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code by [personal profile] transilience
dermondversteckt: (desC200)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[When the Goblin wakes, it's with a start - eyes glowing softly as the magic some part of him was using recedes. This isn't the first time he's had this dream, all fire and blood and damnation....

But it is the first time he hasn't woken up alone.

'Dearest.'

The softly spoken word lands on him hard, echoing back from years ago, from another pair of strong arms that never got to hold him this way -

He looks at Vicious, wide-eyed, looking for a moment less like an ancient predator and more like a scared young man. (Something about that look is - how could it be familiar?)

And then...shuddering, he reaches out to wrap his arms around the Shade, burying his face against soft white hair. He has no idea what Vicious had seen. He can still hear his son screaming for him.]


My Knight.

I-

I'm-

[A knot in his throat chokes him, and he sobs again. His voice is so different when he murmurs again, so quiet.]

...You stayed.
dermondversteckt: (l7Rzx2z)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[This is...very new to Kronid. New to a man for whom very little novelty still exists. He's crying, shaking, rattled by something he's moved years beyond; that would be strange enough.

But...then there's more to it.

'You're all right.'

'You're not alone.'

He...finds himself believing it, held tightly, being kissed, being soothed. How long had it been since someone had done this for him? How long since it was Real?

He means it. He cares. For YOU. Let someone care for once. Our chains have gotten so heavy.

Let him help.


I don't know how.

You've already begun.

The choked sobs turn to open ones - the dam has, for the moment, broken open, and Kronid is adrift in the current. He cries for a man long dead, who is and isn't who Vicious is holding. Crying feels strange. He hasn't done it in a long time. He isn't sure he could have, before.

For now, he does. He sobs, and he clings, and he shakes, and he whispers, face buried, soft and without the usual edge:]


...Thank you.

I...I don't deserve this, you know. Deserve you.

But...

I'm so glad you're here.
dermondversteckt: (92R6TYy)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


Of course I did. I-

He....

[It's funny, really. How similar these men are without knowing it. Perhaps the Fog has a sense of humor, or perhaps fate does - because while Vicious is at war with himself:

What am I - what are you doing?

I'm lucid. Please. Let me tell him-

Stop it. I'm not you any more. You're dead.

That's what I thought, too. But your heart leapt just now, when he spoke. What do you call that?

Shut UP.


The Goblin sniffles sharply - trying to collect himself. He takes a moment to focus on the hands in his hair, the sound of the Shade's voice, the sting fading on (and in) his chest.

Calm. He - needs to calm.

He finally tilts his head up, the sharp attention and wry tint back in his expression, even if his smile shakes at the corners.]


...Here. Of course I wanted you here. I...like having you around, my Knight.

I...trust you. You are the first presence I have slept in in... a thousand years. It's...nice.

I like...this.

[Dear God Almighty, give me the patience I need to listen to myself talk.]
dermondversteckt: (And burning out my eyes)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[Good. They both like...this situation. That's enough for Kronid, at the moment, and his smile is...just a little more sincere.

The question shakes him the rest of the way from his thoughts, and he lets out a weak laugh, moving his hands up to idly play in Vicious's hair.]


I'm fine.

[Almost too brisk, a knee jerk reaction. He takes a long breath, then lets it out in a little rush.]

...It was...just a nightmare. One I've had a few times. It's - nothing.
dermondversteckt: (KnR2jPd)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[Uh oh.

Interesting.

He holds his expression steady. Years of practice and all.]


You did?

I...yes. Yes, what is it?
dermondversteckt: (rDXE5AC)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[Kronid has a very good poker face, as a general rule. Years and years of lying, cheating, and manipulation have seen to that.

But given the circumstances, given how Vicious had just seen him break down, and given that he had never heard the description given spoken by another tongue before-

His smile drops away, the color draining somewhat from his pale face. The Shade can be a little bit obtuse sometimes, but this is not one of those moments. He knows the nightmare was his. He must. Even if he isn't fluent in Romanian, he certainly knows the sound of it.

...Wait. Could he-

FUCK.]


...I...I see.

How odd.

[There is no anger, but - he can see where this is going already.]

What...is your question, then?
dermondversteckt: (vGLkBmb)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[And there it is. The penny dropping. For a moment, the former vampire casts about for an answer, a lie, a response that works...but ultimately?

He knows Vicious isn't stupid. Kronid shuts his eyes for a moment, taking a long breath in, and then letting it out in a hiss through his nose.]


Yes. I did. It was...it was my dream. Something from long ago. An old waking nightmare turned sleeping.

[Measured. Cautious. The panic is still fresh in his veins, and it's his focus on tempering that that lets his gaze drop again, voice once again shifting to that odd, softened tone before he can stop it.]

...I'm sorry that you had to feel it. It was an accident.

But...did you see anything else? Anyone?
dermondversteckt: (If I were a big boy I wouldn't cry)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[It's easy to tug the smaller man into a different position - he lays with his chin on Vicious's muscular shoulder, trying to keep calm about all this. He had seen his dream. His past. The past that was meant to stay there, locked away where only he can recall it-

When the Shade speaks of the man, when he recites what was said, there is a visible struggle on his face.

He saw me. He heard me. I - we have to tell him. Aren't you tired of bearing this by yourself? He-

Don't. You. Dare.

For a moment his eyes are wide, glanced away from his companion's face...a little panicked, perhaps. That soft voice persists for just another moment.]


That was...that was m....

[He shudders. His eyes and voice sharpen back up, and he looks at Vicious, the self-frustration etching lines into his brow.]

That was...my scar. The burning in the chest. The night it happened.

And the word was naibii.

It means damned.
dermondversteckt: (Kjc5R0r)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[A flinch passes through him as Vicious echoes the word back. He scowls at nothing, setting his jaw tight.

Considering his answer.

Tell him. Please. Tell him the truth. He has more than proved he could be trusted with it.

Let me -


NO. Shut UP.


Kronid breathes in and out slowly, tempering himself before speaking. Avoiding...interruption.

He can tell part of the truth. Omit most. Keep it all at bay.]


...The dream is...figurative. Out of order. But the memory...the fire began after I was burned.

The crucifix ignited when it touched me. Branded me. It never healed, and it never will. The fire caught the...the building you saw. The price of hatred for those whose lives you... disagree with, I have thought.

[His tone is level - but his pulse is fast and heavy. Straining to keep something at bay.]

It was...a long time ago.
dermondversteckt: (FdPm6iM)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[For a long moment, Kronid is uncharacteristically silent. His brows are knitted together, even as he leans into the hand that cards through his dark hair.

Vicious is being...gentle. So gentle about this.

Tell him more. Or I will.

Leave me alone.


The struggle is visible again on his expression for a moment - a darting back and forth of the eyes, a clench of the jaw - before finally he speaks back up.The softer tone has lost...for now.]


... It's just that...no one has ever known. Besides myself.

Everyone who was there died that night.

[You killed them all.

No. You did. You didn't need me yet.
]

This is the first time I have told...anyone.
dermondversteckt: (Z8atMuJ)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[Too softly, too gently, for just a moment:]

Thank you...for listening.

[But the moment is fleeting - he chuckles humorlessly, grabbing the Shade's hand and dragging it over the cruel scar on his chest.]

I mean...that they came after me when they learned that I laid with another man.

This happened. Because I didn't stack up to what they expected. Someone hurt me for it.

[He kisses the back of the hand.]

I don't regret it. For a moment.
dermondversteckt: (v831aN7)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


[Of course, of course Kronid does not miss that flare of anger, that sympathetic fury crossing the face of his current companion. It's...sort of nice, actually, to have some of his own long-burning rage validated. Not that he needs it, of course, but...well. It's still sort of nice.

He opens his mouth to reply to the latter statement, but he freezes up, just for a second, one word echoing and sticking in his mind.

Sin.

I know so much of sin, don't I? Don't you?


The moment passes swiftly, the Goblin shaking it away in favor of a wry, dark little smile...but his eyes - his eyes are...weary, in a way that only someone as old as he can experience.

There is a faint crackle of electricity in his scar. Not enough to hurt, but enough that Vicious can just feel it, like something in him trying to reach out.

Kronid does not acknowledge it.]


You would think, my Knight. But they had other ideas, back then.

...

Fuck them, though. What do they matter now?
dermondversteckt: (4Ukjnn4)

From: [personal profile] dermondversteckt


Exactly.

[He grins, chuckling a little, hands moving to play in Vicious's hair. There. The topic is sidestepped -

Until the question.

STOP it.

You can't restrain me forever.


His smile turns strained, shoulders rolling in a would-be casual shrug.]


I do. I'm...not sure what it is. My dream powers misfired...maybe this is just my elemental ones reacting to the conversation. It doesn't hurt.

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