heartsteals | AWASH IC INBOX

I made some mistakes. In the ice castle.

[ dextera had been doing all right, but perhaps it was his attempt to purify three times that betrayed him. it wasn’t until the last time, when he froze himself over without hope, that he realized what his purification was doing. (much more, clearly, than the nothing he had assumed.) ]

These tasks… are to get the color back.

[ Lupin wasn't expecting such a concrete answer. It's good to have, though it sows more confusion in him - they took away his color for making a mistake, then offered him a chance to get it back? Either there's a huge piece of the puzzle they're all still missing, or there's some twisted manipulation going on here. Both are equally likely in his mind.

The reasoning doesn't matter, though. He nods, some of the uneasiness dissipating from his expression, and crossing his arms. ]

So that's what this is about. I really don't know what goes through that Mr. White's head. [ a sigh; he shrugs. ] But if that's all it takes, I'm happy to help.

[ It sounds harmless enough. The only reason he's not surprised about Dextera's powers is that he saw him with that crystal of his memories; he's obviously got some kind of magic ability. ]

What kind of abilities do you have, then?

[ dextera doesn’t question the manipulation, if that’s what it is. this is his life, as it always has been—he makes a mistake, and he’s told what he must do to correct it. it’s more comfortable that way than trying to figure things out on his own, even if he knows it’s cowardly, too. ]

…

[ he doesn’t know how or what he needs to show to lupin to satisfy his conditions. all of it? just a moment? he looks at his own hand for a moment, and then motions for lupin to follow him outside. ]

It’s easier to show you. I need a living thing.

[ That requirement gives Lupin some pause, though he keeps it off his face, as always. It could be healing - but if that were the case, why not just use it on Lupin himself? He hasn't forgotten how those monsters he saw in Dextera's past came to be.

But he's not about to judge him, especially not before he even sees what's going to happen. Dex picked him specifically for this; there's some level of trust there, and he's not about to betray it. He follows along, expression one of reserved curiosity. ]

Sure. We're not going into the woods, are we?

[ dextera doesn’t want to kill an animal, if he can help it. strictly purifying one is out of the question, in front of lupin—reducing an animal to its crystal just for the purposes of showing off seems inhumane. what he can do, however, is something a little more productive.

he shakes his head, and stops by a tree to peer up into it. he whistles, not a perfect birdsong but something clearly meant to attract the attention of one of the mutant creatures up in the tree. ]

…

[ he tries again, and an overly large songbird with ears like a rabbit on top of its head ventures out onto one of the branches. ]

Do you see that?

[ well, thank goodness for that. He's not properly prepared for a woods outing at the moment. Lupin watches (and listens) with some surprise as he calls a bird(?) over. ]

Yeah, I see it. [ though his eyes go back to Dextera very quickly. ] Is your power talking to animals? If so, I owe you a late apology for giving you guff about talking to your chicken.

[ he's joking, obviously... the power's got to be something else. ]

[ lupin’s got jokes!

dextera does smile slightly at the comment, though, amused despite his own nerves at showing this power off. he hasn’t used this aspect since he discovered it, since it can be a little unpleasant to consider the consequences of.

it takes a little maneuvering then, and dextera manages to hop and snatch the bird off the branch. ]

…

[ he has to look lupin in the eye without his hands available, begging his patience and understanding. whatever he wanted to show lupin will clearly happen next.

the bird seems, for its part, confused. ]

[ okay, he'll assume that isn't his power, either, although Lupin is very clearly impressed by his dexterity. Maybe Dex should start thinking about becoming a phantom thief, too...

but now he's got the bird in his clutches, and he finds himself somewhat nervous for the little animal's life, if only because of the look Dextera's giving him - he's clearly uneasy about showing this to Lupin, and therefore, he has to assume what's going to happen is bad. So much for the healing powers. All he hopes is that he's not going to bite off its head or something like that. ]

It's okay. [ probably. ] I'm watching.

[ dextera has a lot of strange skills gained over his need to survive all that the tower could throw at him. catching things that don’t especially want to be caught is one such skill, though it sometimes fails him when he needs it most.

he can feel the bird’s heartbeat against his fingers, and that’s when he decides to just go for it. ]

…

[ his hands begin to glow with the same holy light that his crystal initially gave off, and it slowly envelops the bird—which squirms faster in his hands, clearly unsettled by the light if not outright pained by it. dextera’s jaw is tense as he concentrates, and the light consumes the animal in his hands entirely.

there are a few soft sounds, something, small somethings, falling from his grip to the ground below, and the light fades. what’s left is…

oddly, a perfectly normal bird. it’s the same one as before, based on the color and the panicked look in its eyes, but the features that made it mutant like its brethren appear to have receded entirely. (or, more accurately, they’ve fallen off—there are miniature rabbit ears at dextera’s feet now, and a little bit of blood. a few feathers are shedding, too, as the bird appears to have lost some size.)

dextera, panting slightly, looks from the bird to lupin for his assessment. ]

[ with no urging to back off, he stays standing where he is, watching the bird suddenly begin to shine and trusting that Dex would have told him to move if he was in the splash zone, so to speak. The last time he saw this light, he didn't like the results much. As much as he's hoping the bird's safe, Lupin's hoping that Dextera's not hurting himself again for some personal reason he's deemed worthy more.

Fortunately, nothing too terrible happens. There's no deformed bird like the creatures he saw in that fragment of Dextera's past - there's not even a deformed bird like the creatures he normally sees around here. There's just a bird, and a small collection of discarded body parts at their feet. He blinks, then looks back to Dextera - who also looks fine, albeit tired. ]

You fixed it?

[ that's his only guess. ]

[ dextera nods, and finally loosens his fingers to let the bird wriggle free. without dextera covering it, it’s even more obvious that the little creature is completely normal—cleansed and remade without any of the impurities that had twisted it before.

it shakes itself off, and then hops off dextera’s palms before taking wing, apparently no worse for the wear. ]

I “corrected” it.

[ his line of sight follows the bird until he loses it in the branches of the trees. Perfectly healthy, perfectly fine. So maybe his power is healing, after all. Lupin looks back to Dextera, looking much less apprehensive than he had before. ]

That's pretty amazing. Does it work on all the animals here?

[ healing, in a sense.

dextera doesn’t like that something has to die for him to fix it—he clearly considers these rabbit parts as features of a once-living creature, rather than a strange mutation in and of themselves. he remembers speaking with the animals and hearing a cacophony of voices, after all. ]

…

[ he shakes his head. ]

I haven’t tried.

[ if Lupin knew about that, he might think differently - but all he sees the animals as is monsters, if he had to think of them as something beyond animal. Dextera did correct it - something was wrong with it, and now it's back to normal. ]

... Does it only work on living things, or could you try "correcting" part of the town?

[ he has to assume it's only living things, or he wouldn't have gotten that bird for Lupin, but he'd be a fool not to ask. ]

…

[ dextera hasn’t tried that either, but unlike the world he came from, the town feels different. it isn’t warped, it’s dead, like some vital substance is missing. he doesn’t think purifying it would work, or it would hurt him the way it always seems to hurt people who dig too deep. ]

It should… have life. I don’t think… I can fix the town. Not without meeting the creator.

... It could change if you met Mr. White?

[ he's having a hard time understanding this power, he thinks - and Dextera's somber mood gives him the impression he shouldn't dig too deeply. But he has to at least ask a little bit. ]

Just another reason to find him, then.

[ dextera has no desire to usurp #FFFFFF as the god of this town, since it seems like a burdensome trial. he doesn’t have pity for their overlord, exactly, but he understands that it’s difficult to be a creator.

he’d rather avoid it. ]

…

[ he sighs. as much as they want to find him— ]

But I couldn’t message him back. There are no hints.

Edited 2018-12-21 04:19 (UTC)

There rarely are. Sometimes gambling on your chances is the best you can do.

[ fortunately, he has good luck. He studies Dextera's expression for a moment, then smiles lightly, reaching out to clap a hand on his shoulder. ]

Chin up. You did what he asked you to, right? You'll get your eyes back soon. [ a beat. ] And for what it's worth, I think your power's pretty cool.

[ dextera starts slightly, apparently coming back to life once lupin touches him—the contact combined with the reassurance gets dextera to even blush, a little, and he nods. ]

Thank you.

[ it’s a much more relaxed reaction than he expected, but then, this is lupin. ]

[ quite frankly, watching Minato shoot himself in the head was the worst thing he's seen here - compared to that, this power was maybe a little unsettling, but overall a good, positive thing. He helped return a bird to normal, right? Lupin nods back, letting him go. ]

Can I ask how you got that power? I thought you were a regular guy until pretty recently.

[ that is… a somewhat more complicated question. dextera revealed his power to lupin, and lupin even knows things about his past that few others do, but answering that honestly means completely and utterly changing the way lupin looks at him. ]

…

[ lupin would tell him it’s all right not to say it, though. he imagines. his pulse flutters in his neck. ]

It was a gift. [ a pause, and he taps his throat. ] An exchange.

[ Oh. His eyes widen a little at that admission. He'd always assumed Dextera was simply born that way; it's more distressing to know that he gave up his voice for power. Then again, in a world with monsters like that - and after society's fallen apart - Lupin has to imagine that the ability to heal might be more valuable than the ability to talk. If he was still back in London, he'd ask who (or what) could possibly make a deal like that with him; at this point, though, he just assumes there's some magical spirit that did this exchange. ]

Oh - sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up. [ he scratches the back of his head, somewhat sheepish. ] ... That was noble of you, then.

[ a magical spirit, indeed.

there’s nothing more magical than god, though dextera would—and if guren’s advice is any to take, should—shy away from speaking too freely about her and all that’s happened. the forest already knows his history. it’s best to keep that secret a little longer. ]

…

[ dextera manages an awkward smile, mirroring lupin’s sheepishness about the whole thing, as if he hadn’t traded away his voice for godhood. ]

It was necessary. Don’t worry. One day… I will get it back.

Will you? I'd like to hear that. I can't imagine what you sound like, honestly.

[ he's not clueless to the fact that there's more going on beneath the surface here, but he doesn't see any need to pry deeper and make Dex more uncomfortable than he already is, so he maintains his light attitude. ]

Any other powers to show me?

[ dextera knows the sound of his own voice, so it’s hard for him to imagine anything else than what he has—but he similarly wonders what other people might ascribe to him.

he shakes his head. ]

I think… that’s enough. Thank you.

[ a pause, just where he has to consider something, and then he offers lupin this: an “L,” folded into a sign for lupin’s very specific, fashionable hat. ]

Lupin.

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