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 —

Comments

claude claude claude

[regression]

[ Somewhere in the Stygia, Joonghyuk is just on the floor face down, seemingly dead and bleeding a little puddle.

This is your starter. ]

[midway]

[ hei starting us off with h/c... spicy 😳 ]

...

[ Usually Claude would see an unconscious body and just go, "not my business," but for the purposes of this thread, he stops. It's also a little concerning that Joonghyuk is bleeding, so be crouches down next to him and gently nudges.

Where is the blood coming from? ]

[regression]

[ thank you spoon for being bending for me this is why i love claude

When he's nudged, he groans before rising his upper body using his elbows as an anchor. The blood pooled under him seems to come from his chest, considering the large dark spot on his already black shirt.

Squinting at the young man, it takes his eyes a moment to adjust. Feels just woke up from dead sleep. ]

You.

[ He recognizes Claude, even if he doesn't know this is Claude. ]

[midway]

[ Oh, he recognises this man too. He'd seemed pretty tough and intimidating when they met that day at the well, so it's a little surprising to find him passed out and bleeding on the floor.

Well, everyone has their bad days. ]

Good to see you again, friend. Though I'm sure you'd prefer not to meet like this.

[ His gaze trails down to Joonghyuk's chest, frowning at the well of blood. ]

Can you stand?

[regression]

[ (hannah montana voice) everybody has those days

Wait, I forgot to mention he has drawings on his face. His eyes are circled with black marker while his upper lip dons what Yuul considers the serial killer mustache with some whiskers above the edges of his lips. There are two phrases penned on his cheeks in neat handwriting: "minion of han sooyoung" and "i love kim dokja."

Joonghyuk doesn't seem to notice. ]

I'm fine.

[ Grumbled as he... Barely musters the strength to settle on a knee. ]

1/2

[midway]

[ ... ]

[midway]

[ Once the sheer audacity of watching this man, who is bleeding, possibly drunk(?), and has graffiti all over his face, lie to his face about being fine passes, Claude just smiles slightly. He's humouring him. ]

Sure. Why don't you lie back down for a second?

[ He just like, gently shoves Joonghyuk onto his back. ]

You're going to need to get your bandage changed. [ assuming he has bandages under his shirt and isn't just freeballing it ] Will you scream if I take a look?

[regression]

[ ah yes the bedroom eyes duck lips icon

Joonghyuk normally wouldn't be easily shoved down, but his motor skills are lacking. Sense of balance? Inadequate. He topples over pathetically yet struggles nevertheless. Instinctively, he rolls onto his side. ]

Instead of screaming, I'd crush you windpipe.

[ Annoyed but not caustic, just acting like a feral animal protective of its soft underbelly. ]

You have bandages on you?

[midway]

[ stop he's just in the middle of speaking

Unfortunately for Joonghyuk, Claude has the bedside manner of a splinter. He lifts a brow. ]

Why would I carry bandages? I was planning to tear off some fabric from the table cloth.

[ He could also tear Joonghyuk's coat, but he assumes that will be less appreciated. ]

You don't need to be shy, I've seen plenty of gruesome injuries.

[regression]

[ why are you and yaywon trying to make him strip

This is very telling of what kind of person is Claude, but he doesn't say anything because he'd also just rip fabric off of someone. Still, don't touch his coat. He's overly attached to his belongings. ]

I'm not shy. Just hand me whatever you were thinking of using.

[ Offers a wobbly scarred paw, a bit askew from where Claude actually is. ]

[midway]

[ Joonghyuk is really out here oozing blood and toxic masculinity. Claude reaches out his hand as if about to take Joonghyuk's, at the last second slapping his hand away and poking the spot on his chest where the blood seems to be coming from. ]

You can hardly keep yourself upright. All you'll accomplish is knocking yourself out from exertion.

[ He gets up, sneaking over to where one of the tables is, and cuts off a sizable amount of the table cloth with the knife he'd stolen earlier.

Back to Joonghyuk, he takes a candy out from his pocket. ]

Want something sweet?

[regression]

[ He is actually the tsundere maiden love interest who hates the hero's guts, thank you.

With a poke, Claude may have some word blood. It is a letter or two. Oh, how his face twists with disdain, especially because Claude is right. Thinking that maybe he has been abandoned and this could be his chance to escape and find a safe hole to recuperate in, Claude will find that Joonghyuk has crawled a couple of feet away from where he initially was.

...

Candy? ]

No. [ He's dying. ] Why would I accept sweets from a stranger?

[midway]

[ Joonghyuk is so cute when he's being pathetic and weak. Claude just smiles at him. ]

Well, you're not an eight year-old child, so I wouldn't be as worried.

[ It's definitely the fainting candy. Joonghyuk seems like he'd be easier to deal with if he was unconscious. In any case, he doesn't seem to be falling for it, so he just pockets the candy for now and crouches down, tugging at Joonghyuk's shirt. ]

Why don't you take this off? I'll change your bandages and then you can go.

[regression]

[ He will never allow himself to drop his guard around Dokja and Sooyoung when alcohol and treats are within reach ever again. This is a promise.

After some clumsy attempts, he takes hold of Claude's wrist and makes him stop tugging. His grip does slacken and it ends with delicate handholding because Joonghyuk is pathetic, too unfocused to make it a threatening vice grip. ]

I can do that without you touching me so much.

[midway]

Then do it.

[ He doesn't pull his hand from Joonghyuk's weak grip, just watching him. He's patient enough to wait it out for Joonghyuk to realize that he needs help (assuming that... will happen...), but he's careful to watch his expression.

He's not going to wait so long that Joonghyuk's just keels over from blood loss. ]

[regression]

[ Claude is such a "good" guy. Joonghyuk doesn't do anything at first, simply leering at Claude... Trying to search for any ulterior motive in his eyes.

But he relents and lets go of his hand. Shaking off his coat to his elbows, he lifts up his shirt to reveal the bloody bandages spilling more wordy blood. ]

[midway]

[ Extremely weird to see a man just flashing his tits at him in the woods, but sometimes that's life.

Joonghyuk's blood catches his eye more like this, now convinced that the word he glimpsed at earlier wasn't a hallucination made up in the dim light of the night.

He starts to remove the bloodied bandages. If I were Anna, I'd describe the sensation of Claude's fingers brushing against Joonghyuk's skin, but this is a heterosexual thread. ]

Is it normal for your blood to be made of words?

[regression]

[ THEY COULD HAVE JUST NOT DONE THIS. I just realized I sprung word blood on you again. Anyway, the words bleed and spell a speckled sentence about a doomed man who once fell prey to poison.

Don't write about Claude's strong and calloused archer fingertips grazing his tanned skin, you weirdo. He isn't the time to sit idle, so he helps unravel and redress. ]

It's the way of my world.

[midway]

[ Is Joonghyuk sober enough to help or is he just getting in the way?

Claude will probably humour him for the most part. He's just focused on getting him patched up, trying to clean away the split blood as much as he can. ]

Oh? Does it reveal your secrets?

[ How pointed for a story about poison to show up just for Claude... ]

[regression]

[ For the most part, he is helpful... Though slow. It is up to you to decide if he's useless or not. ]

Stories. It won't be conveying my thoughts and emotions.

[ Stories are like that, too, leaving the reader to make assumptions and piece things together. ]

And they're not always accurate. Don't read too much into it.

[midway]

So you're not human?

[ Claude assumes not, but you never know. They have weird blood in Fódlan too.

It doesn't take too long to patch Joonghyuk up, even with his fumbling around. ]

Anyway, you should probably head back home before you end up in further trouble.

[regression]

I am.

[ Just a weird one. At this point, he has to admit defeat that it'll be difficult for him to head back home. Fishing out his phone, he gives it to Claude. ]

Make a call for me.

[midway]

[ i wish this thread wasn't 4 weeks old so claude could hijack yjh's phone to send sexts

Anyway, he snoops through Joonghyuk's messages immediately. ]

To who?

[regression]

[ i'm sorry spoon i will release you.

He can tell that Claude is snooping, so it earns a leer, but he doesn't make a threat cause there's nothing useful. i guess claude can see omegaverse discussion.

There's a pause like he's second guessing this decision. ]

Han Sooyoung or Kim Dokja.

[midway]

[ how many people did yaywon send this to

He definitely notices though, lifting a brow before calling Sooyoung.

He just kind of looks at Joonghyuk for a moment while doing this and nods. Omega. ]