[So there are consequences to fraternizing with the dream Vessels. Good to know. She'll have to let people know—if she wakes up from this dream as herself.
Is that dramatic? The part of her still grounded in herself is fairly certain it is, but the rest of her, bound to this achingly empty Tether, feels like it's sinking like quicksand into a gravity well of sorrow, of misery, of endings; it's all sloughing off of her into Sleep's horrible embrace. Into the slurry of codependent need and wretched guilt from which this dream has been sculpted.
Finding and following the thread of one of her tethers feels like dragging herself up a cliff by a rope, every step up the staircase out of the basement a terrible distance to scale. Her real tethers pull up as the empty one drags her down. Ultimately, the strength of her bonds with the real and living has a stronger pull than the massive gravity of the dead tether—but it's a near thing. There's something truly awful within the depths of those specters.
She tucks herself away behind the ornamented decor of the banquet hall, some dark little corner behind an architectural feature. Weary, with her floating hair weighed down by dusty spores and her veins prominently purple beneath her gold skin, she waits. Focusing on the warmth in her chest—on the telltale sign that one of her Tethers is near.
As soon as she feels them come close enough, her hand darts out to brush their leg, urgent but labored. Quietly,] Hey. [The eyes that look out from behind her mask are bloodshot and weary as she turns her face up to whichever of her companions has had the misfortune of stumbling upon her. Faint frills of fungal growth between her ear and jaw peek out from behind her hair. Despite the thinness of her voice, her tone is a bit wry.] I think I need some help.
[Ash had experience with succumbence. She had thrown herself into a bad situation and wound up infected with it. She had been on the up and up since accidentally creating a few tethers but it was still a feeling that she was intimately familiar with now. ...And while it was something she more or less felt she had deserved, she didn't feel the same way for anyone else in her circle.
It's the feeling of something being off with one of her tethers that spurs her out of her chair to go and look around. She hasn't learned how to follow or really latch onto them yet so her wandering for any signs of them is more less blind. That doesn't seem to matter much though as she feels the hand brush against her leg.]
Wha-
[She shifts slightly only to find herself face to face with Kalmia. It's the veins that catch her attention first, before she glances up and sees the bit of fungus spurting out from along her jaw. Ash feels the concern bubble up, but the wry tone makes it easier for her to stay grounded. Jokes were how her old crew managed to get by in the worst of times.]
You don't say. Looks like I'm not the only one who fucked around and found out.
[Despite the circumstances, Kalmiya laughs. Thin, but genuine.] Literally, as it turns out.
Don't fuck the specters. The sex is not worth it.
[And this is much less fun than the first time Kalmiya fucked around and found out, inadvertently discovering the connection between physical intimacy and tethering.
Which brings her here. She doesn't know how much it will help, but she knows that Tethers are an anchor to safety here. Even this closer proximity with Ash eases some of the heavy feeling like sludge in her chest, though it's not enough. Not nearly enough.
As if of its own accord, her body begins to list towards Ash, starting with the reach of her hands into a lean of the shoulders.] Sorry— could I just...
[And she intends to ask permission, but she can't finish the question before she finds her arms wound around Ash. Unconsciously she lets the other girl take some of her weight as she rests her dizzy head on Ash's shoulder.]
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momijizukamori
jericho; NSFW
Is that dramatic? The part of her still grounded in herself is fairly certain it is, but the rest of her, bound to this achingly empty Tether, feels like it's sinking like quicksand into a gravity well of sorrow, of misery, of endings; it's all sloughing off of her into Sleep's horrible embrace. Into the slurry of codependent need and wretched guilt from which this dream has been sculpted.
Finding and following the thread of one of her tethers feels like dragging herself up a cliff by a rope, every step up the staircase out of the basement a terrible distance to scale. Her real tethers pull up as the empty one drags her down. Ultimately, the strength of her bonds with the real and living has a stronger pull than the massive gravity of the dead tether—but it's a near thing. There's something truly awful within the depths of those specters.
She tucks herself away behind the ornamented decor of the banquet hall, some dark little corner behind an architectural feature. Weary, with her floating hair weighed down by dusty spores and her veins prominently purple beneath her gold skin, she waits. Focusing on the warmth in her chest—on the telltale sign that one of her Tethers is near.
As soon as she feels them come close enough, her hand darts out to brush their leg, urgent but labored. Quietly,] Hey. [The eyes that look out from behind her mask are bloodshot and weary as she turns her face up to whichever of her companions has had the misfortune of stumbling upon her. Faint frills of fungal growth between her ear and jaw peek out from behind her hair. Despite the thinness of her voice, her tone is a bit wry.] I think I need some help.
no subject
It's the feeling of something being off with one of her tethers that spurs her out of her chair to go and look around. She hasn't learned how to follow or really latch onto them yet so her wandering for any signs of them is more less blind. That doesn't seem to matter much though as she feels the hand brush against her leg.]
Wha-
[She shifts slightly only to find herself face to face with Kalmia. It's the veins that catch her attention first, before she glances up and sees the bit of fungus spurting out from along her jaw. Ash feels the concern bubble up, but the wry tone makes it easier for her to stay grounded. Jokes were how her old crew managed to get by in the worst of times.]
You don't say. Looks like I'm not the only one who fucked around and found out.
no subject
Don't fuck the specters. The sex is not worth it.
[And this is much less fun than the first time Kalmiya fucked around and found out, inadvertently discovering the connection between physical intimacy and tethering.
Which brings her here. She doesn't know how much it will help, but she knows that Tethers are an anchor to safety here. Even this closer proximity with Ash eases some of the heavy feeling like sludge in her chest, though it's not enough. Not nearly enough.
As if of its own accord, her body begins to list towards Ash, starting with the reach of her hands into a lean of the shoulders.] Sorry— could I just...
[And she intends to ask permission, but she can't finish the question before she finds her arms wound around Ash. Unconsciously she lets the other girl take some of her weight as she rests her dizzy head on Ash's shoulder.]