Entry tags:
(open) hanging on in quiet desperationโ
WHO: jonas and you
WHERE: all over stygia
WHEN: the duration of december
WHAT: event and notice board chaos
WARNINGS: smooches and anxiety, random possibility of shadow shenanigans
WHERE: all over stygia
WHEN: the duration of december
WHAT: event and notice board chaos
WARNINGS: smooches and anxiety, random possibility of shadow shenanigans
โน ๐ฝ๐พ๐๐ธ๐ฒ๐ด ๐ฑ๐พ๐ฐ๐๐ณ. (๐ท)
when the rafts are aflame and spirits raise from the mouths of the deceased, jonas feels his face grow hot, tensing gradually with the unperceived passing of time until his lungs will only allow him short, shaky breaths. eyes wide through the reading of the souls' last rites and eulogy, these ghouls, one by one, wail their torment at the dark sky, to which jonas responds with a harsh gasp inward and a forceful step back into a tearful crowd.
large, his action displaces several from their spots and even staggers one woman who gets her bearings in the last seconds before falling. he doesn't apologize, he doesn't say a wordโhe hurries away from the crowd and blue ghosts at his back, hat gone and replaced by clutching fingers at the front of his sweater.)
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The quiet melancholy comes to an abrupt end as those angry, harrowed spirits peel off from the corpses on the boats, taking flight over the heads of the crowd. Confusion is soon overtaken with alarm and then fear. The sky is already the deep, bruised color of a contusion, but the spirits block out even that last bit of light from twin moons โ it's difficult to see the road as the funeral's witnesses begin to scatter in a terrified rush of bodies.
Sasuke moves when he sees what is happening. Leaping into the crowd with the intention to protect innocent civilians from any threat, keen eyes pick out Jonas swiftly for his height and familiar face, and he approaches, appearing suddenly at Jonas' side with preternatural movement.]
You shouldn't stay here. It isn't safe.
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why did he ever think that he could lead a normal life here? eyes shut as he grabs sasuke's sleeve for physical support.)
Then whereโ (it's cut off when another shriek from the pier prompts jonas to press the back of a tremoring hand firmly against his mouth to muffle the sounds of his own panting. he feels unable to do anything else and he's more than willing to illustrate that.)
I'mโI can't move. My... My legs won'tโ
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Away from here. Follow me. [He uses his captured sleeve to tow Jonas, if he's able, further from the pier.] Take a deep breath, nothing will happen to you while I'm here.
[Confidence in his own abilities is what allows him to make this promise, even as one of the vengeful, howling spirits plummets from the sky in a direct line toward them โ as if scenting Jonas' fear and malleability as a host. Gentleness swiftly abandoned, he hooks his right arm around Jonas' middle and hauls him out of the way of its trajectory, knocking him solidly onto the ground.]
Stay down, [comes hissed. Sasuke shields him from view, crouched above, eyes tracking the ghost as it soars over their heads with a blood-curdling scream.] Don't move.
no subject
caught up in himself, the only thing that drives jonas out of his own head is the throw to the ground. his palms shear painfully across the harbour path, but it's forgotten almost immediately as he turns onto a hip and stares at the plunging ghost until sasuke has obscured it from view with his body. both trigger a shift in jonas that invites his shadow to the forefront as a barrier between any mind and his own.)
What are you trying to do? (grasping hands return, still unable to be physically left alone. this time, however, tight fists attempt to tug sasuke closer out of his crouch. the chest beneath his knuckles is unfamiliar to him, not knowing sasuke well enough to say with confidence that he'll be less of a danger for him than the spirit, but he may make an effective shield.)
It's already deadโthere's no fending it off. If it wants you, it'll take you. You might as well just open yourself to it!
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You speak as if you've met this enemy before. [He's seen nothing like it, not in tireless weeks he's spent scouring this world's wilderness, but he is inclined to trust what Jonas says after what he just witnessed. They're already dead.] ... If that's the case, then killing it won't be possible. We'll avoid it and escape. I can move you to a safer location.
[Unaware of the influence of the Shadow, he leans away once more, requiring Jonas to sit up with hands affixed to his shirt or relinquish him altogether. Luminous, dissimilar eyes spot the ghost as it comes sweeping back for them, wailing in that same eerie, inhuman voice. He could summon Susano'o. But he isn't certain it will hold against the spectral creature โ would it simply phase through the materialized chakra? That is if the ability works at all.]
I'm going to lift you now. Stay calm.
[This is the only warning Jonas will receive before one arm encircles his middle, hauling him over-shoulder, chakra-imbued strength allowing Sasuke to take an enormous leap out of the way of the ghost's next plunge.]
no subject
it's why there's no resistance in the way jonas rises with sasuke. despite being unable to help in the mobility department, as shaky as he finds himself, this doesn't seem to pose a problem; even one arm is enough to haul jonas off of the ground. he can't even muster up an indignant squawk at being treated so roughly. this is the lesser of two evils between being thrown around and being possessed again by someoneโsomethingโspiteful.
he holds on for dear life to the fabric over the small of sasuke's back.)
My place is right up the next street. We could wait them out there, orโI-I don't know! It's the shack with the smiley face!
(thankfully, the ghost has difficulty catching up to the powerful jump. jonas watches as it corkscrews higher over the harbour's buildings, joined by the spirit of another hierarchy member. he recognizes their faces as the heads he'd risen to after the headless horseman had his way with them, and the rest of the colour drains from his face.
their elongated mouths fall open, hair-raising cries delayed in their joint pursuit. his hold on sasuke turns into a twisting fist, harmlessly knocking at his spine.)
Oh, Jesus. Oh, god, I'mโI can't do this again...!
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In response to this wandering thought, his grip becomes rigid, an almost strangling pressure around Jonas' waist as he flees the area, luminous eyes hunting every door he comes across. Another street flashes past them, moving now away from the water โ another wailing voice rings down from the overcast sky โ and Sasuke comes to a sudden stop in an alley, shadowed beneath awnings. He eases Jonas off his shoulder onto the ground.
The shack with the yellow smile is in front of them.]
I'm going back to distract them. I'll leave a clone here with you for protection in case it finds you. [He looks into Jonas' pale, stricken face when he says this, then makes a signal with one hand. An identical Sasuke suddenly appears behind Jonas. I can't write this seriously.] I'll return after they're gone. Can you hold on until then?