xerxes is standing steadily on two feet, cane in hand, in the middle of the rainsworth mansion, when the instrument in his hand loses its footing. the cane gives away for the split of a second, and that's enough for his concentration to falter and crumble.
it was quiet, just a moment ago, only the familiar sounds of the marble floor as the heels of his boots hit the surface, the flickering of candles spread throughout his home. now, all of a sudden, noise explodes in his ears. where it was only him (and zhilan? zhilan was there, if he thinks about it, if he had the space for thought), now there's people and water and. the yelling of commands and the whirlwind of conversations accompanied by the rushing of waves. where the space was enclosed before, xerxes realizes he's now out in the open, in a place he isn't familiar with.
(what use is the stars' warning of lights going out to a blind man?)
perhaps it's panic, then, that has the both of them snap. both xerxes and mad hatter flail, looking for leverage— xerxes half falls to one knee, holding himself up with his cane once it finds ground again. it's not a collapse, mostly cushioned by mad hatter's shadows beneath him. the chain is unruly, inside xerxes' mind, howling wind against the confines of their shared thoughts. its shadows whip and curl around xerxes' body, his arms and legs, encircling him as he tries to get a hold of the both of them. ' wh— '
w̶h̶e̴r̷e̸ ̴a̶r̸e̸ ̸w̷e̸?̸
xerxes wonders if this is how mad hatter would have reacted if he'd had free reign upon their arrival on the island.
@archaictold / g.enshin roadtrip
