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 Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 12:35 pm
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It had been too long.
That's what Shiloh kept telling himself anyway. It had been way too ******** long. Jamie had left hours ago for his weird Moonwalker bullshit, and he still hadn't come back. Maybe he was off gallivanting? Oh, maybe he was answering that call from Finn now. He had gotten one before he left, right? So...
He checked his phone again; nothing. No calls, no texts, no—was that the airplane mode symbol in the corner? He felt something cold gnarl up his chest, work its way into his gut, strangle the life out of him. How could anyone—literally anyone—be this ******** stupid? He flipped it on.
The text message he got almost made him scream. Something was wrong. Something was wrong. Something was so ******** wrong.
He told him not to ******** around. He'd told him to deal with the full moon bullshit first. He had right? Shiloh Beaumont was not considering worst-possible situations, except he totally was. He was totally thinking about finding his boyfriend mangled in the woods, or dead in a ditch, or lost and ******** up and mutilated somewhere in town because holy ******** s**t it was Blackfriar's all over again.
His coat was thrown on haphazardly, his bottoms still soft and flannel and clearly meant for sleeping only. Shiloh didn't have the ******** time of day to switch into anything else.
...
...He'd come to regret this, sort of, he realized as he meandered through the State forest. It was ******** cold, he was ******** lost, his flashlight was not equipped for these things, and the worst ******** part was he didn't know where to even look. Sure, there was a trail. There were fifty ******** trails. He was pretty sure a rabid moonwalker didn't give a s**t about sticking to trails either. Hey, at least he was so beyond fear that he had transcended the crying stage.
"JAMIE?" His hand was cupped around his mouth, his voice hoarse. How many times had he called out his name only to be greeted with silence? Maybe he wasn't even here. Maybe he already was dead. Even reaching out with their newfound mental link turned up nothing.
He'd keep looking till he found the body, though.
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Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 1:00 pm
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Whether fate was cruel or kind in leading him here through deep woods and winter chill, Shiloh was getting close. It wouldn't be apparent at first, of course. Answering the call was impossible in Jamie's current state. Hell, he didn't have the cognizance to recognize words let alone his own name. Since his fitful fall beneath this tree, Jamie barely had the will to function at all.
The calls kept coming, though, the garbled nonsense of a voice growing closer, louder, ominous in his sensitive ears. The world was a haze of painful stimuli he couldn't properly parse through, but the sound jolted his instincts awake like flipping a light switch.
A shriek quieted the crickets as Jamie forced himself to his feet, stumbled, slammed into the tree, and tripped forward again. The ground was cold and hard and bruised his chin. He cried, he bit his own tongue, his instincts told him to shut the hell up before he was discovered. Like an injured wild hare, life or death waited beyond the underbrush like a lynx.
It hurt, but Jamie forced himself to stand again. On weary, wobbly legs he tried to get away, but couldn't even make himself run.
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Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 2:48 pm
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Not even the wind blew.
Shiloh felt that shriek in every fiber of his body. Every tendon, every muscle, every inch of his skin tensed and pricked with something so primal, so afraid, that for a second he couldn't even move. At Blackfriars, he could still charge forward. In Court, he could still spit at the Spinel Lady's shoes. In the woods under the pitch cover of the night, he was helpless, his heart was caught in his throat, and his instinct wept.
His hand was shaking as he lifted it, his palm turning upright as he whispered something silent under his breath. Coaxed into reality, a ball of light lit against the flesh of his hand. With a gentle push it ascended upwards. Finally he legs started to obey and he pressed forward, beads of sweat trailing down his face.
"J...Jamie...?"
He wandered off the beaten path just a hair. The foliage around him was dense and dead as it struggled through the process of re-growth, but it bent to his will, it parted like the Red Sea around his feet and fell back into place neatly behind him. Actually, all the trees in his general vicinity shuddered with his own anxiety. He was trying to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to discover.
There really wasn't any way he could be. The relief he felt almost made his heart stop. He'd found him—actually found him—and his common sense dulled under the weight of his emotions.
"Holy ********>, Jamie over here, I'm here, hey—" He started towards him, his mind reaching out towards him, Come back he said, let's go home.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 11:40 am
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The only thing Shiloh would get when he reached out was static, like jolts of ice and fire, stabbing and painful. If there were a layer beneath the subconscious, that's where Jamie's mind would lay, forced by the torturous nature of his madness to recede to the depths and let instinct take over. Even if Shiloh managed to dig deep enough to slip past the top layer of nothingness, all he'd manage to unlock in return would be the wild, fleeting thoughts of a prey animal fearing a predator.
Adrenaline was slowly, surely building back up in Jamie's system, spreading like a virus through his veins, warming his aching muscles. Fight or flight, that was the question as it always presented itself. Where Jamie might've been able to will his legs to run this time, instead he turned on Shiloh. His eyes were wide and wet.
A strange, unplaceable sound garbled from his throat in warning. It would be just like Finn. If Shiloh got too close, if he kept pushing, Jamie would lash out. Fight was his only option, that's what his body told him, until the threat was distracted enough that he could run.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 12:33 pm
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He recoiled backwards like he'd been burned—branded—cut, sliced, maimed. Something painful radiated through his head, something wholly primal and raw shook his core, split him at the seams, and then it was gone. If his mind could bleed it would; the sensation left a mark, a enormous missing piece like someone had just rend their claws through the soft matter of their headspace. It made him nauseous and sick.
And it took Shiloh a second to realize where he was—here in the present—staring at this boy that he loved so <********> much. Jamie's expression was pained. Of all the things in life that could render him unsound, it was the look that his boyfriend was giving him right now. He was already coming to terms with the thought of failing Melany; here, right here, was he going to lose Jamie too?
"J-Jamie...?" He took a step forward, ignorant of the way his hair stood on end, the way his head pounded from the inside behind his eyes. It was like Blackfrairs, walking headfirst into danger, his body willing and his instincts not. "I-I—It's okay, I'm here, l-listen..."
Fear was not Micheal's vicious claws. Fear was not the Spinel Lady and the coldness of her voice. Fear was not Sunny's manic laughter, her hands torn and dripping black with blood.
This was.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 1:45 pm
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There was nothing to worry about, probably. Maybe. All Jamie had to do was survive a few more days out here and stay as far away from civilization as possible. If he could manage that, despite the fact he hardly had any control over himself, everything would be okay.
Except that was hardly a comfort, was it? For someone who cared, someone like Shiloh, it wasn't entirely surprising the way he reacted.
Jamie on the other hand, though he'd feel awful for all of this when he woke up, could only see his greatest love as a threat, a roadblock to his safety. When Shiloh took a step forward, Jamie took a step back. His bones were cold and achey, his body shaking, his ears tall and alert. Not unlike before, his joints popped when he hunched over on himself. Even as he did so, his eyes never left Shiloh.
Then, without warning, he lunged. He went for the neck, the shoulder, the area in between. It was just like before, just like with Finn.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 1:58 pm
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He knew the second that Jamie crouched, the second that his posture went from flight-to-defensive, that he was going to lunge. He'd been in so many scrapes that he'd be stupid not to assume that, but he was still walking forward, still had his arms outstretched with the foolish thought that maybe this would be like the movies or the books, where touch and hugs and all that gooey disgusting s**t would be enough to snap someone out of their mind blogging pain. It didn't work like that; why would it? This was real life.
But he didn't have anything to worry about, not like Finn would or any other ordinary person. What was the worst thing that could happen? He'd die? He wouldn't wish his blood on Jamie's hand, but death was never something he actively avoided. Tension pricked the back of his head, right at the base of his skull, his magic digging its fingers into the fleshy part of his brain matter, calling him stupid, calling him out. You're a ******** idiot.
"I'm really sorry..." He told Jamie as he jumped, because he was and he always would be.
He let the teeth connect with his flesh, his body turning at the last second so they sunk into the meat of his upper arm. He didn't scream. His jaw clenched tight enough for his teeth to crack, but he did not scream. Instead he grabbed him with his other arm, his skin immediately erupting in a veil of beautiful flowers. The trees around them shuddered, nothing made any sound except for the deluge of leaves from the sudden force; a shockwave heard through the forest, resounding, painful.
He used the momentum to slam Jamie into the ground, even if it meant going with him. Shiloh didn't have the physical strength to overcome a feral were, but what he lacked in his body he made up for in his magic.
"Let go," His breathing was labored, "For ******** sake, you have to let go, let go!" Don't make me hit you. The roots from the trees groaned as they lifted from the ground, twining around Jamie's frame where they good, trying to entangle him against the earth.
He reached out mentally again, whacked against the shell of Jamie's headspace like he would a fist to his jaw. It'd hurt, but it'd hurt Shiloh too, and in his ******** up reasoning that made it a little better.
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 6:10 am
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What hurt more; hearing Jamie scream like that or feeling the exact mental agony that he was in? Shiloh had been silent up until then, but the second Jamie's jaw released his shoulder he pushed himself backwards with an awkward sort of cry, his breathing laboured, his head pulsing with waves upon waves of pain. He curled in on himself as his chest contracted in dry heaves against the ground.
His wound was ablaze now, lit red with roses and thorns that curled around him like a protective secondary skin. Shiloh touched his sleeve and found it sticky with blood. He didn't want to look at Jamie, but he forced himself to.
"I-It's okay..." he breathed, though it sounded more like he was convincing himself, "It's okay, it's going to be okay, it's going to be o-okay..."
The light ball he conjured floathed above them like a fire fly.
There was a harsh realization that Jamie would have to endure this manic pain for days, and the thought sunk into his gut like a lead sword. He couldn't leave him here, but he couldn't put him in the Otherworld either, because he'd never live with himself if Jamie's body washed up ashore like Micheal.
He had a number of people in his phone, but his hands were shaking and his eyes were unfocused and he didn't care who he called, he just hit the green dial key.
shibrogane melany pls pick up the phone |
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 2:22 pm
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The light was one of Jamie's favorite things. It was a comfort in the darkness of their room, it was a game they played sometimes, it was a lot of things that meant so much. Right now he couldn't even focus on it. The flitting firefly only registered as static in the corner of his eye.
A dull throbbing beat at his temple, silencing his screams into small whimpers instead. Struggling had already proven futile—Shiloh's vines had him held tight to the earth, uselessly immobile. This was where he'd die, his prey-mind told him. He'd be eaten. Despite the way his body understood that fact, he continued to squirm, managing only the smallest of movements.
More whimpers, pitiful, weary. A plea without words. Please, please, I don't want to die.
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 2:34 pm
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Was that Melany? Oh for ******** sake...
"Jamie's--" he sucked in a short choppy breath, the suddenness making him cough. She sounded so tinny and far away. He sounded like he was probably dying. For a while, his end was silent sans the rustling of vines and roots and leaves. Another breath, "Jamie's screaming. He turned. My god Melany he turned I don't know what to do, I don't know, I don't--"
Freaking out to Melany was becoming a habit, it seemed. The blood slowly seeped down his sleeve, his flowers populating in slowly after it.
"The woods. The State woods. I-I had to pin him down because he attacked me, he--Melany he didn't mean to, he didn't, I don't want him to die, I don't--Jamie for <******** sake stop, stop, stop crying it's okay"
It very obviously wasn't okay.
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 3:41 pm
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"It's okay," said Melany, who sounded like she was getting out of bed, who was pattering across the floor. "It's magic stuff, right? Shiloh, I can turn magic stuff off. It's gonna be okay, okay? Stay on the phone with me?"
She sounded like she was already out the door. "Okay, stand still and think about Jamie for a second. Don't do anything else but think about Jamie. You probably already are but give me a second--"
And then she was there, half-stumbling into a tree. "Shiloh, your arm," she said, but then she looked at Jamie, writhing. "I can make it stop. Can you find a way into the otherworld? That'll help, right?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 5:51 pm
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Shiloh did exactly as he was told. He thought about Jamie, about all the good times, resisting the overwhelming urge to reach out with his mind and cling, because he knew it'd only hurt them both. Even now his muscles stung with residual pain from their shattered link. It was something that he hoped would be repaired after this, but the fallout would still be ever present, he was sure of it; namely the guilt. It was one of the few reasons why he did lash back, why he did fight, because he knew if he took the onslaught with his hands behind his back then Jamie would only have more to feel bad about. Shiloh wasn't a quitter, even if he wanted to lay down day after day after day. Maybe he would've done just that this time last year, but the stakes were higher now.
Giving up meant more than letting down his friends or his brother or his boyfriend. He was magic now.
"I'm still here." He said under his breath, his movements still erratic. He was by Jamie's side now, trying fruitlessly to soothe him, knowing damn well his presence was only making it worse. He couldn't help it. Jamie's agony was palpable and he was resisting the urge to scream again, fighting back all the tears and screams when Jamie hissed at his every touch. "I'm still here, it's just—god—" his voice cracked.
It went on like that for some time, the ball of light serving as a bright beacon in the dark depths of the woods. Melany's entrance made his head swivel fast enough to produce whiplash, his eyes wide and glassy. For a second, it was hard to tell who was the feral scared animal between him and Jamie, at least if one was going by expression alone. "Y-You found us." He sounded absolutely dumbfounded, his phone still in a death grip between his fingers. The flowers were swathing up his arm now, peeking out from under his shirt collar, poking out from his sleeves. Despite the gentle colors of the flora, the blood was still bubbled and scabbed underneath, the sight gruesome all on its own.
"Don't worry about my arm," He said quickly, "It's fine," It wasn't. "It's fine, O-Otherworld, I can do that, I can do this, I can do this." He wasn't... panicking as badly as the few times Melany had seen him, but this was a focused sort of anxiety. His body was still trembling, but it was a given due to his pain and blood loss and fear. The magic pulsed around him, angry, concerned, a slew of things that he thought might be all in his head rather than anything else. "I c-can do this."
Open the door, open the door, open the door, open the door.
He curled in on himself, willing the magic to bend around them, to break around them, to open around them, to slow and meld and melt and for time to just stop.
shibrogane he doesn't have a "can get to the otherworld power" so ur call if it works by proxy of principal |
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2017 11:07 pm
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Melany nodded at him. There was no smile on her face, not this time. "I kind of thought I could," she said, and she crouched down next to Jamie. "Hey," she said to him, reaching out to rub small circles behind one of his ears, as if he were a real rabbit that she had to soothe. "You're okay. All of us are here, and we're together, and it's okay. Shiloh and I are gonna fix this, Jamie, we are." As she did, that cool anesthetic feeling flooded through Jamie, shutting down his powers one-by-one-by-one. His transformation faded last, as Shiloh pulled them through into the otherworld.
Time slowed, stretching like taffy. Melany didn't seem to notice. She kept rubbing circles behind Jamie's very-human ear, making calming sounds that were snippets of hummed songs and words.
"C'mere, Shiloh," she said, gesturing. "Has he transformed before?"
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