psl: immortals vs vampires

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

THIS SPACE FOR CUTE BOYS WITH RED EYES AND BLACK HAIR

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[rebornagain]

[lets himself be nudged without complaint '-'...]

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

[ look at this nice shady spot where you can sit and read, and I can curl up next to you and/or partly in your lap. everybody wins! ]

[rebornagain]

[oh that's. sweet. settles down to read, then.]

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

[ wagwagwag wag wag wag. wag.

eventually he will get up to do more Dog Things (read: find a stick and get people to throw it for him) but not for at least a chapter or two. ]

[rebornagain]

[Yael is just glad Chris isn't trying to coax him into throwing the stick, so he's welcome to do that thing.]

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

[ I'm a good dog who won't bother the not-a-dog person with dog things ]

[rebornagain]

[oh, good. reading then.]

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

[ fuck yeah look at how healthy and relatively normal and kind of domestic this shit is. GOOD.

...which... well, moments like this probably only serve to highlight what ends up being the new "normal" with Yael's presence... ]

[rebornagain]

[Over time, Yael and Chris probably settle into a rhythm not too unfamiliar to either of them. Yves had many of the same odd behaviors, if more muted and subtle because of communal living and a lack of vampiric brainwashing. Chris likely finds him blanked out way more than he ever found Yves, and Yael treats eating and sleeping like a chore in ways Yves never did-- at least not openly. He refuses to sleep until he's nearly nonfunctional, and wakes scared, sometimes screaming in other languages. If Chris ever asks, he dodges questions with surprising smoothness, once he's together, anyway. It quickly becomes clear he has no intentions of volunteering things about himself, either. Does Chris even know his surname?

A pattern eventually emerges in the books he reads, as well, if Chris pays attention. He doesn't pick up any book older than Chris himself. He devours everything younger, though, from fiction to textbooks, everything he can get his hands on, spends as much time as possible with his nose between pages, as if trying to stave off reality itself.]

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

[ it is similar, but different; better in some places, worse in others.
the spells may be worse, but Chris handles them with more calm than he'd ever possessed for Yves's; patiently makes dinners that he has no use for himself and nags Yael into eating them and at least resting even if he won't sleep.

(he does ask questions the first few times Yael wakes screaming, as gently and unobtrusively as he can, but it isn't long before he stops trying that and just stays.)

time marches on, though, and if Yael is willing to pay some attention to reality he has some warning of what's coming in the way Chris gets progressively quieter and more withdrawn over the course of about a week. whether he notices or doesn't, though, eventually Chris says: ]

...hey, Yael? We need to talk.

[rebornagain]

[He has improved a little, in that he can drag himself out of books more easily already, lifting his head when Chris speaks without needing further prompting.

...he hasn't shown outward signs of noticing Chris's change in attitude, but being addressed like this doesn't seem to surprise him, somehow.]

Did something happen?

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

Mm... it's more like something isn't happening...? It's been a while, but you're still in pretty bad shape.

[rebornagain]

...That won't change.

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

Something's going to have to. You're still wide-open to being ordered around and between that, your history, and how you look you are not safe— and that's without getting into anything else.

[rebornagain]

In the end, even if we succeed in lifting the brainwashing entirely, all that will have changed is whether or not I'm susceptible to orders.

The rest is just me.

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

[ lets out a low hiss of breath, but— doesn't seem surprised. at all.

(Yael had never acted like what was going on was strange, or unfamiliar.) ]

...That's still better than leaving it as is it. And— all right, even if I believe that nothing can be done to help the rest of it, I'm not going to believe nothing can be done to help you.

[rebornagain]

It would be easier for us both if you did, Chris.

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

I've never been a huge fan of "easy." Not when it comes to a crappy status quo, anyway.

[rebornagain]

That sounds like you, yes.

Won't you consider leaving well enough alone?

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

Do you want me to leave it alone because it's something you don't want me to be poking into, because it's something you don't want you to be poking into, or because you honestly don't think anything can be done to try to make things suck a little less?

[ that's probably a no. ]

[rebornagain]

All of the above.

I can go, if it bothers you so much. I can actually function on my own.

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

Maybe I don't want you to have to?

[rebornagain]

That isn't how this works.

[bitethehandthatfeeds]

[ just. plopping himself casually down on the floor ]

Why the hell not?

[rebornagain]

It never works.