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Darkseeker
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Callisto couldn’t help the missed step in his stride, falling behind Xevon and staring after him in slight disbelief. He couldn’t hide his expression now, being around the two living had tainted his ability to remain difficult to read. His eyebrow quirked up and lips parted, about to reply with a not well thought through retort before deciding against it. Instead, Callisto let himself stay a step behind Xevon, giving up for the time being on holding a conversation with him. Xevon had told him he would come back. That wasn’t talking to him about it. He had vanished to go locate Veles and then all of a sudden Callisto had been thrown out into the real world alone and scared. It had been a terrible sacrifice but it hurt him that Xevon hadn’t mentioned his intentions once. Had he missed any small hints the other man had tried to give him? His arms lifted to cross in front of him, fingers gripping his forearms in frustration. Lily’s eyes trailed down as she felt his hand settle into hers again, a small smile rising to her lips as she looked back up at him. Only half registering his question, she blinked up at him in bewilderment as she processed what he had said. She had been focused on the weirdos in front of them and their lovers quarrel. The lost expression flickered away from her face as she realised what he had asked her. “Oh!” Lily swallowed, peeking down at their hands again. “Uhm, well.” She struggled. “I don’t think my father will have me back.” She tried to make light of that little tid bit with a small laugh. That meant all her belongings were also lost to her. “So uhm..I guess I need to figure that out.” Lily slowly returned her gaze back up to meet his. “Honestly,” She gave him an exasperated smile. “I have no idea what I’m going to do.” If she thought about it for too long she might lose herself to the anxiety that was surrounding that topic. It was presumptuous to assume that Alma would want her to stay with them. Then that meant she needed to find a job, and when you have been raised in a cult and home schooled by them, your job opportunities do not look bright. Cashier at best, criminal at worst. Then again…with this strength, maybe underground bare knuckle fights would be an option. Lily shook her head free of the rambling thoughts. "We'll have to figure that out." Lily offered him a warm smile, tightening her hold on his hand gently. Edited at December 18, 2024 05:35 AM by Urux
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Lightbringer
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The dark haired man's arms held at his sides, making his way forward. The less he thought about it, the better. Granted, it was for survival, but at the same time ... there was a lot of guilt and shame that tangled up in his chest. He had seen Veles dressed up as a man and knew full well that they wouldn't have won that fight. The young adults would have faltered, questioned if that was even right or if that was the monster behind the charming grin. It was a spur of the moment choice but it had worked well enough. That was all he had to go off of. It worked. They were all alive, they were headed back home. Just... they just had to survive. Then it would have all been worth it. To have it... come crashing down... Xevon couldn't admit that he couldn't... live with it. That everything he had done, every time, was wrong. That it was wrong and that his efforts had been in vain, fruitless whims of mere mortal rage. Finn smile faded only faintly, shaking his head lightly as Lily mentioned her father. He had a feeling that he wouldn't have to do a thing, Alma would be tearing him apart. "Well, I'm sure we can get some stuff back, if you want," Finn said loosely, once she was finished. "But if not, we'll figure it out. We'll probably stay with Alma, I know she won't let us go out on our own just yet." His free hand lifted up, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I mean, she'll probably want us to do some sort of schooling in that sense. Which, I don't mind, it could be worse, y'know? As bad as it will be for us, those two?" He gestured to the jilted lovers. "A part of me is glad that we don't have to deal with... that," he lowered his voice to whisper it to the young woman. The concept of coming back from the dead with no sense of anything that was going on in the new times? Having to go from the eighteen hundreds to over a hundred years in the future, and then ... Xevon. And that whole thing.
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Darkseeker
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Her eye brightened as she listened to him, so he was planning on letting her stay around with them. It brought a warmth to spread throughout her chest at the notion that not only Finn, but Alma would want her to stick around. However, as she looked over towards Callisto she watched his head twitch slightly before straightening. He was listening to them. “We will have to figure out a way to let them find a job or anything back home. That being said…that will be difficult. At least finding one that isn’t dodgy.” Lily made an effort to not sound pessimistic, with the knowledge that Callisto was listening to their conversation, she didn’t want to make the man anymore irritated than he already looked. Lily carried her gaze out past the pair in front, the structures were closer but they were still murky in her eyes. Well eye, singular. Whilst she could see well enough, the uninjured eye was struggling to compensate. She wouldn’t admit it, but when she had pulled Finn down to kiss him she had been aiming for his lips, but with the skewed depth perception she had missed completely. Callisto kept stealing short and stroppy glances over towards Xevon, mumbling in his own head. Better to vent to himself then whine out loud. Especially when he could head Finn and Lily gossiping vaguely about them. He doubted he would ever admit it, but he was hurt by this formal visage that had been brought down between them. There was little, actually no affection being shown, not even a smile. It made his heart feel like it was being scrunched up into a ball and chucked at a brick wall, over and over again. Callisto had thought, hoped, that after the brief dip into something more than friendly companions that they would explore that route a little more. It seemed as though Callisto had lost that opportunity.
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Lightbringer
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Finn bobbed his head lightly. "I mean, true. It could be particularly difficult to find something that would... uh... be patient enough for both of them while they learn how to live life the way we do. I'm sure we won't stick by the museum too much after this. We'll probably move somewhere else, get away from the whole thing," he ruffled his wings, spreading them out and tucking them back against his sides again. His eyes narrowed slightly. "... I don't think those are inhabited..." he murmured, mostly to himself. "They look... they look destroyed. But I mean, I could be wrong." It wasn't that Xevon wanted to hurt Callisto--quite the opposite. But as the two behind them were showing affection, it churned in his stomach. How could... how could he do the same, act like nothing had happened? Like they hadn't been found entangled one with another? As if ... he could just simply forget it. The thought of having anyone near his own face at that current moment was sickening--let alone anything else. But that was wrong. Of course it was wrong, men were always up for ... it. His wings spread out lightly, slowing to a stop as he glanced back toward the others. "Should we scout the place before we go barging on in?" Finn paused for a moment before shrugging. It didn't sound like a bad idea, actually. "Sure. Who all should go?" Xevon tipped his head lightly. "I can fly out there, if you want to fly with me, we can scout from the sky and then return and report. Is that alright?"
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Darkseeker
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On that note, Lily gave the small glimpse of his wings a thoughtful look. How would Finn and Xevon blend in with those things flapping around on their backs? On top of that, Finn had a tail. “Somewhere with winged people?” She joked, tilting her head to the side with a smile. Lily was only distracted by the look that he was giving the dark marks in the distance, her gaze turning to follow his. Destroyed buildings, yay, that boded well for their survival. Callisto stopped, still refusing to look over at Xevon as he listened to him speak to the others. He was staring off into the middle distance, disconnected. He would have to be a fool to blame the other man for hurting his feelings when he saw him and the god draped across each other. It wasn’t as though he had made any extraordinary effort to let Xevon know that it wasn’t exactly friendship he was feeling towards him. Only when he heard them prepare to take to the sky did Callisto flick his eyes over to watch the two winged men, keeping his expression blank as his head tilted back to watch them rise upwards. Lily had given Finn’s hand a small squeeze before he slipped away from her, now turning her attention away from him and to Alma. She offered her a small smile. “Are you feeling alright now?” She questioned gently, taking the few short steps to be at her side.
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Lightbringer
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Alma hadn't missed the subtle quarrel between the two young men. Her brown eyes scanned the pair as Callisto kept his pale gaze elsewhere from Xevon until the pair took to the skies. The dual pair of wingbeats rising into the sky. Xevon was far slower than Finn, using his legs to keep balance and steer himself, while Finn had his tail feathers to do that for him. She lowered her head again to Lily and Callisto. "I am," she confirmed, cupping Lily's cheek. "Aye, m'ija," the woman whispered before shaking her head and looking toward Callisto. "What is wrong?" The woman spared no second and went straight and blunt for the question. She didn't want to waste seconds with the issues festering. But given her age, comparatively to the others, she had a little bit of an idea of what could possibly fix the tension. Hopefully the two in the air wouldn't quarrel long enough to get this whole thing sorted from one side. Briefly, her eyes flicked up to the distant pair, circling over the ruined buildings. It was impossible, really, to tell who was who from this distance. But they were still circling, which was good. She hoped they'd take their time when it came to studying the ruined buildings. "I want to know what is wrong," Alma repeated, this time giving a slight explanation to the reason behind her words. "This is no time for arguments or festering frustrations to linger in the group. I need to know what is wrong so that we can work on fixing it."
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Darkseeker
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Lily winced ever so slightly as Alma’s hand came into contact with her cheek, she didn’t see that it was coming from her blinded side. “I’m okay.” She tried to appease softly, leaning her head into the touch briefly. Only when the attention was turned to Callisto did the woman turn around and away from the touch. “Nothing is wrong.” Callisto grumbled out, still refusing to look up to where the pair were flying in circles, also refusing to look over at Alma. At her repetition, Callisto’s eyes narrowed and he looked over towards the two women. “Nothing is wrong, he was not mine in the first place.” He relinquished. It was true, he had no stake in Xevon’s amorous interactions, clearly he had taken too long to act on whatever feeling he held towards the man. He had let that moment pass and it was too late. The relief of pulling him free from that hotel was enough for Callisto to live the remainder of his new life without needing anything else from Xevon. He told himself that. If Xevon were to part ways and never spoke to him again, then Callisto would still be content. But he knew that at night he would wonder what could have been, what might have been. “I have no quarrel with him. We need to get home.” He finished solidly, deciding that was enough information to give the, Judging by Lily’s raised eyebrow above her good eye, perhaps it wasn’t a good enough answer for the two women. Why were women so…so insightful? He looked away, back down at the ground he was scuffing with one shoe.
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Lightbringer
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Alma shook her head lightly. The words that Callisto said were telling. He was far more focused on the amorous side of the relationship than what had actually transpired. He was not his in the first place, the pale young man stated with a touch of emotion in his voice. Alma's eyes softened before she shook her head lightly. "Callisto," the woman's voice was soft, gentle and not unkind, "it's not that you have a quarrel--in fact, I believe it's the opposite. But you are not talking to each other. He cares, deeply, for you. But remember how we found him?" The woman shook her head. Tangled up in the arms of the monstrous being that had killed both Callisto and Xevon once before. "He was yours and he made a decision to save you," Alma mused lightly, "you brought up the fact that Veles would have only accepted entertainment, correct? It may not be that he doesn't care for you--I believe that he does... but perhaps there are things that are too fresh in his mind," she urged gently. "Give it some time, go slow, things will be alright." She glanced upward as the wing beats grew louder, watching Xevon sweep to a landing while Finn was... far less graceful in his landing attempt. "It looks relatively empty," Xevon reported with a short nod. Finn gave the rest of them a small look. It looked... like the old photos of ruined towns... that had been torn apart by air raids.
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Darkseeker
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Callisto turned his head to look over his shoulder where the silhouettes of Xevon and Finntello were hovering, easily picking out the former due to the practiced nature of his movements. His chest rose before letting out a long sigh, bringing his attention back to Alma, resigned to his fate of talking about his feelings. "I do not want him to shower me with attention. That would be ridiculous to ask of him." He huffed out, tipping his head ever so slightly to the side. "To even feel...how I do towards him," Callisto's eyebrows scrunched together a little, clearly trying to find his words. "After being the reason he was here in the first place, it is selfish."
He could hear the steady sound of wings breaking through the breeze, but he did not turn around as the two approached. "He deserves better." Callisto finished before taking a few steps away to give the two winged men space. Lily had listened to him readily, though she could understand the conflict that both of them were experiencing, she doubted the strained version of their relationship would last long. Finntelllo made her head swivel to look over at him, but the smile she was preparing faulted at the look on his face. Xevon's explanation was leaving some aspects out, it was more than just empty. "So, we can stay there?" She questioned, looking expectantly between the two men. In truth, she was exhausted. Her bones ached and her head felt like a tight band was compressing around it.
Edited at December 21, 2024 05:58 PM by Urux
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Lightbringer
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Alma watched the young man sigh, the long dreary sigh of resorting to just accepting his fate. If only he had wings, she mused to herself. Then maybe he could’ve avoided the conversation. But he didn’t, so there he was, forced to talk about… feelings. Heaven forbid. The words, however, were telling. Callisto did expect at least a little bit of something but with the firm and almost stern survival-mindset of the other man, it had twisted Callisto into believing that he was not the best that Xevon could have--or should have in that sense. Alma had a feeling that it wouldn't last long, a mere conversation or two would likely solve the problem. Or at least, that was the hope. However, glancing toward the pair, she could glean a few things. Xevon was omitting details and Finn... well, what he wasn’t saying was displayed in his expression. Per usual. “We should stop for the night,” Alma jumped in before Xevon could say anything. His lip twitched only slightly before nodding wordlessly. “If it means staying there, we stay there. It is something and something is better than nothing.” Finn stepped back, slipping beside Lily as he watched Alma take the lead toward the distant buildings. He let a good amount of space fill between them and Callisto and Xevon before he glanced toward Lily. “What did you talk about?” He whispered quietly. Their own conversation had been… dry. He could not get Xevon to open up at all--in fact the man had snapped at him to shut his trap before he shut it for him. It had... it could have gone better.
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