(open) hanging on in quiet desperation—

[coherer]

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

Comments

▹ 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙸𝙲𝙴 𝙱𝙾𝙰𝚁𝙳. (𝟷)

[coherer]

(it's an innocent sending ceremony for most. having witnessed the death of the hierarchy members, however, jonas thought it'd be appropriate for him to attend their funeral to pray for their safe passage and keep an eye out for amun as though he'd be in attendance. he stands on the pier, hat off out of respect held against his middle, watching the little rafts float away. the sight sits like lead in an already heavy chest, but the bad feeling, which he recognizes now as a portent, only worsens.

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 word—he hurries away from the crowd and blue ghosts at his back, hat gone and replaced by clutching fingers at the front of his sweater.)

[chokuto]

[Jonas isn't alone at that funeral. Further away from the shoreline, a shadow displaced from the crowd of Restless — those aligned with the Hierarchy threaded among them like snakes in a den — Sasuke has found a vantage point to watch the ceremony unfold. The burdened atmosphere is familiar, a dark and heavy cloud that follows death, one he has witnessed before in greater quantities, again and again, however the rituals and rites of worlds might differ. Death is death. The loved ones of those slain by the headless rider must be here in the crowd as well, grief a smear of powerful passion enough to beat back Oblivium's tide.

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 — 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.

[coherer]

(sasuke's sudden appearance is detrimental, shocking him into halting as he drowns in his own panic. the calm he felt he could've gained by distancing himself from the funeral was wishful thinking, he knew that—knows that—yet tries to cope on his own despite it. trauma returns to knock down the defensive wall he'd erected, one designed to allow him to lie and ignore the issues from home that haunt him.

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 where— (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'm—I can't move. My... My legs won't—

[chokuto]

[It doesn't require a leap of greater intuition to see that something is wrong with Jonas. He twitches back a half-step when his sleeve is grabbed, the slightest show of surprise for it, but he doesn't force Jonas back from him. Not with that terrified look on the other boy's face. There are more important issues afoot than personal space.]

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 — 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.

[coherer]

(sasuke walks and jonas follows because trailing behind, watching someone's back, is where he exists most comfortably. the concern he generates makes him feel guilty; making this someone's problem affects him in ways he hadn't imagined it might. he's a burden—again?

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 dead—there's no fending it off. If it wants you, it'll take you. You might as well just open yourself to it!

[chokuto]

[The question jolts Sasuke from careful survey of the sky above, two fists yanking him out of the poised crouch — he catches himself on his right hand, palm flat to the ground to avoid physically collapsing onto Jonas. The position is awkward, requiring bent legs to hold sharp tension, but he does not disrupt it immediately. Not with that wild-eyed look on Jonas' face.]

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 — 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.]

[coherer]

You're actually listening to me. (there's no question here, only bitter disbelief. both his shadow and his original mind speak with genuine surprise at sasuke's willingness to hear them out—a painful first.

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 someone—something—spiteful.

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, or—I-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'm—I can't do this again...!

[chokuto]

[Again. That word isn't lost on Sasuke, even as the present bears down upon them in a violent start. There is no time to question any of what Jonas says — action takes precedence, and Sasuke is quick to respond, narrowly dodging another plunge of ghostly malevolence overhead. He keeps his arm around Jonas' hips, body slung over shoulder, secure in the hold even as that sinister whisper stirs within the dredges of his own mind. He's grown familiar to its influence these past several days. The thoughts are his own, taking dark root, but he knows they would not be there if not for the Shadow of this world. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲. 𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦? Atonement means nothing in this world. They are all already dead.

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 — another wailing voice rings down from the overcast sky — 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?