YAN-PARA au master post

[earthflames]

WHAT IT SAYS ON THE BOX.

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[plotarmor]

[RATHER NOT EXPECTING THAT, he bites his tongue in surprise and falls backwards, a very unhappy ginger]

[beautymark]

[sits and watches him closely!]

...I want to kill you. But I guess if I did it would give your brother license to kill me. I'm not ready to leave yet.

[plotarmor]

...guess I'm--

[a pause -- oh god is that blood in his mouth??? jfc]

--I'm not really ready to give up.

[Well, despite that, he offers Diarmuid a tired, bedraggled smile]

[beautymark]

[casually twists his knife]

I said I wouldn't kill you.

[erank]

[So, uh. He wasn't expecting to come home to the sound of Shirou screaming in a decidedly not-good sort of way. Yeah, you can hear that shit from down the dock, and it makes Cu come rushing in halfway to a fit of swearing]

I said just the arm, damn it!

[beautymark]

[oh no caught

instant guiltydog pout]

You said the leg.

[erank]

This is still way more than one limb!

[No, he doesn't really care if Shirou knows he gave Diarmuid permission to break a limb. Shirou is dumb but not dumb enough to completely miss the concept of manly consequences.]

Take the knife out of the kid and don't touch him.

[Yup, digging through the cabinets to find the first aid]

[beautymark]

[does as told immediately, and shies away from both of them too]

...

[plotarmor]

[Clearly relieved, Shirou flops on the floor, shivering when he does because everything fucking hurts.]

...put everything on the far left.

[To which Cu responds by slamming all the other cabinet doors shut and loudly grabbing all the shit in said cabinet]

[beautymark]

[just gonna... get his crutch and slink off to his room like a puppy that peed on the floor]

[erank]

[Hours pass before Cu finally pokes his head into Diarmuids room - setting and splinting Shirou's leg, patching up the knife wound, and making sure Archer didn't try to kill him again (because once a day is enough, and you're going to have to clean the blood up) takes time, and even then he's not entirely sure how to handle this.]

...so. What happened?

["Shirou was stupid" is a given, but he's fairly sure the kid didn't deserve THAT much]

[beautymark]

[He feels guilty. But he feels guilty because he doesn't feel guilty, as it were. He doesn't feel like what he did was undeserved, but he feels like he probably ought to and being in trouble is painful and no little bit terrifying.

So by now he's curled in a ball in the corner, anxious and twitchy and seeing more things than usual. He tries to look up and focus on Cu, but he can't keep his eyes in one place unless he closes them so it doesn't work out too well.]

He kept defending that man. Saying he's a good person...

[erank]

[Have a long, exasperated pause]

...god, that fucking idiot.

[beautymark]

He wouldn't listen to anything.

[puts his head back down, rubbing at the still-peeling burns on his face and neck

he's been doing that the whole time Cu's been gone and it's getting pretty red and raw]

He doesn't believe in monsters.

[erank]

[He approaches carefully, trying to not startle Diarmuid - really, it's like dealing with a frightened, feral dog]

Shirou only believes what he wants to.

[Once he's close and once Diarmuid's heard him, he carefully reaches out to pull that hand away from those burns]

He's a stubborn, stupid kid who just wants everyone to get along.

[beautymark]

It's his fault. You could've died that day. Everyone could've. And I still hurt...

[he's not to tears yet -- instead he's in that "posable doll" stage, letting Cu move his hand and speaking very softly.]

[erank]

Yeah, tell me about it. But you broke his leg pretty good...after that it's my boat and he's Archer's brother.

[He stops to look Diarmuid over for injuries]

You hurt too?

[beautymark]

Not outside.

[erank]

Inside still counts...

[slowly, hesitantly, he ruffles Diarmuid's hair]

[beautymark]

[leaning into the touch, but curling up more as he does]

I hate it. No one should pretend that people like us aren't monsters. If me being sorry makes him look forgivable, then I think maybe I should stop trying to be good.

[erank]

"People like us?"

[it takes a second for that to sink in with Cu]

Hey, don't go saying you're the same as him. He's not crazy, he's just sick.

[beautymark]

It's not much different...

[erank]

...'s enough difference for me.

[beautymark]

How can you say that when you've already agreed that I'll be the end of you?

[erank]

[Cu gives a small shrug -- there's something not cheerful, not sullen, just quietly accepting about the motion]

Just telling you the truth, man.