Send [ red ] for an angry or aggressive memory.
pertains to @petrichaxx, @cxnfectioniism and @retiine
He didn’t really want to be here. Sharp pain pierced through his body where his skin was still healing back - the consequence of neglecting to feed... The spores inside of his body were relentless when they were starving.
He got out of the car, and looked out at all the people as he stuck close to his brothers. He could hear a voice, clear as any other’s but obviously not Dalet’s, plainly in his ear: “They’re all staring at you, you know.”
It was probably just a spirit...
During the event, he had been careful, so very careful... to avoid the two people there who were causing him the most distress lately. Ariana and Lycus.
...Fucking Lycus...
The fog was thick in his mind, all the music and the talking... It was overwhelming. It would be fine, though, he would just... He would just stick with Sal and everything would be alright, right? Right.... Right.
He, eventually, made his way over to a grill to cook - thanks to Hideki leading him to a grill. Vaguely, he recalled placing the chicken on... while Ariana and Lycus proceeded to have a conversation behind him. Irritated... So irritated. Were they gloating? Did they just have to rub their perfect lives in his face like that - did they have to tell him how much better than them they were? Why were they speaking right next to him, out of all the space here...
Did they really have to rub salt in the wound like that?
He could tell Hideki was talking to him - trying to distract him? And yet his thoughts were racing a mile a minute... he couldn’t finish a single ne. Short answers were all he could give - anything longer than one or two words, and he knew what he was saying wouldn’t make sense anymore.
For a moment, he heard the voice once more. “If you put your hands on the grill, you could think again. Put your hand on the grill. Burn it off. You deserve it.”
The voice continued on, urging him to burn his hands off. Hideki said something else, and Damian put his hands in his pockets.
Hideki served as a great distraction... and when the chicken was done, Damian placed it on the table with the rest of the food and left for an isolated table. He wasn’t hungry, quite the opposite. He wanted nothing to do with this god damn barbecue, he just wanted to stay with his brothers until it was over and go home.
Thanks for dragging him here, Beau.
Prick.
He remembered.... Sal got up, and once again Lycus stuck his nose into whatever his little brother was doing. Damian heard some words as he listened - things like ‘crazy’. Calling him crazy? His attention was firmly on them.
Why? Lycus had already taken Ariana rom him and now... now he was picking fights with Sal? He had already taken one thing that was precious and now he was trying to hurt the most important thing in his life? Why... That was all Damian could think. Why was Lycus doing this to him..?!
He didn’t understand.
He just didn’t understand.
The overwhelming sound and smells were getting to be too much and as soon as Sal sat back down to join them, Damian had grilled him about the conversation. Sal and Lycus had spoken about him...
And apparently, Lycus had gotten aggressive and yelled.
He was so god damn sick of Lycus messing him and the people close to him. What the hell did he do that guy?! Misspoke a couple of times?! There was only one thing to do...
As he made his way over, he told himself over and over: I only want to talk. I only want him to leave Sal alone, that’s it.
If things exploded from there, so be it, but he would not let this man poison his little brother and rip him away like he did with Ariana. Holding back the urge to blow up on him right there, in front of everyone...
Instead Damian grabbed his shoulder... and took him somewhere private.
omg yEA i think they’re adorable, esp because rei never judged asahi for needing mental training books and asahi helped rei gain the confidence to swim at nationals. i don’t have really strong feelings about them as a ship yet since they’ve only had two interactions in canon, but i think they could be rly cute as bfs or as friends
♡ ❛❛ Well, no, sweetie. People don’t typically go around using every type of sugar for their drinks. Is that what you planned on doing? ❜❜ Alexa’s head tilted curiously as she followed the customer with her gaze.
ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART
surprising no one, lol... a bit of background: rin was my first ever free! rp muse, and i rped him since episode two of the anime had aired. then ai came along.
there’s a really great interview with the staff somewhere out there that puts it really well: “ai was made to draw out rin’s heart”. i’m an absolute sucker for the loyalty dynamic of person A ceaselessly staying by person B’s side, helping them and enduring them and supporting them -- and for me personally, rinai has a lot of great payoff in that regard. i firmly, really, truly believe that rin wouldn’t have had half the character development he did in s1 if ai hadn’t been present. ai was the only person who went out of his way to actively be present in rin’s life, no matter how much rin brooded and acted distantly; ai gave rin an out, and more importantly gave rin a mirror of himself that allowed him to be introspective and also helped to guide him. if anyone says that ai is a pushover or lets rin step all over him, i encourage them to rewatch all of free!; ai spends the entirety of season 1 trying to keep rin in check and prevent him from doing reckless, harmful things. ai constantly put himself in a position to lose someone he considered precious because that person’s well-being was more important to him than anything else. for me, ships like this are the good good shit.
rin recognizes ai’s efforts and and the tonal shift in s2 is pretty obvious; we get to watch instead how it’s ai who is suffering with self-doubt and insecurity and how rin, in his own ways, supports ai much the way ai did him the year prior.
much like every single rin pair on the planet, it makes me frustrated how little he does, though. how a small act from him is seen as something grand. i have the same issue with haruka -- we’re expected to believe they both have this Magic about them, this mysterious Something that just Makes people Like Them, inexplicably, for no reason other than you’re supposed to. it’s lazy writing and it’s a damn shame because all i can think about is the number of sweet moments we could have gotten from s2 -- with both ai and sousuke! overall i don’t let it impact my view of this ship (or any other rin ship), though; i think the core of his character and his compassionate personality shines through the nuances of his actions and for me outdoes the terrible writing he’s given at points in s2 and all throughout s3 (everyone was done dirty in s3, but that’s a conversation for another day lmao)
tl;dr ai deserved better but this is my water-filled ship and i’m never hopping out of it
breath splutters ———— it’s an UGLY sound ❪ an inhale incomplete , a choked breath garbled by bubbles of blood ❫ . recollection hazy . one arrow , two arrows , three . the first missed her head , whizzing by her ear ; its trill could petrify , but not to those inured . the second manages to lodge in her shoulder ❪ had she taken the time to look , the blood would come back purple . but she doesn’t stop ❫ . the last wasn’t aimed at her , but it hits her anyways ————— it finds a home in her torso , just shy of a wound still healing .
an odd sense of déjà vu .
fate & its ironies .
❛ this feels eerily familiar doesn’t it ... ` words trail off as her breath became weak , falling down to one knee ❪ sword stabbed in earth , in some last measly grasp at dignity & not fall as a ragged soldier ❫ . even as mind grows bleary , his panic is palpable . cease your needless fussing , your voice grates my ears ———— lips agape , but chest becomes too heavy to lift . mechanical inhales & exhales , gather the strength to speak ! but her body doesn’t obey her anymore , even the pain begins to fade ❪ her first inkling that perhaps the GOD OF FORTUNE has finally forsaken her ❫ .
back finds solace against bark ❪ a weeping willow , how fitting ❫ . he had to pry the blade from her grip & once released , as did any remaining strength . vitreous jade , once of unparalleled ferocity grew dim / his calls for a physician falls on empty ears ❪ foolish man , save yourself . you’ve already saved me once ❫ . ❛ enough , ` the fragility of her voice , a mere croak of once thunderous hymns , it frustrates her . ❛ leave me & save yourself . ` danger still lurks in these fields .
but his vehement denials & countenance distorted by ... anguish ? takes her by surprise . she always thought she’d go away alone ———— a cursed fate sealed with own bloodied hands . his existence was unaccounted for . she almost felt compelled to make a joke , some off - handed comment of how she won’t allow him to save her a second time ! that once was more than enough . but she hadn’t the strength & she’s sure he could tell .
I’M AFRAID I’D HAVE TO REPAY THIS DEBT TO YOU IN MY NEXT LIFE .
