closed;

[negativegate]

When; Nov. 1st and Nov. 5th
Rating; PG-13-ish with death and violence.
Characters; Rita (negativegate) and Tyr (blackshadow)
Summary; Rita and Tyr losing their heads. One of these is literal.
Log;

Once the influence of the Halloween curse ended and they were both back to normal, Rita...well, she felt pretty awkward. She'd had no idea the costume she'd worn was some vampire from Tyr's world, and there she'd gone and bitten his neck. Thinking about the fact that she actually drank his blood--it grossed her out. But at least she hadn't hurt him.

But it was exactly that which also struck her as a little weird. Tyr didn't usually like having his neck touched all that much, so it could've been the influence of the curse...

In any case, here it is in the morning, and Rita's still in costume at the house because she hasn't been bothered to change. She should probably apologize to Tyr if he's awake and see how he is.

Comments

[negativegate]

He looks possibly even more out of it than she does, but it doesn't stop her from automatically protesting, "W-what do you mean, you don't know?" He had to be here--there's blood on him, but maybe he found her afterwards...? Yet she's certain the last thing she remembers is the two of them arguing, Tyr about to leave...

It wasn't Tyr, though. There's no way he's the one who killed her.

...She's so confused and uncertain. She takes a deep breath, even as she realizes with an ill feeling that she doesn't need to.

[blackshadow]

He worries that, too. Maybe he killed all of them and chose not to remember. What kind of disgusting person does that make him? Although he tenses and bites his lips, he resolves that he really has to tell her at least what he knows. This entire thing started because he's the one that wanted to forget everything and run away, didn't it?

"I don't know..." he repeats quietly. "I just woke up, and..." She looked like she tried to scream... His fingers curl in the sheets where he holds the side of her bed. His shoulders are starting to shake again, and he can't look at her. "I'm sorry..."

[negativegate]

Her eyes widen a little, and if she was alive, her heart would feel really tight all of a sudden. Of course, she has no idea what happened to him--if he only just woke up, does that mean... "Tyr--wait--are you-?" Impulsively, she tosses the sheet back and crawls over to him, reaching for his hands. He isn't dead too, is he?

[blackshadow]

When she comes towards him, he almost backs away, but he's not nearly fast enough. Instead, he lets her take his hands which are still as warm as before - hot compared to the iciness of hers. The feeling of her dead body touching him is enough to make him squirm.

"I'm fine," he answers quickly. "Don't worry about me anyway..."

If he were thinking, he'd wonder why he was the one who was spared and she was murdered. Why would anyone...

[negativegate]

The heat of his hands is almost shocking--enough for her to let go of them again after he squirms. She's really dead...

Tyr being alive is a small relief in a really horrifying morning. She sits back down, cross-legged, slumped over a bit. "G...good, but... Did you get knocked out or something?"

[blackshadow]

Seeing her fall back like that, he almost wants to climb onto the bed with her and hold her, but there's something inside him that holds him back. He can't get careless.

Especially since he doesn't know what happened still. "I...guess... I don't remember..." But his voice grows strained when he remembers everything else that is in his memory. Her body by Luc's room, her head by Connell's...

[negativegate]

Rita hates not knowing... That might just be the worst part of all of this. She was killed, and neither of them have any idea how or by what.

Her head stays lowered, but her eyes are open and her voice--though slightly duller than usual--is thoughtful. "You said...you woke up, right? So...something happened to you, too..."

[blackshadow]

It's harder to protect her when he doesn't know what happened to her. Who attacked her, why they chose her... If it was about power, they would have attacked him. Killed both of them.

When she talks about waking up, he wonders if she thinks he woke up when she did. After a moment, though, her voice really just tells him that she's trying to figure this out... Like she was trying to understand his memories.

"Yeah..." His voice isn't steady. "But...I..." didn't die "It couldn't..." have been long after she died. Stubbornly, he finishes: "I woke up pretty quickly... Like it was a weak spell or something..."

[negativegate]

She did think that maybe he just woke up before did. Sorting out the details might help them understand what happened, at least...

She looks up as he struggles to reply, tilts her head curiously. "So you... Did you see anything when you woke up?" Did he wake up to see her dead, then? Oh, Tyr...

[blackshadow]

His chest feels tight just because his mind jumps right to the answer to her question. Rita...

"I was next to you..." he answers sadly. His eyes are starting to sting again.

[negativegate]

It's not a happy answer, even if it's one she expected after asking the question. Her shoulders slump even more and she mumbles his name sadly... She can imagine how he must have felt, waking up to that.

"I just...I don't get it. Any of this..."

[blackshadow]

He doesn't want to remember how he felt, but he's not letting go of another memory. She's the one that's really hurt even if she's pitying him. She's so hurt, and now he feels like she's giving up on understanding. Death shouldn't be something that's understandable, though. Especially not hers.

Impulsively, he picks himself up and sits next to her just to wrap her up tightly in his arms. She needs someone. "Me either..." he mumbles.

[negativegate]

He's so warm. It feels both soothing and painful, because she's cold as death, but she suddenly realizes she really wants to be close to him now that he's hugging her and so she leans into him, curling a fist in his shirt. She can't even care if she's being dumb and emotional, they can just huddle together like this for a while.

[blackshadow]

They're both emotional idiots, but he doesn't care. There's no-one here to say anything about him stroking her back and resting his head against hers. She's icy cold, but maybe he can warm her up if they stay together like this...

"I won't let it happen again... You'll never..." He can't even finish his promise before his voice cracks.

[negativegate]

She shakes her head. "We don't even know how..." It's not like she doesn't believe he'd try to stop anything from happening to her, but he was right there before. Whatever happened, neither of them were able to do a single thing about it.

[blackshadow]

"I'll still try," he insists. They don't know what happened - maybe they never will - but he'll do everything in his power to make sure Rita is safe. He'll do anything.

[negativegate]

She tightens her grip on his shirt and says nothing. Right now, she really isn't feeling all that optimistic. This thing is completely out of their hands--they had no chance to stop it, no control of any kind. All she knows is that it was violent...

Why Tyr's still alive is a question that sort of nags at her. Was it random? She hates the idea that was killed on some whim of the City.

[blackshadow]

Tyr doesn't want to think of her being murdered just on some whim, either. It's...really scary to think about. And now his memories are a mess, and he has her blood all over him-- he doesn't even know if he blocked out the memory of her death or if he was knocked out before that.

All he does is hold her silently, and with his face hidden in her hair, he lets himself cry all over again. Maybe he can't help her or save her, but he'll try... Even if he needs to die next time, she won't.

[negativegate]

Oh, Tyr... She shouldn't be surprised he's crying--he might even be more upset than she is--yet it still makes her chest feel weirdly tight... The first sensation she's actually felt there since waking up, and it almost makes her feel alive again.

She finally moves and wraps her arms tightly around him. Right now, she just...she doesn't even want to talk about how or why this happened.

[blackshadow]

Part of him that feels shame for crying, but in the end, he can't hold himself back. His chest aches even more when she holds him - she knows he's breaking down - but he doesn't know if some of that is because she's so unnaturally cold... Frigid. His hand shakily reaches for the back of her head to cradle it against him - to cling to it and to her. Even if he knows he can cure that aspect, that will never change what happened to her. It doesn't change that it could happen again. He'll accept everything she says to him if that stupid argument was the reason.

[negativegate]

They're a pair of wrecks right now, both of them, so she's just going to cling right back to him and stroke his hair. But the idea that maybe hugging him is exactly what's upsetting him further runs through her mind... She knows she's cold and dead, and he's so, so warm in comparison. But she...doesn't really want to let go, either. He can cry as much as he needs to, because she'll be here for him.

[blackshadow]

Making her warmer is the one thing he can do with her right now. Even his tears are warm on her neck compared to her skin. He doesn't want to let go of her now. She's...alive. As alive as she can be right now...

Anti-climatically, his stomach groans loudly.

[negativegate]

As much as she really wants that warmth, feeling it also drives home the difference: she's dead, cold, and bloodless...

But she's startled from that pretty quickly when she hears his stomach--and takes it the wrong way as she quickly pulls back and asks, "You're not gonna be sick or anything, are you?"

[blackshadow]

He scrambles back when she does, worried that he freaked her out somehow. He doesn't even understand what she's asking at first. He was sick a long time ago; he's not sick now.

"Of course not- you're fine."

[negativegate]

A moment, and then she relaxes--and feels pretty dumb about freaking out. AFter everything, she's...kind of jumpy.

"Uh--sorry," she mumbles and rests her hands on his arms again. "So...you're hungry?"