closed Chains That Bind PV Ginyami

Banner by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

As soon as Ginyami saw Karakuş, his face lit up at both the sight of the familiar owl and the knowledge of whose message he was likely carrying. After finding some suitable, generous tid-bits from dinner for the Ural owl to eat, he sent the clever, pitch-black bird back with a short message confirming that he would meet her owner at the place specified on the given map. He was, of course, curious as to why Valentin had asked to meet in the dungeons and in such an obscure corner no less, but he must have had his reasons. Privacy was likely one of them, Ginyami guessed, but he couldn''t be sure about any others.

Following the sketched map as carefully as he could, the Mahoutokoro student surveyed his surroundings with interest as he went, listening to the intermitted sound of dripping water which reminded him of the fact that the dungeons were located under the school's lake. Eventually he made it to his destination where an albino teenager sat, his pale skin, eyes, and hair all standing out in sharp contrast to the dark stone and shadows behind and around him.

The blue fire licked at his hands where he held it, failing to burn him while throwing an eerie light upon both its holder and the wall behind him. Worn, disused, and partly-rusted metal caught said light as Ginyami's dark eyes travelled over it and noted the presence of the chains there. He smirked a bit at the sight of them, intrigued to know the dungeon had such things after all, before returning his attention to Valentin. The white seeker had not looked up, but he spoke with a voice Ginyami had longed to hear for a while, now.

"Thank you for inviting me," the Japanese boy said, moving to lean against the nearest wall beside the quidditch captain. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence this fine evening, Valya? Have you been well?" He paused for a minute before adding, "I've missed you, you know."

Interacting with: Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood)

Valentin felt warmth emanating off the Japanese boy once Ginyami leaned against the wall beside him. Turning his head, strands of long hair fell from Valentin’s eyes as he put the ball of coldfire down onto a pedestal close enough to illuminate them both, but he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact. Instead, the slender tips of the seeker’s fingers caught the bunches of cloth at Ginyami’s sleeve and pulled him slightly closer.

“I have seen worse, kaderlem,” said the pearl-skin boy, simply nodding in response to Ginyami’s thanks. “If you could only know what it was like to be without you… just… are you doing alright? I…” Valentin trailed off, sinking his fingers deeper into the cloth’s crevices, hoping to hear Ginyami’s response.

“Yamushka, I need to confess something. It’s burning me up and I can’t focus anymore and every day it all just spirals in my head. I have to tell you. What else could I do? Everything is so…” Grabbing the forelocks of his slick silvery hair with his off hand, Valentin grimaced. “Everything has gone so crazy. I don’t know which way is up anymore. Please don’t tell anyone else, alright? This place is secret enough that I feel I can finally try putting it into words for you…” The seeker’s amethyst eyes flicked to the end of the corridor, checking for any flicker of movement other than the blue glow of magical fire.

Banner by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

At the slight tug on the cloth of his sleeve and the Tatar term of endearment, Ginyami smiled fondly and, still standing, moved to wrap his arms about the seated frost captain's shoulders. "I've been alright. But I'm doing much better now that I am with you."

It did not escape his notice that Valentin, who so often maintained intense eye-contact when speaking with someone, had not met his gaze. When the alabaster seeker said he needed to confess something, Ginyami's narrow eyes evaluated him curiously and his smile slightly faded. Then he dipped his head to kiss the top of Valentin's as he continued to listen.

"I promise I won't tell anyone else," he assured him, concerned for his peer. So that was why he had chosen this place of all places. "And I appreciate you deciding to tell me. It isn't healthy to keep things to yourself if they bother you as much as all that." He brought up a gentle hand to stroke gleaming, snow-white hair. "What's the matter?"

A mix of feelings fluttered in Ginyami's chest. At once, he was both elated to be entrusted with whatever Valentin had to say and also irritated that the poor Niffler had seemed to suffer so much because he hadn't been able to tell anyone else whatever might have been going through his mind. Romeo might have been someone Ginyami had hoped Valentin could trust to rely on for such a thing, but after Romeo had made it clear that there was nothing between them that night at the ball in the enchanted maze, perhaps Valentin might have found it harder to talk to him about certain things now.

In that case, the Japanese boy thought, his positive and negative emotions each fighting for domination, I'll just have to be there for him instead.

Interacting with: Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood)

Banner by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

Watching the seeker's expression to gauge it, Ginyami wondered if he was doing too much or going too far from the pained look he managed to make out. However, with the way Valentin continued to hold on to the silken sleeves draped about him, he trusted the other teenager would have said or done something else if his own behavior or words had been a problem. Nevertheless, it stabbed at the Japanese boy's heart to see the frost captain in such aching distress. He continued to stroke at his hair in an attempt to soothe him, waiting patiently until his peer finally seemed able to give voice to the source of his mysterious pain.

"You were drugged?" Ginyami repeated, alarm raising the pitch of his voice. "You don't know what kind? Or by whom?" His brows narrowed suddenly. "Was it by someone at this school?" He would hunt down every last student at Hogwarts until he found out who did it if so.

One thing he wasn't certain of was if Valentin's sense of feeling lost was due to the direct effects of having been drugged or whether he had been referring indirectly to his circumstances and the fact that he had been drugged itself. He needed more information and hungered for it with a new craving that overtook him. Especially because one of those situations was easier to fix than the other. "Don't worry, Valya." he tried to reassure the pale prince. "We will undo this somehow. One way or another. I just have to understand more about what happened. Will you please tell me?"

Interacting with: Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood)

The affectionate physical reassurance Ginyami gave to Valentin was precisely what the seeker needed, slicking his words just enough for them to slip out of his vice-tight throat.

“Yes… drugged. It was an amortentia potion. I got almost a full dose of it. By whom…” What, was Valentin supposed to out Piérre now, even if it was between friends and in one of the most private places in Hogwarts? “Romeo also got drugged, at almost the same time. Please understand, it was not Romeo’s doing. It’s not his fault. You heard him at the Spring Ball. I don't think he even likes me like that. He's... Catholic, yeah? He was just... manipulated into doing... I just… I don’t… The person who drugged us got beaten down, almost to a pulp. It’s a miracle he’s even alive. I shouldn’t speak his name – he’s already suffered far more than he ever should have. Please understand. He is from this school and we were dosed in Hogsmeade, but those details are really not the issue. Please just forgive that part. My problem is that I just don’t know how much of me is really me anymore. How much of what I feel was created by that potion? I've started hearing things, Ginyami. Strange hallucinations that happen beyond my control, sounds that I can understand that I shouldn't understand. I don't think that's a normal amortentia aftereffect, but they haven't stopped. Maybe my mind is broken. Maybe I'm just putty in the hands of those with the real power. What other ways am I being manipulated without my understanding? How many people do this to me, in small ways or big? I feel like… I feel like… I need you to help me understand something. Do you manipulate me?”

Valentin’s hand slid off the cloth at Ginyami’s shoulder as his eyes began welling up with tears.

“Tell me the truth. Do you do it, too?”

@Jack Burnett as Ginyami Midorimori

Banner by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

At the news that the drug had been amortentia, a new fire began to bloom at the back of Ginyami's mind, ravenous for more details to feed its rage. Who would dare to do such a thing? And toward what purpose? If Romeo had been drugged too, Ginyami wasn't sure why Valentin seemed to think he would blame him. His brows corrugated in somewhat frustrated confusion, however, as he got the sense that Valentin did know who was at fault and yet did not name them. Perhaps Valentin thought, from what he said, that the person had suffered enough for their actions after having gotten beaten nearly to a pulp. And yes, as the seeker went on, it turned out that was exactly why he refused to give his name. He was protecting him. Was it a friend of his, perhaps? Maybe one of the ones Ginyami had met at the Spring Ball? Other than Romeo, though, there had only been one other male student and Slava wasn't from Hogwarts...

"Very well; I won't take any action against this person, then, if that is your wish," the Japanese teen sighed, deciding that perhaps it was best he didn't know the person's name after all. Who knew better than himself how vindictive he could get with people he held grudges against? If he learned who was behind Valentin's drugging, there was a chance he wouldn't be able to help himself from doing something he might regret.

Ginyami's fingers through Valentin's snowy locks were just as much to soothe his own nerves as Valentin's now. He continued to listen, intent on understanding the crux of his friend's problem. He claimed to have auditory hallucinations which concerned Ginyami because the frost captain was right - that wasn't a normal amortentia aftereffect. Valentin's final question, however, caused the black-haired young man to pause in his stroking of his companion's hair and contemplate that for a minute. Eventually, he met that watery, amethyst gaze and parted his lips to speak.

"I do tend to manipulate people. I have been taught to do so since I was very young. I try to get them to like me; to be who they would like me to be. But I haven't ever found reason or need to manipulate you, Valentin. Not since we first met." He slid the back of his hand tenderly against Valentin's cheek. "I was too intrigued by you being yourself to bother wanting or trying to manipulate you in any way. I suppose I did want you to like me, but..." A ghost of a smile touched his lips. "But unlike others, the only thing you seemed to want me to be was myself. So I tried to be just that, however unused to it I was."

He reached out to take Valentin's hand in his and gently rub his long, musician's fingers. "I do worry that you are so kind and caring and trusting that you would be easy for others to manipulate. But I won't allow that. Not as long as I can help it. And it takes a manipulator to know one, so I'd like to think I have an advantage when it comes to identifying them."

Ginyami squeezed his hand lightly. "But these things you say you're hearing...have you told Sergei about them? Or anyone aside from me? Perhaps we should research and find out what your auditory hallucinations could mean. Might it have something to do with your mother and that ancient magic you talked about before?"

Interacting with: Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood)

Val could feel the rage bubbling up in Ginyami, but the Mahoutokoro boy was one of great self control – a quality the seeker had always respected. He agreed to Valentin’s wish to protect his own assailant, and as he ran his fingers through the albino’s hair, Val fell into a light trance from the repetitive motion. It would have been all too easy for one as cunning as Ginyami to observe that physical affection was a great way to control Valentin’s mood. Still, Valentin had to hear it from Ginyami himself about whether or not the dark-eyed fox was manipulating him, too.

Valentin had not lived a sheltered life. The captain spent every day studying people, and slight of hand was a common practice in setting up quidditch plays, let alone the rest of the world, so Val was accustomed to looking for set-ups. Yet, Ginyami surely had advanced understanding of other manipulators, and Valentin nodded to acknowledge his greater distance from such ways of thinking. Listening closely to Ginyami’s tone and checking his words against his past experiences with the boy, Val decided to believe that Ginyami really had made a habit of sparing Val from manipulation. He was perfectly right, of course – Valentin wanted to know the true Ginyami and nothing less. If Ginyami was to gain Val’s appreciation, the only way to do it was by being himself.

The caress on Val’s hand drew his eyes closed and served to silence the background noise in his head. With Val’s greater focus and clarity, Ginyami’s words hit harder.

“I believe you, Yamushka. Thank you for being honest with me. A team needs many kinds of players in order to be prepared for the variety posed by life… and I’m sure that your concerns have merit to them. Thank you also for helping take care of me.” Inside, Valentin wasn’t surprised by the answer. What Ginyami was doing was verbally confirming what the captain already thought he knew and contributing evidence that this was indeed the truth of the matter. The squeeze of Val’s hand opened his eyes, which the seeker turned up to look back into the other boy’s.

“The things I’m hearing… it’s like, the sound of a beaded curtain over cobblestone, or a humid wind through a rippling canyon, or, what… I don’t know. I don’t know why it makes sense to me. At first I thought it must be Stribog, but then… that just doesn’t make any sense. What kind of research can I do when I’m just randomly hearing ssstrange-sounding words that no one else hears?”

@Jack Burnett as Ginyami Midorimori