snowblindrpg | [log] shark in the water [closed]

Entry tags:

[log] shark in the water [closed]

Characters: Lutha and Tony
Location: Ice tunnels, north of the aquarium
Date: Day 202
Summary: Event creatures catch up to some wanderers.
Warnings: Body horror, psychological horror, language; will add as needed

[The snow has been falling steady and hard, an uncaring wall of white the lone witness to the two men that start their morning with a session of panicked bickering in various intensities, finally leaving the confines of the aquarium high-strung. It's not easy going. Lutha pushes and Tony pulls and Andromeda's voice still echoes in the back of their heads, and the moment they finally lose the sparkling path through the snowfall quietly slips away.

It's only a matter of time before something catches up with them.]

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[Lutha, for the most part, has been keeping his lone hand clenched to Tony's jacket with a white-knuckled grip, his anxiety skyrocketing the longer they venture from the building behind them. Every time Tony mistteps, halts, or otherwise jerks him around, he takes a hissing breath in, doing his best not to trip over the other man. More than once he'll give him a good shove out of pure frustration. Being led like this was shameful, not to mention completely horrifying given the circumstances. But it's not like he has a choice.

He's so focused on what he can't see that he doesn't quite react when he does, oddly, see something. Whatever protest he has shoving out of his mouth for Tony catches, his entire posture freezing up and yanking his travel partner to a halt. He can't see, and yet his gaze stares forward, fixed on the distant rolling that breaks up the dark.]

...Tony.

Tony, there's something out there.

[He had to all but drag Lutha with him, and admittedly one word wasn't all that great for a convincing argument, but Tony has decided that he trusts Andromeda, so that one word was enough. He got Lutha out of the building, arguing all the way, and the road being unclear is making the situation no easier for them, but Tony is sure they can find another building if they just keep going.]

It'll be fine. [He says that in immediate response to the protest he expected to hear, but instead Lutha says something else.]

What?

[He turns toward the snow around them, but he doesn't see anything.]

[It rolls, crashes, too fast to outrun, and yet Lutha's hand still grips Tony tight and yanks him hard, trying to bolt and get his company to follow. His voice shakes with a rush of frightened adrenaline.]

Move, move, there's-- it's under the goddamn snow--!

[He takes another glance back, and it's practically on top of them, his face paling at the speed as he keeps trying to pull Tony into a sprint. Tony had to be seeing this... he HAD TO start running...]

What? Where? I don't see anything.

[Tony hears the urgency and tries to run where Lutha pulls him while looking around at the same time. He can feel the fear, and it spurs him forward to protect Lutha, but he has no idea what they are running from and so he runs blind.]

What's going on?!

I don't fucking know, I-I don't know what it is!!! W-what the hell do you mean you can't see it--

[The rest of his sentence catches in a pained, tight choke as something finally meets their footsteps, an unseen weight pressing against one foot and shooting through leather and metal, through the skin of Lutha's heel, darting up the line of his leg in a cold, sharp burst. Lutha instantly seizes up mid-stride with a cry of pain, fingers losing their grasp on Tony to clench at his leg even as the sensation quickly spreads through his body, ripping through his torso and arms and up his neck. He doesn't realize he's lost control until it hits the base of his skull, until his posture doubles over carnally and his head starts whipping back and forth at a feverish pace, his eyes rolling and seeing without letting Lutha himself see anything.

He can't stop it. He can't even scream, stuck to only hearing the sounds of himself writhing and feeling how his body warps.

It's there, it sees, and it stretches him - moves under the scarred lines of his skin, pushes the lines of his face grotesquely, rolling those unseeing eyes to see Tony perfectly well, halting and turning, turning, only to

s m i l e]

[Lutha jerks and stops short, pulling his hand away and gripping his leg, and Tony stumbles as he tries to catch that hand and keep Lutha close to him. He turns back, watching as the redhead's expression contorts and his body seems to twitch and double over from some unseen attack. He can't tell if Lutha is seizing or fending off an invisible monster, and he reaches for him uncertainly, unwilling to leave his companion in pain but helpless to stop it.

Tony watches Lutha's head turn back and forth like its being jerked in either direction, mouth agape in silent terror and his face only showing the whites of his eyes. He thinks for one terrible minute that Lutha is choking. His hand goes to Lutha's shoulder when the movements seem to settle, and then he turns. Tony jerks away with a scream of his own catching in his throat, coming out as a weak whine as he slips and hits the frozen ground. He scrambles back in the snow, eyes locked on Lutha's face and whatever is behind it, leering at him.]

D-d- Stop. Stop.

[He hears the cry, his heart seizing up. And still it smiles, unwilling, unforgiving, seemingly unending as it pushes and pushes in that impossible way.

...

Just like that, it slips away. Lutha lets out a sputtering gasp as he suddenly regains control, his legs trembling and buckling underneath him to send him crumpling right where he stands, barely getting his arm out to keep his head from hitting the ground.]

Ghh-- f-fuck, fuck... [His body rattles as he coughs for breath, fingers pressing against the growing pain blooming across his neck and back across his skull.] T... Tony... Tony, you--- are you-- [Had he been hurt? Had it done something to either of them? What was it? Tony had obviously seen or felt something during whatever it was that just happened, but... was he even alive??]

[Tony is still struggling to find a way to make any sound, the ability seems to have frozen with the smile fixed on Lutha's face. The expression burns into his memory, burns straight through him into the back of his eyes, and he stays fixed on the ground, staring back at it until Lutha collapses and the creature departs.

He hears the cursing. The familiar, desperate voice calling his name, and despite the terror still making his heart pound, he crawls over to him with his body still shaking. One hand reaches out and grabs Lutha's arm, tight and desperate, and pulls him forward. The thing is still smiling, and Tony clenches his teeth and breathes through them in shallow, panicked gasps when he catches another glimpse of Lutha's face. He squeezes tighter and looks away.]

H-here. Here. I'm here. What was that?

[He jumps at the sudden grip on his arm, but doesn't hesitate to swing his hand up to cling at Tony in return, gritting his teeth at the flair of pain through his neck and jaw. His pulse rushes wildly in his ears, Tony's words almost turning to background noise.]

I-I don't... I don't know, I c-couldn't see it under the snow... [His head darts to the side, glancing around frantically in the dark, trying to see that thing that he shouldn't have been able to spot in the first place. He swallows hard, still gasping for breath even as he tries to push himself up properly, a mess of shaking limbs against the ice.] We shouldn't stay here. W-we shouldn't, not if it has any chance of coming back.

[Tony pulls Lutha to him with concern, letting him cling to his arm. But when he pulls him up, he catches another glimpse of the young man's face and freezes, terror locking his body for a minute so that he can't move. He can't think. He can feel his breathing falter as his lungs tighten and he wants to pull away, to scream, but he can't move to run. It takes everything he has to close his eyes against the leering, manic grin. It knows him.

And then, thankfully, the paralysis fades. With his eyes tightly shut, the darkness blocks out the fear and Tony can feel his body again. When he opens his eyes, he's careful not to look directly at Lutha.]

O-okay. Okay.

[He turns instead to the path, leading Lutha forward so they can make their escape.]

Tell me if you see anything.

[Tony's voice is caught in a whisper. The fear has him ready to run.]

Tell me if you see it again.

[Tony leads, and Lutha follows, far more pliant than earlier in the day when he'd been so violently against leaving their hiding space. He still stands by his choice, still thinks even now that it would have been the safer option. But they can't take that back now. He keeps his weight close to Tony's back, an unsteady laugh bubbling up at his request.]

Y-you have to know the absurdity of what you're asking from me right now. [It's not a refusal, though, and the way his voice travels in pitch should be enough to tell Tony that Lutha is, indeed, trying to look, despite not being able to see anything any more than he could yesterday.]

W-what the fuck did it do? You-- you saw something, Tony, I heard you.

[He's giddy with fear, but the fear is what keeps him pulling forward, hurrying Lutha down the path now that they know they are under attack. Even terrified, Tony's breathing comes in almost steady rhythm. It's something he picked up from training with Steve and T'Challa and the other Avengers. Breathe. You move faster when you aren't laboring for oxygen. Don't think about the fear. Think about the motion.]

I didn't- I don't know. It was there and then it wasn't.

[He doesn't want to think about it. If he does, he'll see that face again. The eyes looked right through him and knew every flaw.]

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[log] shark in the water [closed]

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