[log] justin! he's punching all my blood out! [closed]

[bywolves]

Characters: Royce Melborn and Alfie Solomons
Location: House 12
Date: Day 351ish
Summary: We'll see if they both last the night, honestly.
Warnings: violence, extra stuff will be cw'd in the subject lines.

BUILDING 12: This bizarre house, while fully intact, only consists of one very large empty room and a hatch that leads to the maintenance tunnels.

Comments

[devoutish]

We don't fucking know each other; calm down. Do you act like this around everyone?

[Despite his exhaustion, he shifts to a standing position.]

I'm not gonna let you run out into the snow and kill yourself.

[bywolves]

[ Royce freezes when Alfie stands. A beat, and then he snatches up his cloak, putting it on. He doesn't believe this for a second - he's not having it, he's not letting someone fuck him over again. That's the only reason someone would pretend so steadfastly like this. ]

If you don't know me, then why do you care? [ Royce asks, voice sharp. He takes a step forward, hood up, razor at the ready. ]

[devoutish]

I've come to realize the sanctity of life and all, in the time that I've been here.

[He stays put, not approaching Royce but not backing off either.]

Now fuck off back into the corner.

[bywolves]

[ Right. No, absolutely not. Royce pulls his things closer, and goes ahead and heads towards the door. ]

[devoutish]

Not this way.

[He takes a few long strides over to the front door, positioning himself between it and Royce.]

[bywolves]

[ No - no, he doesn't want to be cornered. And this is about where instinct kicks in, Manzant's steep learning curve taking over. Royce is small and weak and underfed, but he's used to his body being this way. He knows how to move and he knows how to get up in someone's space without effort - he darts forward, sinking down and then up, slashing the razor through the air at Alfie, not caring so much where he lands the hit. As long as he does.

And then he'll aim to hook Alfie's feet out from under him with his own, so he can get at the door.

Not that it matters. His hearing isn't as good as it's supposed to be, and he misses the click of the door locking as he sweeps his leg out to knock Alfie down. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie instinctively jerks an arm up to block the knife, and so it catches him in his forearm, giving him a long, deep cut that stretches nearly from elbow to wrist. He yells in pain, striking out with his uninjured arm to aim a punch to Royce's face, but Royce trips him and he goes down instead. And that's where he'll stay, as Royce makes a break for the door.]

[bywolves]

[ Alfie goes down - there's the smell of blood in the air, and he's satisfied, only... the door is locked. The door is locked, and Royce immediately turns, pressing his back to it, staring down at Alfie. He's calculating as quickly as he can, trying to figure out his options. The hatch is probably closed as well.

He's stuck.

Twirling the straight razor in his hand, Royce steps forward, ready to finish it. He has to. It's the only way to avoid being killed in his sleep. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie, already ill and in pain even before the brutal stab, isn't exactly in a good state to jump right up and fight back. He groans, clutching his heavily-bleeding arm, and looks around wildly for his bag - his bag that's several feet away from him, still over by the hatch.]

[bywolves]

[ There's a long pause, as something in Royce resists - he should just get rid of Alfie now. But he can't. There's something stopping him, and he just... takes a few steps back instead. Moves back to his corner, hood up, cloak pulled close.

It should be easy. He's sick and frail and half-dead. But... ]

[devoutish]

[When Royce moves away, Alfie lets himself go boneless on the floor, breathing heavily and closing his eyes. He just needs to rest for a second. He needs to pull himself together. And then he can patch himself up.]

Toss me my pack.

[He says, sharply.]

Just throw it.

[bywolves]

[ Nope. Sorry, Alfie. He stopped himself from killing you, there's no way he's going to give you any advantages. He scoots away from Alfie, pressing himself against the corner and blocking his stuff off. ]

[devoutish]

Throw me the bag, I said.

[He snaps through gritted teeth- but he knows it's a lost cause, so he starts the painful process of picking himself up off the floor. He's woozy from blood loss, but he manages it.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce scowls at him from under the hood. ]

Get your own bag. [ He shouldn't say anything. But. ]

[devoutish]

Fuck off.

[Hand against the wall for support, he makes his way over to his things, leaving a trail of blood behind him as he goes. Once there, he drops down heavily onto the floor.]

[bywolves]

[ Should've killed him. Why did you stop? Why can't you do it? Should be easy. Royce stares at Alfie as he drags himself to his things, frustrated. Quietly, Royce sinks down and runs a finger along the handle of his straight razor, hating the uncertain feeling in his chest.

You're alone, and you have no allies. He lied to you. He tried to stop you. He orders you around like you're some sort of animal. It makes him angry, but not enough to stand up and finish the job. You warned him. And now you just don't sleep, for the rest of the night. Just in case. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie ignores him now, finding some decently clean strips of cloth in his bag. If only he still had some soap, or antiseptic - but he doesn't, so he'll have to make do with water. He cleans the still-bleeding wound as well as he can, hissing when he dabs a wet cloth to it.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce will leave him to it. In fact, he'll be silent for a long time - enough for Alfie to mostly have finished cleaning the wound. ]

Stop lying to me. [ Royce tells him, voice low and angry. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie's slumped against the wall by this point, wound cleaned and wrapped. He's tied the bandages tight enough to staunch the worst of the blood flow, but some still seeps out, staining the cloth red.]

You're paranoid.

[bywolves]

Yeah. I am. And I'm alive because of it.

[ A pause. ] What's the point? We both know that you know me.

[devoutish]

Because you read it on the network?

[He snorts.]

Well, then, you're lying to me. You must know me; I read it.

[bywolves]

Because I've been told by several people that you traveled with the man calling himself Royce for months.

[ And by several he means like, Karkat, but. Look. ] But fine. I don't care enough to argue with you.

[devoutish]

I've been told I traveled with you. I've seen myself having conversations with you. That does not mean I remember it.

[bywolves]

And I don't believe that for a minute. [ Royce says, rolling his eyes. ] You wouldn't have stopped me from leaving if that was the case.

[ You're his biggest weakness, Karkat had said. ]

[devoutish]

I told you.

[He yanks the bandage more tightly around his arm.]

I would have done it for anyone.

[And maybe it's silly that he's still stubbornly sticking with that lie, but he does really believe that it would make things harder if he admitted to the deception, as opposed to using it to try to manipulate this other-Royce into believing he's trustworthy. That's the biggest, most obvious reason. The other reason is that it's the principle of the thing - he hadn't really lost his memory, no, but he could have, and Royce doesn't actually have any proof that he didn't.

And then there's the third, deeper reason: he misses when Royce was like this. He doesn't miss him being distrusting of him specifically, of course, and ultimately he'd much rather have his Royce - but he misses the snap and spark he'd had, before the worst of the MN poisoning got to him. He'd rather bicker and challenge him than sit in stony silence.]