Closed Do You See What I See? PV

Note: These two characters are hallucinating and nothing is implied about external supernatural beings.

Valentin’s Russian (#DA321C).

After staying up late at the campfire the previous night despite already being sleep-deprived from quidditch camp setup, and following their long day of Prank Wars, Valentin was out cold. Shaking the seeker’s shoulder alone would not do it.

"Valentin wake up. I need to show you something," came Mikael’s voice, instantly snaring the boy’s mind. Val’s right arm reached out to weave its characteristic finger dance, the very same he was known for when catching the snitch, even as his seeker eyes still tried to blink themselves into life. The air of the tent smelled both familiar and foreign. Through the humidity, Valya’s bunny nose flared as it recognized the scent of Mik’s Shetland wool sweater.

“Misha…” he called just before finding purchase on Mik’s arm. White fingers sank into the sweater’s folds as he sat up, silver eyes blinking with concern in an unspoken question. “Misha…?” Val still couldn’t see straight, and he rubbed his eyes with the back of his left hand as if to scatter a cluster of butterflies settled there.


“Show me,” rushed Valya despite the warping dark. The strange tone in Mik’s voice unsettled him. Even while he could barely see where he was going through his reality-dappled fog, Val got up to follow Mikael where he led. Caught at just the right angle, the mirror’s tone blended seamlessly into its backdrop as Valentin approached.

Although feeling Mik’s warmth next to him, Valentin stretched his neck forward in disbelief. Was this a second Mikael, a doppelgänger? Val couldn’t let Mik be replaced. He wanted the real Misha, not some dead-ringer, not some masked fake. Val tried to pass in front of his warm Mik from the left, arm reaching back behind to grasp the boy to ensure he wouldn’t just disappear. He caught Mik’s left wrist, but even as Val tried to center himself against the other Mikael, a silver blur obstructed his view. Leaning to the left and right, Val tried to lock his eyes stronger onto the illusive dark presence before them.

The other Mikael’s eyes sunk like black holes, overtaking Val’s senses with profound emptiness. In alarm, the seeker pulled the Mik behind him closer and moved his long-fingered hand to cover the top of the other boy’s. Was this not more than a doppelgänger, but actually the very source of the darkness that haunted his beloved friend? Fear falling away, Valentin smiled. Had the demon whose claws sucked away Misha’s vitality chosen to reveal himself now? Valentin’s blood ran cold as his eyes froze over. To strike first could bring them the advantage they needed. Yet, the other Mikael… still was a kind of Mikael. Even as desolate and undead as this dark creature was, Valentin couldn’t stop himself from loving him exactly the way he was.

Left arm clutching warm Mikael, Val extended his right hand towards the other Mik, only for his fingers to glance off a cold surface between them. It was like the glass wall Charles spoke of, dividing people from the true selves of others. Valentin hated that wall. Hated it more than anything in the universe. Fishing his wand out of his pocket, a rumble scraped through the back of Val’s throat.

“Mishka…” growled Val, stepping forward. Yet, the glowing silver blur surged back in front of the other Mik like it was trying to protect him. It was in Val’s way of getting through the glass. What the hell was it, even?

Val’s eyes squinted and relaxed as if he were seeking through the wide open sky. The silver form shone too brightly to resolve clearly even in Val’s keen sights, as if it were a being moving so fast that it blurred like a motion photograph continuously retaken. As Valentin leaned in towards the bright form, the coldness of that invisible vertical plane blocked his reach again. Cold, so… cold. Crystallizing within the brightness, two frigid violaceous eyes stared back. Cold… so very, very cold. Entrancing. Hypnotic. They called Valya on, to come into his embrace. Why did it beckon him? Why…

A memory shuddered through Valya’s mind, the singing words of his dead mother, Zinoviya. Silver and amethyst, the colddrake hunts for prey. Its glowing eyes can hypnotize and steal your soul away…

Valya squeezed Mik’s hand. Zinoviya was right. It was the colddrake with its magical charm. This silver beast was just like his mother, just like his great great grandmother Odetta, the full-blooded veela. Val knew how this story ended. Once his victim was in range of his mesmerizing eyes, the colddrake would lure him in and grasp him with long curved claws to consume him. Valya had to find the monster’s weakness, fast, before he could take either Mikael away.

Val pulled Mik’s arm around his front to brace him for what he had to do. The impulse ripped through him without thinking, like lightning surging from within through an explosive bolt. There was no time to warn Mikael.

“LUMOS MAXIMA!!” screamed Valentin with a thrust of his wand at the beast’s purple eyes-- the source of its power and surely its greatest vulnerability. Blinding white light flooded the tent, shocking Valentin even as he could not afford to look away.

--

Elsewhere in the tent, the detonation of Val’s spell had variable effects. Yefim kept sleeping like a little angel, while Greta poked her head out of her personal cave, confused. The little Valkyrie rubbed her eyes while hugging a stuffed kneazle, asking what was going on. A pillow flew through the air from the other side of the room, its sender hidden away. Johannes slammed a fist into his mattress before hiding from the light under his blankets.

"Merda! Che? CHE?! SONO SVEGLIO! CHE?!" Shit! What? WHAT?! I'M AWAKE! WHAT!? yelled the Italian, looking right at the light before covering his eyes. "Merde!" Shit! he cursed, covering his head with a pillow.

Stats: STA 8 ✦ EVA 13 ✧ STR 2 ✦ WIS 15 ✧ARC 1 ✦ ACC 15 - Ency
Abilities: Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✧ Evasive Maneuvers ✦ Fearless

Song Inspiration

Mikael looked down at the fluttering eyelashes as the white-haired boy below him began to pull himself out of the wading deep waters of sleep. Crouching down beside Valentin, Mikael would take his time studying Valentin. The boy looked so pliable as if he were made out of Clay rather than skin and bone. Raising his hand up he would press his fingers into the bone of Valentin's cheek. As he wondered to himself why it would not press inward. Soft white eyelashes rested upon porcelain skin. The boy could practically remember the way bruises looked against the boy's pale skin The bruises he himself had willing left. The thought soured his tongue as he tilted his head slightly. He had hurt him, and he had hurt him back just the same. An eye for an eye. Skin for skin.

His gaze quickly darted down from the boy's angelic face and to the fingers that seemed to reach out towards him. Uncertainty pulled at his features, wondering if he should move away from the other's blind hand. It was as if it was searching for him. As if it knew where he stood. Mikael's gaze quickly glanced up towards the boy's face watching the other blink furiously. A strong hand gripped the fabric that surrounded his arm like a protective shield. The boy's brows furrowed his head tilting further similar to that of a dog. Mikael was quite used to the nickname the boy had grown accustomed to calling him. Baring no mind to it as he watched the boy rub at his eyes. "Welcome back." he would say vaguely before standing up to his full height.

Unlike the white-haired boy, Mikael was accustomed to the dark and easily lead the blinded boy over towards the other boy. He wondered if the other boy found the dark daunting. Walking practically blind towards something even Mikael struggled to explain. A part of him wondered if Valentin would cope with it. Valentin was so bright, the light that seemed to constantly shine. Would he be able to handle the darkness that rested within him? The boy stood in front of the mirror once more the black-haired boy staring back. Dark eyes met his own blue ones. Or at least that's what he imagined it to be. The boy within the mirror was him, but at the same time, it was not. His eyes were not black, but maybe inside him, they were. Swallowing thickly he glared down at the mirror, and the black-haired boy stared back at him. Determination and the need to conquer. It stretched between them linking him and the boy together.

Mikael's gaze snapped towards Valentin as the other gripped onto him moving him behind the small boy. "Do you see it too Valentin?" he offered vaguely. "Do I scare you?" his tone was a bit harsher than he meant it to be. Despite this, his face would remain cryptically blank as he studied the boy through the mirror. Or was it the other boy who was really studying the other? Mikael had trouble distinguishing himself from the other. Mikael and Valentin's eyes would lock together. It felt as if his very skin was being peeled up and away in order to reveal the thing underneath the human skin. His very own personal human mask. The smile the white-haired boy reflected in the mirror made his skin crawl and his eyes widen. He wasn't scared, and the understanding of this brought a confused pause. Mikael could see the black-haired boy in the mirror was just as confused. Unsure how to act. The vulnerability of it all made him want to turn and twist from the invisible bonds that held him in place.

His brows furrowed as he watched the other reach out towards the black-haired boy. Such a simple act, but he found himself concerned if the other would reach out towards his light. He couldn't let the other touch him and corrupt the bright light into the dark. The mirror reflected his state of disquietude his eyes wide as he stared at the boy and stared down at the boy's hand as it pressed against the glass. Valentin was staring at his own self, but was it really him? "Valen-" he voice rising in an anxious state. Worried the monster behind the glass would rip the boy through the glass. That the things on the other would steal his light away. Though, just as the boy's name began to leave his mouth.

“LUMOS MAXIMA!!”

A bright light shone directly in his eyes, Mikael stumbled backward pulling away from Valentin's grip on his arm. Dark spots shone across his vision momentarily blinding him. The boy brought his hands upwards gripping at his eyes as he mumbled something out. Mikael fell backward landing sharply on his backside, but the boy could hardly find a care as he tried to rub away the bright light from his vision.

Mikael was unsure why the boy had decided to cast a spell on the beings that resided in the mirror. Had he been trying to banish them from existence? If he was who was the spell truly for? Despite his questions, Mikael was fairly certain that Valentin had been scared. He had seen something so terrifying that all he could have done was react. Mikael hardly paid attention to the grown and moans that picked up in volume around them. Instead focusing ahead on where Valentin was. The boy slowly came back into view as the spots slowly disappeared from his vision. "Light it is okay, I think. The darkness should be abated for some time." his tone was much quieter as he slowly laid down fully onto the ground staring up at the tent ceiling. "Should that not hold them off at least for the night?" he mumbled his tone far more tired now. The smell of burning fabric filled the air, but he could not find it within himself to move from his position on the ground. Mikael had more pressing questions that wanted to be answered. Like, what exactly scared Valentin so badly.

Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

As light exploded through the room, Mikael fell away from Valentin with a loud crack like thunder onto the ground. Val dropped his wand, extinguishing the light as it, too, clattered in the dead of night.

“MISHA!!” roared Valya, terrified that the colddrake had struck him down. “Kaderlem, NEIN!”“darling, NO!” bled Valentin’s mashed-up Tatar-German.* The boy threw himself onto the floor alongside Mik by sound alone, blinded as he was by his own spell. He reached out through the dark, pawing the floor with clawlike fingers as his sensitive eyes recovered with agonizing slowness. The hiss of a flame beginning to catch nearby accompanied the drift of pungent burning-cloth air. Meek light from the newly smoldering pillow radiated just enough for Valya to spot Mik’s hands moving as they rubbed at his dark eyes, and Valentin crawled over to the boy’s side. He was still moving. Mik hadn’t frozen in place again, he wasn’t dead, no, he was…

"Light it is okay, I think. The darkness should be abated for some time," soothed the black-hearted boy. Mik laid down to stare up at the ceiling and Val scuttled in closer to touch the boy’s hair, charcoal-colored in the poor light. He didn’t want Mik to get locked into a dissociative episode now of all times, when there were still dangerous elements stalking the dark. "Should that not hold them off at least for the night?" Val’s hand laid still, mid-stroke as he gazed down to meet the boy’s eyes. A pang of fear lanced the seeker’s chest as he realized what he had seen. It was he, Valentin, who was the monster. Yet, the hell-chaser could not tear his eyes away from the other boy. The terrible allure of the thrill held his gaze fixed to Mikael’s.

“I saw it, too, Mishenka. I saw, but I’m not afraid of you. You are beautiful, both of you. I’m just afraid to lose you…” escaped the truth from Val’s recurved-bow lips. Val’s left hand clenched in a fist even as his right brushed through Mik’s hair on its way back to his chest. The seeker doubled over with crossed arms, hugging himself tightly. “You’re… Did you… Did you see it? Did you see the other one? He didn’t get you, did he? The colddrake…” whispered Valya, wild eyes whipping left and right in slashes across the floor. “I couldn’t let him take you away. I’m sorry if I hurt you,” mourned Val’s mercury-smooth voice as his eyes fought back to stare at the burn scar across Mik’s face. Val had thought they were practically immortal before, that nothing could truly harm them-- pain was only a color, lovely ruby red for their ritual painting from the sacrificial bowl. Yet, here Mikael lay as Val feared that the boy might never stir again one of these days, his blue-grey eyes latched onto a fixed point forever. Valya’s gut clenched, yet, what the daredevil feared even more was the beast inside himself, because Val knew… he knew he would let the monster out if it meant he could save Mikael. It was horrible enough that it clawed at him from the inside, icicle fangs testing his innards for where it could breach the defenses Valya’d built and rebuilt every night. Val knew that his violescent magic still glowed from within when his eyes locked on for too delectably long. The captain was a threat, and here, his people had imbued him with extra power and left themselves vulnerable to his charms. The worst of it, the best of it, was that Val recognized the hungering darkness in Mikael as well. The two were twin rivers of blood, after all, just as Yefim was counting on.

Valentin looked down at the gilded ring around his right middle finger. It was not some petty beautiful object. This was sacred. This kind of bond… it would never fade away, right? Wouldn’t the infinite loop keep Mikael tied to the world?

“Please, Misha, I just… I don’t want you to float off into the dark like your mother. Stay. Stay with me, and Fima. This black hole that is pulling you in, I can’t… I won’t let you go there. If you fall away then you’re going to have to drag me along with you, and you wouldn’t do that, right, minem altynym my gold…? You wouldn't just... leave forever...” Valentin's cheeks burned at the memory of that day in the fog when Mikael never came.

* “Kaderlem” is like the Arabic “habibi” and is a term of endearment that can be used for one’s dearest friends, family, or more.
Russian: #DA321C, German: #992314, Tatar:#680c08
Stats: STA 8 ✦ EVA 13 ✧ STR 2 ✦ WIS 15 ✧ARC 1 ✦ ACC 15 - Ency
Abilities: Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✧ Evasive Maneuvers ✦ Fearless

Song Inspiration

Mikael glanced his gaze downwards and towards the white-haired boy as he made his way over to him. The boy inwardly refused to move though he doubted he would be able to even if he tried. His bones felt like they were made of lead and his eyes felt heavy and hooded. Mikael's brows furrowed ever so slightly. Barely creasing the space between them. The boy's words were hard to believe. How could someone not be scared of what lay within? Something he saw far too often for his own liking. Even he was somewhat terrified of the way he felt, and yet Valentin seemed almost in awe. Mikael blinked slowly as he felt the other comb his hand through his hair. Such a simply gesture took him away bringing the boy into sharp focus. "Are you scared that I will be lost amongst the black tar? I don't think your fear is unnecessary. I sometimes worry too. I don't want to drown." he said as a frown pulled across his lips.

The boy nodded at the other's question, though, confusion flittered through him. He had not been able to get a good look at the white flash before Valentin had shot the spell at the creature. "A colddrake? Was that what that thing was?" he mumbled out. It did not touch me. I don't think it even had the chance to." he said as he studied the white-haired boy. The guilt that clung on to the other was powerful, and a weird feeling bloomed across his chest. Something barely nonexistent to him, but still palatable in the air. The boy's gaze drifted lazily towards Valentin unsure how to comfort the boy into just going back to sleep. It seemed like too much work to existing right now, and the blankets beneath his felt cool against his skin.

Mikael's shot open from their hooded eyes at the mention of his Mother. Strung tightly the boy remained frozen as he stared down the white-haired boy with an unreadable face. Unsure how the boy had come to find out about his Mother. It seemed unlikely Yefim would have told the other boy. The other boy had been there at the funeral as sad and pathetic as looking at a closed casket can be. Mikael stood up brushing Valentin off him in the process. "My Mother went to the stars. Not some dark place. How do you even know about her?" he snapped his tone flat and devoid of everything but an undertone of anger. "How can you say that? When you are not even in the water?" he asked brows furrowed. Mikael stood up walking to the tent door in a clipped manner. "A light can't save a drowning person, Valentin." he would say with finality before pushing his way out into the darkness.

Mikael let the cloth fall behind him staring out at the quiet campground with tired eyes. The boy wished he could go lay down, but the itchy feeling that clawed at his skin kept him from going inside. Mikael was unsure how much time he stood there staring up at the stars. He wondered if he would see his Mother again. If it was even possible. He had been denied the right to see his Mother's face one last time. The wood that surrounded her body was like a cage. Trapping her from her original goal. Trapping him away from the one person who truly cared. Or at least used to care. Mikael slowly sat down on the ground staring up at the sky with a small frown. The boy was certain she had to be up there. Where else could she be?

Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

“My Mother went to the stars. Not some dark place. How do you even know about her?” said Mikael as Valentin scrambled to his feet. “How can you say that? When you are not even in the water?” Valentin had only just pulled himself out of the quagmire following the loss of his own parents and team mates last year, thinking he could help Misha better from firm ground.... Yet, as the dark-haired boy moved to exit, realization began cracking across Valentin’s face. “A light can’t save a drowning person, Valentin,” levelled Mikael’s deciding blow. The tent flap slid silently back into place behind him, leaving Valentin behind to stand alone-- surrounded by loved ones and yet, somehow, terribly alone. If any of them were awake, they did not reach Valentin as he stood frozen in place.

I went too fast again, didn’t I? I just can’t control myself at these speeds. Romeva was right. I’m just like a bludger. Maybe I’m doing this all wrong. Bludgers are only good for hurting people. Mikael didn’t even invite me to the funeral. He’s got Fima, what does he even need me for? If he wanted me around, he would have told me.

Looking back at the bunk he had never even slept in, Val could not see what charm would make such a confined little area feel like home. Now even his tussled up spot on the floor looked more like a dumping ground for Val’s chaotic fragments. Val didn’t want to disturb the others trying to sleep, but how was he supposed to put himself to sleep now while Mikael was suffering? Even if the dark-haired boy wanted to be left alone, even if he never reached for the light, was Valentin just supposed to leave him there?

Pain lanced Valentin’s chest as he looked into the firepit which weakly glowed with the embers of the pillow’s residual slivers. His eyes hurt. He wanted to cry but his violescent orbs stared on, frozen through like hunks of raw glacier. A light can’t save a drowning person, Valik, the boy tried to convince himself. Not when the person is too weak to swim to the light. Think of the legend-- the king summoned the colddrake for a reason, didn’t he? His people would have died or been enslaved if he hadn’t used this power… Yet, it’s not… not a happy story. Is it good enough to force your will on someone if it might save them? Did the king save his people from one slavery only to subject them to another? Why does it have to be this way?

Looking back at the exit, Valentin held himself back. Afraid to go too fast, he found himself unable to move forward at all. He said, ‘I don’t want to drown.’ He wants help, doesn’t he? Maybe he just… wants help from someone else. Fima, or…. his mother. Valentin looked back at Yefim, who had been sleeping like a baby through the entire commotion. Let him gather his strength for tomorrow… thought Val, his eyes gravitating back towards Romeo’s bunk before stopping themselves short. No, this is on me. I have to fix what I break by myself. Misha would be asleep now if I had just kept my mouth shut. Put it on me. Make me pay the cost.

Valentin stormed out the tent door with a grimace and found Mikael sitting on the ground, looking up at the stars with a frown. The white seeker had wanted to grab him with both hands as if to reach across dimensions and pull the other boy out of his tar pit… but Mikael’s sadness overpowered Valentin’s momentum like a wave, stopping him a couple of feet away.

“Misha, I… I watch you, I try to watch over you, and one day you changed. I knew something was wrong, and then it came out on the news, about your mother. Fima didn’t tell me, but I could read it on him, too. Even if you wouldn’t tell me… Why didn’t you tell me…” trailed off Valentin. “Why didn’t you come, that day in the fog?”

His keen eyes looking upon Mikael’s, Valentin could almost see the night sky reflecting off their grey-blue curvature. In all the darkness of space, there were still stars.

“I'm sorry, Misha. I was wrong. I'm trying to understand."

Song Inspiration

The warm air brushed at Mikael's cheeks. Warming him slowly but surely to the point of being uncomfortably warm. As time passed he began to understand his refusal to take off his sweaters. The want... no the need to be warm permeated throughout his entire being. When you live in a home where the temperatures rarely get over 70, but can easily dip much further than that. You start to appreciate the dull warmth that permeated the atmosphere. Mikael's gaze drifted up from his sweater towards the sky once more, and he wondered to himself if he would be able to fly high like her. It seemed unfair that he had to sink while she got to float. Though, had it not always been like that? Him sinking further into the water while she drifted further away. Climbing higher and higher away from him until he was alone in the dark sea.

Mikael slowly lowered himself onto the soft dirt a few inches from the tent. It made little sense to wander. He didn't know this place well, and while his English was decent it was not great. The boy pulled his knees into his chest as he wrapped his arms around them. He hoped that Valentin would remain in the tent, but a small part of him cried out to not be alone. Despite the fact he wished it was not so. His flipped through scenarios trying to understand everything when he could have just asked. It still made little sense how the other could have found out about his Mother. The reminder of what had happened had stung his heart. As if someone had struck it with a barbed wire. Pains so deep it was impossible not to bite back, and bite back he had.

A dull feeling crossed his being as the words he had spoken in rage rang through his head. They had felt so true when he had spoken. Set to hurt and bring down. Yet now the feeling in the pit of his stomach made him question it all. A frown crossed his features as he stared up at the stars. They had looked so innocent earlier, but now they seemed overbearing. Mikael's head turned quickly as Valentin stormed through the tent door. Moving a little too fast had startled the boy out of his thinking, and his frown deepened as he stared at the white-haired boy. It felt weird watching the other treat him like an injured stray dog. Would he come forth with meat to lure him into capture?

Mikael blinked slowly as the boy spoke, turning his gaze away back towards the stars. Had he truly been that easy to read? In the recesses of his mind, he thought he had been safe from the scrutiny of those with eyes. He guessed it made sense that the police would have released something in the news. A cry for help, despite the fact the person already being dead. "What was there to talk about? That my Mother decided to leave me more permanently this time? he asked rhetorically. "What would you have even said other than 'sorry'? he asked. His tone put a harsher tone on the word sorry. Everyone had always been sorry his Mother went to the stars. Their sympathetic whining grated his ears. As if sympathy would make her come back. It didn't he had checked.

The boy's brows furrowed slightly as the other went on about a fog. "What fog?" he asked blandly. He was unsure why Valentin found it prudent to talk about the weather. Though, Valentin could be strange like that. Switching topics quickly and without much reason. He was like that in regard to Yefim. So much life radiating from the two of them. He wondered if they would ever give him a crumb or two. "I don't know if I want you to understand Valentin. Does the woman let her best white cloth get used to clean a smudge on the dirt?" he asked.

Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood

Mikael’s words found their way into Valya like stormsurge through a worn-out levee. What would Valentin have told him then, indeed? The skinny albino was hardly a substitute for Mikael’s mother. Hell, the boy wasn’t even worth telling about his mother’s death in the first place, let alone being pulled in to comfort Mikael in the wake of it. Yet, despite the lack of welcome, Valya somehow had found more excuses than ever to accompany Mik when he was alone. For however little Mik may have cared for him, Valentin could not accept Mik’s abject isolation. Especially when Yefim was busy, Valentin would mysteriously find his way to Mik’s side. What did Yefim have that he couldn't give Mik, too, wondered Valya.

"What fog?" Mikael uttered, sounding all the world to Valya like he didn’t really give a damn. The seeker couldn’t believe it was ignorance that kept Mikael from pursuing him that day he summoned him. Misha was no fool, and Valentin’s message should have been clear after all their time together. The white seeker could only presume that Mikael simply didn’t care anymore, just like he seemed not to care now. It was Valentin’s way to leave his gifts without introduction, and for him to receive no response from the other boy would just have to be fine.


"I don't know if I want you to understand Valentin. Does the woman let her best white cloth get used to clean a smudge on the dirt?" sliced the dark-haired boy. There were a couple of ways to interpret such words, but Mikael’s annoyance was clear enough that Valentin took himself to be the unwanted filth. Since Val would rather be dirt than to be not used at all, this subconsciously spared himself the worst of the interpretations. Smiling at Mik’s blow, Valentin loved this. The dark-haired boy’s caustic tone and elegant attacks, his frowning stare and his terrible presence… like beautiful children, Valentin welcomed these avatars of pain that washed out of Mikael. Let the boy come down on me like a perfect unrestrained wave, holding nothing back, prayed Valya. What other means of catharsis did the shadow of a boy have? Neither staring into space nor attempts at sleep seemed to be pulling him out of the undertow. Our blind pit demons, still crawling around in the dark... Isn't it time? I certainly want to fix what I did wrong last time.

“You were right, Misha, about the light. It is empty and untouchable for the drowning. Even a rotting piece of driftwood is more useful. Often, to survive you must take on the dirty and the imperfect, using them until it is safe to cast them aside once more,” Valentin seethed. He knew he couldn’t let himself just become a broken, abandoned shell on the floor. Charles was right when he said several people were counting on him now. Yet, a perfect ring of gold clung to Val’s finger. It wasn’t a vow he'd made. The ring represented what already swam inside.

Valentin walked up to Mikael and grinned, his Tatar eyes narrowing to slits. Lanky white arms reached down to grab Mik’s sweater at the neck to jerk him to his feet.

“Hit me,” whispered Valentin. “Your mother is dead, just like mine.” Val remembered the dark waters he’d pulled himself out of, and he knew right how to plunge back into them. This was the way to make Mikael not be alone anymore, decided the seeker. “I am the grimy truth of the world. If I am wrong, then show me how wrong I am.” Valentin lanced a devilish smirk at the boy, cocking his head to the side in an invitation for Mikael to throw him a good punch. “Our mothers can't come back for us. They are dead forever."

[quote][quote]


Mikael's brows furrowed slightly as Valentin smiled at him. Such an odd reaction to have out here in the open. Though, who was he to judge what reactions were socially acceptable for their situation? When he himself had nothing to compare it to. The boy's face remained perfectly blank as he studied the other's gaze. It felt as if something was pulling him open. Prying apart bone in order to truly see him. Far too invasive for his liking. Though, had this not always been their relationship? Mikael had sensed it, Valentin wanted to understand. Something so innocent that slowly drove him insane. Especially when there was nothing safe for the other to understand.

The boy's gaze snapped back up towards the light, his gaze having drifted off out towards the dark shadows that surrounded them. Mikael frowned to himself mulling the other's words on his tongue. "My Mother told me when people drown they tend to take others down with them." he muttered softly. Something that was true physically and figuratively. Sometimes the best thing to do was to let someone drown. Passive was always better than active. Water pushed down upon him. Such a heavyweight were the many layers of the water. Bearing down their oppressiveness in order to keep him from ever coming up. Mikael's gaze focused heavily upon Valentin afraid to see if water was pooling around him.



Mikael blinked at the other slowly as he gripped onto the collar of his woolen sweater. It seemed almost surreal as the thin sticks forced him upwards into the waking world. Forcing him into the situation head first. His eyes caught the eyes of the boy in front of him. So close to one another it seemed like there was no distance at all. No walls to hide behind, just the fiery eyes that bore upon his muted ones. A part of him wondered if the other was simply trying to light a fire in him. To bring forth an emotion, whatever it could be. He decided he was right when the other asked him to hit him. Something said so quietly Mikael wondered if he had simply misheard the other boy. His brows furrowed upon one another as he searched the other's gaze. What was he trying to look for? That the other was lying that his Mother would never come back? Mikael knew death was infinite, but the knowledge was still in the fresh wounds in his chest.

The boy's lip curled back as anger, sadness, and sheer loneliness bore down on his chest. The need to breathe freely struck his mind, his chest feeling constricted despite the fact that nothing held it back. Everything was far too sharply in focus to concentrate. The moonlight that bounced off the boy made him squint his eyes. Highlights that overpowered his eyes. Valentin was far too close for comfort grating the lines of his skin. How badly he wanted to distance himself from the other, but the other still had a tight grip on him. Holding him captive. Keeping him from escaping. From soothing the growing itch under his skin.

Before he could realize what he did his arms shot out shoving the other boy away from him. Disconnecting the lifeline between them. Leaving himself to drown alone amongst the waters that threatened to overtake him. Mikael was not too sure what he look like as he bore down upon the other as the other had him. Standing above him in a quiet rage. He just wanted to wipe that smirk off the white-haired boy's face. That look of superiority as if Mikael was nothing more than a dumb child. Such a familiar look as he watched his family rot from the inside. As if him being a child meant he did not understand a dying breed when he saw it. "She.left.me.." he said his voice wavering as he tried to control himself. The boy shook slightly as he stared at the other with wide angry eyes. "She left me!" he yelled his foot coming to kick the boy in the stomach. Everything fuzzed out around him. Unaware except the angry babbling of those three words as he repeatedly kicked the outlet in front of him. Destroying what little they had between them. But god did it not feel so good. A forbidden sweetness filled the hollow hole in his chest. Time seemed to not exist and he was unsure how much time had passed, but he grew tired. Mikael collapsed upon the ground eyes wet, and it took him far too long to realize he was crying heavily. The boy paid no attention to the white-haired boy. As if he no longer existed to him. "Min Mor... min mamma...Lämna mig inte fred.....Mamma..Mamma.." he wept to himself. [Translation: My Mother...My Mom...Don't leave me alone...Mom...Mama.]


[quote]

Misha’s mother was right about the risk of the drowning pulling down others, of course. In his childhood, Valya heard countless tales of the undead Su Anasy [rusalka] and nixie creatures that haunted waterways after their drowning, luring the gullible into the water to follow them in death. Yet, Valentin was no unsuspecting victim. Amethyst eyes locked onto Mikael’s, invoking an ancient magic beyond words that was no magic at all. There could be no walls between them in such a hypnotic moment. For whatever monster lived inside Misha, another clawed at Valentin from inside, waiting for just such a moment to break out. It was a duet, really, when their ethereal beings found each other, like they had years ago in the library. Come out, come out, Valya’s seemed to say.


The stagnation in Mikael rotted them both away from the inside out. Bound as they were in an infinite loop, Misha’s deterioration was Valya’s, even if it failed to go both ways. Such was the empath’s burden, and Valentin had to take his pleasures where he could in order to sustain the cycle. Maybe there were other ways to save Misha, but this was the way Valya wanted. Was the seeker blinded by his own unfulfilled needs? Perhaps, but he couldn’t think of any other way to break Misha free of the undertow. Valya knew Romeo wouldn’t like it. It wasn’t exactly what Valentin wanted either, but he felt it was the best of all available options. What Valya truly wanted seemed all too far out of reach, so tonight he would sate himself on the taste of Mikael’s liberation, paid for with his own blood.

Ruthless tongue and incisive stare cut through the waters as Valentin grasped Mikael at the neck, leaving only Val's choice of exit for the other boy. Mikael shoved Valentin away so hard the seeker crashed with an echoing thud. As Misha’s terrible presence loomed down over the boy, the thrill of anticipation sizzled through Valya’s veins. Waves of quiet rage emanated from the lovely creature as Valentin lay in the dirt, smiling back up at him. What a beautiful night, thought Valentin as his breathing accelerated, watching the scene unfold like the spreading of a great dragon’s wings before it descended upon its prey.

Mikael’s vision clouded over, as if losing focus in order to see through one layer of reality into another realm beneath the surface. This was a look the seeker understood very well: Valentin would now take the place of the boy’s otherwise untouchable demons, just like he’d wanted.

"She.left.me," wavered Misha’s voice as he fought to control himself. The dark-haired boy shook as he stared at Valya, smoky blue eyes wide with rage. "She left me!" he bellowed, launching a kick into Valya’s stomach, and then kicking again, and again, and again. Valentin’s arms curved back over his skull to keep it from smashing into the ground as his light frame knocked about with the force of Mikael’s boot. For as much as the boy’s glowing white body curled up to try to protect itself, the massively stronger Mikael created openings for himself without even having to try. Skidding over the dirt with each blow, Valentin’s back accumulated gashes and abrasions as small rocks dug into him. As he had been sleeping earlier, the boy had no shirt to protect his moonstone skin, but countless scars glinted back in the dim ambiance as a testament to his undying past.

Strike by strike, the intensifying pain wracked Valya’s insides as the raw moment crashed through him like the wrath of the sea. Val had never been a strong swimmer, but now he allowed himself to be swept away by Mikael’s power. It was hard, fighting his instinct to dodge, for Valentin had never just accepted violence against him before. In all of his previous fights, Val had not only tried to evade, but loved to hit back. His recent hours of martial training railed against him, too, as Val’s body jolted with the suppressed instinct to grab onto Mik’s leg and pull him down, too.

Instead, laid bare, Valentin felt himself cracking open as he willed Mikael to pour out every drop of anguish. Bursts of laughter tumbled out of the thin white boy, rolling on and on just as the blows flowed as ceaselessly as the tide. Let the lava score open the channels of his cloistered, feverish heart, Valya wished, wincing through the agony. Through stolen glances between kicks, Valentin watched Misha’s face as the boy unleashed the pent-up storm within. A smile curled the corners of Valya’s choking lips, thinking the other seemed to be enjoying himself. It was beautiful to see Mik so full of feeling again– so alive. Valya hoped Misha could find happiness after this, somehow, someday, but as the seeker squeezed his fist around his golden ring to hold in the pain, Valentin decided this was already worth the cost.

Time did not seem to pass, as if the boys’ endless loop had made it irrelevant. Blood gushed from Valya’s coughing mouth and decorated the dusty scene as he flew about the ground. Then, with Mikael’s final kick, the dark-haired boy succumbed to exhaustion, collapsing with face wet from heavy sobbing.

All Valya could do was listen to Misha at that moment. Even through a foreign language, it was clear that Misha just wanted his mother. Twitching in a broken heap, Valentin felt the iron flowing over his tongue and dripping down the side of his face. He didn’t even have any laughter left, so completely thrashed was he. At last Valya’s mind began to slip from the present moment as it fluttered through his memories of the Durmstrang sparring room. Feeling that he could finally relax now, Val imagined the angles of his co-captain’s face, then the Mediterranean sea of his eyes. Warmth in Val’s smile pressed his quivering lips together, damming the blood back into his mouth as his mind wandered. Only then did it occur to Valentin that in a few hours he would have to face Romeo and help lead the team through blatching drills. Romeo wouldn’t like this at all. An icy jab ripped into Val’s chest as he realized he would probably have to do something to spare Misha the giant’s wrath. Val couldn’t lie to Rome, though. There was just no way. Unclenching his fists, Valentin realized how much his hands hurt. Sleepiness began to tug at Valentin as the adrenaline wore thin, but he still didn’t know how he was going to protect Mikael come morning.

Craning his neck through a terrible ache, Valentin set his gaze back upon the other boy. He tried to speak, but he couldn’t even get his lips to open now. Another shuddering twitch ripped through Valya’s body, and he inadvertently whimpered. He had to get up. Forcing his arms out, Valentin sprawled flatter over the ground, unsuccessful. It reminded him of when Rome struggled to move in the wake of their electrocution. Sad eyes blinked twice through the memory, and all at once Val fell to a landslide of missing his co-captain. Nothing could happen until Val got up, however.

A haunting gurgle of a groan broke from Val’s mouth as he forced himself to his hands and knees. Shaking so hard he thought he might come apart at the joints, Val crawled forward inches at a time until finally closing in on the sobbing boy nearby. Lunging himself off his hands, the white seeker shambled to the side and threw himself onto Mikael’s back. Valya simply had no strength left to do it delicately, and his guts immediately taught him to regret it. Yet, the lanky boy still managed to wrap his arms around Mikael, and after heaving in deep lungfuls of air and resting his head against the boy’s shoulder, words returned to Valentin’s tongue.

“I won’t... leave you...”