catchall ✧ this is our story.

[regression]

WHO: Yoo Joonghyuk and you! Friends. Not-friends.
WHAT: Catchall forever
WHERE: Netherworld general
WHEN: The present, the future
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.

Look at me. I am woven together by story, held firm by myth. Look at me. I will tell you of the men that ate me bloody. I will tell you of how ferociously I bit my way out of their stomachs.

— Venetta Octavia, The Alchemy of Smallness —

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[regression]

[ Is better different? Joonghyuk quickly thinks about this... Once upon a time, he had given up on protecting others. He once chose different, instead of better. Even now, he is different. Whatever nobility he had once before had been cast aside, even if he regained his desire to cherish and protect.

Felix wishes to keep his heart, is it? He may be reading far too much into his words in the span of two seconds, but he stows it away to ponder on later. His blade comes quick, piercing the distance with a gold afterimage following it. ]

You will stand against obstacles you can't overcome. This place may be one of them.

[ Stuck in the Netherworld, indefinitely. Suffering it and its ways, which is to say a sprite... Shows up! Whether they notice or not, who knows? This is a battle of wills as much as it's a battle of blades. ]

[boarwitness]

Then I'll just keep training until I can!

[it's big talk—but he's never been one to accept an ultimatum. die saving someone, or have them die? no. he'll simply get strong enough to save them and live. the choice, as far as felix is concerned, is simple: just change fate with your own hands.

joonghyuk is as fast as ever, and he grits his teeth as he parries the first strike, knocking the black blade to the side just in time. this has become a familiar, exhilerating, and always challenging part of his day. he'd never tell the man he appreciated the invitation to live in this house and spar him on the regular, but he doesn't have to. the blades speak for themselves.

he slices back at joonghyuk, their blades clattering along each other—when the sprite jumps up on his sparring partner's shoulder, waving it hands around, and pointing up.

with concerted effort, he disengages, hopping back a step—and looks, stomach already dropping—then rising again, full of fight adrenaline and rage.]

You've got to be kidding me!

[regression]

[ Their styles are becoming familiar every day... And Joonghyuk has reasons for not allowing anyone to be able to read his movements. Every battle he makes sure to change it, as if becoming a different person in every spar though there's still a piece of him in every swing, for he won't know when in the future Felix will point his blade at him with genuine murderous intent. Is it a fight if someone can see through you?

It's unlikely, but he has to consider how the universe can force people against each other. As much as he would rather prevent that, his logical mind falls onto every possibility.

The sprite means nothing here, at least to him. With Felix stepping back, Joonghyuk pursues in a smooth swoop with both hands wrapped around the hilt of his sword and the little guy saddled on his shoulder. Mistletoe spider nearby, around, and threaten them with their curse. ]

Don't let yourself be distracted. [ The swords clamor to the side with ample force. With this opening, he grabs Felix by the collar and roughly yanks him close to peer into his eyes. This intense gaze is one that should never be found in an afterlife—there's so much desire to struggle, rebel, and live. ] You could die in any moment.

[ The next second, their lips meet. 😘 ]

[boarwitness]

[his blade slips and clatters down joonghyuk's as the other man darts forward. it's his foul—and he'll surely pay for it. he shouldn't have let himself be distracted in the first place—he was right.

with those thoughts in mind, the kiss doesn't register at all. the idea of joonghyuk locking lips with him is simply not something he'd ever considered as a possibility in his lifetime. he'd sparred with him, time and time again, nearly every day since arriving, and certainly every day since moving in, but "will kiss you mid-combat" was not something he'd ever considered as a potential threat.

so it's not until joonghyuk pulls away that felix blinks, and realizes it was all reality.

without another word, he throws himself back at his sparring partner, and attempts to cut his throat, expression a misty haze of confusion and anger.]