there's not much he can do if hien decides to stay. he turns back to what he was doing before—steadying his breathing, trying not to think about what he's done. his friend felt guilty for taking his life; their friendship had already been strained. like this, at least, they're on the same playing field. aren't they? there's nothing for him to feel guilty about anymore.
no. if anything, there's one person here who comes out worse, and it's hard to ignore the constant reminder of that. the longer hien looks, the more obvious it probably is that elysium's trembling. if he could claim his actions under a curse or the influence of something else, woulnd't that be great? but yet again, this is just who he is. someone with the capacity to sever any and all of his relationships, so long as he can justify it well enough. it's held true both in his past and his now. ]
[ On the contrary, even if Hien could obviously claim that a curse influenced him, he could normally take it in stride. His own actions have consequences, and he'll deal with every single consequence that comes his way, positive or negative.
Which is why when he sees Elysium tremble, Hien finally closes the distance and sits behind Elysium with his back to his. He won't force Elysium to face him, but he hopes the physical warmth can help him, even if just a little. He'd rather give him a hug since Elysium looks like a mess, but he isn't sure if that would be a good idea. Doing this much is already toeing the line, he thinks.
although elysium stiffens at the contact, there comes a point, many minutes later, when hien can feel him begin to lean back. aeconds stretch into minutes. minutes stretch into hours. hien is free to leave at anytime, but as elysium's breathing ebbs and flows, there are moments when he coughs quietly into himself, chest tight, heart tighter.
containing everything, both the emotions and the physical strain, eventually proves to be too much. near the three-hour mark, if he makes it that far, the weight against hien's back shifts, then slips, elysium's body tilting before finally collapsing onto the tiling.
what did he tell yosuke again? that half of the battle against oripathy was one's mental willpower? how funny.
but, elysium will remember this. being given comfort—in one of the few ways he can bear to accept. ]
[ Hien stays there for as long as he wants to, and maybe for however long Elysium wants him there. His concern only grows when he hears those coughs and it exponentially blows up into an alarm when Elysium collapses. ]
"Elysium--"
[ Does he have his bag with him? Is the medicine inside there? If the bag is here, he's gonna try to rummage for it. He remembers how it looked last time... ]
[ fortunately, there's medicine in his bag. little white tablets that'll definitely be familiar. on the flip side of that, they're running dangerously low. three left. only one needed, for now. but if he remembers how many of them had been left when he'd first taken them—at a rate where he's definitely been taking more than one per day—that might be another cause for concern. oops.
but face-to-face, hien can find that elysium isn't just burning up. there are faint wet streaks trailing from the corners of his eyes.
this is why hien is justified for letting everything out, actually. ]
[ He finds his blood run cold when he sees the amount that's inside the medicine container. If Elysium dies from oripathy, what will happen to him in Purgatory? Will he just come back in that painful state? And die over and over again in that river--forgetting everything one by one and being unable to do anything about it? Hien had been trapped in that sort of cycle before and it's... not something he'd wish on anyone, much less anyone he favors. If only he could contact the Shopkeeper. He hasn't thought about the usage of his life powers yet, because he's inwardly panicking.
He gets out a bottle of water from his cloak, takes one tablet out, puts the container back into the bag, and tries to right Elysium to at least a sitting position so that he can take the medicine. He'll help him too.
He notices the faint wet streaks from the corner of Elysium's eyes, but this is not the time to talk about it, if ever. What matters more is Elysium's health. His own curiosity can take a permanent backseat if it means Elysium will be okay again. ]
[ me like what haven't you put hien through at this point. okay.
but he accepts being righted, as what else can he do? fading in and out of consciousness, he bites down on his cheek if only to drag himself back to reality. he misses at first, his vision splotchy blurs of colour. but he eventually manages to take bith the water and the medicine with a trembling hand.
he's gone over the average dosage. that isn't good. he really needs to get it together. ]
… My case was on the milder end of it and was stable until recently. If you're worried… don't be. It'll be at least… a year… before we really need to start worrying.
[ they do not talk about the steep decline until then, as he assumes he'll be well out of here before it becomes blatantly obvious. it's fine. ]
[ He's gone through a lot........ living long with his own toxic yaoi doesn't help make it better
Anyway, it's really hard to believe that when he sees the oripathy do such a number on Elysium firsthand. He's felt it too, that day, how much it suffocates and hurts so much to the point of tears. He wants to talk about it. He really does. However, Hien will keep his mouth shut. ]
"... I can take you—"
[ —to his room, until he remembers that he was probably rooming with Thorns?
[ it's fine because that's just the originium trying to coalesce :)… once it becomes a shiny rock, it passes, until however long it takes for the next cycle.
anyhow. ]
… It'll kick in soon. Don't. I don't want to run into anyone or anything else.
[ expecting an actual answer from him is hilarious. he stays quiet until he's sure he can balance on his own feet, then slowly disentangles himself from hien and staggers back. he doesn't quite look all there. ]
Aren't you curious what this week's maze is going to be? It should be up soon.
[ Hien feels even more concerned when he sees Elysium in his current state. He lets him go, but will be ready to catch him at any time. That's why he keeps an eye on him instead of the maze, and there's not much that will get him to look away. ]
"... I've never been curious about it. I can always learn later, one way or another."
he lets out a soft breath. it's hard to tell what emotion it carries, his expression locked into a carefully stiff smile. ]
That was your cue to say you were and go check it out.
[ as time passes, it gets easier to steady himself, deep breaths evening out before he rolls his shoulders back into something resembling posture that feels more familiar. ]
… Is pity what's keeping you here? Or is it an inability to look away from someone who’s struggling? If I had to pick, I'd say neither sounds right.
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there's not much he can do if hien decides to stay. he turns back to what he was doing before—steadying his breathing, trying not to think about what he's done. his friend felt guilty for taking his life; their friendship had already been strained. like this, at least, they're on the same playing field. aren't they? there's nothing for him to feel guilty about anymore.
no. if anything, there's one person here who comes out worse, and it's hard to ignore the constant reminder of that. the longer hien looks, the more obvious it probably is that elysium's trembling. if he could claim his actions under a curse or the influence of something else, woulnd't that be great? but yet again, this is just who he is. someone with the capacity to sever any and all of his relationships, so long as he can justify it well enough. it's held true both in his past and his now. ]
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Which is why when he sees Elysium tremble, Hien finally closes the distance and sits behind Elysium with his back to his. He won't force Elysium to face him, but he hopes the physical warmth can help him, even if just a little. He'd rather give him a hug since Elysium looks like a mess, but he isn't sure if that would be a good idea. Doing this much is already toeing the line, he thinks.
He continues to not say anything. ]
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although elysium stiffens at the contact, there comes a point, many minutes later, when hien can feel him begin to lean back. aeconds stretch into minutes. minutes stretch into hours. hien is free to leave at anytime, but as elysium's breathing ebbs and flows, there are moments when he coughs quietly into himself, chest tight, heart tighter.
containing everything, both the emotions and the physical strain, eventually proves to be too much. near the three-hour mark, if he makes it that far, the weight against hien's back shifts, then slips, elysium's body tilting before finally collapsing onto the tiling.
what did he tell yosuke again? that half of the battle against oripathy was one's mental willpower? how funny.
but, elysium will remember this. being given comfort—in one of the few ways he can bear to accept. ]
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"Elysium--"
[ Does he have his bag with him? Is the medicine inside there? If the bag is here, he's gonna try to rummage for it. He remembers how it looked last time... ]
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but face-to-face, hien can find that elysium isn't just burning up. there are faint wet streaks trailing from the corners of his eyes.
this is why hien is justified for letting everything out, actually. ]
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He gets out a bottle of water from his cloak, takes one tablet out, puts the container back into the bag, and tries to right Elysium to at least a sitting position so that he can take the medicine. He'll help him too.
He notices the faint wet streaks from the corner of Elysium's eyes, but this is not the time to talk about it, if ever. What matters more is Elysium's health. His own curiosity can take a permanent backseat if it means Elysium will be okay again. ]
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but he accepts being righted, as what else can he do? fading in and out of consciousness, he bites down on his cheek if only to drag himself back to reality. he misses at first, his vision splotchy blurs of colour. but he eventually manages to take bith the water and the medicine with a trembling hand.
he's gone over the average dosage. that isn't good. he really needs to get it together. ]
… My case was on the milder end of it and was stable until recently. If you're worried… don't be. It'll be at least… a year… before we really need to start worrying.
[ they do not talk about the steep decline until then, as he assumes he'll be well out of here before it becomes blatantly obvious. it's fine. ]
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Anyway, it's really hard to believe that when he sees the oripathy do such a number on Elysium firsthand. He's felt it too, that day, how much it suffocates and hurts so much to the point of tears. He wants to talk about it. He really does. However, Hien will keep his mouth shut. ]
"... I can take you—"
[ —to his room, until he remembers that he was probably rooming with Thorns?
... ]
"—to a bed. Can you stand?"
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anyhow. ]
… It'll kick in soon. Don't. I don't want to run into anyone or anything else.
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Hien still keeps his hand on Elysium's shoulder to help him balance. ]
"Do you want to stay up here?"
[ It's a genuine question, nonjudgmental. ]
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Aren't you curious what this week's maze is going to be? It should be up soon.
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"... I've never been curious about it. I can always learn later, one way or another."
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he lets out a soft breath. it's hard to tell what emotion it carries, his expression locked into a carefully stiff smile. ]
That was your cue to say you were and go check it out.
[ as time passes, it gets easier to steady himself, deep breaths evening out before he rolls his shoulders back into something resembling posture that feels more familiar. ]
… Is pity what's keeping you here? Or is it an inability to look away from someone who’s struggling? If I had to pick, I'd say neither sounds right.
[ like he's taunting an answer out of hien. ]
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Hien looks at the smile, hears his words, and ]
"Do you really want to know why?"
[ calls him out, as if it'll be something Elysium doesn't want to hear. ]
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You look like you've been wanting to say something this entire time. Why hold back?
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But that's all he does. Wait. ]
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they're feet pictures. ]
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... ... ...
??? ]
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You're the one who had his hand out…
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"Is this your way of telling me you want pictures of mine..."
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[
dumps the rest of the feet pictures onto hien since in this universe i do not need to hold onto them to shitpost. ]
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Hien looks through them some more. ]
"Some of you need pedicures. Jeez."
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[ excuse him as he tries to
book it from this roof. as hien is distracted by feet. ]
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