Who: The resurrected and the escorts What: You sure did die a week ago. Time to come home. When: Forward dated to the end of the month Where: The Garden Warnings: death, mentions of mutilation, potential mentions of torture
[Take it easy?? No, nope, get bonked with a heal loser. Maybe that'll help his eye unswell... maybe.]
I'm sorry... if I lived long enough, I could have prevented you from getting this hurt.
[Ain looks... so sad. So, so sad. If he didn't die, if he didn't fail to protect them all... he places a hand over his waist where he was cut in half, looking a bit green around the gills before he kisses over the burn scars.]
...I doubt people will want to stop, haha. Maybe for now, but a lot of people want to return home, right? [Not Ain, suddenly. Hm!] Like Ezell... oh, can we go find him? I miss him.
[Urgh. Wolfwood leans into Ain's kisses, his brows knitted together. He'll return the favor by pulling the edges of his jacket a little further around him, then nudging their noses together. The little heal doesn't get rid of the scarring, but it does help with the swelling. A little sliver of Wolfwood's eye is visible now, compared to before.]
Don't. Don't...blame yourself, okay? What happened to me...you couldn't've stopped.
[He doesn't think Ain's barriers could have stopped any of what Suri threw at them, in those last moments. It was just too much.]
But yeah, we can. He didn't go far, and I know he's been dyin' to see you too.
[Ain is dissatisfied with how much Wolfwood's eye won't open back up and puffs his cheeks out in a pout. Ugh, if he wasn't dead, he probably could've fixed this sooner... grr grrrrrrrr.]
I could have. I've stopped so-called deities before. Plenty of times.
[But he's extremely used to fighting with the El Search Party, not the people here. He's used to Chung and Elsword and Raven frontlining, he's used to Ciel and Rena and Aisha backlining, Noah's sneaking and Rose's airborne combat.
It's completely different. He had hope anyway.]
Take me to him. And then I'm going to start working on your eye.
Wolfwood will take both of his hands and help him up to his feet, waiting for him to steady before he starts leading him in the direction he saw Ezell wander off in last.]
[ Ezell's easy to find, at least! He didn't wander that far from the therapy building, just nearby at the inn to gather things for Ain's person-ifying. He's stacked a ton of blankets and books and pillows on the couch to prepare to take them back to the therapy building, and currently seems to be working on making some hot chocolate in the little kitchen area... He's pacing, too, trying to keep his thoughts from getting too outrageously upset. ]
Ain does not say anything at first, merely sneaks up behind Ezell (loudly, not very well) (his heavy-ass tail is dragging on the ground Ezell will hear him coming if he doesn't sense it first) and then throws his arms over his shoulders and neck in a lazy hug.]
[Wolfwood is here too of course, following Ain closely with his hands in his pants pockets since his blazer is being borrowed. All of these blankets and books and pillows...yeah, this is definitely Ezell's doing. He can smell the hot chocolate the moment they walk in, prompting him to huff under his breath. He figured he'd be keeping his hands busy so he wasn't losing his mind.
He decides to stay quiet for now, because while normally he'd level some sort of sassy quip at Ezell for walking out, he doesn't blame him for it. So. He'll wait and watch as the two reconnect, his own tail curling close to his side.]
[ Ezell needed to be doing something. Ezell needed to not stand still for an hour and let his thoughts consume in, for fear he might have actually gone insane. Ezell's so focused on melting the chocolate that he doesn't actually notice anyone coming in. He's got a bowl with little marshmallows and bits of peppermint nearby too.
So when Ain hugs him, it's genuinely a surprise. There's a moment of Ezell just trying to collect his thoughts... ]
[ And then he immediately just... breaks down. He pulls Ain in for a tight hug, practically dragging him down as Ezell's legs give out. He doesn't care, he just tries to hug Ain close and hold him like if he lets go he's going to disappear again. ]
Ain...!!! [ It's all he's really able to get out through his choked sobbing. Sorry, Ain. Sorry, Wolfwood. ]
[WAAAAAH... nooo don't cry, you're gonna make him cry!!!
...
Which means Ain starts fucking crying too, reaching up to squish his cheeks and wipe away his tears.]
I'm fine!! Look, I'm okay! [Until he discovers that scar, anyway, and then it's all over for him.] I gave healing to Nikolaus and everything, I-I swear I'm fine...
[You were Just telling Wolfwood in so many words that you were anxious/paranoid/sad, tf you are.]
Wolfwood feels his heart sink into his shoes as the pair start to cry, his head hanging forward slightly as he thinks about what he should do. Well, he knows what he should be doing, he just isn't sure if it would be terribly helpful, right now...
God, he's so, so bad at this. Ezell and Ain are so empathetic as a pair, and he himself in contrast is not. He's jaded and miserable, and that makes it hard to feel things as deeply as they do, but it's possible he's just deluding himself. After all, he's the same guy who gave his hands third-degree burns to save an orphanage full of children that wouldn't know him if they saw him.
After a moment, Wolfwood makes his way over and sinks down on one knee next to them both, placing one hand on Ain's back, and the other on Ezell's. He rubs them both, thumbs brushing over shoulderblades.]
Shhh, hey. It's okay. You're both okay.
[Says the guy who just blinked, thus finally forcing the tears that had been aching in the corners of his eyes to fall rapidly down his cheeks and neck.]
[ Ezell is absolutely sobbing. He's the whole gross shebang of too much saliva in his mouth and too many tears pooling from his eyes. He cannot see, but that's okay. Ain wipes away one tear and four more take its place like a horrible tear-shaped hydra.
Talking is too hard. The only nose coming from Ezell is hiccups and little gasps and whimpers. All the grief he's been holding and not wanting to confront while Ain wasn't here is hitting him like a truck. ]
I mi- I missed [ Hiccup. ] you!
[ Wolfwood will be forced to join the hug because Ezell is just grabbing. He needs to hold and just be because he is shaking and needs to feel warmth otherwise he might ??? explode, probably. ]
[Ain somehow manages to flop his weight against both men and cry into them simultaneously, so it's going well. The kitchen floor is dirty and gross and they are crying on it. Whatever chocolate Ezell was melting will have to wait.]
M'sorry... I didn't mean to die. I'm okay, though, I came back...! Look, I have a form again, see? And I could see you in the other one just fine, I just couldn't say anything... I really am fine!
[He said, while crying and being the embodiment of the emotion "e".]
[Wolfwood knows good and damn well that Ain is not fine. None of them are fine. They range from being emotionally damaged to physically so, to both at the same time. They are not okay and maybe won't be for a long time, maybe not again ever, but...Ain does at least make a good point in reminding them that he is alive now. He did come back, just as they all do here when they die.
But as someone who is very well aware and has only just recently had to come to terms with the fact that he will very soon die when he goes home, Wolfwood's relationship with death is....strange. He always assumed he'd die young, but that also came with the knowledge he just didn't know when. One might say it'd be easy to become desensitized to dying once you've done it enough, and seen it enough...
But this is different. He can't really even put it into words.
Anyway, he's been dragged into the hug, but that's fine. Wolfwood will allow it, taking turns resting his head against both Ain and Ezell's, well aware that he just has big tears rolling down his stupid big nose onto the floor between them.]
Yeah, but that don't mean w-we didn't still miss you.
[Wolfwood stresses, bonking his head against Ain's. Bonk bonk bonk.]
[ Ezell picks his head up to smother the side of Ain's face that he can get to in kisses. Wet, messy kisses, but kisses all the same. He knows he doesn't have to remind Ain he's an empath, but... ]
You're... you're not. But th-that's okay. No... no one... expected you t-to be. [ Kiss kiss... ] I love you. We... we love you. We're h-here.
[But :( Ain has to be okay so other people can be okay :( That's how that works—
Despite everything, his long tail starts to wagwagwag when he's kissed and cuddled and loved on. His brain is sad still, but at least he feels loved, and right now that's kind of all that matters. Kiiiind of.]
[Wolfwood sure was hoping he wasn't going to have to have this type of reunion. This is WHY he had that talk with Ain before they began their fight, you know, the "don't go out there and die" talk. But he knows it was foolish to even try, so like...whatever.
No sense in dwelling over the could-haves and would-haves now. Ain and Ezell are here, they're alive, and Ain is...sick.
Frowning, Wolfwood lifts a hand and presses his wrist to Ain's forehead, trying to test for fever.]
A'ight, let's get off the floor and somewhere warmer. You're alive, but you ain't gonna be long sneezin' like that.
[ Right, right. They need to be taking care of Ain now that he's back. And sick, apparently! Fuck, Ezell should've started making soup, too! He knew he was missing something. (He did not know Ain was going to be sick, what are you talking about-)
He parts Ain with one last kiss against his cheek and sits up, wiping away his tears and the wetness from his face and eventually standing up. Ezell is sniffling an awful lot from the crying, but he's trying to pull himself together. ]
There's... blankets on the couch in the lobby I was getting together. Keep him by the fireplace, and I'll make him some food while you get him there, okay? [ Said to Wolfwood, while he turns around to tend to the now-melted chocolate. ]
Ezell will probably feel a very Immediate jump in his anxiety which was Already Bad, and then he squirms and breaks away from everyone to go throw himself onto the couch.
He is very fast. And terrified of the flu again THANKS.]
[SORRY AIN...Wolfwood just says things with his mouth sometimes, he definitely did not intend to make your anxiety worse. He blinks with surprise when Ain suddenly pulls away and throws himself bodily at the couch, though his expression will soften when he realizes why. He gestures to Ezell to let him know he heard him as he stands, wiping his own tears away with the shoulder of his undershirt as he makes his way over to the couch, tugging his blazer over him further before grabbing one of the blankets to pull over him too.]
You're gonna be okay. Ezell's gonna make some soup that'll fix you.
[Wolfwood will sit beside him, meanwhile, reaching a hand out to brush down his hair in a few places.]
Ezell will let him calm Ain down while he finishes the hot chocolate, and plunders for things to make a good soup with. There's not a ton to work with, but... he can at least make an easy vegetable soup.
He'll be a minute with that, of course, so he'll end up bringing it out in about five minutes, along with the hot chocolate, with peppermint bits and marshmallows in it. ]
[Ain is burritoed under like 3 different blankets up to his ears, knees pulled to his chest. A very sad and pathetic little bug, whose dragon tail is spilling outside the confines of the burrito and coiled up on the floor. Funnily enough all of his wings are crammed up in there too, which is making the blankets glow a bit as they regain their light.
He is also quite lumpy due to this.]
Noooo... I'm gonna die of the flu again... [You. Didn't die of the flu last time?] Why do human illnesses always suck? You guys are so fragile. [Sniffle, sneeze, sniffle.] A stiff breeze will blow on you and you have every disease...
[Also yes to answer Wolfwood's earlier question, Ain is running very hot. He was already owed a flu from when he was alive but it was delayed, so oops.]
Beats me. Being a human person sucks ass though, you're right.
[Wolfwood sighs, brushing Ain's hair back a little even though the blankets are undoubtedly going to mess it up again.]
Anyway, you ain't gonna die. You might feel a little worse for a couple days, and all sniffly and achey, but it'll pass. We can prolly get you some meds for it too if you need.
[ Ezell's face is still all puffy from crying, but he's at least looking better when he eventually comes out with the vege soup and hot chocolate. He sets them both on the table and moves close to help Ain sit up so he can eat. ]
Anyway, Ain will be good and eat... he holds the bowl in his lap and balances it on his tail, which is sort of arced upwards off the floor much like a periscoping snake and coiled around the ceramic. He should not have been trusted with this, it's making him extremely lazy since he basically has a third arm now.
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I'm sorry... if I lived long enough, I could have prevented you from getting this hurt.
[Ain looks... so sad. So, so sad. If he didn't die, if he didn't fail to protect them all... he places a hand over his waist where he was cut in half, looking a bit green around the gills before he kisses over the burn scars.]
...I doubt people will want to stop, haha. Maybe for now, but a lot of people want to return home, right? [Not Ain, suddenly. Hm!] Like Ezell... oh, can we go find him? I miss him.
[Sneezes.]
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Don't. Don't...blame yourself, okay? What happened to me...you couldn't've stopped.
[He doesn't think Ain's barriers could have stopped any of what Suri threw at them, in those last moments. It was just too much.]
But yeah, we can. He didn't go far, and I know he's been dyin' to see you too.
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I could have. I've stopped so-called deities before. Plenty of times.
[But he's extremely used to fighting with the El Search Party, not the people here. He's used to Chung and Elsword and Raven frontlining, he's used to Ciel and Rena and Aisha backlining, Noah's sneaking and Rose's airborne combat.
It's completely different. He had hope anyway.]
Take me to him. And then I'm going to start working on your eye.
[(Threat)]
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Wolfwood will take both of his hands and help him up to his feet, waiting for him to steady before he starts leading him in the direction he saw Ezell wander off in last.]
I gotcha. C'mon, let's go find 'im.
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Ain does not say anything at first, merely sneaks up behind Ezell (loudly, not very well) (his heavy-ass tail is dragging on the ground Ezell will hear him coming if he doesn't sense it first) and then throws his arms over his shoulders and neck in a lazy hug.]
Ezell! Why did you leaaaave?
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He decides to stay quiet for now, because while normally he'd level some sort of sassy quip at Ezell for walking out, he doesn't blame him for it. So. He'll wait and watch as the two reconnect, his own tail curling close to his side.]
1/2
So when Ain hugs him, it's genuinely a surprise. There's a moment of Ezell just trying to collect his thoughts... ]
2/2
Ain...!!! [ It's all he's really able to get out through his choked sobbing. Sorry, Ain. Sorry, Wolfwood. ]
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...
Which means Ain starts fucking crying too, reaching up to squish his cheeks and wipe away his tears.]
I'm fine!! Look, I'm okay! [Until he discovers that scar, anyway, and then it's all over for him.] I gave healing to Nikolaus and everything, I-I swear I'm fine...
[You were Just telling Wolfwood in so many words that you were anxious/paranoid/sad, tf you are.]
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Wolfwood feels his heart sink into his shoes as the pair start to cry, his head hanging forward slightly as he thinks about what he should do. Well, he knows what he should be doing, he just isn't sure if it would be terribly helpful, right now...
God, he's so, so bad at this. Ezell and Ain are so empathetic as a pair, and he himself in contrast is not. He's jaded and miserable, and that makes it hard to feel things as deeply as they do, but it's possible he's just deluding himself. After all, he's the same guy who gave his hands third-degree burns to save an orphanage full of children that wouldn't know him if they saw him.
After a moment, Wolfwood makes his way over and sinks down on one knee next to them both, placing one hand on Ain's back, and the other on Ezell's. He rubs them both, thumbs brushing over shoulderblades.]
Shhh, hey. It's okay. You're both okay.
[Says the guy who just blinked, thus finally forcing the tears that had been aching in the corners of his eyes to fall rapidly down his cheeks and neck.]
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Talking is too hard. The only nose coming from Ezell is hiccups and little gasps and whimpers. All the grief he's been holding and not wanting to confront while Ain wasn't here is hitting him like a truck. ]
I mi- I missed [ Hiccup. ] you!
[ Wolfwood will be forced to join the hug because Ezell is just grabbing. He needs to hold and just be because he is shaking and needs to feel warmth otherwise he might ??? explode, probably. ]
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M'sorry... I didn't mean to die. I'm okay, though, I came back...! Look, I have a form again, see? And I could see you in the other one just fine, I just couldn't say anything... I really am fine!
[He said, while crying and being the embodiment of the emotion "e".]
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But as someone who is very well aware and has only just recently had to come to terms with the fact that he will very soon die when he goes home, Wolfwood's relationship with death is....strange. He always assumed he'd die young, but that also came with the knowledge he just didn't know when. One might say it'd be easy to become desensitized to dying once you've done it enough, and seen it enough...
But this is different. He can't really even put it into words.
Anyway, he's been dragged into the hug, but that's fine. Wolfwood will allow it, taking turns resting his head against both Ain and Ezell's, well aware that he just has big tears rolling down his stupid big nose onto the floor between them.]
Yeah, but that don't mean w-we didn't still miss you.
[Wolfwood stresses, bonking his head against Ain's. Bonk bonk bonk.]
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You're... you're not. But th-that's okay. No... no one... expected you t-to be. [ Kiss kiss... ] I love you. We... we love you. We're h-here.
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Despite everything, his long tail starts to wagwagwag when he's kissed and cuddled and loved on. His brain is sad still, but at least he feels loved, and right now that's kind of all that matters. Kiiiind of.]
I love you guys. I-I'm... still really sorry.
[Sniffles.
...and then sneezes.]
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[Wolfwood sure was hoping he wasn't going to have to have this type of reunion. This is WHY he had that talk with Ain before they began their fight, you know, the "don't go out there and die" talk. But he knows it was foolish to even try, so like...whatever.
No sense in dwelling over the could-haves and would-haves now. Ain and Ezell are here, they're alive, and Ain is...sick.
Frowning, Wolfwood lifts a hand and presses his wrist to Ain's forehead, trying to test for fever.]
A'ight, let's get off the floor and somewhere warmer. You're alive, but you ain't gonna be long sneezin' like that.
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He parts Ain with one last kiss against his cheek and sits up, wiping away his tears and the wetness from his face and eventually standing up. Ezell is sniffling an awful lot from the crying, but he's trying to pull himself together. ]
There's... blankets on the couch in the lobby I was getting together. Keep him by the fireplace, and I'll make him some food while you get him there, okay? [ Said to Wolfwood, while he turns around to tend to the now-melted chocolate. ]
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WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT—
Ezell will probably feel a very Immediate jump in his anxiety which was Already Bad, and then he squirms and breaks away from everyone to go throw himself onto the couch.
He is very fast. And terrified of the flu again THANKS.]
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You're gonna be okay. Ezell's gonna make some soup that'll fix you.
[Wolfwood will sit beside him, meanwhile, reaching a hand out to brush down his hair in a few places.]
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Ezell will let him calm Ain down while he finishes the hot chocolate, and plunders for things to make a good soup with. There's not a ton to work with, but... he can at least make an easy vegetable soup.
He'll be a minute with that, of course, so he'll end up bringing it out in about five minutes, along with the hot chocolate, with peppermint bits and marshmallows in it. ]
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He is also quite lumpy due to this.]
Noooo... I'm gonna die of the flu again... [You. Didn't die of the flu last time?] Why do human illnesses always suck? You guys are so fragile. [Sniffle, sneeze, sniffle.] A stiff breeze will blow on you and you have every disease...
[Also yes to answer Wolfwood's earlier question, Ain is running very hot. He was already owed a flu from when he was alive but it was delayed, so oops.]
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[Wolfwood sighs, brushing Ain's hair back a little even though the blankets are undoubtedly going to mess it up again.]
Anyway, you ain't gonna die. You might feel a little worse for a couple days, and all sniffly and achey, but it'll pass. We can prolly get you some meds for it too if you need.
[Wraps his tail gently around heem...]
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[You didn't! You did not! A.B.A tells lies!!
Anyway, Ain will be good and eat... he holds the bowl in his lap and balances it on his tail, which is sort of arced upwards off the floor much like a periscoping snake and coiled around the ceramic. He should not have been trusted with this, it's making him extremely lazy since he basically has a third arm now.
Nibbles soup.]
You guys are gonna get sick and die...
[No,]
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