Charonquest

[wooliefrand]

WHO: Lily
WHERE: Lily Barn
WHEN: Early Day 36, post ritual!

[alright nerds lets go get your emotional support shepherd]

Comments

Re: final

[endsjustified]

...

I'm...

...very tired.

Re: final

[terraria]

... I know. It's exhausting, being trapped like this, isn't it...?

But you can come back now. Let us share your burden, Charon. Everyone misses you and wants you home safe.

Re: final

[endsjustified]

[there's a long, quiet mental sigh.

The door's open. But only someone else can open it.]

Re: final

[terraria]

( hand hesitates. insecurity gnaws at him. )

... do you... want to come back? Or... do you want... someone else to open the door?

Re: final

[endsjustified]

I would like to come back, Perci.

Please.

Re: final

[terraria]

( he nods, relieved—and opens the door, ready to finally see him again as himself. )

Re: final

[endsjustified]

[there's a rush of feeling over him, when he turns the knob. a deep sense of care, of unusual empathy, of attraction. of strange insecurities. of possessiveness that Charon holds back, because he knows that at the end of this, they will go through separate doors, and not see each other again. of a complex dance that underlies every conversation they have. he knows Perci does not want to be treated like he is delicate, is offended at it sometimes, and respects that. but Perci makes him want to be gentle in a way no one else quite does, unprecedented, baffling. maybe it's knowing how much effort it takes him not to be vicious instead, to not repeat how he's been treated. maybe it's that Perci doesn't expect it except as a response to others perceiving him as weak. Charon doesn't perceive him as weak, has a healthy awareness that Perci could kill him where he stands any day of the week. he just also thinks Perci should be treated like he's cherished. because he is. always.

he'd fight wars for him. he'd fight wars with him. he'd kiss him, at the end of the day.

the door opens.

he gets an impression of blinding silver spilling out from within, over him, through the halls, through the doors, through everything, clean and cold and implacable. and this is the additional truth he receives, in this moment, of what hid here to preserve itself:

if need be, it will kill for you, and if need be, it will die for you. someday, somewhere. but that's the least important part of it. because before then, it will know you and perceive you. it will never turn aside from you. it will plot for you. it will move what must be moved for you, whether what must be moved is molehill or mountain. it will bind you as long as that's what serves. it will let you go, when it's time to let go.

it is not omniscient, superhuman, or infallible. it has very little room for mercy, for pity, for softness; it was partially born that way, and partially shaped. but it is on your side, and it intimately understands duty and care, and for all of you, it is trying to widen its horizons.

the rush of it carries him out of the dark maze, on a sea of shining light.

...]