“Holic, we really shouldn’t be out here without my father’s permission. Please, come back. We should be studying.” The younger male pleaded with the elder, tailing closely behind him. Holic was leading Voltage away by the hand for the sake of ‘exploration’, even though Voltage couldn’t help but feel uneased by the whole deal.
“Come on, don’t you know that it’s nothing ventured, nothing gained? Keeping yourself cooped up in your room isn’t expanding your horizons! Besides, for all he knows, we’re just studying in your room~” Holic beamed, guiding Voltage through a rundown alleyway just outside of the facility that would lead them towards the abandoned portion of the industrial district. While it was quite a walk away, Holic knew where he was going, having explored this area numerous times in years past.
Silly little Vol needed to stop being such a baby!
“Holic, please… It’s dangerous out there! W-What are we even going to do? I-I don’t know about this… We’ll get in trouble!” The blonde begged, trying to prevent Holic from taking him away but to no avail.
“Shh. This is our only opportunity to explore! Enjoy yourself. Live a little, while you’re still able to~ Besides, it’s just sightseeing. No turning back now. This is the most beautiful part of the whole city.”
// ✏️ 8 years late per usual but if yr still open for those drabbles, idrc if yr not but sum jack n hora pls :3c
Send a ✏️ and I’ll write a drabble about our Muses. ( x )
“…Jack! Jack, hi!” It had been a while since Horizon had last seen Jack, so when the girl finally caught sight of him hiding away in the debris of a construction zone on her way back from a walk within the vicinity, she wanted to take the opportunity to say ‘hi’ even if the boy was probably minding his own business. The girl carefully crept over large pieces of rubble, taking care as to not get her dress caught on anything, and gave the masked boy a bright smile and a wave.
The boy barely moved from his slumped position against a large, unfinished wall, with only a subtle twitch in response to her voice. Giving her no more than a sideways glance from behind that mask, Jack then looked away, absolutely silent. His breathing was unsteady despite having a proper passage of air flowing through him… No, it wasn’t an issue regarding his respiration so much as a horrendous lurching feeling of anxiety and dread coursing through him. No matter how many times he tried to breathe in and out, there was no comfort in doing so.
Ordinarily, Horizon made him feel at ease. There was just something about her that made him feel, for lack of a better word, happy. Her smiling face, her sweet voice, her warm embrace…
And yet, for some reason, now, there was nothing but apprehension. He couldn’t bear to face her, listen to her or even touch her now… How could he? Not after what Wilhelm told him…
“…Uh, Jack? Is… Is something wrong? I’m sorry, I’m not bothering you, am I?” Horizon had finally reached Jack, only for him to coldly dismiss her. The girl clutched the edges of her dress, tensing up slightly at seeing the usually friendly, if not reserved (but not outright cold!) Jack behave so strangely.
“…No. You’re not.” He finally managed to spit out in a low tone, though his voice sounded hoarse and strained, as if he were forcing himself to talk while physically unable to.
“…T-Then, what happened? Are you okay?” Horizon crouched by his side, about to rest her hand on his shoulder before he jerked away, holding a hand up to stop her. “…Huh?! Uh… I-I’m sorry.” She bit her lip, hiding her hands away in her lap, scared that she did something that upset the boy.
“…No. No, you… You shouldn’t be. Fuck, goddamn it. I should be the one who’s sorry.” Jack said, choking slightly on his words as if fighting back tears.
“But… why? You didn’t do anything wrong…” Horizon protested in a meek voice.
“No, no, no. No. You don’t… You don’t understand.” Jack stammered, bringing his hood further over his face in shame. “You wouldn’t say that if you really knew…”
“Knew what? Jack, please… You can tell me anything… and I promise, I promise I won’t think any differently of you… I-I…” Horizon was slowly beginning to tear up, her heart aching to see Jack like this. What happened to make him this… scared? Jack always seemed to be so brave, always putting himself in danger if it meant finishing his job or… protecting someone. So to see him like this was nothing short of unnerving.
The boy gritted his teeth, silently cursing at himself at the sight of Horizon crying. How could he? How could he do this to her? But she needed to know at least this much. If she knew what could possibly await them should they continue to see each other at this rate… would that even change her mind?
He couldn’t let anything bad happen to her. She didn’t deserve to suffer any longer because of him, and knowing what dreadful fate could possibly await in the future outweighed any possible chance they had at happiness together now.
…That’s right. Maybe they never even had a chance.
Jack thought himself a fool for trying to believe otherwise.
And Wilhelm’s threatening words repeated in his head over and over and over again.
“You have been wasting too much time, of which you have a very limited amount. Remember that. Should you continue to waste it on such frivolity, there will be dire consequences not only for you, but for every party involved. That girl included. Surely, you must understand the attention you’re garnering from the others.”
After a long pause of hesitance, the boy finally spoke again.
“I can’t see you anymore.”
Horizon blinked, feeling as if her heart skipped a beat. It took a good while for his words to register in her mind but once they did, she felt them pierce her chest.
“…Huh…? Wh-What? Wait, why…? That’s… That can’t be! We can still see each other… I-I know you’re busy a lot and… And…” Horizon was slowly losing her train of thought, her mind frantically spiraling in all sorts of directions. But the thought of not being able to see Jack again pervaded her mind and struck her down.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” Jack apologized, finally taking his mask off so that his voice wouldn’t be muffled. Finally communicating with the girl more clearly, the boy shook his head and slowly started to get up, albeit with some unsteadiness in his step. “I can’t… There’s so many things… you need to know… but you can’t.”
“Why not?!” Horizon pleaded, raising her voice in a desperate cry but not before she caught herself and covered her mouth with both hands, feeling bad for shouting at Jack. “I-I’m sorry… Jack… but please… Please don’t go… Please don’t…! I-I want to help! I want to do something to make you happy again! So please… just tell me… what could I do…?”
“…Forget about me. Go with ARMY and Giga. They’ll keep you safe and make you happy. Please just… Please… Make this easy for me.”
“Jack… Y-You… promised…!” The girl’s tears began to cascade down her cheeks, pained hiccups interrupting her sobs and pleads. “You promised… we’d… we’d be together… and-”
“Horizon, I’m sorry. But I couldn’t promise anything. I said I’d try. Try. And I tried my hardest, okay? Please… understand. But we can’t… we can’t be together. We can’t see each other anymore. It’s not safe for you. It’s… not safe for me. It never was.”
“Jack… Jack…!” Horizon cried, reaching for him, practically crawling on the ground but the boy kept his distance, not allowing her to get within arm’s reach. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry… but please… don’t… don’t leave me…! L-Let me protect you…! I-I… I can… get help… I can do my best to help… so please… Please!”
“Horizon! Stop!” Jack snapped, clenching his fists at his sides. His tone was now harsh, his face contorted into anger… but the tears flowed down his face as well. “Just… stop. This can’t go on. I’m sorry. I can’t tell you how sorry I am… I should never have done this… if it meant that we’d have to be apart in the end.”
“Jack… I just… want to be with you… for however much longer…! You’re… You’re my friend… one of my best friends and I… I-I… I…” Horizon’s sobs were caught in her throat, the girl beginning to choke and splutter slightly from excessive crying. “Please… I don’t know… what I’d do if you left…”
“…Horizon… I just want you to be happy.” The boy finally mustered up the courage and turned back, grabbing hold of her shoulders and catching her by surprise after practically given the cold shoulder prior. “That’s all that matters, okay? There’s a lot that I haven’t told you… I haven’t been able to… but no matter what, regardless of any of that, I still lo- We… We’re… we’re still friends, okay? Even if we have to be apart, we’ll be friends, forever.” He brought his hand to her cheek, caressing her face and giving it gentle strokes. And through his tears, he managed even the tiniest of smiles.
Horizon nodded, sniffling all the while as she brought her own hand to his, resting it atop. The girl returned his smile with a giggle, his words of slight reassurance to her… but there was still that doubt in the back of her mind.
“But… what about you…? I want you to be happy too…”
“Every moment that I spent with you has already made me happy, Horizon. You’ve brought so much happiness, I don’t even know if you could fully understand… I feel it, right here.” The boy pointed to his chest. “It’s warm. Really warm. So don’t worry about me, okay?”
“But… I will… b-because I care about you… and… a-and… waaaah….” Horizon choked, collapsing into Jack’s arms for a hug while wailing into his chest. The boy jolted slightly but caught her regardless, squeezing her body into a tight embrace.
“It’ll be okay… Horizon, you’ll have people to watch over you. Keep looking for the people you’re looking for and never give up, okay?”
“O-Okay…”
“…And maybe some day, we might be able to meet again. But for now… I have to go.”
“…” Her arms coiled around even more tightly.
“…I’m sorry… but I will never, ever forget you.”
“I-I… I won’t either… I-I will… always, always remember you! A-And pray for you…”
“Good. Then I have nothing else to worry about.”
“Jack… I’m going to miss you…”
“I’m going to miss you too, Horizon.”
“…Jack? Could I ask you a favor? Just this once before you have to… go.”
“What is it?”
“Can you hold me as I sleep? I-I’m sorry if this is… weird b-but… I just… I just want to be with you for however much longer… m-maybe even dream about you too- B-But that’s weird too… I-I’m sorry… Maybe not…”
“No, no it’s okay. I don’t think it’s weird. I actually… wouldn’t mind that. As long as it’s a happy dream.”
“If it’s with you, t-then it is! Oh! I-I’ve had a lot of dreams where everyone’s together and it’s bright and sunny out… You were there, ARMY and giga too! We were smiling and being happy together… You and ARMY weren’t fighting at all, hahah~” The girl snuggled up against him, closing her eyes to imagine such a scenario once more. The more she dreamed of it, the more she could look towards a happy future…
“Yeah?” Jack chuckled, playing with her hair. The boy held her tenderly, as if trying to take in as much of her warmth and radiance before he’d have to leave. “That sounds nice, honestly. Even I… get tired of fighting all the time.”
Horizon smiled, feeling a gradual yet comfortable weariness come over her. “But you’re still so strong and brave… even heroes… need a break…”
“…” Jack gulped. Hero? No, he couldn’t be. He was nothing of the sort, in his eyes.
But if he could be at least that much in hers, then he was satisfied.
“Jack…” She whispered, nestling closer. “Thank you… for everything.”
“I should be the one thanking you.”
“Heheh~”
“Thank you, Horizon.”
— Indeterminate amount of time later… —
It was getting late. The last thing that Jack wanted was for Horizon to have to go back home by herself, though the girl was still fast asleep in his arms. Poor girl must’ve exhausted herself from her crying. The boy would’ve fallen asleep as well, had the gears in his mind stopped but they persisted. There were a lot of thoughts going through his mind but even for just that moment, Jack tried to relax, keeping his composure.
He already made up his mind. Even if Wilhelm forbade him from seeing Horizon, even with the fear of the other denizens of Hell seeking to lay their hands her, Jack wasn’t going to just allow them their way without a struggle. If there was one thing that Jack was, it was being similarly as stubborn and tenacious until the bitter end.
And until then, the boy could live knowing that he fought and lived as himself, with all of his might.
With a bit of effort from his end, Jack carried the sleeping girl in his arms, proceeding to then bring her all the way back to where he remembered her home to be. The boy had to keep track of a lot of things if he was going to maneuver his way through the industrial nation without too much issue… and well, Horizon’s apartment was one particular location he definitely kept a distinct memory of.
Once there (still hoping in the back of his mind that this was the right place), the boy carefully fished through the girl’s belongings to try to find her keys. As embarrassing as it was, Jack finally did get them and tried them on the door… with success. The boy let out a tiny sigh of relief as he entered, walking slowly and quietly through the girl’s home. Horizon stirred every now and then, but it seemed that she was fast asleep.
Admittedly, it was awkward to just… walk right into her own apartment like this without her permission. But the boy wanted to ensure that she was safely back home nonetheless. Finding her room, the boy then gently set her down, arranging her pillow and assorted stuffed animals so that they were all snuggled up against her.
‘…God, she looked so cute.’
Very carefully, about as cautious as Wilhelm was in handling his flowers, Jack then arranged the blankets so as to tuck Horizon in safely. Making sure that everything else was in its proper place, the boy then sat beside her, leaning over to brush some of her hair out of the way of her face.
“…I’m really… going to miss you.” Jack whispered, lowering his head whilst fighting back the tears once more. “Horizon… I… I will do everything I can… to come back… I promise.”
“Until then… wait for me.”
But before he would have to return to Hell, Jack wanted to do one last thing… One very last thing.
He brought his face up to hers, just barely allowing some distance between the tips of their noses. Trying to keep himself from getting too nervous, Jack steadied his breathing, swallowing hard while silently yelling at himself to just do it already…
…But this was creepy, wasn’t it? She was sleeping, for fuck’s sake… and he’d never done this before, what if he messed this up?
She wasn’t even awake for this.
Jack shook his head. This wasn’t the time for any of that.
Looking back down at the girl, Jack held his breath, slowly leaning back in for another attempt… but before his lips could reach hers, he stopped.
Just enough to graze her lips, but not enough for a kiss, he stopped.
And he cried.
“…I’m so… stupid.” He laughed quietly, roughly wiping at his face before the droplets would fall onto her face. Some tears did end up falling, however, slowly trickling down her cheeks… making it look as if she was crying in her sleep.
“…That’s not fair of me… I can’t do that.” Jack whispered, allowing his head to rest beside hers on the pillow. “Stupid… Stupid, stupid.” He chuckled under his breath, unable to stop his tears.
Horizon’s eyes fluttered open to what appeared to be the light of day, or the closest it could be to the light of day with the perpetual smog that blanketed the skies of the industrial nation. She stared at the ceiling for a while, before realizing that she was laying in her own bed, in her room, in her home. The girl slowly got up, assessing her surroundings…
How did she get here? She didn’t remember ever returning home… She remembered falling asleep in Jack’s arms…
…Jack.
…Jack?
Horizon glanced at her desk, noticing a small pile of flowers that wasn’t there before. The girl then got out of bed, picking up the flowers that had been left there. They were freshly picked and all of her favorites kinds of colors.
With a tearful smile, Horizon held them against her chest.
♥☛◆ Jack and Wilhelm? (and if yr okay with it can i ask ☛ from voltage ;w;)
* headcanon free-for-all ( x )
♥ is there an article of clothing that means the most to your muse?
Jack
Nothing comes to mind, actually. Clothes aren’t something that he takes for granted, since he’s grown up wearing a lot of tattered clothing but there isn’t anything that he holds of great value… aside from the coat he wears in Sunny Park, which I kind of headcanon’d as being a present from Wilhelm and is the closest thing to an important article of clothing to him. It was the first time he was gifted an article of clothing and he was honestly surprised at how much he liked it, since he didn’t think that Wilhelm had a sense of “modern” fashion, lmao.
The coat used to be less tattered but after being out on the field for so long, it was bound to get tattered in some way, like a lot of his other clothes. He’s gotten used to it. Wilhelm wants him overhaul his wardrobe and get him to dress a little nicer, but Jack doesn’t really care about that.
Wilhelm
Not quite an article of clothing so much as an accessory (though maybe those two are interchangeable, who cares) but his wedding ring is extremely important to him, even if he doesn’t wear it. He keeps it well-hidden and you wouldn’t be able to find it easily, even if you were actively searching for it (not that I know where he keeps it exactly, so that certainly doesn’t help in that regard but I’ll figure it out, if I feel like it). He’d be upset if anyone found it though, because it’d raise a lot of questions that he doesn’t know if he’s ready to answer.
In any case, it’s a memento of his past that he’s willing to keep around (if not the only one) and even if he can’t bring himself to tell the truth, he can at least look back, reflect and look forward, especially since he’s reunited with Charlotte and has sworn to himself that he’ll uphold his wedding vows and he’ll keep her safe and happy, no matter what.
☛ what is your muse’s biggest regret?
Jack
He genuinely regrets the time he spent killing people indiscriminately, since he was conditioned to accept violence and was essentially molded into a killer who was willing to take on any sort of job, no matter who the target was. Anything to survive; anything to sustain himself. He went for a long time believing that killing was all that he was good for and thus, ended up offering his services to Wilhelm.
He’s gotten better since then, but he still does regret a lot of the horrible things he’s done, especially when he was in a really bad state of mind.
Wilhelm
Allowing himself to fall into despair and go off the deep end when it came to trying to bring his beloved back from the dead. He shouldn’t known better but he still went ahead and did it anyway, that motherfucker. Wilhelm has to live with the consequences and boy, did it completely change his life. At the very least, he’s learned to accept and live with what he’s done.
Voltage
Trying to act like a father figure to a few children (namely test subjects - and Horizon for that matter) only to realize that there’s only so much that he can really do for them and he is ultimately unable to truly provide for them, so curse him for trying, only to let them down, right?
Not to mention he’s preoccupied with other things, so he can’t really direct so much attention to these children. He most likely does this because of that part of him that wants to be better than his father, yet he realizes that he’s made a few mistakes of his own and if he isn’t careful, he’ll just end up repeating history and probably lose his mind in the process.
◆ what is one secret your muse has?
Jack
I guess being an assassin is one but honestly, it’s not too hard to figure out that he’s killed people, eventually, or at least has experience in combat. Obviously he’d rather not have people readily finding out that he kills people for a living (not as much as he used to, but he still does it every now and then) so he tends to keep that a secret and won’t hesitate to lie to cover it up, or at least be vague.
Wilhelm
His entire goddamn past is one huge secret that he’s not about to reveal to anyone anytime soon but too bad for him, people have been and still are suspicious. I’d venture to say that some people already have some semblance of an idea but since Wilhelm denies it (to their face) and has taken measures to hide the truth, it’s come to a standstill. Besides, there are multiple theories and since Wilhelm neither confirm nor denies any of them, it’s just completely up in the air and he’s fine with leaving it at that.
Masamune blinked at the kid with the red helmet, before him. If he didn’t know better, it almost looked like a samurai’s helmet. But not quite. Maybe the kid was a beginner?
Unfortunately for the thief, getting lost in his thoughts and questions made him oblivious to the fact that he may have been staring for too long. If there was anything he should’ve remembered: Prolonged staring could make others uncomfortable or even aggressive.
Send a symbol for headcanons on my muse’s bedroom! ( x )
📐- Do they keep things neat and orderly?
( Yes. Just as he’s strict in his own office/laboratory about cleanliness, Vol’s just as strict within his own household about it. His room is very neat and orderly, with everything in its own place whether it’s research notes, personal belongings or miscellaneous objects. )
🏠- Is it a room in a house, apartment, castle, mansion, or anything else?
( It’s a room in an apartment complex, not too far off from the research facility he works in. Walking distance, probably. )
🗄- What kind of furniture is in the room?
( A bed, a bookshelf, a desk and a specially formatted ‘docking station’ for that helmet of his which is actually about as big as he is since he’s able to sit in it like a seat. It basically could serve as an uncomfortable couch chair, not that he’d ever use it for that purpose. )
📅- Are there lots of wall decorations? If so, what kinds?
( His walls are actually pretty bare-bones, with very few wall decorations save for a small calendar, a bulletin board and a white board. Barely ‘decorations’ in a sense since he uses them strictly for business purposes. )
Send “Examine!” and an item or person and I’ll write an RPG description of it/them. ( x )
ZERO-ONE’s Bike - [TITAN MODEL 01]
A high-performance, heavy racing bike. The first prototype in its series of professional racing bikes, having undergone multiple upgrades and modifications. Has withstood the test of time as ZERO-ONE’s only choice of bike in the entirety of his career.
EXE
A young orphan currently living with ZERO-ONE under questionable legal circumstances not that anyone seems to really care. A very experienced programmer despite his age. Introverted and anti-social; has a difficult time expressing himself.
