in. Not pinned in, necessarily, and not too surprised by it this time, but...
She can't help but take a note of it, more surprised by what he has to say, actually. All this alcohol in his brain and he's still got enough space left in it to worry about her.
March hesitates for a minute, then meets his eye. ]
I don't like... worrying people. Like, at all. And people will stare at me and think I have a lot to worry about, just because I don't have my memories, so it's already something I'm fighting from the start.
... But of course I'm not okay right now. How could I be?
no subject
fighting against him, too, he realizes in the whorl of his hostile concern, only to struggle to process her stubbornness properly. he doesn't have a leg to stand on with how he'd kept quiet on things in the past for somewhat similar reasons. doesn't have a literal leg to stand on, almost, with how the heady feeling of alcohol is beating at the inside of his head right now either, but...
izou's lip curls to reveal his canines once more, only to settle with a look of uncertainty on his face. that fist doesn't leave the wall. in fact, it unfurls, dragging haphazardly along the steel surface to rest closer to march's head. to tap a finger lightly against stray petals of pink that make up the strands of her hair, and then say gruffly: )
I'm into strong-willed women, if ya... hadn't figured that out by now.
( with no finesse and no filter whatsoever, he continues, trying to be tender with his words where his posture isn't. )
But if you act, too tough. Where's all that pain gonna go?
no subject
[ She says this very pensively, gaze lowering. ]
Look, I know what I said, and I also know I'm... bad at it, myself. Talking when I'm upset. Maybe I was better at it when I had my memories.
[ But she just doesn't know, does she? ]
no subject
here he's trying to pick his way through his sozzled brain and be uplifting, when all this answer does is bubble up a weird sort of frustration he hasn't felt in a long ass time. the violent sort, piercing straight through the haze like a knife, to memories of someone who clammed up whenever it felt like discussing something was trouble, his eyes bent on the horizon.
a horizon that didn't involve izou much, in the end. )
... Ice sculptures. That 'sposed to be funny?
( his other hand raises to jab a finger directly into her chest, not letting up in the least with the pressure. )
You didn't have a, problem gettin' pissed at me for somethin' personal before. But now, ... with a whole city in ruin and our asses to blame for it, the words just aren't spillin' from your lips somehow. Who gives a damn if that has to do with how you were... in the past? I'm talkin' to you, here, right... now. Not whoever the hell you used t'be, March. But it's fine. If it's that hard to rely on me right now, then don't bother. I'm used to folks talkin' around me. S'not gonna stop me from givin' a shit, whether you...
( a pause, to bite into his lip and stop yapping. bite down enough in all his current stupidity and irritation to prick his bottom lip and draw a bead of red. )
no subject
Not a pleasant feeling, and March reacts before she fully processes, one hand coming up to try and push his finger back. Away from her. And she recognizes that feeling welling up in her, one she's pushed down several times already, because there are people she can yell at and lose her temper with, but Izou has been hurt before. Izou has suffered and been unable to trust and she gets that, she wants to be careful, but.
Something snaps. She pushes off against the wall, just enough to fist her hand into the front of whatever he's wearing, and the dullness in her eyes? That's gone. She's glaring. ]
I just told you I wasn't fine! If I thought I couldn't rely on you, I would've lied through my teeth! All of that--all of that, what I just said, is how I deal with it, whether you think I was joking or not! What do you want me to say, Izou?!
[ Oh, this is hurting her throat. Oh, she should stop. She should really stop.
But she doesn't. ]
You want me to say I was against chasing after it? You want me to say that I feel like I'd rather be back in that ice block again because at least then I didn't have to feel how much this hurts?! Fine! I had to make Kabru drink something before he keeled over from blaming himself! All I could do for Marcie was hold her!! I didn't say a thing about Malkuth's post because I knew it was going to explode and I didn't have the energy to say anything even though she's my best friend!
I-- [ She takes a wobbly breath, eyes glistening. ] I'd feel ten times worse if I made anyone deal with me right now! But sure, whatever, let's just say I'm joking!!
no subject
a little fist curls tight into the fabric of his jacket, pushing but not lifting, and izou growls right on back as a verbal assault is rightly launched in his direction. honestly, he didn't expect all that much to come from his outburst besides being let go, still underestimating her even now in his stupid, masculine-brained way, the torrent that is her upset crashing up against his unnecessary pride.
but there's no going back from it now, and there's a flush in his cheeks that isn't a result of all that drinking. )
Yeah, go on. Let it all out. Shout at me or whatever. 'Cause maybe I DID wanna hear this shit, 'bout yer struggles and who you were straight-up avoidin'. Even if it... it makes you feel worse. Even if it makes ya feel weak. Not like we saw eye-to-eye on any of it neither. It's not like... like all that hurt's gonna go away, or pop outta you in the form of... ice sculptures, or whatever the hell you just said. You're just gonna keep it inside. "Turn back into an ice-cube" my ass. I'm the biggest... idiot there is, but even that sounds, dumber than somethin' that's come outta my mouth.
( he's inching further towards her with his frame, a fist of his own coming off the wall to bunch up into the fabric of her collar.
only he can lift her, he's sure. toss her if he wanted.
and then watch her leave... like the rest of them, off to their deaths somewhere out of his reach, and izou's bottom lip shudders ever so lightly, the red smearing with all this growling he's doing. )
"Deal with you". Like you're... you're some kinda, burden. If you are one... if yer some kinda burden, then you're my burden, you got that? One who's too damn nice for her own good half the time. But I had too... too many friends in life, who straight-up trusted me and still didn't tell me everything. When they didn't know where to turn... I didn't hear a damn word 'till they left, so I—
no subject
She almost wishes he would. At least then there'd be nothing left to yell over when she's both frustrated and exhausted and she hadn't wanted to fight with Izou, she'd just wanted to let him know she cared, that he was supported, that she wasn't like the people who'd abandoned him--
But apparently keeping her thoughts to herself counts as abandonment, too. And she herself knows how it feels, as he'd angrily pointed out, and her grip on his front is less furious but just for something to hold onto as her voice cracks beneath the weight of this frustration. ]
I-if I'm your burden, t-then don't call me dumb, I'm trying--
[ She's not good at winning arguments when she's emotional, apparently. ]
no subject
look at her and look at what you're doing, izou. izou, who always works to prove too much. izou, who... will even snarl at those he cares for the most.
his brow furrows, the worn remnants of grief from all this travel and failure and yelling at each other in the moment starting to crash. )
... Everyone's, tryin'. You, most of all. That, or I just see it more often... what with me always lookin' your way. I'm just glad we're... glad you're alive. That I get to hear your voice even if I'm sayin' or doin' the wrong thing, ... like, callin' you dumb.
( izou frees that hand from the tugged part of her collar unceremoniously,
... only to raise it to her chin, and tilt it up towards him, never letting up on the pressure that is him pushing her towards the wall.
he's just not thinking properly, really, which isn't a great excuse in itself. )
I'd drink up, all of what's makin' you feel bad... if I could. Take it straight to the soul. Burden or no.
( and he'll lean in, like he's about to kiss her. like a child does to a friend trapped against a tree, the air between them so dense in the hallway like this.
... but he is, unfortunately... so, so drunk right now. all it amounts to really is him brushing lips against her cheek as his head sinks down and into the crook of her neck, almost feverishly warm in comparison. this is what the water bottle was for... idiot. )
no subject
... Well. He sags a bit, and March releases him, if just to try and hold him up a little better as his nearly feverish face presses against her much cooler neck. ]
We need to get better at balancing it, I think. [ Both of them. Not holding things back for the sake of the other person, and she remains where she is, leaned back against the wall, heart thumping fiercely in her chest, sniffling to staunch back further tears. ]
... But I'm glad you're alive, too. Even if you... really need to lie down right now.
no subject
Mm-huh. Work, on it.
( all but murmuring into her neck, but. it's comfy here. smells nice, too.
because... well... and that's where his brain starts to do some catching up, though the "glad you're alive" bit makes him want to fall farther and stay longer.
no one's ever said that to him before. not even the ones who, he could see it on their face, were surprised to see he hadn't kicked the bucket yet, and that phrase alone has a tear welling up at the corner of his eye. one he'll try to blink back like it was never there, but it trickles down the crease and onto the exposed skin of her shoulder, lost to him. the urgency in her tone, though... he gets it. he's got it. his room is literally right... there, and all it takes is a little thinking to slide the door open automatically... and then back, and then open again.
there we go. )
no subject
Okay, it's staying open. ]
... Okay. Do you want me to help you lay down? I know you can do it on your own, so it's just in case.
[ Let's not stomp on his pride even though he's slumped against her as it is. ]
no subject
Hold, onna—
( the words are accompanied by him straightening up, the threads of whatever conversation he might've been conjuring unraveling like the softer parts of him always did with time spent around her. still. he didn't need to make more of a fuss than he'd already had, the way her voice had been thick and wet with tears near the tail-end of their argument still fresh in a mind that thumped with a new beat every minute. )
I can make it. I've... done enough, already.
( un-slumped, and with a grunt to pick up that water bottle i completely forgot about that magically got discarded in this thread, he shunts towards the very close opening of his room, only glancing back once a hand is resting on inside of the door's frame. only stopping there to... but what else could he possibly say after that, when they were both so torn up and had made that fact perfectly clear? when the familiar comfort of anger had brewed up inside him, to the point that he...
but he can think on all this later, in the cold hollow of the dark and with his head resting and alone, where he won't make things worse. still, he... he really ought to— )
Sorry.
( apologize. always apologizing. and before he can read the response in march's shoulders, izou looks away, stumbling forward on a foot and beyond. )