♛ This place is pretty dead ♛

[devouringdeep]

Who: Childe + You!
When: All of November/December/However long I want
What: This is our monthly catch-all
Warnings: TBA, tw childe

Comments

sometime during the cultural festival idk

[mermaidcursed]

( sometimes your big brother older friend is a foreigner. and someitmse, that foreigner is absolutely hopeless with chopsticks. so here we have a bit of peace during the commotion, where nene has set out mysterious plastic cups that are covered well, and a red pair of these.

she's seen his attempts.




they are bad.

when he's finally ready, she smiles, and pours out one of the cups onto the table to reveal a bunch of standard marshmallows, and then sets out a bowl before pointing to her notebook. )

we're starting with these so you can get used to the grip and positioning. once you get used to that, we can take the guides off.

( that said, this is only one cup... what could be in the others? )

absolutely crying goodbye

[devouringdeep]

[So.

It's come to this.

He hasn't dared to touch the trainer sticks just yet, looking at them like he's prepared for them to turn into knives and try to stab him. He's quiet, apprehensive, and very clearly would rather be literally anywhere else.

He still doesn't take the chopsticks, but when he looks up at her he flashes the most sheepish, almost nervous looking smile that's ever been on his face.]

We don't really have to do this... Do we? I get by well enough!

>:3c

[mermaidcursed]

( she looks at him, and then recalls how he speared a dumpling. ....... nope, they're doing this. )

if not me, then komaeda-san. your choice.

( and she fucking means it too, don't test her. )

[devouringdeep]

[Somehow it's less humiliating to do this with Nene. He doesn't reply verbally, though there is a very clear disgruntled pout on his face as he slouches a bit. A slow inhale, followed shortly thereafter by an even slower exhale.

He's preparing himself.

And then he reaches out, picking up the chopsticks and holding them in a closed fist. Definitely the way he's not supposed to. Like he's about to use them as a shank.]

Okay.

[mermaidcursed]

( nene stares at his hands and then gently whaps it. after which she picks up a pair of her own, without any of the guide clips and demonstrates. it's not a skewer, childe, it's a leverage system! also, put the finger guides on, god. they're your size adn everything! )

THE HUNT

[wolfetracks]

( somewhere, childe is making a horrible decision. elsewhere, sidney is... trying to be a responsible authority figure. being out of commission entirely the past month- stress induced illness followed by a legitimate cold, jesus christ- and chaperoning. going between classes and booths in the hallway, making sure things are going well, if the students need anything... a lot of legwork for a tired man, but if he lets the depression eat him, where will he be?

...

he considers, briefly, retreating for a small nap, at the very least. in an hour or so, he may regret not taking himself up on that as he descends the stairs to the third floor. what's here... ah, the cooking contest, the costume booth...

he's unaware of anything that could possibly go wrong for him, personally. )

[devouringdeep]

[Truthfully, he’s already written off the spell thing as nothing more than a little placebo to goad people into acting upon their wants when they lack the courage to do so regularly. The single moment of strangeness was perhaps nothing more than his mind playing tricks and conjuring up images to go along with Komaeda’s narration. He certainly feels fine.

He’d decided to move on from the kissing booth soon thereafter, though not before checking in on Noah to make sure the boy was alright. He certainly had seemed fine - flustered, mostly - so Childe felt pretty confident that things were safe enough for him to continue on and enjoy his day. His trip to the booth marked his second floor wanderings as finished, which meant it was time to head onwards and upwards.

His hands are in his pockets as he starts up the steps to the third floor, shifting to the side to let a particularly excited gaggle of first years rush past him. There’s an amused smile on his face as he watches them race downward, shaking his head with a soft chuckle before resuming on his way.

It’s nice to get some time to relax, honestly. Ideally he would love to spend his relaxation in the throes of battle, but even he knows how to appreciate the downtime every now and then.]

[wolfetracks]

( this is when an ordinary- which, given sidney's recent life, just means 'good'- day turns very bad. because of course it does, because this is his life. ... at least childe isn't, you know, the october 1st incident at least.

sidney passes childe while he's checking the forums on the PDA- it's mostly normal, for once. just kids advertising their classroom's booths and events, lost item posts, the like. maybe he'll swing by the lost and found and see if anything's been turned in.

legitimately i just want to give sidney one more moment of oblivious peace before childe gets That Way. )

Sometime During December

[redoutlaw]

[Jason had realized two things after having taken on the role of the Drama Teacher.

1. He had missed the flare of it and getting lost in reading lines and acting. That had always been his favorite part about theater.

2. He hated being a teacher.

There was too much work and somehow it felt more tedious than jumping off rooftops on a nightly basis and fighting things twice his size. It was dealing with the kids that are taking his class thinking that it was an easy pass— and seeing them failing— and then dealing with the fact that he had to grade papers now.

That was the worse part.

He could deal with literally anything else.

Papers, though?

Ugh.

Right now, though, he was just dealing with set building which was at least something he enjoyed. He had dry paint on his hands and some even on his face that he never noticed, though at the moment he was moving boxes to his classroom to finish said set-pieces.

Currently, he had five boxes stacked on top of each other and carried them very carefully down the hallway. He couldn't see jack shit in front of him, but he was hoping that if someone did come running down the hallway they would at least swerve to avoid him.

This was very much a "I don't want to take multiple trips with the grocery bags" situation.]

[devouringdeep]

[The best part about being a teacher for PE was that he didn't have any papers to grade, which meant that his free time remained his own. Currently he had decided to spend it mostly... Wandering. Contemplative.

Lonely, yet wanting to be alone above all else. With Zhongli having disappeared into thin air, there were less ties keeping him attached to his personal worries for those here. He was tired. He wanted to go home, and he was contemplating what he might need to do in order to leave this place.

It was in such a moment of self contemplation when he stumbled upon Jason in the hall, and very nearly might have crashed headlong into him upon turning the corner if his reflexes weren't as sharp as he'd honed them to be. He blinked a few times as he stopped in his tracks, momentarily surprised before he was barking out a laugh.]

Hey, Stripes. Need a hand?

[redoutlaw]

Huh?

[Jason stopped walking, probably because suddenly hearing a voice when being unable to see them would only lead to a disaster. It took him a moment to register who it was, a smile crossing his face at the sound of Childe’s voice.]

Hey, Red. I wouldn’t say no to a hand or two.

[devouringdeep]

Luckily for you, I've got a pair. [A currently numb and unfeeling pair, but they were there for him to utilize nonetheless. He reached up with his left, the Vision on his hip giving a dull pulse as three of the five boxes were lifted securely up off the stack by a cascade of water and lowered into his own arms. From there the liquid evaporated once more, leaving the cardboard surprisingly dry.]

Where ya headed?

[redoutlaw]

That’s never not going to be cool.

[Jason laughed a bit, shifting the boxes that he still had so he could hold them a little better.]

Heading back to my classroom. Just needed some supplies for the set I’m making for the play.

[A sly little smirk crossed his lips as he started walking again.]

Don’t suppose your hands could help me with that too?

[devouringdeep]

I'm sure my hands could help you with a lot of things.

[It's said with an easy chuckle, and he shifts the weight of the boxes just a bit, a new spark of interest in his eye]

So. What kind of play?

01/03 | 11:58 PM Void Time | For Jason

[devouringdeep]

[Contrary to what Signora and the other Harbingers might like to think, Childe thought himself a rather sharp and analytical type of guy. It wasn't like he didn't know how to use his brain, it was just that resulting to his skills was a more fun way of going about things.

Point being, he wasn't an idiot. And when he'd woken up a few months back choking and writhing on wounds and water in ways that definitely felt familiar... He'd put the pieces together. And had decided that he didn't want to put himself at a disadvantage like that again any time soon.

Which is where Jason had come in.

Childe wasn't exactly sure when the consequences were supposed to hit, which lead to him hanging around Jason like some sort of mother hen. He'd neglected to tell Jason about the pending aches and hurts, of course. Just in case it might have swayed the guy from doing what he needed to get done. He had an inkling, however, that things might hit once Jason went to sleep, as that was how things had happened for him personally.

This led him to kidnapping Jason. Not literally, of course, as he'd merely asked and Jason had agreed, but the result had been the two of them spending the night in one of the classrooms rather than in the dorms. Nothing had happened the night prior, but Childe had decided he wanted to wait at least a week to be certain, as his own aches had arrived months after the fact.

The problem was that the floor wasn't exactly comfortable to sleep on, however. And he was too restless to sleep regardless, which was how he found himself half-sitting up against the wall, rolling the Gnosis around idly between his fingertips.]

[redoutlaw]

[When Childe had asked him to spend the night together with him, a million things ran through his head and none of them had been “sleeping on the cold floor of a classroom”. He didn’t actually mind it, it wasn’t like this would be the first time he slept on the floor, but he did find it hilarious that this is where Childe chose to take him.

The guys been acting weird ever since their… tussle is not the correct word to use, but tussle earlier. He figured it was just because of the situation they found themselves in this month, considering how weird it was, so Jason didn’t bother to pry.

He was honestly just happy to have some company. Nene was usually with Noah, and while he loved spending time with her he knows that it’s not him that she needed right now.

So…

That’s how he found himself laying on the floor with his head on Childe’s lap, drifting in and out of sleep. As bony as Childe seemed most of the time in his uniform, he was comfortable enough.]

[devouringdeep]

[A pulse of golden light softly emanated from the Gnosis, illuminating Jason's features and causing him a moment of pause as he considered the man before him. He'd decided Jason was one of the ones he'd miss when this ended - one way or another. And while he wasn't quite sure what exactly they were to each other at the moment, he knew that they'd grown close enough to call one another friend.

Granted. They'd engaged in quite a bit of non-platonic behavior, so perhaps "friend" couldn't be considered a strong enough word. Though Childe wouldn't exactly go as far as to call them lovers, either.

He reached out to skim his fingers across Jason's hair with a small hum, tilting his head a bit as he studied him within the slowly dimming light and wishing he could feel the texture beneath his fingertips. If nothing else, he'd like to be the one to do the honors of killing the man before anyone else could, if it came down to that being the way to escape this place. He'd be sure Jason got a fitting end, one denoting someone of great strength and martial prowess.

He could practically picture it now, a big blowout confrontation where they both gave their all, blood soaking the snow outside as he drove a polearm through Jason's chest. Maybe they could take each other out in the process; that would be rather fitting, wouldn't it?]

[redoutlaw]

[Sleep was never easy for Jason, especially coming back from the dead once or twice. It had always been full of nightmares that woke him in the middle of the night, or he was just too paranoid to actually sleep— waking up at every single little sound.

Somehow Childe’s hand on his hair was soothing enough to actually lull him to sleep, which was surprising to him. It felt nice, though, which was something that had been severely lacking in the months that he’s been here.

It was because he had allowed himself to fall into that small sense of comfort that when the first stab of pain hit it all but took his breath away. Green eyes shot open as his hand fell to his stomach, gripping the shirt he wore as if expecting to find it wet with blood.

His first thought had been that Childe had stabbed him, because honestly Who Else would do that right now? He sat up on shaken arms, eyes falling to his stomach in confusion before moving to look at Childe.]

[devouringdeep]

[The suddenness of the action had Childe jolting just a bit in response, blinking in surprise as it pulled him out of his thoughts and into the present. It took him a moment to log that yes, this is what he had been anticipating might happen, and given where Jason was clutching it made that fact very clear.

He gave the Gnosis a shake, coaxing out another little pulse of light so they could see better.]

Oh... Right. It must have slipped my mind. [It hadn't.] Just breathe, it'll pass soon enough. [Maybe. His had lasted quite some time, and he could remember the panicked clawing he'd done to get to Zhongli on the bunk above and wake him to alert the former Archon of the fact that he must be dying. Because that had clearly been the only answer.

He'd then proceeded to all but pass out in the guy's arms due to the lack of oxygen before the feeling had finally gone away. They'd typed back and forth on Childe's PDA for a bit before he'd managed to fall back asleep.

Zhongli had been... Quite a bit more comforting than Childe himself was being right about now. He should probably remedy that.]

You've been fatally stabbed before, right? It's nothing you haven't been through, you can handle it. [In hindsight that probably wasn't any more of a comfort.]

[redoutlaw]

[It wasn’t so much a new pain, but it was the surprise of it that had taken him by surprise. He narrowed his eyes at Childe, because everything he had just said sounded like bullshit.

Childe didn’t forget.

This was the reason he had asked Jason to do it, not some bullshit excuse of “oh my hands are numb what if I slip”.

Bitch.]

I’m gonna—

[Jason let out a pained groan, deciding that if Childe was going to be useful he might as well be something to lean on.]

— punch you when this is done.

[He’d either be died, in which case he’d crawl his way back just to punch Childe in the face, or he’d be fine and in that case he’d break his nose.

His face was now pressed against Childe’s shoulder as he panted; hand gripping his shirt and clawing at the area as if that would make the pain go away. It was traveling, moving from his stomach and up to his head, though that was probably just the loss of blood.

He was also cold, hands now trembling in their vice grip of his shirt.]

1/07, guess who was told about the crimes :)

[silentabyss]

[Noah emerges out of the woods about a day after Childe's little murder confession, though he doesn't actually manage to find time to talk to the guy until some time in the morning on the seventh. Really, he's disappointed more than anything — imagine coming back from the infinite forest with pine needles and twigs in your hair and scratches on your cheeks from the terrain, freezing cold, only to find out one of your big brother figures has actually been quietly disposing of people?

Jeez.

He manages, somehow, to locate Childe — wherever Childe may be — and the only thing he can manage is an arms-crossed look of disdain. Disdain that he can't exactly maintain, because Noah simply wants to understand why. And so, that's what he asks, leaning against the nearest doorframe or wall or Solid Object To Lean Against.]

Childe... why? Why'd you do all that?

"wherever" you know where he is

[devouringdeep]

[There's the slightest tilt of his head to indicate Childe had heard Noah's inquiry, though it doesn't quite seem like he's processed it just yet. He's standing in front of the auditorium, seemingly supported by the inky black of the reaching void itself. He almost writes Noah's voice off as a product of the soft whispers he'd been listening to for... A while now. What day is it? He's not too sure how much time has passed by, actually.

He does turn after a moment's silence, however. There's a sense of vertigo that washes over him at tearing his eyes away from the darkness, as well as the briefest feeling of deja vu at their current stations. Same place they'd first spoken, all those months before.]

Do what?

you're tellin me noah did more parkour crimes

[silentabyss]

[The same place. The same spot. Where once stood an incorrigible child with tunnel vision about rights and wrongs who thought he could fix everyone at one point and make them see the "right" way to do things... now stands that same child, but with a want to understand the hows and the whys first and foremost.

Murder is wrong. He knows it's wrong. It's always been wrong. But instead of lashing out, getting angry, or refusing to interact, he just has to know why Childe would do it. There are people in the world he'll never understand, like Dito or like Joshua, sometimes like Add — part of him hopes Childe won't become one of those.]

The murders. Throwing people into the void. Why did you do it?

[devouringdeep]

[Ah... That's what this is about, then. Childe had briefly hoped that word would never reach Noah's ears, but even he knew how unlikely that was. It just wasn't feasible, not with how interconnected the boy was in this place.

There's a soft, huffed sigh, and then he's turning his head to look back into the abyss once more. So familiar at this point, yet still as alien as it had been the first time he'd set eyes on it.]

Who told... [Well... No, that wasn't important, was it? Noah had a right to know regardless. Childe shakes his head, and with a wave of his hand the moisture in the air crowds in on itself to form a thin, undulating bridge of liquid for Noah to pick his way across if he wants to. Because Childe wants to walk further in, and the quickest way to get Noah to understand would probably be to show him.]

Do you really want to know? Wouldn't you rather walk away and allow things return to normal? We could pretend that nothing's changed, and you could simply trust that I have your best interests at heart. [He knows the kid better than to think that Noah could ever be able to take the path of least resistance, but at least he can say he extended the offer regardless.]

[silentabyss]

[He would've found out somehow. Secrets don't stay secrets in this place, not for long. When secrets are kept, Noah goes poking his nose into them; he was kept in the dark long enough in the past for it to make him angry when he doesn't know something, when it's not revealed, as if he's privy to every bit of information floating around here.]

I can't do that. Not here.

[Noah has his trepidations about walking directly into the void. A void which he used to think was Henir — they might as well be the same, though. Henir's space is sort of like this, just a bunch of floating cubes and things to jump over, a boundless abyss that you fall into and you can't get out of. Childe could dump him in there, dissolve the bridge and walk awway.

He'd like to think Childe won't, though, so he takes a step forward.]

I want to know. I want to understand.