17 Sep 2022, 07:31
No Retreat for the Fearless?
Happiness lies in the swiftness of feeling and thinking: all the rest of the world is slow, gradual and stupid. Whoever could feel the course of a light ray would be very happy, for it is very swift. Thinking of oneself gives little happiness. If, however, one feels much happiness in this, it is because at bottom one is not thinking of oneself but of one's ideal. This is far, and only the swift shall reach it and are delighted.
-- Nietzsche
Durmstrang Courtyard. September 17, 2022: 9:23 am
The early Saturday sky, blue and bright and empty, beckoned Valentin outside. Yet, the seeker couldn't bear to carry his broom, so instead of flying he took to wandering the grounds like a lost soul. Eventually winding up in the main Durmstrang courtyard, Valentin found Mikael sitting under a tree, reading. Simply walking up to the boy flooded the seeker’s head with memories, for Valya’s subconscious, locked into the thrall of a lifelong habit, assumed that any such slow movement must be a time for reflecting upon the past and future. The air swirled with an occasional waft of spicy early autumn leaves, even as they still clung to the trees in their red and gold shimmering swathes. The fragrance was quite unlike that of morning in the London Stadium campgrounds, and yet, the quality of the light and the drowsy nip of cold air still took Valentin back… back to when he’d woken up outside the Horntail tent, bashed to smithereens and yet still holding onto Misha. For all the physical damage Valentin took from the other boy, Mikael had also gotten so devastated that he, too, slept through the night despite not having a major wound on him. Looking at the boy now, Val got a shiver down his back and arms.
The only way Mikael’s terrible presence made sense to fearless Valentin was as a sort of thrilling beauty, just as the burn scar over his face only made Mikael more interesting to look at. However maladaptive Valya's lack of trepidation was, since the night he looked into the mirror to see Misha's spectre, the White Immortal began slipping back even further into delusions of invulnerability. After all, Misha had held the boy's life in his hands, seeming to hold nothing back when his rage flowed through him, and yet Valya still lived.
Misha’s demeanor struck Valya as eerily calm today, as if something were particularly off. For whatever peace the boy had wrested from Valya’s blood sacrifice, the atmosphere still prickled with danger. Val felt like wherever Mikael walked now, the boy with blue-grey eyes remained centered at the eye of a storm.
As Valentin approached without a word, his keen violet eyes skittered around as if seeking. What was Misha filling his head with, schoolwork or something more personal? Val checked the book’s title once he’d gotten a good angle. Really, the workings of Mik’s mind was a favorite puzzle for Val. The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, spotted Val, knowing that this was not part of their homework. Personal, he concluded.
“Kaderlem,” greeted Valentin with his favorite name for the boy. Nowadays it felt easier for Valentin to cloak the subtleties of his communication in snippets of Tatar, rather than shining his meanings so directly into the eye as to make others recoil from their intensity. Truth be told, the language served as his inadvertent shield on days he carried overly grievous wounds. On difficult days like today, he carried on with himself in his head just so, avoiding Russian as if it carried a taint. There was no real avoiding Russian with Misha, however, which compelled Valentin to shut up and sit down next to him beneath the tree. He wanted to put his arm around the other boy and tell him that it was all okay, what had happened. He wanted Mik to know how happy he was that the dark haired boy unleashed all of his pain on him without holding back. It was Valya’s secret prayer, answered– so long as it had truly brought some modicum of healing to Mikael. With the strange peace about the other boy, Valentin could only hope the gambit had worked. Half-accepting the possibility of retaliation and half-reaching for what he needed, Valentin leaned his back against the tree as his head slid down towards Mik’s shoulder.
It’s not like trying to help Mik recover is going to bring my mother back from the dead. They’re separate, Val told himself in a muddle of Tatar-German. See how we got Greta back on the team, it’s not like… It’s not like I’m hoping Mik will come home, too… Staring off into the distance, Valentin remembered, one after another, all the times he’d told #4 he was never going to let him go. This is why he didn’t like to go slowly. He got swallowed up by the memories.
Valentin didn’t have a book of his own to read next to Mikael. Rather, Val felt too wounded to carry around even his schoolwork. The mere presence of assignments and responsibilities in physical incarnation felt like knives pressing against his already battered sense of self. The disturbing aura around Mikael only pulled Val in stronger in this state, as the pale boy surrendered to whatever he had to do to progress with understanding the mystery of Mikael’s condition. With a hiss, Valentin forced wary Russian through his teeth.
“What does Yefimka have that I don’t? If the answer’s in that book, let me read it, too.”
Stats: STA 8 ✦ EVA 14 ✧ STR 2 ✦ WIS 15 ✧ARC 1 ✦ ACC 15 - Ency
Abilities: Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✧ Evasive Maneuvers ✦ Fearless
Last edited by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood on 25 Dec 2022, 08:13, edited 1 time in total.
28 Sep 2022, 06:51
No Retreat for the Fearless?
[quote][quote]
Mikael sat beneath the tree his back up against the bark. The wood poked harshly into his back, and yet he refused to adjust his position. Gaze fixed upon the vanilla-colored page. The book was far from interesting. The words were as bland as the taste of the paper would be. The air moved slightly, a breeze picking up and the cool air slipped up the sleeves of his sweater chilling his body. Far different than it had been in England. While he was no longer sweating to death in his layers, he could not help but miss the feeling of being completely warm. Something that he could say he hardly often got the experience.
A small twitch of his eyebrows into a furrow was the only thing that betrayed his feelings as he focused more on the events that had taken place not too long ago. It had been something Mikael had taken to pushing into the recesses of his mind. Something that he shoved under the water and hoped would not come to rise once more. He was not too sure where to even begin with categorizing the things that had happened. The death of his mother, and what he had done because of it. A part of him wondered how many strings lay between the two of them now. An all t0o familiar feeling swelled in his chest. Something he had only felt when his Mother had started to distance away from him. The boy gripped on to the hardcover of the book tighter. Yet, now here he was the one distancing and he still felt it. Wasn't it supposed to be different? To be fair, the arrival of that...being..had left him far too shaken. Knocking his already shaking form to the ground.
Mikael needed to understand what it meant. This had felt far too real for it not to be something, and if it was something he needed to understand it. A vague thought crossed his mind, as he wondered if Yefim would know how to go about this. The being had been popping up in his dreams more often. Always far away and watching down upon him. To figure out if it wanted something was probably a good idea. He was already plagued by the black-haired boy, he really did not need a god-like figure following him around too. Mikael made a mental note to talk to Yefim about the subject later as he thumbed one of the pages vaguely.
A part of him knew he was acting differently. He could see it in the half-concealed concern in his friend's eyes, but he knew there was nothing he could do. As if he were a runaway train on the train tracks. Unable to stop unable to backtrack. The events that had taken place left him empty. Unable to force himself to appease the Valentine or even Yefim. Something that was newer to him. He was used to disappointing Valentine. It was so easy to disappoint the sun with a shadow, but Yefim. Something so far above him did not deserve his mind to fall into the quicksand. The world moved about him and yet here he was. Mikael touched the grass feeling it in his palm. Feeling how real it was. He should try harder...maybe that was why the being had taken refuge in his dreams. Was this a warning?
Mikael would not notice Valentine at first wrapped up within his own mind as he thought over the topics that lapped at the front of his brain. The boy blinked slowly recognizing that there was a pair of legs in front of him. The boy's gaze slowly looked upwards his head tilting upwards to stare up at the boy. Valentine's face was speckled with the tree's leaves. Leaving dark marks to dance about his skin as the tree rustled in the distance. The atmosphere felt thick making his hand twitch out slightly. As if trying to take action where his mouth failed too. "Valentine." he muttered his voice hoarse from the little use it had had so far this morning. Mikael did not find much reason to speak to the other students within the confines of this castle.
The boy would watch the other with vague curiosity as he tracked the other's movements. A pause came over him as he felt the other boy's head lean against his shoulder. The want to barely breathe in order to not disturb him was quite high. The silence stretched between them slowly. Lulling waves against the boat that Valentine had built for them. Mikael turned back to his book reading down the page slowly but surely. There seemed to be no real rush. Though, when the other spoke up he found himself turning back to the other.
Mikael paused his brows furrowing as he stared at the white-haired boy. What differences lay between Yefim and Valentine was laughable. Yefim, a god, someone who would take him forward. Bring him to greener pastures as they say. It was easy to think, about but not easy to say. Mikael understood the reasoning behind Yefim's wishes. It had been the reason he had muted his tongue during his and Valentine's battle. Lest he wanted to prove disloyal to Yefim. It was something so clear to him he found himself confused as to why Valentine could not see it. Especially with how long they had been together. "The answers might be in a book, but I don't have that one." he replied carefully unsure how to move forward. His mind spun slowly, like a spider weaving its web, as he tried to maneuver his wants and Yefim's wants through his head. "I don't know how to explain it. Don't you feel it?" he asked in an open-ended statement.
[quote]
Mikael sat beneath the tree his back up against the bark. The wood poked harshly into his back, and yet he refused to adjust his position. Gaze fixed upon the vanilla-colored page. The book was far from interesting. The words were as bland as the taste of the paper would be. The air moved slightly, a breeze picking up and the cool air slipped up the sleeves of his sweater chilling his body. Far different than it had been in England. While he was no longer sweating to death in his layers, he could not help but miss the feeling of being completely warm. Something that he could say he hardly often got the experience.
A small twitch of his eyebrows into a furrow was the only thing that betrayed his feelings as he focused more on the events that had taken place not too long ago. It had been something Mikael had taken to pushing into the recesses of his mind. Something that he shoved under the water and hoped would not come to rise once more. He was not too sure where to even begin with categorizing the things that had happened. The death of his mother, and what he had done because of it. A part of him wondered how many strings lay between the two of them now. An all t0o familiar feeling swelled in his chest. Something he had only felt when his Mother had started to distance away from him. The boy gripped on to the hardcover of the book tighter. Yet, now here he was the one distancing and he still felt it. Wasn't it supposed to be different? To be fair, the arrival of that...being..had left him far too shaken. Knocking his already shaking form to the ground.
Mikael needed to understand what it meant. This had felt far too real for it not to be something, and if it was something he needed to understand it. A vague thought crossed his mind, as he wondered if Yefim would know how to go about this. The being had been popping up in his dreams more often. Always far away and watching down upon him. To figure out if it wanted something was probably a good idea. He was already plagued by the black-haired boy, he really did not need a god-like figure following him around too. Mikael made a mental note to talk to Yefim about the subject later as he thumbed one of the pages vaguely.
A part of him knew he was acting differently. He could see it in the half-concealed concern in his friend's eyes, but he knew there was nothing he could do. As if he were a runaway train on the train tracks. Unable to stop unable to backtrack. The events that had taken place left him empty. Unable to force himself to appease the Valentine or even Yefim. Something that was newer to him. He was used to disappointing Valentine. It was so easy to disappoint the sun with a shadow, but Yefim. Something so far above him did not deserve his mind to fall into the quicksand. The world moved about him and yet here he was. Mikael touched the grass feeling it in his palm. Feeling how real it was. He should try harder...maybe that was why the being had taken refuge in his dreams. Was this a warning?
Mikael would not notice Valentine at first wrapped up within his own mind as he thought over the topics that lapped at the front of his brain. The boy blinked slowly recognizing that there was a pair of legs in front of him. The boy's gaze slowly looked upwards his head tilting upwards to stare up at the boy. Valentine's face was speckled with the tree's leaves. Leaving dark marks to dance about his skin as the tree rustled in the distance. The atmosphere felt thick making his hand twitch out slightly. As if trying to take action where his mouth failed too. "Valentine." he muttered his voice hoarse from the little use it had had so far this morning. Mikael did not find much reason to speak to the other students within the confines of this castle.
The boy would watch the other with vague curiosity as he tracked the other's movements. A pause came over him as he felt the other boy's head lean against his shoulder. The want to barely breathe in order to not disturb him was quite high. The silence stretched between them slowly. Lulling waves against the boat that Valentine had built for them. Mikael turned back to his book reading down the page slowly but surely. There seemed to be no real rush. Though, when the other spoke up he found himself turning back to the other.
Mikael paused his brows furrowing as he stared at the white-haired boy. What differences lay between Yefim and Valentine was laughable. Yefim, a god, someone who would take him forward. Bring him to greener pastures as they say. It was easy to think, about but not easy to say. Mikael understood the reasoning behind Yefim's wishes. It had been the reason he had muted his tongue during his and Valentine's battle. Lest he wanted to prove disloyal to Yefim. It was something so clear to him he found himself confused as to why Valentine could not see it. Especially with how long they had been together. "The answers might be in a book, but I don't have that one." he replied carefully unsure how to move forward. His mind spun slowly, like a spider weaving its web, as he tried to maneuver his wants and Yefim's wants through his head. "I don't know how to explain it. Don't you feel it?" he asked in an open-ended statement.
[quote]
Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood
PC: Percival Rainwood
1 Oct 2022, 00:38
No Retreat for the Fearless?
As Valentin laid his head on Mikael’s shoulder, no retaliation came. However lost was his mind, however, the pale boy’s body remembered that it was Misha who’d beaten him into near total obliteration. As if it could still smell the kicked-up dust from tumbling broken across the earth again and again, Valentin’s nose crinkled. Still, no blows came. Misha’s eyes continued to amble across the vanilla pages in peace. Relaxing into the cushion of sweater at the top of Misha’s arm, Valentin sank into surreal reverie. Did it bring Misha any comfort, he wondered? What was left inside the dark-haired boy after so much wrath had poured out of him? Wanting to reach inside the other’s mind as if using both hands he could extract the answer to Misha’s problems, Valya’s lips dropped his question about Yefim-- what did he have that Valentin didn’t?
Don’t you feel it? echoed Mikael’s response in a loop, spiralling down into Valentin’s head. Don’t you feel it? Feel it? Valya’s violet eyes blinked, heavy, as they shut into a torpid lull. Don’t you? Wasn’t it funny that such a voidling as Misha should feel so strongly, with such conviction, when Valentin’s veins flowed only with the slowest of glacial shards? No, he thought. Nothing is funny anymore. I don’t feel it. All I feel is… cold silence. Indeed, like forests plagued by creeping death-- all the songs of morning birds and even the whisper of the wind brought to a standstill-- Valentin’s mind lay quiet as time dragged him along.
Folding over like a collapsing wall of ice, Valentin fell into a ball at Mikael’s side and stared into the warped cloth at the boy’s knee. Mikael was right, immutable as physics, not needing to find human words to describe Yefim. Beyond petty categorizations by bean-counting minds, the air around the champion quivered with the static charge of a classical hero from the most beloved of epics. What was one ghost of a stick-boy by comparison? It was no wonder Romeo had rejected Valentin on the day of his confession. Rome could see it. Mikael could see it. Valentin was wrong, as a person, as a subject of creation. If there was a place for the albino, even temporarily, it was in a patch of mud no one needed at the moment. For Yefim to have any use for Valentin must have been pure beneficence.
“Misha,” creaked Valentin. “Yefim is a legend. He will restore free will to this shackled world. I just… don’t… deserve him,” like I don’t deserve Romeo, like I don’t deserve you, kaderlem. “He should take this ring back from me. I am too weak to wear it, and I serve no purpose.” Pain gripped Valya’s heart as he remembered returning the Italian’s sacred sword when no one had ever taken his own. The promise ring was the closest anyone had ever come to that, which is why now he thought it should be restored to its true fated hand... just as Valya had to return the sword. For Valentin to have enjoyed the penitence of Mikael’s untrammeled punishment was already more of a blessing than he should have asked for. It was a miracle that Mik opened himself up that night outside the tent and allowed Valya’s attempt to free him of his demons. If Valentin had been any use at all, he was grateful for it, but his greed was preventing someone more capable from truly completing the loop. “Misha, you are the only one who really deserves Yefim.” Sliding the golden band from his own white finger, Valentin tried to take Misha’s right hand. Steady but broken by the occasional twitch, Valya’s long fingers attempted to coax the band onto Mikael’s hand, even if the other boy resisted. There should be a beautiful symmetry, thought Valya, for each of Misha’s lovely hands to bear a perfect golden ring.
“If you can take this share of Yefim’s grace, maybe he can finally banish your nightmares.”
Removing the ring felt like death, but if this was necessary to restore Misha’s soul and fix the breakage in the eternal loop, then Valentin would lay down the last of what he had.
“I was a ruthless thief, that day in the library. The colddrake froze you with its evil magic so that I could steal part of Yefim for myself… but a bandit cannot be a chosen one. One cannot steal worthiness. Take him. Take him so that he will heal you where I have failed. I see him in your eyes still, the shadows now in double, as if the phantoms pull you apart like twin inverted stars,” and neither one is me. I am not, may not, never can be, the one.
Last edited by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood on 25 Dec 2022, 08:13, edited 1 time in total.
26 Oct 2022, 18:20
No Retreat for the Fearless?
[quote][quote]
Mikael turned his head slightly in confusion as the boy tried to force the ring upon his finger. His brows furrowed in annoyance and he dragged his hand free from the cold metal. that was pressed against his flesh. The boy tsked shaking his head at the other. His eyes narrowed as he studied the other. "One shouldn't give away a gift given from a higher being. One might say that would be a sin." he snapped. He despised the thought that such a sacred gift would be thrown away just like that. It seemed unholy, and something he would avoid at all costs. Lest he wanted to disgrace the mere thought of Yefim. Mikael turned away from Valentin. His agitation had pierced through the fog of nothingness that had been accompanying him these last few weeks. A strong emotion that came and went.
After mere seconds, the boy's face melted back into an unreadable expression as he looked out at the things about them. "No one is worthy of anyone, Light. Yet you were worthy enough for Yefim to place his trust in you." he muttered his brows furrowing now in confusion. "You now hold an obligation to something you don't understand. I wish I could tell you." he said his tone softening ever so slightly. A part of him truly wanted to tell the other boy but remembering what Yefim had told him he kept his lips sealed.
Mikael blinked slowly as the boy carried on. Exhaustion pulled at his bones and he found himself staring at the boy with a frown. "Valentin you freed me from my skin. Something a gift cannot compare to. I cannot take Yefim. No one can. Yefim does what he wishes. It is just that his wishes coincide with the two of us. We are a part of his plan, the two of us. We are the sword and shield that he holds as he goes into battle." he offered the other. It seemed odd to try and soothe a person's fears and worries. Before Valentin, he could hardly say that he would have cared, but here he was trying to show the other his importance without directly saying anything.
The boy paused slightly before narrowing his eyes slightly."Hey Valentin, if you ever try to betray Yefim again I will not hesitate to protect him." he said in warning. "My loyalty to him to god is strong, and will never be broken."
[quote]
Mikael turned his head slightly in confusion as the boy tried to force the ring upon his finger. His brows furrowed in annoyance and he dragged his hand free from the cold metal. that was pressed against his flesh. The boy tsked shaking his head at the other. His eyes narrowed as he studied the other. "One shouldn't give away a gift given from a higher being. One might say that would be a sin." he snapped. He despised the thought that such a sacred gift would be thrown away just like that. It seemed unholy, and something he would avoid at all costs. Lest he wanted to disgrace the mere thought of Yefim. Mikael turned away from Valentin. His agitation had pierced through the fog of nothingness that had been accompanying him these last few weeks. A strong emotion that came and went.
After mere seconds, the boy's face melted back into an unreadable expression as he looked out at the things about them. "No one is worthy of anyone, Light. Yet you were worthy enough for Yefim to place his trust in you." he muttered his brows furrowing now in confusion. "You now hold an obligation to something you don't understand. I wish I could tell you." he said his tone softening ever so slightly. A part of him truly wanted to tell the other boy but remembering what Yefim had told him he kept his lips sealed.
Mikael blinked slowly as the boy carried on. Exhaustion pulled at his bones and he found himself staring at the boy with a frown. "Valentin you freed me from my skin. Something a gift cannot compare to. I cannot take Yefim. No one can. Yefim does what he wishes. It is just that his wishes coincide with the two of us. We are a part of his plan, the two of us. We are the sword and shield that he holds as he goes into battle." he offered the other. It seemed odd to try and soothe a person's fears and worries. Before Valentin, he could hardly say that he would have cared, but here he was trying to show the other his importance without directly saying anything.
The boy paused slightly before narrowing his eyes slightly."Hey Valentin, if you ever try to betray Yefim again I will not hesitate to protect him." he said in warning. "My loyalty to him to god is strong, and will never be broken."
[quote]
Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood
PC: Percival Rainwood
28 Oct 2022, 23:45
No Retreat for the Fearless?
TW: Very much cursing. Don’t read if you don’t want F-bombs.
Reducio
“Misha, fucking listen to me. Please. I’m not casting off my burden. Give me more weight to carry. Take Yefim’s blessings, all of them, so that you can get fucking better. I can’t stand to see you like this. You didn’t used to be this way, and it’s… Yefim needs more from you. This isn’t right, neither of us – neither of us is okay.” Clenching the ring under two fingers, Valentin thrust his hands onto Mikael’s shoulders and shook him violently. “Wake the fuck up! Only we can fix this. Yefim is not a god – he’s just as mortal as we are, and that’s a fucking problem. If we fuck up he dies. He needs us to get fucking serious because his life depends on it. He needs us to guide his hand because he’s not omniscient. I don’t pretend to understand his methods but he is counting on us to get our acts together. He never would have given us the rings if he didn’t need real help from people who can actually give it right. You’re sick, Mikael. You and I, we are both goddamn, dangerously ill, and the only ones who can fix it are us. Get your head out of the clouds. Yefimka is not omnipotent. Not everything just works out. Can’t you see the ground is crumbling beneath your reality and his? What’s the point of all the bickering, making so many enemies? We need allies if we will transform the world, not to be crushed under the unified front of all the people we made hate us. We are not infinite. Not yet. We have to get real and pick our battles, or else reality will smash us like the wretched bugs we are acting like right now. I’m not fucking betraying Yefim. I’m trying to save him, and to save you. Don’t you see, Misha? Can’t you see I’m doing everything I can to make Yefim’s dreams come true, even if it means having a mind of my own and showing you both the truth of what we must do to ascend, victorious?”
Valentin bashed his head into Mikael’s shoulder, taking in gasps of air as his fingers dug into the other’s shoulders.
“Hate me forever, fine. Abandon me. Fine. Just do whatever it fucking takes to save yourself and save Yefim. This is broken. We’re going get ourselves killed like this, and then none of our dream will ever come true. I’m just as fucked. I need help, too. I’ll figure it out, somehow, but for Yefim’s sake… please, we need to be honest about what we’re doing. Faith without understanding is suicide.”
Pushing himself back to eye-level, Valentin burned his violet gaze back into Misha’s blue-grey. Seething with pain, Valentin’s lips fell open in desperation.
“If you won’t try to see the truth then you might as well just kill me now since, if I have any value at all, it is to make you both see that we are marching directly off a cliff into the sea.”
Valentin bashed his head into Mikael’s shoulder, taking in gasps of air as his fingers dug into the other’s shoulders.
“Hate me forever, fine. Abandon me. Fine. Just do whatever it fucking takes to save yourself and save Yefim. This is broken. We’re going get ourselves killed like this, and then none of our dream will ever come true. I’m just as fucked. I need help, too. I’ll figure it out, somehow, but for Yefim’s sake… please, we need to be honest about what we’re doing. Faith without understanding is suicide.”
Pushing himself back to eye-level, Valentin burned his violet gaze back into Misha’s blue-grey. Seething with pain, Valentin’s lips fell open in desperation.
“If you won’t try to see the truth then you might as well just kill me now since, if I have any value at all, it is to make you both see that we are marching directly off a cliff into the sea.”
Stats: STA 8 ✦ EVA 14 ✧ STR 2 ✦ WIS 15 ✧ARC 1 ✦ ACC 15 - Ency
Abilities: Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✧ Evasive Maneuvers ✦ Fearless
@Flash Holmwood, @Percival Rainwood
Last edited by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood on 25 Dec 2022, 08:14, edited 1 time in total.
28 Nov 2022, 16:30
No Retreat for the Fearless?
[quote][quote]
Mikael stared at Valentin with wide eyes as the boy dug his fingers into his shoulders. He hardly felt the fresh pain blossoming at the surface of his skin, and he hardly felt the rough shaking as the boy shook him violently. The only thing he could feel was a cold numbness that spread throughout his body. Like he had been dunked into the icy lake water. Goosebumps raised up upon his arms. Spreading quickly like a virus. He wanted so badly to disappear from this mortal plane. How badly he wished that paradise did not have to be so far away. So unattainable, at least for now.
The boy could hardly pay attention to the words that the other screamed at him. Everything melted together, blocking his ears from the noise. It was almost as if he was underneath the water again. Hearing the muffled words far up above himself. Mikael blinked quickly as he forced himself downward to look into the other boy's eyes. Fiery velvet-colored eyes glared into his very being. Flaying him open so that he could see everything and anything. Those eyes boiled straight into his soul. It hurt so badly that he shoved the boy harshly away from him. His breath came quickly as he stood up and stumbled away from the other. His brows remained furrowed in pain as if he had been struck by a hot iron.
Mikael glowered at Valentin, anger glowering in anger. Though, the reasonings were hardly similar. "How dare you think I am so easily swayed by your lies and trickery." He snapped at the boy. He had been warned about this far too many times about those that would come and sway him from the truth. To try and tell him lies about Yefim and everything that he stood for. Mikael breathed heavily in and out as he gripped tightly at the black bangs that stuck tightly to his forehead. He could not be swayed. What would his Mother think if she were to find him doubting like this? "Yefim is real. He's real, and he's going to save us all." He muttered out like a mantra. Something that calmed him into something more manageable. Mikael growled before pulling out his wand and pointing it at the white-haired boy.
"I never want to see you again Valentin. Do you understand me? I never want to see you again!" He snarled. His arm twitched slightly before he put his wand away. Mikael turned away from the boy. "I do not associate with such." He spoke his tone softer before walking away from the other. Ignoring the other completely as he did so. He couldn't allow himself to be blinded now. Not after Yefim had saved him.
[quote]
Mikael stared at Valentin with wide eyes as the boy dug his fingers into his shoulders. He hardly felt the fresh pain blossoming at the surface of his skin, and he hardly felt the rough shaking as the boy shook him violently. The only thing he could feel was a cold numbness that spread throughout his body. Like he had been dunked into the icy lake water. Goosebumps raised up upon his arms. Spreading quickly like a virus. He wanted so badly to disappear from this mortal plane. How badly he wished that paradise did not have to be so far away. So unattainable, at least for now.
The boy could hardly pay attention to the words that the other screamed at him. Everything melted together, blocking his ears from the noise. It was almost as if he was underneath the water again. Hearing the muffled words far up above himself. Mikael blinked quickly as he forced himself downward to look into the other boy's eyes. Fiery velvet-colored eyes glared into his very being. Flaying him open so that he could see everything and anything. Those eyes boiled straight into his soul. It hurt so badly that he shoved the boy harshly away from him. His breath came quickly as he stood up and stumbled away from the other. His brows remained furrowed in pain as if he had been struck by a hot iron.
Mikael glowered at Valentin, anger glowering in anger. Though, the reasonings were hardly similar. "How dare you think I am so easily swayed by your lies and trickery." He snapped at the boy. He had been warned about this far too many times about those that would come and sway him from the truth. To try and tell him lies about Yefim and everything that he stood for. Mikael breathed heavily in and out as he gripped tightly at the black bangs that stuck tightly to his forehead. He could not be swayed. What would his Mother think if she were to find him doubting like this? "Yefim is real. He's real, and he's going to save us all." He muttered out like a mantra. Something that calmed him into something more manageable. Mikael growled before pulling out his wand and pointing it at the white-haired boy.
"I never want to see you again Valentin. Do you understand me? I never want to see you again!" He snarled. His arm twitched slightly before he put his wand away. Mikael turned away from the boy. "I do not associate with such." He spoke his tone softer before walking away from the other. Ignoring the other completely as he did so. He couldn't allow himself to be blinded now. Not after Yefim had saved him.
[quote]
Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood
PC: Percival Rainwood
30 Nov 2022, 06:50
No Retreat for the Fearless?
Valentin Schnell was, if anything, fast. There was no way he was going to let Mikael get away. Jamming the gold ring back onto his long middle finger, Valentin couldn’t let it get lost now as he ran straight at Mikael's blind side. With a leap, the lightweight seeker threw his arms around the boy’s neck and clung to him, squeezing with all his limbs and making it hard as hell to pry him off.
“MISHA, I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YEFIM. I’M NOT LETTING YOU GO, NOT LIKE THIS!!” The last time he’d jumped onto someone’s back like this, he got deathdropped, so Valentin held on even tighter. “Yefim IS real. If anyone can save us all, it’s him, but he NEEDS. OUR. HELP. Don’t shirk your duties, and don’t cover up your cowardice with anger at me. Yes, be angry at me when I deserve it, but right now, Fima needs us to be honest with him and ourselves. To hide the hard truths from him would be true betrayal. Please, Misha. To REALLY make Yefim’s dreams come true will be neither simple nor easy... but we have to do what he ACTUALLY needs. We have to show him where his limits are so that he can break them, instead of being stubborn and letting the limits destroy him first."
Burying his head into Mikael's neck, Valentin braced himself for what he expected would be a world of pain.
Stats: STA 8 ✦ EVA 14 ✧ STR 2 ✦ WIS 15 ✧ARC 1 ✦ ACC 15 - Ency
Abilities: Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✧ Evasive Maneuvers ✦ Fearless
@Percival Rainwood; @Flash Holmwood
Last edited by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood on 25 Dec 2022, 07:02, edited 1 time in total.
21 Dec 2022, 00:56
No Retreat for the Fearless?
[quote][quote]
Mikael had been fairly certain that the interaction would end the second he had started to move away. In truth, he wished things could have been that perfectly in sync. The dislike he had for conversations, especially when it came to high-strung-out conversations like this one,was very strong. He wanted nothing more than to escape from Valentin, and from the high emotions that buzzed in the air. Though, it seemed like nothing more than a haphazard wish. The boy grimaced as he felt small, but surprisingly, strong arms wrap around his neck. Wrapping around his throat like a noose. Refusing to let him take in a much-needed breath.
Despite being taller than the white-haired boy, he was not tall enough to elude the boy's hands. In truth, the speed that he had been grabbed at was somewhat alarming. He hadn't expected the other boy to react so violently to his absence. He was never good at comprehending attachments. Something he did not truly understand. How could someone like Valentin be so attached to him? When he brought little to nothing to give to him. It made him ponder as much as it irritated a small part of him. This was supposed to be clean. A clean surgical cut between the two of them. He could not associate with the likes of the white-haired boy, and yet....and yet the other was holding them together with stitches.
Pausing in slight shock, he could do nothing more than listen to the boy wail his cries. The very sound pierced through his ears and burrowed into his flesh. Sinking its claws into his most tender spots. Oh how much he hated the itchy pain that embedded itself deep within himself. The only indicator that he had heard the other boy was the guttural noise that escaped his throat. Besides that, he was nothing more than a still statue. As if he had been frozen in time. Mikael tilted his head slightly glancing at Valentin's fingers. The ring shone out in the dark, murky waters. A lighthouse above the sea, its ever-turning light flickering on and off as it slowly died.
A frown pulled its way to the forefront of his face as he worked his mouth together in an attempt to craft a reply. Mikael's teeth gritted together as if trying to grind the very bone into fine powder. He was no coward. He knew his purpose and he was set on his goal. How was he cowardly to believe in Yefim? The boy attempted to shake off the boy, unwilling to let the other drag him downward. He refused to let someone sway his faith. It was the only thing he had anymore. The only thing connecting him to his Mother. "Let me go, Valentin!" he growled out as he brought his hands up to try and forcefully remove the other. He wanted nothing more than to break free from the aggressive overload he was experiencing. "You won't sway me. I refuse to succumb to your lies and trickery." he spoke quickly. Spittle flew from his mouth from the force of his words.
[quote]
Mikael had been fairly certain that the interaction would end the second he had started to move away. In truth, he wished things could have been that perfectly in sync. The dislike he had for conversations, especially when it came to high-strung-out conversations like this one,was very strong. He wanted nothing more than to escape from Valentin, and from the high emotions that buzzed in the air. Though, it seemed like nothing more than a haphazard wish. The boy grimaced as he felt small, but surprisingly, strong arms wrap around his neck. Wrapping around his throat like a noose. Refusing to let him take in a much-needed breath.
Despite being taller than the white-haired boy, he was not tall enough to elude the boy's hands. In truth, the speed that he had been grabbed at was somewhat alarming. He hadn't expected the other boy to react so violently to his absence. He was never good at comprehending attachments. Something he did not truly understand. How could someone like Valentin be so attached to him? When he brought little to nothing to give to him. It made him ponder as much as it irritated a small part of him. This was supposed to be clean. A clean surgical cut between the two of them. He could not associate with the likes of the white-haired boy, and yet....and yet the other was holding them together with stitches.
Pausing in slight shock, he could do nothing more than listen to the boy wail his cries. The very sound pierced through his ears and burrowed into his flesh. Sinking its claws into his most tender spots. Oh how much he hated the itchy pain that embedded itself deep within himself. The only indicator that he had heard the other boy was the guttural noise that escaped his throat. Besides that, he was nothing more than a still statue. As if he had been frozen in time. Mikael tilted his head slightly glancing at Valentin's fingers. The ring shone out in the dark, murky waters. A lighthouse above the sea, its ever-turning light flickering on and off as it slowly died.
A frown pulled its way to the forefront of his face as he worked his mouth together in an attempt to craft a reply. Mikael's teeth gritted together as if trying to grind the very bone into fine powder. He was no coward. He knew his purpose and he was set on his goal. How was he cowardly to believe in Yefim? The boy attempted to shake off the boy, unwilling to let the other drag him downward. He refused to let someone sway his faith. It was the only thing he had anymore. The only thing connecting him to his Mother. "Let me go, Valentin!" he growled out as he brought his hands up to try and forcefully remove the other. He wanted nothing more than to break free from the aggressive overload he was experiencing. "You won't sway me. I refuse to succumb to your lies and trickery." he spoke quickly. Spittle flew from his mouth from the force of his words.
[quote]
Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood
PC: Percival Rainwood
25 Dec 2022, 23:45
No Retreat for the Fearless?
It seemed that Mikael hadn’t noticed Valentin’s growing. At the behest of the quidditch team’s co-captain, since the beginning of summer, Valentin began to eat more, and more, and more, crunching away years of anorexia into a tight ball of anxiety as the lanky albino shot into a deliriously fast growth spurt. It was as if his body was afraid that such an opportunity would never come again. All privately, hidden from the expectant eyes of others, Valentin ate unprecedented quantities, but he couldn’t hide his height – except from those who inherently wouldn’t notice. Now at an imposing 5’10”, Valentin’s long arms surprised even himself as they encircled Mikael’s throat in his leap, tighter than intended. If Mikael remembered Valentin as small, it was simple proof of how powerfully his downward spiral held his mind in its throes. The last year had been Valentin’s most transformative in more ways than one. With longer legs, the White Immortal ran faster than Mikael recalled was possible. A guttural noise escaped the black-haired boy’s throat as Valentin burrowed himself into every crack he could find in Mikael like their lives depended on it. Perhaps they did.
"You won't sway me. I refuse to succumb to your lies and trickery," spat Mikael as he tried to remove Valentin’s digging hands.
Reducio
“FUCK NO, I’M NOT LETTING GO! FIMA NEEDS US. FUCKING HELL, PULL IT TOGETHER!” screamed Valentin, biting into Mikael’s sweater-covered shoulder for every last bit of grip possible. Squeezing with every scrap of sinew in his body, Valentin would not relent against Mikael's attempts to remove him. Valentin would never break the infinite loop unless he was himself demolished beyond repair. “We can’t let Fima join your mother like this. We will stick together, forever, and you’ll have to kill me if you can’t deal with that.”
Hot tears of rage began pouring from the white seeker's eyes.
“You don’t have to hear a goddamn word I say so long as you understand that I have to somehow keep you and Yefim from dying from all this.”
Valentin's silvery voice warped into moaning sobs while his fingers clawed into Mikael for everything Val was worth. The seeker's golden ring gleamed in the natural light, clearly kept free of tarnish despite its enduring presence on Val's hand.
“We fucking promised!"
Stats: STA 8 ✦ EVA 14 ✧ STR 2 ✦ WIS 15 ✧ARC 1 ✦ ACC 15 - Ency
Abilities: Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✧ Evasive Maneuvers ✦ Fearless
@Percival Rainwood; @Flash Holmwood
Last edited by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood on 27 Jan 2023, 20:25, edited 1 time in total.
27 Jan 2023, 20:11
No Retreat for the Fearless?
[quote][quote]
Mikael grunted angrily sweat pooling underneath his bangs as he tried to fight off the other boy. All he needed was to get the other's stupidly strong arms off him. He wasn't too sure when the other became so fucking strong, but whenever it was it had been when he was too preoccupied. In truth, trying to understand what the being wanted was starting to consume his life. His dreams were so vivid now that sometimes he found sleep to be more tiring than being awake. It was a strenuous process, but there had to be a reason behind it. For whatever reason the being wanted him to understand his purpose. He thought he had understood it before but was there a deeper meaning? Something even he could not see.
The boy grunted as the boy hollered into his ear. Such loudness he was not accustomed to. So used to the silence that the loudness felt even louder. The boy's mouth pulled back in a sneer as he dug his nails into the boy's fingers. A gasp would be forcefully pulled out of his throat as the other burrowed into him in a different way. His shoulder ached as the other bit into his skin, and it surprised him how animalistic in nature it was. Was this the same crying boy only a few months ago? It didn't seem like it, and the boy would not lie that it threw him off ever so slightly. When he had decided to leave the other he hadn't expected to be marred and held against his wishes. It enraged him that the other had him in such a vulnerable place. He knew he was stronger than the other, but what was he to do when the other was holding him from behind him? Mikael would try to turn his head back to look at the white-haired boy. Though, at the pain in his shoulder he would find himself unable to look far.
Despite his position, the boy could not help the anger that brimmed beneath him at the mention of his Mother. "Do not speak of her." he snapped viciously. How badly he wanted to get the other off him, and yet all he could do was sit there and take...whatever the hell this was. "How can you sit here and have no faith in Yefim. He can't die!" he snapped. "You're just like everyone else. Trying to tell him what he can and cannot do. Do you not see you are blessed that he even let you in? He's going to protect us, and yet you doubt him!" he snapped angrily.
"How can you talk about promises when you try to turn me against him?" he said his voice growing tired. He had never had a very large tolerance for conflict. Talking was so difficult and he badly wanted to leave this conversation. "I will protect Yefim at all cost Valentin...even if that cost is you." he said blandly.
"How can you not see it?" he asked his tone more quiet.
[quote]
Mikael grunted angrily sweat pooling underneath his bangs as he tried to fight off the other boy. All he needed was to get the other's stupidly strong arms off him. He wasn't too sure when the other became so fucking strong, but whenever it was it had been when he was too preoccupied. In truth, trying to understand what the being wanted was starting to consume his life. His dreams were so vivid now that sometimes he found sleep to be more tiring than being awake. It was a strenuous process, but there had to be a reason behind it. For whatever reason the being wanted him to understand his purpose. He thought he had understood it before but was there a deeper meaning? Something even he could not see.
The boy grunted as the boy hollered into his ear. Such loudness he was not accustomed to. So used to the silence that the loudness felt even louder. The boy's mouth pulled back in a sneer as he dug his nails into the boy's fingers. A gasp would be forcefully pulled out of his throat as the other burrowed into him in a different way. His shoulder ached as the other bit into his skin, and it surprised him how animalistic in nature it was. Was this the same crying boy only a few months ago? It didn't seem like it, and the boy would not lie that it threw him off ever so slightly. When he had decided to leave the other he hadn't expected to be marred and held against his wishes. It enraged him that the other had him in such a vulnerable place. He knew he was stronger than the other, but what was he to do when the other was holding him from behind him? Mikael would try to turn his head back to look at the white-haired boy. Though, at the pain in his shoulder he would find himself unable to look far.
Despite his position, the boy could not help the anger that brimmed beneath him at the mention of his Mother. "Do not speak of her." he snapped viciously. How badly he wanted to get the other off him, and yet all he could do was sit there and take...whatever the hell this was. "How can you sit here and have no faith in Yefim. He can't die!" he snapped. "You're just like everyone else. Trying to tell him what he can and cannot do. Do you not see you are blessed that he even let you in? He's going to protect us, and yet you doubt him!" he snapped angrily.
"How can you talk about promises when you try to turn me against him?" he said his voice growing tired. He had never had a very large tolerance for conflict. Talking was so difficult and he badly wanted to leave this conversation. "I will protect Yefim at all cost Valentin...even if that cost is you." he said blandly.
"How can you not see it?" he asked his tone more quiet.
[quote]
Interacting with: @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood
Mentions: @Flash Holmwood
PC: Percival Rainwood