video; un - usernamehere

[narcolepsy]

[ the video flickers online on before two wide red eyes fill most of the screen. ]

Oh! My apologies...

[ the camera pans back so a face is visible instead, showing a faint strawberry blonde wearing a fancy, high collared white shirt with a fluffy cravat. he looks a little pale, brows set into a vague frown, and with his bottom lip caught between his front teeth in thought. it looks reddish and like he's been nibbling on it for a while without thinking about it, and here and there there's a flash of small but sharp fangs. ]

Hello, my name is Baein. I was wondering if anyone knows whether people close to you would also get stuck in the time loop and come with you, or if you've found you always arrive alone? If it's possible to meet people you know here?

[ there's a distinct noise of his stomach grumbling and baein curls his arm around it, eyes widening even more before he looks up at the camera again before he takes a breath and straightens as if nothing happened. ]

Anyway, I'm looking for two people like that. They're of faery court and werewolf clan.

Comments

[faeshim]

Don't need to see it. [but there was that too, the color of bae's skin (or lack thereof) and the strange tint of his eyes.] Could feel it in your body. The cold.

[no one could be that cold to the touch and still be alive, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. daeshim is only bothered because it seems to bother bae. it also means that violence must've come to him, but he...he doesn't want to think about that.]

Jasper is? [his breath catches and he presses closer again, eyes bright.] Does he have wings? He must! I bet they're beautiful, tell me what they look like!

[narcolepsy]

[ the ancient kind of cold that baein just can't dispel. he shivers a little, and shifts closer again with his head resting on daeshim's shoulder. daeshim happens to press closer a the same time, and the change in topic is a welcome one. baein smiles a little a the fae's excitement. ]

He doesn't have wings, but he's really really beautiful. I suppose Jasper would be no matter where he's from, or what he is. And he wears a lot of pretty clothes and jewels. He's my advisor.

[ he misses him. he misses daeshim too, though it's an odd feeling as he's holding daeshim in his arms right this moment. ]

[faeshim]

[he's a little disappointed - on jasper's behalf, of course. he should have wings.]

He's very beautiful here too. I guess that's one thing they all have in common. We'll try to find him, you and I. Once the sun's gone down and you've drank.

[narcolepsy]

[ drinking comes up again, and baein's gut surges with the hunger pains he's just barely started getting used to. ]

Daeshim, I can't—

[faeshim]

[daeshim catches baein's soft cheeks between his hands and resists the urge to squish them. he holds him steady to look him in the eyes, putting on his most serious expression.]

You'll get very sick if you don't. Might even become like the animals outside the woods who get the fever that drives them mad, makes them attack everything.

[daeshim pulls him closer, eyes nearly crossing as he touches their foreheads together.]

You are what you are and I will never turn you away. You are Baein, who brought me happiness for the first time ever.

[narcolepsy]

I'm a vampire. I hurt others to live. I... I almost killed both of you—

[ it comes out choked, pained, even if baein leans into the warm touch of daeshim's hands. of course, daeshim's words are absolutely true, and baein knows this on an instinctual level, almost. because he can feel how his control is slipping, if ever so little, the longer he goes without drinking.

even the tears that decide to escape his eyes are cold, lukewarm instead of warm and full of life. and baein can only watch daeshim's face through the blur he's trying to blink away. ]

I don't want to hurt you.

[faeshim]

Almost doesn't count.

[baein either killed them or he didn't, and he didn't, and daeshim doesn't think that he ever would. daeshim lets go of him just long enough to tear a piece of his sleeve, and then he places one hand back on his shoulder and dabs at his eyes with the makeshift hanky.]

And you're not hurting anyone if they offer.

[and he bets it won't be just him. jasper will surely offer, and maybe other people here will too.]

You have nothing to be ashamed of.

[narcolepsy]

[ no matter what world or universe, daeshim is still daeshim, and baein's chest aches with how much he loves him, no matter who he is or what he looks like. and maybe... maybe he would be able to give himself that break too, if daeshim is still here, his hands warm and careful as they dab at his face.

despite what baein has become, and despite what he's done. daeshim hasn't left. baein swallows again and tries to blink the tears away as best he can. ]

What if... what if I lose control?

[ his voice is so small, and perhaps he bottled this up since it happened. even if daeshim and jasper had reassured him then too, the whole event had been nothing short of traumatizing. ]

You have to promise me. Stop me whatever it takes if I do.

[faeshim]

Then I'll shrink you and put you in a cage with a wheel and a water bottle, the way I did before.

[that's...reassuring? daeshim doesn't even know if his magic could do that here. he's not entirely the same fae who would shrink a human and keep them in a hamster cage.]

If you hurt me, that would hurt you, wouldn't it? I won't let that happen.

[narcolepsy]

[ the noise he lets out is startled, confused amusement lining the edges as he leans back to blink at daeshim. the burn behind his eyes is momentarily halted, and baein finds himself relaxing again. ]

You did before...? A-a wheel?

[ baein is starting to wonder how he's faring in daeshim's world. then again, if he's tiny as a vampire, he could hardly hurt anyone. the fact that daeshim can turn him into something small doesn't seem to face him though. ]

... it would hurt me. I never ever want you to get hurt because of me. But... I'm still a vampire.

[faeshim]

You were very adorable.

[and daeshim looks pleased, almost proud of himself, even if the arrangement didn't last very long. for reasons. very understandable reasons.]

And I am a Fae. Not human. I am not something you can harm.

[he doesn't know that he's actually the one who could hurt baein.]

[narcolepsy]

Dae...

[ baein just huffs out and shakes his head, so incredibly fond. no matter what, daeshim is charming in any shape or form, anywhere. ]

...you're a little like the Jasper I know, then. He's an elf— well, seelie.

[ but baein is sure he could harm jasper. has indeed done so before, unwillingly, lost to the curse. ]

But he isn't impervious to— to me hurting him.

[faeshim]

I will mushroom if you start to hurt me.

[yes, he just used 'mushroom' as a verb.]

[narcolepsy]

"Mushroom" me...? Weren't you going to shrink me?

[faeshim]

I can do that. I can also-

[one moment, baein is talking to him, his arms still half around him. and the next, his embrace is empty.

but daeshim isn't gone. a glance down will reveal his clothes in a pile, as if the fae just vanished right out of them. he didn't...he didn't because he didn't actually vanish, he just turned into the small lavender mushroom in the center of them.

the mushroom wobbles. it could be just a little bit of breeze in the room...or that could just be how a mushroom waves.]

[narcolepsy]

W-wah—!

[ he really should've been ready for it, because daeshim spoke as if he was going to start something. but baein still gasps in confusion, startled as he jumps back a step, eyes darting around the room and then down. ]

You... Daeshim?!

[ crouching down, baein barely dares touching the mushroom, mouth opening and closing wordlessly. ]

[faeshim]

[it grows still. the mushroom's cap is a very distinct shade of purple, identical to daeshim's hair. the stem, a warm tan color, not so different from his skin.

if baein tried to step on the mushroom, he'd find that it moves, the movement actually seen. or maybe there would be a little puff of spores, and a new one would soon shoot up.

he's a very persistent little mushroom.]

[narcolepsy]

[ baein wouldn't even begin to try and step on him. he does reach out to trail a finger down the cap though, if he's allowed. he looks a little worried at first, unsure about what's going on. ]

Did... did you mushroom yourself?

[faeshim]

[baein can always be trusted to be gentle. the mushroom...well, it feels like a mushroom, though possibly a little warmer than normal. one moment the vampire will find his finger trailing down the cap, and the next moment along daeshim's nose after he turns back.

it's enough to make the fae smile.]

If I'm hurt, that happens. Can't be hurt any more after it does. You see?

[narcolepsy]

[ baein blinks and startles, but he doesn't move his finger away. ]

How...? Isn't a mushroom more delicate?

[ he doesn't really think he believes it. not quite. ]

[faeshim]

Not at all! Mushrooms are tough! Can live for thousands of years.

[daeshim is only a baby 'room by their standards, and near to biologically immortal.]

A little bite won't hurt.

[well. it won't hurt him.]

[narcolepsy]

[ baein stills, hand still outstretched, blinking slowly at daeshim before he pulls back. ]

I'm... I'm not biting you. I couldn't.

[ yet, baein feels like he's losing this battle, little by little. ]

[faeshim]

You risk hurting someone if you don't.

[and he knows baein could never forgive himself for that. daeshim frowns at him. sometimes he can be a voice of reason.]

You cannot change what you are. [he pauses, mouth twisting, emotion seeping into his voice.] You will lose yourself in this fight, and I have already been taken from you once...

[he's not leaving until he does it. or putting his clothes back on either, apparently.]

[narcolepsy]

[ for a very sudden moment, it registers to baein that daeshim is sitting naked in his pile of clothes, and the prince hitches on no air at all, feeling a weak imitation of a flush grow on his cheeks even if it can't be seen.

it's both from daeshim's words as a voice of reason and the way he's so casual about his undress, and baein rubs at his face once before he bites his bottom lip, worries it between his teeth to abate the desire at the back of his throat. for a second he's not sure if it's hunger for blood or just daeshim. he assumes it's both.

and he can have one but not the other. ]

You're right... of course.

[ because he can't change himself. this is what he is now. he swallows the lump at the back of his throat when he's reminded he's still alone here in a sense. because daeshim, his daeshim isn't here. ]

How should I...?

[ lifting a hand, baein's fingers curl hesitantly, even as he brushes them across the daeshim's arm, but pointedly keeping his eyes away from any other lower part of the fae. ]

[faeshim]

[he isn't the daeshim that he knows, tall and strong, with muscles made from training and - just being what he is too, really. but he wouldn't give any less of himself, even if bae doesn't realize that just yet. it would be understandable if he wasn't ready to accept it either.]

However you want!

[he can't stop himself from scooting closer, almost into the vampire's lap. old habits die hard.]

However is easiest for you, which is probably where the skin is thinnest...

[daeshim hums in thought as he looks down over his own body.]

Here...or here. Maybe here.

[the base of his neck, the inside of his elbow, the inside of his thigh - all these places and more are pointed out.]