decisions | 🌈 chroma pc

I do not desire it, no. Not for myself.

[a few moments of silence, as he just watches percy.]

But I would do it, if another could not lift the weight. I would shoulder it more easily.

You are used to this...

[ his voice, it melts again. it sounds like percival, softer, wetter. ]

Eliminating that which is dangerous... [ he swallows ] Chang Geng and I... we tried to outlast it...

Precisely so. That which can no longer exist harmoniously within the whole.

[...percy exists in that category, now, and he is steadfastly ignoring the spark of emotion that comes with that. compartmentalizing it. simply a flaw, one which was taken advantage of. one which must be resolved.]

...you attempted to do so, but ultimately, you could not. Was he ever afflicted at all?

I don't know... I don't believe so.

[ he shakes his head ]

I can't be certain. I just know that he was the one who said we ought to leave the apartment. That we should go elsewhere. I knew we should. We couldn't stay there, not with you all...

[ he swallows tightly ] The tea... the game... that was us... trying to cheat it.

And it would not be denied.

[...fuck. he shakes his head.]

I would not have thought you susceptible. Not after what I saw.

We are all susceptible.

We are all just here for it to pry it's [ his voice breaks, it razes, a rough growl suddenly, sharp ] claws.

[ his eyes suddenly look wild. ]

[ah. it comes and goes, does it.

he meets his eyes regardless.]

What is it, Percival.

[ the wildness appears, a sharp dart in the dark.

and then it closes with a blink. becomes like a cruel, bold line.

and then. it's wet again. soft. ]

I don't know where it begins and where I end. This will eat me alive...

I imagine... it did the very same to Kazunari. This... this...

...it will not. An end will be put to it, sooner than later. You need only endure the night.

[almost cruel to wait, when it comes to this, but. it is what it is.]

Endure the night... yes...

[ he breathes in. he breathes out. his breath rasps. ]

It sounds so simple... dawn's not far... surely...

[he's quiet, there, for several long moments.]

I will stay a while. If you wish it.

[ he doesn't say anything for a long moment, and then... small. ]

Please.

[ he whispers: ] That part keeps coming for me... the sharp parts. The hot parts. Like iron. Red hot...

[that small please just-- it twists something, in him. harder to ignore this time, a sharper pang.

he finds a place to sit. settles in.]

I expect you will not be alone. There will be others, after me, who wish to speak.

I will see to them...

[ he lowers his head, his shoulders hunched forward. ]

I wish we could have out-paced it.

As do I.

'Twill be unfortunate, to lose you in particular. You have been reliable.

[ percy gives pause a moment from where he's rubbing his thumb raw with his forefinger. he looks over to him and lets out a soft huff. an exhale. it feels real, not pained or crushed or stifled. ]

I'll miss you, Emet-Selch, of the Convocation of Fourteen.

Wherever death takes me tomorrow.

[ softly ] If I might so bold as to think of you a dear friend...

...would that I could tell you. Would that the Underworld flowed here, and each soul within it, but my sight fails me within this prism. I cannot say for certain whither each soul departs. I know only that the apartment will be changed without yours.

[a moment's pause, quiet. his voice is low, soft just as percy's is.]

You may, yes.

Then thank you for being my friend, Emet-Selch.

[ he lifts his hand and wipes at his eyes underneath his broken glasses. ]

My life has become... richer for it.

[yet he can do nothing about how short it has become, now.

anything he can say feels as if it would be a platitude; anything else feels too genuine. he does not trust himself with it.

he simply falls silent, then-- but he stays.]

🌈 chroma pc — emet selch

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