[ It is dangerous. All of this is dangerous, and it's especially true of everything that's between them currently. They haven't talked, the tension more than obvious, but still, they follow each other. Maybe that speaks volumes of the trust they still have in one another. Maybe it's something else. Larus doesn't want to think about it anymore than he has to right now, moving over to the ledge and glancing down.
If things got bad, there's a rickety fire escape off to the side. Or he could hold onto Carver and climb down. Variables and thoughts, turning his head to glance at him. ]
Any kind, I guess. I don't know a lot of people here who use it. [ There's a pause. ] But it could also be the city doing this somehow.
[ Larus doesn't say anything for a while, mouth thinning into a frown as the comment about it being 'that time'. He can't say he hasn't noticed, but sometimes, it doesn't feel like there's a design to it either. There's a quiet sigh, still watching Carver carefully out of the corner of his eye. ]
Is there a better place we should go?
[ He could, technically, bring them both back where he's staying now, but that would also mean explaining that he'd formed a contract with someone that night he'd left Carver standing on the beach. It's a cold thought, one that sinks through him the longer he stares. ]
[ That's the question, isn't it? Carver just thins his mouth and doesn't say a word. He could bring Larus back to Frost's place, with the wards and the traps, but that would involve explaining this shit and how do you explain any of this? And then there was Larus's promise last time - one that he hasn't acted on, so far as Carver can tell, but proximity does funny things. Pushes people toward extremes.
[ Larus thinks he knows why Carver doesn't offer, but there's still something about it that bothers him. He wonders if that means Frost is more important than he is or if there's something else he hasn't told him about it. Part of him wants to ask, and the other parts of him want to ignore it all. They have something to focus on. He shouldn't be thinking about any of that.
And yet — ]
We'll find one. [ It's an attempt at reassurance. ] Have you seen or heard anything else?
[ If not, then maybe they should discuss what's going on between them. ]
[ We'll find one, Larus says. Carver watches him for a moment, then nods. He wonders if that's a comfort, knowing that they're in this together - at least for now. The last time they spoke didn't end so well, did it?
But they're talking now. Standing close. ]
Just what I told you earlier. People screaming. Rotters in the dark - maybe. Couldn't be sure.
[ He wouldn't leave him, is the thing, and that settles almost viciously inside him in a stark moment of clarity before he crosses his arms lightly over his chest and looks away. Whatever this is, it's more difficult and certainly more complicated than anything he's ever had before. He still aches from it, wishing they could come to see things without fighting about it.
At least this is something. ]
I think that about a lot of things we do together. [ There's never been any doubt there. ] Brandon –
[ He hesitates too, turning just enough to see him. ]
I trust you. [ It's not what he wants to say, but it's all he can manage right now. ]
[ Oh, Carver thinks, and his throat goes suddenly tight. What do you say to that? It doesn't feel like a lie. They move well together. It's not just the sex. When they're in proximity, it feels -
Good. Even in a moment like this, when Carver can smell the gunpowder and his adrenaline's still up. When they're standing together and aren't touching what they said on the beach. That ending.
[ The question catches him off-guard, hands dropping to his sides as he unconsciously moves a step closer.
Of course he does, he wants to say, but it doesn't come. There's nothing for several long seconds, casting a glance over the edge of the roof before moving in to purposely stand close to him. Maybe the vitals he's come to recognize as solely Carver's are different now, but it's still him. This man he trusts with his life. Who's saved him when he could have left him.
Larus thinks about that. ]
Does it feel like I don't?
[ That's the answer he wants, maybe.
Although, realistically, he doesn't really know what he wants. ]
[ There's a lot hanging unspoken between them now. About Frost, the blood, this thing they're doing that they haven't named. That maybe there isn't a name for. It wouldn't have been allowed back home but Carver still asked Larus to fight with him, and Shaw. To stand with them. And maybe it would've been okay if they all found a way back. It's harder with only three but they could've made it work. Operated at night, found a place they could keep and defend. Fought the dead, and whoever was stupid enough to cross them.
But he's dead, Carver thinks unhappily, and maybe this city is all he's got now. ]
You think I made a mistake. That Frost - took advantage of me, or something. He didn't. I wanted this.
Larus hadn't given as much thought to it as he should have, trying to avoid the very thing that caused him all that pain before. He remembers the bitterness, the way it had stung as he'd cried. How he'd wanted to have Carver close but also shove him away, build up those walls again until nothing remained but distance. He can't do that now, gaze settling on Carver's face long before he even considers answering. ]
I don't know if it matters what I think. [ Would it have changed things if they'd talked about this before? Doubtful. ] You made a choice. You can't take that back.
[ And it's clear he wouldn't, which might hurt more than anything else. ]
[ He says it simply. Maybe this is going to be the dividing line between them. Maybe this is one thing the two of them just can’t see the same way. Carver holds very still, fighting the urge to stand at attention. Somehow, he thinks that would make it worse. ]
[ Slowly, Larus turns to face him then and slowly flexes his fingers. ]
Look at me. [ He squeezes his hands tight. ] None of this I chose, and worse– Because someone else decided I needed to fall in line so they could control me, I died. What do you really know about Frost? I mean, really. Maybe he's told you everything you've always wanted to hear. Maybe you even believe him. But people like him? [ Larus shakes his head. ] People like me? They'll use you if given the chance, and it won't matter. You won't matter.
I don't want you to throw your life away for something like that.
[ For promises and what-ifs. Perhaps he is stronger and can better take care of things he feels are important, but at what cost? Larus had already given his life unwillingly, and to watch someone he cares about do it without a second thought? It pains him in a way nothing else ever has. ]
[ Carver holds very still, taking it all in. He doesn’t stand at attention but he can’t shake the instinct to fix his gaze on the horizon line as Larus speaks. You don’t make eye contact. You don’t abide that disrespect when you’re being addressed. ]
No. [ His voice is quiet too, something echoing in the softness of it. ] I don't want to be like that. I want things to be equal between us.
[ And maybe that's not the case considering, but Larus has tried being honest with him. At least, he thinks he has. He's never lied, and he doesn't plan to start now. It might be that very thought that has him ignoring whatever's happening below so he can press into Carver's personal space and touch him—a hand to his shoulder, the side of his neck. ]
[ It would be so easy for Larus to kill him like this, Carver thinks. For anyone. It’s not hard, not like people think. Just a matter of applying pressure, of committing when it matters. And even with Frost’s blood in him, Carver knows that Larus is stronger here. It’s just how things are.
He tips his head back willingly, though. His pulse remains steady.
There’s trust in this. There has been for a while now. ]
You say that like I don’t know. It’s just what people do, Larus.
[ He hesitates. This time, he meets Larus’s eyes. ]
My commander used to drown me. You can feel it when your body starts dying. But it made me stronger, so I took it. You know?
[ Why is it always like this between them? Just when he thinks he understands, pieces continue to filter out into the open, and all Larus does is look at him, a different sort of hurt reflected there in his eyes. That isn't right, he almost says. No one does that. No one should just take it, and not from someone they're supposed to trust. It's an abuse of power, all the things Larus had seen in Sun and had turned his back to.
His other hand lifts, and he cups Carver's face between them both. ]
No. [ It's firm this time. ] I don't know, and I don't think you know either. No one should do those things to you, Brandon. Especially someone like that.
[ Like on the beach, it's beginning to make sense to him. All the things Carver has suffered through, his so-called tests and whatever he says about his god. It's upsetting, and he doesn't know how to help him. ]
[ He knows he should pull away. Put distance between them, make this simple. There ought to be lines between them and there aren't. But Larus's hands are steady and cool, and Carver just presses into it, one hand rising to curl loosely around Larus's wrist. It feels -
Safe, Carver thinks, and nearly laughs at the absurdity of it. It feels safe. ]
It made me strong, [ he repeats, closing his eyes. He doesn't want Larus to pull away, to leave again. ] He knew he could trust me then - they all did. Because the enemy would do worse - did do worse. They had to know they could trust me.
[ If anything, what Carver says only makes him want to stay more. He probably shouldn't, not when it's something like this, but Larus is in too deep now, letting his thumbs trace over the familiar lines of Carver's face. There had been no sense in it in the beginning, and there's no sense in it now. Still, he stands steadfast with him. ]
I trust you, and I would never do those things to you. [ They'd fought, sure, but he'd never wanted to retaliate against him in such a way. He'd taken the pain and weathered through it. ] Pain isn't strength. It just tells you that you're alive. That you're here.
[ Larus steps forward until they're flush together. ] Do you think being with me is just another test?
[ They’re so close like this. Carver takes a shuddering breath and presses his free hand flat against Larus’s stomach. Not to push him alway — never that, not now — but to trace out the feel of unbroken, uninjured skin. It’s always been the same place. Instinct, training, reflex. And every time, Larus survived it. He healed without a mark. Even with his gloves on, even over the fabric of Larus’s shirt, Carver can feel that. The lack of a crippling wound.
There’s something heady in that. ]
Maybe I’m yours.
[ Carver nuzzles against him, wanting the closeness. Maybe he needs it. Maybe they both do right now. ]
It hurts to drown. It feels like being torn apart. But there’s a moment when the body starts to die and it all just—stops. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. Everything is so quiet, Larus. Sometimes it even feels good.
[ He smooths his thumb along Larus’s wrist. Gentle. ]
It feels like that when you bite me. That quiet moment.
[ The last time it had felt this sweet had been weeks ago, curled around each other in a tent, and Larus has to force himself to take a breath, staggered by Carver's careful touches and finding that he simply wants to forget everything else for a while. Frost, the other vampires, the sounds of the dead... He doesn't need any of that, only this man in front of him, and he holds him closer, one of his hands sliding down so his fingers curl lightly in dark hair. ]
Nothing about this feels good, [ he confesses, after a moment. ] It hurts. You hurt me. And if you're my test, being here right now means I've failed.
[ Because why would anyone continue coming back to someone or something that only causes them pain? Why would he be doing this to himself? Why isn't he stepping back and leaving him there? Why can't he stop thinking about him?
Larus doesn't have an answer, and all he can do is squeeze his eyes shut. ]
It’s supposed to hurt, [ Carver murmurs, with great sincerity. He keeps his eyes closed, tracing his fingers against Larus’s stomach and then shifting to curl around his hip. ] It wouldn’t be much of a test if it was easy.
[ But part of him balks at the thought of hurting Larus more. It was one thing with the knife. That was deliberate. This —
He wasn’t trying to hurt Larus last time. He isn’t trying to now. That makes it worse, maybe. ]
[ Is that really how it goes? He's been close to others before, but it's never been like this. Never this intense push and pull, the emotion that settles raw inside him every time. It's like nothing he's ever had before, and that's terrifying in its own way, trying to ignore the way Carver's fingers against his belly causes him to shiver. ]
I know. [ And that's true, at least. He doesn't think Carver had meant to hurt him. ] But what does it say about me when I keep coming back to you? That I keep letting it happen?
[ Larus leans in, resting their foreheads together. ]
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If things got bad, there's a rickety fire escape off to the side. Or he could hold onto Carver and climb down. Variables and thoughts, turning his head to glance at him. ]
Any kind, I guess. I don't know a lot of people here who use it. [ There's a pause. ] But it could also be the city doing this somehow.
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[ And they're due for trouble right about now. ]
There are good sight lines here. But we can't stay here all night.
[ Not once the sun comes up. ]
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Is there a better place we should go?
[ He could, technically, bring them both back where he's staying now, but that would also mean explaining that he'd formed a contract with someone that night he'd left Carver standing on the beach. It's a cold thought, one that sinks through him the longer he stares. ]
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It wouldn't end well, either way. ]
I don't have one, [ he says finally. ]
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And yet — ]
We'll find one. [ It's an attempt at reassurance. ] Have you seen or heard anything else?
[ If not, then maybe they should discuss what's going on between them. ]
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But they're talking now. Standing close. ]
Just what I told you earlier. People screaming. Rotters in the dark - maybe. Couldn't be sure.
[ He hesitates, watching Larus. ]
We did a good job fighting together.
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At least this is something. ]
I think that about a lot of things we do together. [ There's never been any doubt there. ] Brandon –
[ He hesitates too, turning just enough to see him. ]
I trust you. [ It's not what he wants to say, but it's all he can manage right now. ]
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Good. Even in a moment like this, when Carver can smell the gunpowder and his adrenaline's still up. When they're standing together and aren't touching what they said on the beach. That ending.
His fingers twitch. He exhales slow. ]
Do you?
[ Mostly, he just sounds tired. ]
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Of course he does, he wants to say, but it doesn't come. There's nothing for several long seconds, casting a glance over the edge of the roof before moving in to purposely stand close to him. Maybe the vitals he's come to recognize as solely Carver's are different now, but it's still him. This man he trusts with his life. Who's saved him when he could have left him.
Larus thinks about that. ]
Does it feel like I don't?
[ That's the answer he wants, maybe.
Although, realistically, he doesn't really know what he wants. ]
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But he's dead, Carver thinks unhappily, and maybe this city is all he's got now. ]
You think I made a mistake. That Frost - took advantage of me, or something. He didn't. I wanted this.
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Larus hadn't given as much thought to it as he should have, trying to avoid the very thing that caused him all that pain before. He remembers the bitterness, the way it had stung as he'd cried. How he'd wanted to have Carver close but also shove him away, build up those walls again until nothing remained but distance. He can't do that now, gaze settling on Carver's face long before he even considers answering. ]
I don't know if it matters what I think. [ Would it have changed things if they'd talked about this before? Doubtful. ] You made a choice. You can't take that back.
[ And it's clear he wouldn't, which might hurt more than anything else. ]
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Do you understand why I did it?
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I know why you believe you had to. [ Larus presses his lips thin. ] But I don't think you understand why I can't just accept that it's happened.
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[ He says it simply. Maybe this is going to be the dividing line between them. Maybe this is one thing the two of them just can’t see the same way. Carver holds very still, fighting the urge to stand at attention. Somehow, he thinks that would make it worse. ]
I’m trying, but I don’t.
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Look at me. [ He squeezes his hands tight. ] None of this I chose, and worse– Because someone else decided I needed to fall in line so they could control me, I died. What do you really know about Frost? I mean, really. Maybe he's told you everything you've always wanted to hear. Maybe you even believe him. But people like him? [ Larus shakes his head. ] People like me? They'll use you if given the chance, and it won't matter. You won't matter.
I don't want you to throw your life away for something like that.
[ For promises and what-ifs. Perhaps he is stronger and can better take care of things he feels are important, but at what cost? Larus had already given his life unwillingly, and to watch someone he cares about do it without a second thought? It pains him in a way nothing else ever has. ]
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Would you? Use me?
[ It comes out soft, just like before. ]
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[ And maybe that's not the case considering, but Larus has tried being honest with him. At least, he thinks he has. He's never lied, and he doesn't plan to start now. It might be that very thought that has him ignoring whatever's happening below so he can press into Carver's personal space and touch him—a hand to his shoulder, the side of his neck. ]
But that doesn't mean others won't try.
Cw for torture, cult bullshit
He tips his head back willingly, though. His pulse remains steady.
There’s trust in this. There has been for a while now. ]
You say that like I don’t know. It’s just what people do, Larus.
[ He hesitates. This time, he meets Larus’s eyes. ]
My commander used to drown me. You can feel it when your body starts dying. But it made me stronger, so I took it. You know?
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His other hand lifts, and he cups Carver's face between them both. ]
No. [ It's firm this time. ] I don't know, and I don't think you know either. No one should do those things to you, Brandon. Especially someone like that.
[ Like on the beach, it's beginning to make sense to him. All the things Carver has suffered through, his so-called tests and whatever he says about his god. It's upsetting, and he doesn't know how to help him. ]
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Safe, Carver thinks, and nearly laughs at the absurdity of it. It feels safe. ]
It made me strong, [ he repeats, closing his eyes. He doesn't want Larus to pull away, to leave again. ] He knew he could trust me then - they all did. Because the enemy would do worse - did do worse. They had to know they could trust me.
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I trust you, and I would never do those things to you. [ They'd fought, sure, but he'd never wanted to retaliate against him in such a way. He'd taken the pain and weathered through it. ] Pain isn't strength. It just tells you that you're alive. That you're here.
[ Larus steps forward until they're flush together. ] Do you think being with me is just another test?
Cw for torture, cult bullshit
There’s something heady in that. ]
Maybe I’m yours.
[ Carver nuzzles against him, wanting the closeness. Maybe he needs it. Maybe they both do right now. ]
It hurts to drown. It feels like being torn apart. But there’s a moment when the body starts to die and it all just—stops. It doesn’t even hurt anymore. Everything is so quiet, Larus. Sometimes it even feels good.
[ He smooths his thumb along Larus’s wrist. Gentle. ]
It feels like that when you bite me. That quiet moment.
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Nothing about this feels good, [ he confesses, after a moment. ] It hurts. You hurt me. And if you're my test, being here right now means I've failed.
[ Because why would anyone continue coming back to someone or something that only causes them pain? Why would he be doing this to himself? Why isn't he stepping back and leaving him there? Why can't he stop thinking about him?
Larus doesn't have an answer, and all he can do is squeeze his eyes shut. ]
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[ But part of him balks at the thought of hurting Larus more. It was one thing with the knife. That was deliberate. This —
He wasn’t trying to hurt Larus last time. He isn’t trying to now. That makes it worse, maybe. ]
I don’t —
I’m not trying to hurt you.
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I know. [ And that's true, at least. He doesn't think Carver had meant to hurt him. ] But what does it say about me when I keep coming back to you? That I keep letting it happen?
[ Larus leans in, resting their foreheads together. ]
I don't know what to do anymore.
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