heartsteals | AWASH IC INBOX

[ 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.

[ Just that? This wasn't so bad at all, then. Dextera surely has his reasons for keeping his powers to himself most of the time; Lupin understands that he's been shown something that a lot of people in town probably haven't. Even if it was #FFFFFF forcing Dextera's hand, he'll take this little excursion as a compliment. And when the power shown was so mild, it doesn't feel like he did much at all. Still, he smiles, nodding in response to Dex's thanks.

He doesn't understand sign language natively - it's only the town's magic making him understand it - so it takes a second to figure out what happens next. Eyes widening just slightly, Lupin pokes a finger at his own chest. ]

... That's me? [ blink. ] Did you come up with a name for me?

Is it… OK?

[ it’s signed as hesitantly as the words themselves are—he’s taken this assignment of names as a quiet point of pride for himself, something all tied up in the way he sees people and what he perceives as a problem to overcome, but lupin isn’t someone he spends a lot of time with.

maybe it was presumptuous. ]

More than okay.

[ his face brightens once he confirms his suspicions, smile reassuring and happy. It's flattering, in a weird way he can't quite articulate; maybe it's just nice to know that Dextera actually thinks of him enough to come up with a word for him. ]

I like it. Thanks, Dex.

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