chimericalclaw: (z: consequence)
Z. Altius ([personal profile] chimericalclaw) wrote in [community profile] expiationlogs2025-04-01 01:45 pm

open 🌌 crime of the day: overworking

Who: Altius & you??
Where: clinic; residential district ruins; network; around the city generally
When: immediately after the March event into early April
What: In the wake of monsters, Altius attempts to deal with the consequences.
Warnings: suicidal ideation

⬬ when you lose your self esteem | recovery; mid-late March

[The shade isolates himself as the Black Beast is destroyed—though by that point the wisps of shadow that trail behind him and disappear reveal enough of the man that it would have been obvious, had anyone been there to see him, that the wish to be nothing was losing its hold on him. As the transformation finally fades, Zekarion collapses, burns from light scattered across his body with the most severe of them spreading across his back.

Eventually, someone finds him. After that, he spends nearly a day unconscious.]


A [When he wakes in the clinic it's with panic. A shuddering gasp marks his return to consciousness, and he pays no attention to his injuries as he grasps at his head desperately, as if to make sure it's still there. Amber eyes wide, his sharp gaze darts then to where his mostly-ruined belongings sit on the other side of the room—then, finally, to whoever might be there in the room with him.]

B [Altius politely but firmly declines staying in the clinic more than absolutely necessary, given the circumstances—meaning he isn't there more than a day after waking. Though his burns are unpleasant even after some magical healing, eventually he gets around to convincing whoever might want to keep him there that he's capable of taking care of himself, promising to update anyone concerned about the matter. Really, the thing he ends up more willingly waiting for is a change of clothes—though it's not from his own wardrobe that he ends up dressed. After that, he's taking stock of his salvageable inventory—onyx tie clip, small pouch, wallet and partly-singed notebook—as he prepares to get going.]

⬬ that's when love dies | ruins; mid-late to late March

A [His obvious immediate first stop is... what used to be his house. Or it would have been, had the destruction not been clear two blocks away from it, debris from the collapsed buildings scattered as if from some sort of explosion. His steps slow to a stop before he takes it all in, then—

He laughs. Three seconds of the helpless sound; three seconds of silence as all the energy of it leaves him. His shoulders only sink so far, as if he's holding himself in place, and he only allows himself a brief moment of stillness before he prepares to step through the rubble.]


B [Later, when he's less obviously a mess and more put together, he comes back to continue salvaging what he can. He does more than look through his own home, though; if he happens to spot anyone else also sorting through the destruction, wherever it might be, he's more likely than not to step forward and lend a hand.

And sometimes, in other parts of the city where Altius isn't, a small number of black creatures made of crystal help with the work—though not possessed of any great magic and only rising to most people's waists, their giant jaws of sharp points are good for breaking through debris and making it easier to move.]


⬬ you look like you're bluffing | network, un: altius; end of March

I'm looking into building a new agricultural and general garden space within the city for the Chosen. I have little experience with cultivating plants, so I'm interested in speaking to anyone willing to contribute their expertise or effort. I'll compensate you appropriately.

[It's short and to the point. He doesn't think he needs to explain why.]

⬬ tell me, is it death, you feel | erasure; early April

[Before now, it would have been invisible. But sometimes, as the days go on, he slips.

When will this be over?I don't want to be here.What good is any of this doing?

As he thinks this, shadow overtakes whatever he has his hand on—a door, a set of documents, a box, a slab of broken bricks—and before he can register it as much more than a change of color, it disappears entirely, disintegrated into nothing.

Altius freezes. His expression blanks, the only thing remaining there intensity. The tremor in his posture might speak to the internal battle for control that he's waging over himself.]


⬬ that will bring you peace of life? | wildcard

[Altius contacts those he works with in order to check up on them specifically, and those who answered his call for volunteers to compensate them as promised. As for those the shade encountered... he's slightly less direct, seeking them out physically in what he thinks to be their general haunts to test if they're even amenable to his approach. With his home destroyed and the city in some disarray, there's no real guarantee of stopping by somewhere and seeing him.

He may have seemed to have an impressive work ethic before, but at this stage it wouldn't be mistaken to consider his constant movement unhealthy. Even to those who didn't speak to him as a shadow, it's clear that something is off about him, a stiffness in his demeanor, especially after his discovery of his new ability—when he stops openly gesturing and offering the physical reassurance he usually does, and pointedly keeps hands to himself.

ooc: Anything else? Hit me up at [plurk.com profile] lumieresdedragon or PWM!]
followyourstar: (27)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-01 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[There's a hole in the library today.

Not a real one--at least, Dante doesn't think there's a real one (and if there is, it's one they haven't seen)--but a hole nonetheless. As always, they didn't realize it was there until they caught sight of Altius somewhere off to the side while they were putting a book back in its place.

He's looking at them sometimes, they think. But they're not sure if they should approach.

Would it make things awkward to do so, they wonder, considering what had occurred only weeks before?

Or... he couldn't be there to talk to them, could he?]
followyourstar: (20)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
[They've just about convinced themselves to bite the bullet and talk with him when the sudden clatter of lamps and books to the floor sends them jumping about a foot, letting out a whistle of surprise.

...The table's gone.

They stare at the spot where it was, glance over at Altius, and then look back to the spot the table had been once again.

...Okay, yeah. They should definitely say something.]


< So, uh... H-Hey. >

[Not the smoothest approach. But at least the approach has been made.]
followyourstar: (09)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
[It's an expression they're not... unfamiliar with. He's definitely more lucid now--or mostly lucid--or whatever amount of cured there is that still causes tables to go missing.]

< You... wanna go for a walk? >
followyourstar: (18)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
[Dante waits until the two of them have left the library to say anything. Winter's chill still carries itself on the wind, but for the most part it's a warm, sunny day. If there were any flowers blooming, it'd be the quintessential example of a Spring day, but it seems like all their recent troubles have sent all but the hardiest of buds fleeing.]

< Just so you know, this isn't the first time I've had to deal with this sort of thing. >
followyourstar: (16)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[A pause, and then a nod.]

< Mn, them too. And what happened wasn't too far off from what I've seen from most Distortions out there. >
followyourstar: (09)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
< A little. I had some idea what to do because of it. But you also were a lot more willing to work with me than most of the Distortions I've seen. Not that I'm complaining. >

[They're still pretty sure they can't take anyone in a fight.]

< Still... I'm pretty sure I should be the one asking you if it helped. I know you're back to normal and all, but... >
followyourstar: (18)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
< Me? I'm fine. I got out of all that pretty good all things considered. Not even a single wound to my shoulder this time around. >

[They know that's not what he was asking.]
theskyaccepts: (but i get up again)

wildcard

[personal profile] theskyaccepts 2025-04-02 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
[Once he finally feels up to moving, which takes a few days because using that much Dying Will Flame does have a limit, Tsuna starts exploring the town in the devastation. There is a lot to clean up. It's almost overwhelming.

But you have to start somewhere and so Tsuna does, visiting locations that are important to him in turn. And eventually he makes it to the post office. He looks a little tired, a little dirty. He might have stopped to help clear rubble here and there.]
followyourstar: (03)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
< Ah... >

[A slow, soft series of ticks is all that fills the silence at first. They face his direction, but can't look Altius in the eyes. They hope he doesn't notice.

A single, solemn tock accompanies their reply.]


< It didn't. >
followyourstar: (14)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
< Altius, it's fine. >

[It's not the first thing they've lost. It probably won't be the last, either. Their hands, resting in their pockets, ball into fists. Only for a moment.]

< I don't know exactly how it's like, being in that state of mind, but I know it's... different from what you would choose to do if you weren't in that state. The fact that you're apologizing right now is proof enough of that. >

[They shake their head.]

< We can only move forward. >
followyourstar: (26)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Dante doesn't reply. They stand still, unmoving.

Altius's words should mean something to them. They know that, are certain of that. They're touched, yes, but anything stronger slips away like sand through their fingers, down, down into the yawning abyss where something used to be.

Those feelings... The sense of inadequacy, the doubt, that sense that they should always be doing something more, the weight of responsibility...

What does it mean to have them gone? Would feeling that way again make them feel whole?

The hour hand shakes.]


< Then what am I? >

[A question their doppelganger once begged the answer for. A question Dante never would have thought to ask aloud before now.]
followyourstar: (12)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
< Oh. >

[A noise as much as a word, accompanied by a single, soft tock. Followed by a wordless, continuous stream of softer, more rapid ones.]

< I... >

[They can't hold his gaze for long. It just makes them dizzy.]

< I'm... >

[They should say something. But words seem nothing short of impossible right now.]
followyourstar: (26)

[personal profile] followyourstar 2025-04-02 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[Still the words won't come. Only his name.]

< Altius... >

[Is this what the others felt when their time came?

The path before them... The words, the feelings, held out like a rope for them to take, a thread for them to follow, a piece of something to hold onto. Something they didn't know was possible. Something they didn't even know was missing to begin with.

Something else.

It's... such a foreign concept.]


< I'll... do my best to keep that in mind. >

Page 1 of 12