[log] we wear red so they don't see us bleed [closed]

[bywolves]

Characters: Royce Melborn, Alfie Solomons
Location: Building 141
Date: Day 242, morning
Summary: Both boys are monsters, figuratively and literally.
Warnings: Body horror, possible gore, warnings for other things in subject headers

141: A post office, long-abandoned. There are a few empty white plastic bins where mail was once piled up, and the lobby area is still remarkably clean and polished. The back area isn't locked, so if you like you can go through the back and see the office with its locked safe and the back door that leads to the downtown area. Trees, impossibly tall men, and lots of Ⓧs have been drawn on the walls, along with ball-like things that are made up of tentacles and beaks and death and one circle in green crayon that's been scribbled over in charcoal.

Comments

[bywolves]

[ And with that, Royce slowly eases up. He rests his head against the wall. ]

Thank you. [ He murmurs. The sigh he lets out is relieved. ]

[devoutish]

But I'm gonna do all that I can to keep you from getting to that point, Royce. Do you understand? I'm not gonna let up on you.

[bywolves]

I know. [ He looks up at Alfie, his yellow eyes glowing faintly. ] I don't want you to have to make that decision.

[devoutish]

Can't be helped.

[He settles back against the wall, taking an extra blanket for himself.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce is quiet for a while, staring at the wall above Alfie's head. ]

Do you feel it? The fog. [ Royce asks, almost absently. ] I couldn't remember my own name, earlier. Just for a moment.

[devoutish]

Not yet. Not much.

[A little, but nowhere near the extent that Royce is feeling it.]

I suppose it's coming.

[bywolves]

It'll be like last time. [ Royce says, almost like Alfie didn't say anything. ] I lost. The anomaly won. I was there but wasn't there.

[devoutish]

Who's gonna kill me, then, if I've killed you?

cw: suicide talk

[bywolves]

[ He frowns, and it's a horrifying sight, with his too long mouth and sharp, sharp teeth. He keeps having to claw at the wall, at the floor, like a kneading cat. It keeps him centered. ]

I can do it for you first. [ Royce says finally, voice unsteady. ] And then me. I think I could rip out my own throat if I tried.

[devoutish]

I'm going more slowly. How would that work?

[bywolves]

I don't know. [ But he'd do it. A beat. ] Fiona. Ask her.

"I'm going to bed" i said "it's 3am" i said I should know myself better by now tbh

[devoutish]

She's an anomaly, Royce.

LMAO iddy please

[bywolves]

Oh. [ Right. He forgot. ] You can't ask Gwen, either.

Watson. I can ask him.

[devoutish]

No, no. We can't do that.

Never mind, eh? Doesn't matter.

[bywolves]

[ Never mind, Alfie says, but it's all Royce can think about for the next hour. He doesn't talk much, lost in his own head. And the next time Alfie tries to talk to him, he doesn't reply. ]

[devoutish]

[So Alfie leans over and lives him a little shove with the palm of his hand, doing his best to keep the claws out of the way.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce makes a noise, something disgruntled and annoyed, and actually crawls away. Not on his hands and knees, but in a way that doesn't make physical sense for a human to be able to do. He drops down and his joints bend unnaturally, his legs actually cracking and snapping as they reverse direction, bending like a wolf's legs. He skitters way, way too fast across the room. ]

[devoutish]

[Well, that's freaky as fuck. It doesn't stop Alfie from clenching his teeth and following, though.]

Royce, look at me now. Fucking look at me.

[bywolves]

[ He ignores Alfie, curling up on the opposite side of the room. He's cold, but it doesn't bother him anymore. Once he's settled, though - once he's laid out on the floor like a wolf with its head on its paws, he looks up at Alfie. No recognition. He stares, and then growls, low. ]

[devoutish]

Look. At. Me.

[He growls the words himself, but there's fear in his voice, and it isn't fear for himself. Royce is already looking, but he wants to keep that eye contact. He wants to use it to bring him back.

He really doesn't want to kill him. He'd promised he would, and he'll try his best to if he needs to, but not yet.]

Alfie Solomons. You know me, Royce Melborn.

[bywolves]

[ Royce keeps looking, but it doesn't seem like it's because Alfie said - it's more like Royce is keeping an eye on a threat. Royce's claws slide against each other threateningly, like the sound of a sword being pulled from a sheathe. The cloak ripples, and Royce bares his teeth, a horrifying array of jagged, rusty metal jutting out of a too-wide mouth. The noise he makes is a warning, full of static.

But he hasn't attacked. And across the room, Gwen watches with a sad expression, hair falling into her face. ]

[devoutish]

Royce Melborn.

[It's a hissy little whisper-shout. Come on, buddy, please.]

[bywolves]

[ The monster almost... squirms. It pushes against the wall, not liking being yelled at, but at least it stops hissing. The eyes flicker, and slowly, the monster brings a clawed hand up to it's throat. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie inches closer in a crouch, claws scraping on the floor.]

Ahval. Ahvalda.

[bywolves]

[ Friend. My friend. It's a tense few seconds, but there's a small flicker of recognition in the monster's eyes. The claw doesn't come down. It stays, and actually curls, like he's getting ready to sink the knives in.

In a hoarse, scared, dual-tone voice, Royce mutters: ] Merea.